Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2016 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/travelsingreecetOOforb 
 
view ojf jerfsalem from the vauljey of jehosafuat. 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 IN 
 
 GREECE, TURKEY, 
 
 AND THE 
 
 HOLY LAND, 
 
 In 1817—18. 
 
 BY COUNT FORBIN. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS and Co. 
 
 BRIDE COURT, BRIDGE STREET; AND TO BE HAD OF ALL BOOKSELLERS, 
 
 Entered at Stationers’ Hall 
 

 
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 Benjamin Bensley, Printer, 
 24, Nelson-square. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A plain edifice has not need of a peristyle ; and a 
 simple and true narrative might dispense with an in- 
 troduction. In complying, however, with this custom, 
 I shall endeavour to take advantage of it, by remarking 
 that I was deprived of all my resources nearly at the 
 same time, inasmuch as I had depended on the help of 
 two scientific men,* to be enabled to present to the 
 Public a Work of more certain interest. 
 
 It is therefore to be considered merely as the sketch- 
 book of a traveller, and as a text by which the em- 
 bellishments are illustrated. The Drawings themselves 
 would have been of little value, had it not been for the 
 talent of the Artists who have bestowed on them their 
 time and industry, with a zeal which affords me a pro- 
 mise of success, and the remembrance of which will 
 always demand my lively gratitude. 
 
 The Episode related by an Arab will probably serve 
 to convey an idea of the twofold scourge which oppresses 
 the inhabitants of Syria. It will be read, no doubt, 
 with interest. 
 
 * M. Huyot and M. Prevost. 
 
IV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 When I had completed this task, discouraged by 
 what was entirely my own, but encouraged by the 
 brilliant execution of the Drawings, I was desirous to 
 efface and begin anew, however I might be sensible of 
 my want of ability to do better. 
 
 Did truth possess so powerful a charm as is supposed, 
 I should offer the faithful delineations of my impressions 
 with more security. Lively sensations, and the enthu- 
 siasm I felt, made me forget that every thing had been 
 already said, written, and drawn. Surprised, however, 
 by the unexpected effect of the objects themselves, it 
 appeared to me that united and multiplied efforts could 
 scarcely give a satisfactory idea of the East. 
 
 The manners of the inhabitants have been studied, 
 the usages described, the ruins consulted, and the 
 obelisks measured; and, notwithstanding, this ensemble 
 strikes each traveller in a different way. Each of them 
 searches profoundly into one part, and treats coldly 
 and slightingly all the rest. The smallest tribute is 
 therefore not without its use. I timidly throw in my 
 mite ; and I shall, without doubt, owe to this good in- 
 tention the indulgence of a few of my readers, and the 
 courage to support the severity of others. 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 LEVANT, 
 
 In 1817—18. 
 
 I HAD formed* in my early youth* a resolution to visit the 
 remote countries of the East. To effect this* I had to con- 
 tend against a variety of obstacles ; but an opportunity was at 
 length afforded me of realizing the most ardent of my wishes* 
 and my departure was decided on. The plan I had conceived 
 was so hazardous and difficult of execution that I did not dare 
 to communicate my ideas to those in whose judgment I might 
 have confided. The suggestions of prudence — the arguments 
 of reason and friendship- — would have deprived me of the 
 courage requisite to defend the reveries of my boyish days. 
 
 As it would have been imprudent to embark in so arduous 
 an enterprize at a later season, I hastened my departure by all 
 the means in my power. When* as the time drew near* the 
 inconveniencies I should have to encounter presented them- 
 selves to my imagination still more forcibly* and with a greater 
 semblance of truth* I resolved* notwithstanding* to confide my 
 destiny to chance* without varying my plan. Amid my dis- 
 tracted thoughts* however* such was the ascendency of the 
 vow I had made* I often lamented inwardly my own determi- 
 nation* in the same way as one would complain of an unjust 
 and peremptory command. 
 
 I crossed France with all rapidity* but was detained for 
 some days at Marseilles on account of the Cleopatra frigate not 
 being fully equipped. The King* by whose permission I had 
 engaged in my travels* and who patronized their execution* 
 vouchsafed to allow me a passage in this frigate* one of the 
 Levant squadron. 
 
 M. Huyot* a skilful architect* whose talents and amiable 
 qualities have acquired him a general esteem* fell into my 
 views* and became my associate. M. Prevost, whose beau- 
 tiful panoramas are so celebrated* and his nephew, M. Coche- 
 reau* a very promising young artist* who had exhibited in the 
 Saloon of the Fine Arts a painting which has been greatly 
 admired, were to embark with us. It was agreed that we 
 should rendezvous at Marseilles* where the Abb£ Forbin— 
 Voyages and Travels* No. 5* Vol , L 3 H 
 
102 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, ' 
 
 Jansen, my cousin, was to join us. It was there that, after 
 having taken the best advice, I came to the painful determi- 
 nation to sell my paternal estate, the spot where I was born, 
 and which holds the tombs of my ancestors. It is a large 
 chateau on the banks of the Durance, surrounded by aged 
 trees. There once dwelt those who were so dear to me ; and 
 there the remembrance of my mother’s virtues was engraven 
 in every breast. Dire necessity led me to make this sacrifice, 
 with which I cannot help reproaching myself as a fault. 
 
 On the 21st of August, 1817? the vessels anchored in the 
 Great Road of Toulon : on the 22nd, at half past four in the 
 afternoon, the morning having been very stormy, the wind 
 shifted to the north-west, and orders were given to set sail. 
 The division steered, under an easy sail, towards the South, 
 and at five o’clock was between the Isle of Porquerolles and 
 Cape Sici£. On the following day, in the afternoon, we were 
 in sight of the Island of Sardinia, of that of St. Peter, and of 
 the rock named the Bull, from which we were distant about 
 twenty miles. On the 24th, at four in the afternoon, we de- 
 scried land in the south : this was the Island of Galetta. The 
 sea was unruffled, and the division proceeded in the order of 
 sailing, preserving the line of convoy, with the frigate a-head. 
 On the 25th we had a distinct view of the coast of Africa, to 
 approach which, the wind being contrary, we had to make 
 frequent tacks. 
 
 On the 4th of September, our vessel was becalmed at a short 
 distance from the Island of Anti-Milo, off which we remained 
 until the following morning. At one in the afternoon, a strong 
 breeze from the south-east drove us as far up as the Island of 
 Egina. We then lay to: the sky became suddenly overcast, 
 and we were unable to distinguish the coast, and the forms of 
 the mountains. They were, however, to be seen at intervals, 
 when the lightning flashed, while heavy thunder-claps rolled 
 over the city of Minerva. This lasted during the night, and 
 we were apprehensive of a gale coming on ; but the sea was 
 not agitated in an extraordinary degree. On the following 
 day, the 6th, we entered the Piraeus, the port of Athens. The 
 beech is at first sandy, then dark and argillaceous, and 
 covered with small ruins, amid winch is the house of the 
 Turkish Collector of Customs. 
 
 Instead of waiting for horses, we set out on foot with all 
 diligence. We first had to ascend a small barren hill, which 
 led us to a well cultivated plain, planted with olive-trees, 
 across which lay the rains of the great wall of Themistocles. 
 A thick forest of olive-trees, of the age of Pericles, covered 
 the vines, the boughs of which were intwined around the 
 
103 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 branches of these trees, which, in remote times, had witnessed 
 the most glorious triumphs. The cultivation of Attica brought 
 to my remembrance that of the south of Italy. With hasty 
 steps we proceeded towards a height from which we should 
 be enabled to procure a sight of Athens : we were approach- 
 ing that city ; and my heart palpitated violently. I was at 
 length gratified with a view of this sacred spot, this temple of 
 liberty, of glory, and of the arts. The Acropolis was detached, 
 and around it hovered a dark cloud, the remains of the storm 
 of the preceding evening. The sun’s rays struck powerfully 
 on these masses of white marble, which have preserved so 
 pure a colour amid the constructions of the barbarous ages. 
 The old walls surrounding the Propyleeum seem huddled to- 
 gether to augment the eclat of the little that is left of the 
 chefs-d* oeuvres of Ictinus and Phidias. The temples of Theseus 
 next opened on our view : farther on, to the right, appeared 
 the Pnyx, the hill of the Museum, the Areopagus, the monu- 
 ment of Phiiopapus, and on the left, Mount Anchesmus, to 
 complete this picture, which seems, in a manner, to realize 
 the bold composition of the beautiful landscapes due to the 
 luxuriant fancy of Poussin. Not a tree is to be seen in this 
 direction to enliven the prospect : an extent of half a league 
 of rocky, broken, and parched soil, separates the city from 
 the wood of olives, which is not altogether devoid of beauty, 
 more especially to one born in the south of France. We were 
 rivetted to the spot, without either of the party being able to 
 utter a coherent sentence, until modern Athens, the object of 
 our inquiry, was disclosed to us by her lofty minarets. This 
 city is surrounded by low Avails, with gates which may be 
 compared to those of the worst farms near Paris. It is modestly 
 stationed at the foot of the Acropolis, and silent as the slave 
 who feels ashamed of his misery and chains. 
 
 I had to pass through narrow streets, and through the prin- 
 cipal bazar, to reach the house of M. Fauvel, the French con- 
 sul. His retreat is truly that of a philosopher, but embellished 
 with taste. It is surrounded by the mins of ancient Athens : 
 within, trunks of columns and capitals afford seats; and shelter 
 is procured from above by antique tiles. Tombs and inscrip- 
 tions, distributed around, bring to the traveller’s remembrance 
 the names, the enterprises, and the misfortunes of those who, 
 in times long past and gone, had to struggle through this 
 dreary life of sorrows. 
 
 M. Fauvel was not at home, but returned soon after my 
 arrival, and received me in the most obliging manner. His 
 rich collection was laid open to me, and he insisted on my 
 becoming his inmate. During my stay at Athens we were 
 
104 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 seldom apart. Would that I could communicate to my readers 
 the pleasure I felt in inspecting, in his company, the noble 
 ruins which have engrossed the whole of his attention for 
 thirty years past ! The extent of his researches has been such, 
 that even where he entertains doubts he does not fail to afford 
 instruction. 
 
 He appeared to me to be, at this time, about sixty-five 
 years of age, and was just recovered from a severe illness, not- 
 withstanding which his vivacity and the poignancy of his wit, 
 still unabated, served to engender and foster discussion : he 
 might have supported a theme advantageously beneath the 
 celebrated portico, the vestiges of which his imagination has 
 portrayed. 
 
 His house is situated between the ruins of the library of 
 the Ptolemies, and the temple of Theseus. When we were 
 seated on the terrace, in the evening, we could distinctly hear 
 the discordant music of the Egyptian slaves, who assemble 
 together occasionally to forget their bondage : they performed 
 Nubian dances on the very spot where the festival of the 
 founder of Athens was once celebrated by brilliant theories. 
 
 Our first excursion led us towards the temple of Minerva, 
 and the Propylseum, to which we ascended with anxious speed. 
 I was perplexed, for I wished to admire every thing at once. 
 I could have imprinted kisses on these venerable marbles, if 
 they had not been covered by the obscures names of the dif- 
 ferent travellers who have visited Athens for some centuries 
 past. 
 
 Amid these sacred ruins, we feel a solemn awe which 
 deprives us in a great measure of the power of utterance : we 
 speak in half whispers. Here it was that the echo we still 
 reverence once repeated the rival and celebrated songs of the 
 tribes of Acamantis and Hippothoontis; for here they sung the 
 victories of Theseus on Mount Homole, and in the plains of 
 Thermodon. 
 
 We advanced slowly among a heap of reversed columns and 
 broken friezes, to the spot where once stood the statue of Mi- 
 nerva, and on the site of which a small mosque has been 
 erected. 
 
 This great destruction is not the work of ages, the ravages 
 of which are not any where to be discerned : the fine polish 
 of the marble, the sharp angles, and the compactness of the 
 masonry, every thing, in short, unites to absolve time, and to 
 accuse the barbarous hand of man. 
 
 At sun rise it was my delight to seat myself on the summits 
 of the marble walls of the Parthenon, whence I could overlook 
 the immense theatre of the pomp, the dissensions, and the 
 
In 181 7 and 1818. 105 
 
 combats of the nations of Attica. With these remembrances 
 my imagination was filled : all was animated around me $ the 
 sea was covered with victorious fleets ; the songs of triumph 
 were re-echoed along the shores of Phaleron and Munichia | 
 while Egina and Salamis joined in responsive notes. I saw 
 Megara start from her antique tomb ; Eleusis invest herself 
 with her crown of flowers and corn spikes ; and proud Corinth 
 endeavour to shake oif the dust from her brow, on which, in 
 days of yore, gold shone resplendant. 
 
 The Pnyx still seemed to expect the tumultuous and frivolous 
 crowd, the multitude, as agitated as the waves of the sea, once 
 there assembled. I fancied I could hear even the praises her 
 orators lavished on her ; but those days of glory, of proud con- 
 tentions, and of cruel proscriptions, with all the passions which 
 spring from liberty, were become mute as the ashes and ruins 
 which surrounded me. 
 
 When I awakened from my long reveries I felt myself over- 
 whelmed with sadness : I looked around me, but could per- 
 ceive nothing besides immense heaps of ruins, steril plains, and 
 a deserted sea ; while my ears were assailed with lamentations, 
 and with the clamours of the disdar-Aga, the commander of 
 the Chateau, who ill treated his slaves. 
 
 I am engaged at the present time in preparing a work on 
 Athens, and shall therefore forbear from entering into details in 
 this place, which many of my readers would assuredly deem 
 superfluous. I shall therefore limit myself to a brief notice of 
 a few of the impressions made on me, without pretending to 
 display Athens methodically, and without professing to have 
 found a single piece of marble which has not been described. 
 
 Athens contains a population of from ten to twelve thousand 
 Greeks, Turks, and Albanians, the latter of whom predominate 
 in the twenty thousand souls who people Attica. It is sur- 
 rounded by low and ill built walls, which were repaired, and in a 
 great measure re-constructed inl 772 , under the inspection of the 
 chief of the Bostangis, the vayvode of Athens. All the Greeks 
 resident in the city, were, without exception, compelled to 
 work. Thirty drums were in constant beat to cheer them and 
 their fellow labourers in their toils ; and this new Amphion 
 completed his singular operation in less than three months. 
 Having in the sequel abused the power confided to him, he was 
 strangled at Cos, where he had retired after having completely 
 stripped the inhabitants of Attica. His house, and the gardens 
 attached to it, which have been much admired, are situated 
 near those of the ancient Academy: they belonged to the 
 Valide-Sultan. A few trees, and several fine basins of water, 
 were the only objects that drew my particular attention at this 
 
106 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land , 
 
 spot. At a small distance from it are the vestiges of three 
 tombs, which may have been those of Chabrias, Pericles, and 
 Thrasybulus : two of them have been demolished ; but the 
 third resembles the monument of the Horatii at Albano. 
 M. Fauvel has been frustrated in his attempts to dig beneath it. 
 These tombs were near the ancient walls, the traces of which 
 are still apparent. The authorities most to be relied on fix at 
 seven stadii * the distance which separated the gate Dipylon 
 from the Academy : this estimate places the present gate, stiled 
 that of the Egyptians, nearly at the same spot with the above 
 gate ; whence it would appear that the ancient circumference 
 of Athens was not very great. We next come to the gate Man- 
 dravili, leading to the temple of Theseus ; to that of Mne- 
 mouria, or the gate of the tombs ; to that of Indi Baba, so 
 named by the Turks, because an Indian dervich there took up 
 his residence ; to the gate of Hadrian ; to that of Bobonistra, 
 which leads to Marathon, to the Lyceum, and to the Stadium ; 
 and, lastly, to the gate of el-Djeryd, formerly the gate Hippades, 
 without which were the horse races : here likewise the Turks 
 amuse themselves in various exercises. 
 
 We dug near the gate of the Piraeus in search of antiquities, 
 but were not very successful. I found, however, in a tomb, a 
 vase of the description of those which are commonly called 
 Etruscan vases, of a fine form, and of the best workmanship. 
 When, at length, after several ineffectual attempts, the sound 
 of the tools and pickaxes gave notice of a construction, of an 
 arch-roof more especially, the workmen and spectators were 
 gladdened with joy. This occupation has all the interest of 
 the chase : we waited impatiently until the first bricks were 
 removed. 
 
 I was surprised, notwithstanding, at observing those who 
 profess so high a respect for modern sepulchres, thus disturb, 
 without any scruple, the peace of those who sleep beneath the 
 cypresses of Phaleron. 
 
 The adjacent shores are entirely covered with ruins : with the 
 help of Pausanias, however, the parts where the long walls were 
 united with those of the Piraeus and Phaleron are to be traced. 
 We fancied we could make out the place where the markets 
 stood ; and also, near the great haven, the mins of the portico 
 of Leschai, and those of the temple of Venus, erected by 
 CEdipus. A greek monastery has been built on the remains of 
 the altar of the Paphian goddess ; the vestiges of a theatre abut 
 on those of the citadel of Munychia ; and steps indicate an 
 amphitheatre near the temple of Diana. 
 
 * An ancient Greek measure of length, about equal to our furlong. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 107 
 
 When the sea is calm* the distribution of the anchorage 
 grounds, and of the ports of Phaleron and Munychia, now 
 almost choked, maybe distinctly traced. The most trivial objects 
 have heroic names bestowed on them : a large black stone is 
 pointed out to you, still ruder than the smallest of the druidical 
 monuments on the coast of Britain : this is the tomb of 
 Themistocles. 
 
 The Stadium, a monument indicative of the magnificence of 
 Herodes Atticus, has been entirely stripped of its marble, not- 
 withstanding which it impresses the spectator by the beauty of 
 its proportions. On reaching the summit, the remains of the 
 bridge thrown over the Ilissus are discernible, together with 
 the pillars of the temple of Jupiter Olympius,* the gate of Ha- 
 drian, the theatre of Bacchus, the Acropolis, and the sea of 
 Salamis. 
 
 From this spot the spectator has the most complete, as well 
 as the best defined view, of Athens. He also sees near the 
 gate of Hadrian the monument of Lysicrates, better known by 
 the name of the lantern of Demosthenes. This work, belong- 
 ing to the finest epoch of art, and elegant in the extreme/ is 
 wedged in the angle of a Latin convent, now falling in ruins. If 
 the Propagande of Rome should decide on having this monas- 
 tery rebuilt, the choragic tripod will suffer as much from the 
 reconstruction, as from the otherwise speedy and inevitable 
 fall of this edifice. M. Fauvel is of opinion that this beauti- 
 ful monument constituted a portion of the street of the Tripods, 
 which terminated near the theatre of Bacchus. 
 
 On my return from my long excursions on Mount Pentelicus — 
 from the quarries whence so many chefs-d’oeuvre have been 
 drawn, and after I had rambled in the vale of Ciriada and over 
 the slopes of Hymettus I interrogated M. Fauvel, who ex- 
 plained to me all that I had seen. " A young Albanian female 
 servant, arrayed in her picturesque costume, spread our table 
 beneath a trellis, and we seated ourselves,with an excellent ap- 
 petite, to the doves of Sunium served up to us, washing them 
 down with the rich wine of Zea. Never before had so many 
 questions been proposed to M. Fauvel, whose patience was 
 put to a severe trial. It is to be regretted that he does not 
 write 5 for no one is better able than he is to expound Pausa- 
 nias, and to elucidate his verbose and obscure style. 
 
 We were present at the dance of the derviches in the tower 
 of the winds. It is probable that this solar monument was 
 likewise an h ydraulic clock ; and an opinion is entertained that 
 
 * Mr. Fauvel thinks that he has found the Temple of Jupiter Olympius 
 in the ruins, the corinthian columns of which are at present concealed by 
 the shops of the bazar. 
 
108 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, ' 
 
 Its erection was^uperintended by Andronicus Cyrrhestes. The 
 derviches have taken possession of it. We found them whirl- 
 ing round in a paroxysm of religious fervour, but few examples 
 of which occur. The arrival of a holy Mussulman, who was 
 just returned from Mecca, and had brought with him a few 
 drops of the holy water from the well of Zemzem, wrought 
 their devotion to the highest pitch of phrenzy. At the com- 
 mencement the performance of their songs and dances was slow 
 and solemn : this was to be considered as a kind of prelude ; 
 but they soon became animated to such a degree, as to utter 
 the most horrible shrieks. Old men, presenting the finest forms, 
 were to be seen rolling on the ground, and tearing their gar- 
 ments : they were carried out of the temple in a state of in- 
 toxication and degradation difficult to describe. 
 
 I met with several well informed Greeks who support with 
 painful indignation the yoke imposed on them. On this head 
 I had an opportunity to be fully satisfied on the day when the 
 Bey of Caristo, in the Negropont, made his entry into Athens. 
 Several guns fired from the Acropolis announced his approach. 
 Having taken our station beneath the peristyle of the temple 
 of Theseus, we enjoyed, with a great part of the population of 
 Athens, a spectacle which, to us at least, had the charm of 
 novelty. The motley group forming the retinue of the Bey, 
 consisted of Albanians on foot, janissaries, andspahis on horse- 
 back. The Turks of distinction, followed by their domestics, 
 pranced around him, while the rabble of a mussulman militia 
 shouted, waved their flags, and discharged their muskets. The 
 Bey, mounted on an African charger, and disguised by an im- 
 mense turban, surveyed, with looks of insolent disdain, the city 
 on which he was come to levy tribute. 
 
 The Greeks who surrounded me were pensive and sullen. 
 In their physiognomy, which never wants expression, embar- 
 rassment was depicted ; and generous tears bedewed the marble 
 monuments, the ancient trophies of the power of Athens. 
 
 In the same way as the Jews expect the Messiah, so do the 
 Greeks look forward to independence : liberty would, how- 
 ever, alight in vain on these shores, once her noblest domain. 
 This nation would no longer comprehend her divine language, 
 which would be confided exclusively to ignorant caloyers. 
 
 Athens has still her twelve archons, and Rome still elects 
 a senator. This mockery of the past is most afflicting to the 
 Greeks, because they have to bend the neck to the cimeter, 
 which marks the lowest degree of humiliation. 
 
 The twelve archons, however, assemble occasionally : they 
 present their very humble remonstrances to the vayvode who 
 heaps injuries on them, to the mufti who vents on them his 
 
109 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 maledictions, and to the cadi whose protection they have 
 often to purchase at a dear rate. Sixty Albanians, commanded 
 by a boulouk bachy, make all Attica tremble. 
 
 The climate of Athens is delightful ; but the pure air, the 
 resplendent light, and the vivifying heat it enjoys, have ceased 
 to shed their benign influence on the Greeks. They no longer 
 inspire them with sublime ideas and beautiful imagery ; nor 
 do the chefs-d’oeuvre of art spring up, as heretofore, in this 
 fostering soil. Langour prevails throughout ; and those who 
 were erst born to glory, are now, alas ! the children of suf- 
 fering and sorrow. 
 
 Liberty, in shifting her ground, has changed her character. 
 This idol of the Athenians has become in our time cold and 
 fastidious : she would repel with disdain the elegant rites and 
 voluptuous incense of the temples of Epidaurus and Argos. 
 
 Athens is not altogether destitute of commerce. She dis- 
 poses of her oil and dressed skins, and has had a balance in her 
 favour of not less than a million of piastres. These specula- 
 tions, however, are constantly shackled by extortions, confisca- 
 tions, and custom-house disputes, insomuch that a Greek has 
 but little chance of success unless he forms a connexion with 
 a leading Turk.* 
 
 The richly decorated baths of the ancient Athenians have 
 given place to buildings of a whimsical form, lighted by a 
 high cupola provided with coloured glass. I paid frequent 
 visits to them; and heard, amid volumes of suffocating steam, 
 not the conversation of Greek philosophers, but the mono- 
 tonous drawl of an assemblage of Turks, who chanted pas- 
 sages of the Koran. 
 
 I undertook, with M. Fauvel, the painful task of counting 
 the riches of which the monuments of Athens have not as yet 
 been despoiled: we could not find more than twenty-eight 
 metopes on the two fa9ades of the Temple of Minerva, and 
 one only, that of the south-west angle, in a tolerable state of 
 preservation. M. Choiseul-Gouflier carried away two of 
 these valuable bas-reliefs, one of which was purchased by him. 
 The other he received as a present from M. Fauvel. 
 
 After Lord Elgin’s departure the vacant space of the 
 cariatid which stood in the angle of the Pandrosos was filled 
 up by a pillar of masonry. This statue, which he took away 
 with him, was the one the best preserved. On the one next to 
 it was inscribed Opus Phidi;e; and on the misshapen pillar 
 Opus Elgin ! 
 
 * I allude here to the continent only: the islands are more fortunate, the 
 prosperity of several of them observing a constantly augmenting ratio. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol. I 3 1 
 
1 10 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land , 
 
 In the Island of Egina, M. Fauvel pointed out to me the 
 ruins of the Temple of Panhellenian Jove. A company of specu- 
 lators had just found there all the figures which decorated the 
 pediment. This monument is thought to be of the date of the 
 return of the Greeks from Troy ; and as the heads of these 
 figures have a very decided character of individuality, they may 
 have been the portraits of Agamemnon, and of the other chiefs 
 of the Grecian army. Two columns of the Temple of Venus 
 remain ; and on the western side of the island is a tumulus 
 which has been opened without leading to any discovery, and 
 which was thought to be the tomb of Phocus. 
 
 Within these few years the population of Egina has been 
 augmented considerably : two thousand inhabitants are 
 
 crowdeektogetfier in a small hamlet, built on the ruins of the 
 House of Lais : there she led a voluptuous life, surrounded by 
 her suitors. 
 
 On our return to Athens, we visited the prisons of the Areo- 
 pagus. The tribunal had been long sought at a spot adjacent 
 to the Citadel, where formerly stood the Palace of the Greek 
 Archbishop, and a Church dedicated to Saint Denis the Areo- 
 pagite. All that is described on this head by Pausanias was 
 discovered by my learned guide ; and this he demonstrated in 
 the most satisfactory manner. But where could have been 
 the house of Socrates, that of Aspasia, and the work-shops of 
 Phidias? M. Fauvel led me to a spot covered with fragments 
 and splinters of marble; and we afterwards sought the dwell- 
 ings of Pericles and Alcibiades. In these researches he was 
 never at a loss to point out the interesting objects within our 
 view. 
 
 Our attention was next directed to the ancient city of Sala- 
 mis, the ruins of which we descried in front of Athens. There 
 it was that, from the summit of a circular platform, fifty feet 
 in diameter, abutting on a wall of uncemented stones, Xerxes 
 saw the discomfiture of his fleet, the wrecks of which in a man- 
 ner choked the Strait. The left of the Athenians was pro- 
 tected by a promontory, where the remains of a tower are still 
 to be seen, and their right, by Cynosura. 
 
 On our landing at Salamis, a few Greeks, who had more the 
 air of savages than of men in a civilized state, betook them- 
 selves to flight. Two points only of this island are inhabited : 
 we had to ferry over, and came to two wretched monasteries, 
 one of which is opposite to Megara. The ruins of that city are 
 the most ancient in Greece. In examining them Virgil was 
 seized with the illness which terminated fatally at Brundu- 
 sium. 
 
 It is estimated that there are still four thousand inhabitants 
 
Ill 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 at Megara. It may be that the walls, the vestiges of which 
 are its only antique remains, are the identical ones raised by 
 Apollo with the aid of Alcathoiis. The god placed his lyre on 
 a stone, which has ever since given out harmonious and pro- 
 tracted sounds. 
 
 Regia turris erat, vocalibus addita tnuris, 
 
 In quibus auratam proles Latoiafertur 
 Deposuisse lyram ; saxo sonus ejus inha sit. 
 
 Sape iliac solita est ascendere jilia Nisi, 
 
 Et pet ere exiguo resonant ia saxa lapillo, 
 
 Turn cum pax esset : hello quoque sape solebat 
 Spectare ex ilia rigidi certamina Mortis. 
 
 Ovid. Metam. \\\\,\\. 
 
 The inhabitants of Megara wear the Albanian costume, but 
 speak the Greek language : the women, whose tattered gar- 
 ments betray the wretchedness of their condition, welcome the 
 stranger, notwithstanding, with the gracious kalimera. 
 
 I was present at an Athenian wedding. The parties were 
 of an ordinary condition : Spiro, the son of Kthina, espoused 
 the daughter of Georgi, belonging to the parish of Panagia 
 Ulassaro. The young bride was agreeable, but disfigured by a 
 profusion of gilt paper, by patches, and by the deep red and 
 blue with which her cheeks were bedaubed. She was so en- 
 cumbered with a load of garments that she could scarcely 
 walk, and required the help of several young women, when she 
 made her circuits round the large tapers placed in the centre of 
 the apartments. The three Papas (Greek Priests) sung with 
 a nasal twang ; and every quarter of an hour the bride and 
 bridegroom were led to an alcove, where they were seated, 
 surrounded by their nearest relatives. Among the more opu- 
 lent Greeks this ceremony usually lasts for a considerable time. 
 
 I fell in at Athens with several rich Englishmen, whose im- 
 portant business it was to traverse Greece with all possible 
 rapidity. I met also with several English and German artists, 
 the latter of whom had spent several years in drawing and 
 measuring, with the minute precision of a scrupulous com- 
 mentator, these monuments, the noble creation of genius. 
 These wretched slaves of rules, of the slightest caprices of the 
 Ancients, write volumes to point out an error of three lines, 
 committed in 1680, in the measurement of an architrave. 
 They pore, sleep, and remain eight years at Athens, to draw 
 three columns. It is their practice to erect a small house at 
 a spot they select for their perspective ; and their dismal pro- 
 ductions in water-colours require several years to be brought 
 to the highest degree of their wearisome perfection. They 
 have established a small academy, and assemble at stated 
 periods, to honour and praise each other. One of them un- 
 
1 12 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 dertakes the literary department* and pens, in german greek, 
 harsh dissertations, to demonstrate that, (thanks to the progress 
 of time* and the procession of the equinoxes) the arts can no 
 longer flourish out of Norway, or among certain southern 
 nations, such as the Prussians and Bavarians. 
 
 A marriage which engrossed all the conversation of the 
 higher circles of Athens, was said to be at that time on foot. 
 A young Englishman had, it seems, fallen desperately in love 
 with a Greek lady, Mina Macri, whose charms had, together 
 with those of her sister, been celebrated by the muse of Lord 
 Byron. Their father had enjoyed the post of English Consul. 
 I was not struck with the beauty of these young ladies $ but, 
 as a gallant Frenchman, I felt a respect for the enthusiasm of 
 the Athenians. * ... 
 
 I cannot quit Modern Athens without a slight mention of 
 the society I met with there. The most agreeable, beyond all 
 comparison, was that which assembled at the parties of the 
 lady of the Austrian Consul, M. Grappius. This young lady, 
 a Greek of Constantinople, possesses a fine figure, and speaks 
 several languages with the grace and delicacy natural to her 
 nation. Her husband, a well informed artist, employs the 
 greater part of his time in researches after antiquities. 
 
 The English Consul, Logotheti, a name which he inherits 
 from his father, who had this title bestowed on him on account 
 of a post he held in the Greek church, was but little seen, and 
 did not appear to me to be on an intimate footing with the 
 Consul of France. The Archbishop of Athens has for suffra- 
 gans, the bishops of Thebes, Livadia, andTalanda, the ancient 
 Opontes, in the gulf of Negropont, and to the north of Leba- 
 dia. This man, who is not deficient in address and in a sort 
 of politeness peculiar to the Greeks, is a native of Metelina. 
 He was formerly preceptor to a prince of Walachia. I found 
 him busily engaged in temporal concerns: he was on the eve 
 of concluding an advantageous match for his nephew with the 
 sister of the agent of France, at Zea. In this affair, which set 
 all the busy tongues of Athens in motion, the primate was 
 much more interested than in the remembrance of the preach- 
 ing of St. Paul in the Areopagus, or in that of the mystical re- 
 veries of Patmos. I ought not to forget Doctor Avramiotti, 
 and the potent wrath kindled in his bosom by M. de Chateau- 
 briand : feeling himself offended at certain passages in the 
 Itinerary, he made a virulent attack on the author in a small 
 Greek pamphlet, which was translated into Italian at Padua, 
 but which did not on that account acquire a greater cele- 
 brity. 
 
 I quitted Athens reluctantly, with the hope of returning 
 
113 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 thither; and I cannot as yet persuade myself but that I shall 
 again visit a spot, where my time passed so rapidly, where each 
 object drew my attention, and where I seemed to realize the 
 illusions and reveries of my youthful days. It was my frequent 
 custom to walk out at night, because I fancied that the pre- 
 vailing gloom, the solemn stillness, had the effect of bringing 
 me into a closer alliance with the past. Then it is that the 
 imagination, without effort, rears the most sumptuous edifices, 
 while the pale and dubious light of the moon conduces to these 
 grand resurrections. I peopled the porticoes and public 
 places with illustrious shades ; I agitated the multitude by the 
 uncertainty of a defeat or a triumph : the temples opened, and 
 I thought I heard the warlike shouts of the citizens, the im- 
 passioned accents of the orators, and the tumult of a free 
 people, jealous of their glory, and devoting to the infernal 
 deities all the enemies of their independence. 
 
 I purchased a part of M. Fauvel’s collection : these monu- 
 ments will at least possess the merit of having been found by 
 him. I regret that the remote distance, and his advanced age, 
 afford me but little hope of seeing him again ; but he will learn 
 how truly sensible I am of the hospitality he afforded me, and 
 how much I value the lessons he bestowed on me. 
 
 Having again embarked on board the brig le Lizard, we 
 sailed on the 23d of September, at eight o’Clock in the even- 
 ing. We were detained for a considerable time, by calms and 
 contrary winds, in front of the temple of Sunium : this spot, 
 the residence of Plato when he demonstrated the immortality 
 of the soul, was gilt by the rays of the rising sun. On the 
 promontory, incessantly beaten by the waves, these noble 
 ruins are still standing, like a religious pharos, or the eternal 
 monument of a divine inspiration. 
 
 We afterwards steered for Psyra and Tenedos, following the 
 line of the coast of Troy : a strong breeze from the south-west 
 afforded us a rapid passage through the strait of the Darda- 
 nelles, and the sea of Marmora. The banks of the strait are 
 covered with villages and country seats, of so cheering an as- 
 pect, that one would scarcely suspect despotism to have taken 
 up her abode in these rich valleys. This was, however, 
 brought to my full conviction, as soon as the vessel approached 
 sufficiently near to the coast, to enable me to distinguish the 
 traits of the inhabitants : I then found, on looking around me, 
 either the expression of power, or that of servitude. 
 
 On the morning of the 28th of September we anchored off 
 the point of Concapi, beneath the walls of the Seraglio. It was 
 a fine day ; and I was dazzled by the view of Constantinople. 
 The sea was covered with caiques skimming on the surface 
 
114 Ti avels in Greece, Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 of the water : the sun illumined the domes of the mosques, 
 and the sharp, gilt pillars of the minarets : the burnt column 
 rose majestically amid the groups of trees which enveloped 
 these light and sumptuous edifices. Behind this line, on the 
 opposite bank, we could descry a city, half concealed by the 
 cypresses of the gardens of the Seraglio. 
 
 Constantinople appears to me to have been originally built 
 with no other view than to gratify the sight : fearing that the 
 illusion should pass off too soon, much anxiety is displayed by 
 the moderns to imprint on the memory the fantastic shew of 
 new ornaments. 
 
 The sea was almost entirely hidden by vessels : the boiste- 
 rous sailor, come from afar, while he handled the cordage, 
 made diligent enquiries about the plague, the chief object of 
 his solicitude ; and not far from him a party of grave musul- 
 mans, seated in a kiosque projecting into the sea, smoked 
 with complacency the pipe filled with perfumes, and seemed 
 to regret that the pleasure they received from their coffee cost 
 them the trouble of drinking it. 
 
 We landed at the port, and proceeded thence to the Palace 
 of the French Ambassador at Pera, not a little terrified at 
 what we had heard of the ravages of the plague. Notwith- 
 standing they had diminished latterly, they were still very for- 
 midable. You are cautioned not to touch any one ; but it is 
 impossible to walk in the narrow and slippery streets of Con- 
 stantinople, without coming in contact with the end of a 
 shawl, or with a loose robe or caftan. 
 
 The Marquis de Riviere, Ambassador of France at the 
 Sublime Port, was at this time at Tharapia, on the Bosphorus, 
 the summer residence of the French Embassy : it required 
 several hours to reach this delightful spot; but time never 
 appeared to me so short. My curiosity was excited by all that 
 I saw : the banks were lined with charming palaces, which 
 seemed to me to be merely temporary, and to have been 
 erected with a view to a festival. I witnessed the departure 
 of the gilt, long, and narrow barks, the traces of which the 
 eye could scarcely follow, as they moved swiftly along the 
 stream. A musulman, sitting crossed-legged on a carpet of 
 Iran, at the extremity of the caique, smiled at the vigorous 
 efforts of the rowers, gently stroking his beard : his oblique 
 and disdainful looks were cast occasionally on other boats 
 which dared to contend in swiftness with his own. 
 
 On leaving Constantinople the strait narrows : meadows and 
 gardens follow in succession, until they reach the sea, into 
 which the brooks that water them flow, after a flexuous 
 course beneath lovely trees. Such are the limpid waters of 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 115 
 
 Asia, of the vale of Caracoula, and of the groves of JBuyuc- 
 dere! 
 
 I met with a very friendly reception from the Marquis, as 
 well as from his lady. I was not a stranger to his noble qua- 
 lities ; but I discovered in him daily the most exalted virtues, 
 combined with a truly captivating frankness of manners.-— 
 Another Ambassador, the Russian, M. de Stroganoff, maintains 
 all the dignity of his state at Buyucdere, which he inhabits 
 throughout the year. 
 
 The plague had a little time before found its way into the 
 corps diplomatique, and had been fatal to the son of the Aus- 
 trian Internuncio. The family, in despair, withdrew to the 
 distance of two leagues from Constantinople. Having been 
 abandoned by their domestics, they had there to encounter 
 every privation ; but such was their dread of the formidable 
 scourge which had brought this affliction on them, that not 
 any persuasive could prevail on them to return, until after a 
 lapse of two months, during which they were condemned to a 
 lonely solitude, without one companion to distract their grief. 
 
 On the smallest symptom being manifested, on the slightest 
 complaint, every one flees the object of the attack. He falls : 
 his heart receives a deadly blow from the cruelly insulated 
 state in which he finds himself, before the delirium of the 
 fever makes him insensible to the horror of his position. His 
 parched lips are tremblingly glued to the jug of water which 
 affrighted pity had placed at a distance from him ; but the 
 thirst which consumes him is not to be quenched. It often 
 happens that the convulsive dreams of the individual attacked 
 by the plague are realized : the quarter he inhabits is consumed 
 by fire. The destructive scourge reaches the house which the 
 other inmates have deserted. The flames spread to the bed of 
 sickness ; and the poor helpless wretch finds an end of his ter- 
 rible agonies in a gulf of fire. 
 
 A conflagration is the only right of petition the Turks enjoy : 
 it makes known to the government the prevailing discontents 
 of the people of Constantinople ; and has of late years been 
 employed by the janissaries in the most frequent and deplo- 
 rable manner. 
 
 In this extraordinary city I saw palaces of a most elegant 
 structure, magic fountains, dirty and narrow streets, hideous 
 hovels, and fine trees. I visited the Sandal-bezestan, and the 
 Culchilar-bezestan, where the furs are sold. Wherever 
 passed, the Turk elbowed me, the Jew made me an obsequiou 
 bow, the Greek smiled on me, the Armenian tried to cheat me, 
 the dogs followed me, and the pigeons alighted confidently on 
 my shoulder : lastly, while some were in the agonies of death, 
 
116 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 others were dancing- around me. I had a glimpse of the most 
 celebrated mosques* with their courts* and their marble porti- 
 coes supported by a forest of columns, and refreshed by jets of 
 water. A few mysterious monuments* the remains of the city 
 of Constantine* either blackened, or reddened by fires* are 
 concealed in painted houses* barricadoed* and frequently half 
 burnt. The figures* the costumes* the usages* present through- 
 out the most picturesque and most varied spectacle. It is Tyr, 
 it is Bagdad* it is the great market of the East. 
 
 Sultan Mahmoud, followed by an immense retinue* has to 
 pass through this motley assemblage on his way to prayers on 
 tridays : I saw him, mounted on a white horse* with trappings 
 of a tissue of gold and pearls* and the harness richly orna- 
 mented with diamonds. He appeared to me to be under thirty 
 years of age. His complexion is pale, but his features are 
 noble and regular : his large black eyes were busily engaged 
 in surveying his subjects* who received this expression of his 
 regard with the profoundest silence. He proceeded on* until 
 shouts of joy announced at length his entrance into the mosque 
 of Ayoub* and the forehead of each faithful Osmanli still 
 touched the dust. Such* in a few words, is the habitual 
 scene presented by Stamboul* the well protected* and well- 
 beloved of the Prophet. 
 
 During the fine autumnal season I met with the greater 
 part of this population in the plains* constituting the most 
 charming spot on the Asiatic shore: they were come Out to 
 breathe a pure air, in full freedom, and seemed to have a high 
 relish for the charms of these elysian promenades. Whole fami- 
 lies* the men on horseback* and the women shut up in a vehi- 
 cle named arabat, were to be seen climbing to the summits of 
 the Tocat* above the valley of the Grand-Seignor. 
 
 These heights were gaily decked in pelisses; while the 
 ruins of the Genoese chateau were concealed by lofty trees : 
 from the roofs* overspread with ivy, bubbling springs gushed, 
 to refresh the parties seated around. Groups of young and 
 beautiful Armenian girls formed graceful dances; and the 
 tranquillity of the scene was alone interrupted by the hollow 
 sound of the waves of the sea of Marmora* which broke in 
 rude foam against the shoals of the Cyanean isles, and the 
 rocks of Fanariki. 
 
 I was often struck* during my residence in the Levant* with 
 the contrast between the noble physiognomy and apparent 
 dignity of the men, and the degradation of their character. We 
 are disposed to feel a certain respect for individuals of a tran- 
 quil* and sometimes majestic figure* until we have suffered 
 from their cupidity and perfidy. To this remark* there are, it 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 117 
 
 is true, many exceptions ; but, beguiled by a stature above the 
 ordinary proportion, a solemn demeanour, and a venerable 
 beard, where I expected to find the patriarchal virtues, I had 
 oftimes to experience the depravity of the vilest servitude. 
 
 It is difficult to explain the duration of the Ottoman empire, 
 and more especially the existence of the Turks in Europe, on a 
 close inspection of the want of discipline of the subsidiary troops, 
 the deranged state of the finances, the ruinous condition of the 
 fortresses, and, lastly, the independence of the Pachas of Albania, 
 the Morea, Egypt, and Damascus. The title alone of Calif still 
 supports the Sultan on the most tottering throne of Europe. 
 
 The most formidable neighbour of the Turkish Empire, by 
 allowing it to subsist in Europe, is freed from the embarrass- 
 ment of forming establishments elsewhere, amid the perplexi- 
 ties it experiences in founding institutions at home. Hallowed 
 predictions, and the results of the last European war, place be- 
 yond every possible doubt the credit Russia enjoys at Constan- 
 tinople. She there possesses the advantages of power, without 
 having to dread the effect of a jealousy which such a conquest 
 as that of European Turkey would necessarily inspire. 
 
 Almost the whole of the greek merchants, more especially 
 those belonging to the most flourishing islands, such as Idra, 
 Spezzia, andYpsara, navigate under the Russian flag. Its 
 influence is established throughout, and its protection as much 
 sought after, and as anxiously desired, by the Christians of the 
 respective rites at Saint- Jean-d’ Acre, Jerusalem, and Cairo, 
 as it is at Constantinople. 
 
 During my stay at Constantinople the kiosques of the Se- 
 raglio were fresh gilt, and additions made to the build- 
 ings. It was never before, I was told, occupied by more cap- 
 tivating beauties, nor were they ever more numerous. The 
 Sultan has two sons: his mother, whom he had recently 
 lost, had in her life time a great ascendency over him. The 
 city of Athens formed a part of her numerous domains ; and 
 her protection served, in a certain degree, as a substitute for 
 that of Minerva over the city of Cecrops. 
 
 I quitted Constantinople on the 15th of October, and em- 
 barked for Smyrna on board the brig le Lezard. A few hours 
 after our departure, a sudden and violent gust of wind came 
 on : the top-sails were reefed — and, after lying-to for some 
 time, the brig at length was brought to anchor on the coast of 
 Asia, at Rodosto. The dread of the plague prevented any one 
 from landing, a circumstance by which I was not a little mor- 
 tified. A fresh breeze enabled us afterwards to reach Nagara, 
 where an officer landed to present thp Firman at the castle of 
 the Dardanelles. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol I 3 K 
 
1 18 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 We were in sight of Tenedos. An attempt was made to 
 piy up to the eastward of Metelina, the ancient Lesbos, but 
 the wind having become scanty near Cape Baba, we were 
 under the necessity of passing without the island. Notwith- 
 standing a severe squall, which had like to have driven the brig 
 on the rocks of Carabournou, we succeeded in entering the 
 port of Smyrna on the morning of Sunday the 20th of October. 
 
 I found my old companion, M. Huyot, in a very enfeebled 
 state, but recovering from the effects of an accident. He had 
 resided two months at the convent of the missions, where the 
 reverend fathers had watched over him with the most tender 
 solicitude. The tranquillity these good monks enjoy is a proof, 
 among many others which might be adduced, of the toleration 
 of the Turks of Smyrna. The Catholic church is very capa- 
 cious and richly ornamented ; the doors are constantly open ; 
 and the true believers, resident in the bazars, hear without in- 
 dignation the psalmodies of the Christians. Interments, pre- 
 ceded by a cross, oftentimes fall in with the obsequies of a 
 Musulman ; the baptisms and marriages of the Greeks and 
 Latins have to encounter the train of a circumcision ; and the 
 gilt cope of the priest comes in peaceable contact, in the street, 
 with the beniche of an Osmanli, or the veil of a Turkish 
 lady. 
 
 The spirit of commerce which prevails in the city of Smyrna 
 thus softens down asperities, and brings together men of every 
 sect and persuasion. This great factory presents unceasingly 
 a mixture of European manners and oriental customs : lovely 
 females, tastefully dressed in the French style, are to be seen 
 passing, with nimble steps, through a long file of camels be- 
 longing to a caravan of Seyde, or of Damascus. 
 
 Greek ladies, seated at their windows, engage in a lively 
 conversation with the passengers beneath, while others amuse 
 themselves with dancing in groups in returning from the 
 baths, or repair in parties to the delightful plains of Bourna- 
 bat— all feel the influence of a fine climate, that of smiling and 
 voluptuous Ionia. 
 
 The theatre of the ancient city of Smyrna stood on a sloping 
 hill. From the banks on which the spectators were seated, the 
 view commanded the city and gulf. Vestiges of the proscenium, 
 the form of which is pretty accurately defined, still remain. 
 
 Smyrna is said to have been founded either by Alexander, 
 or by Lysimachus : a colony brought from Ephesus bestowed on 
 the new city the name of a quarter of the metropolis* 
 
 The chkteau, built on the summit of a mountain, has 
 nearly fallen to mins : a janissary is at the same time the com- 
 mandant and the garrison. He was laboriously employed in 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 119 
 
 loading two iron guns, the discharge of which was to announce, 
 on the following day, the festival of the Courbam-Beyram, 
 the Easter of the Musulmans.* He seemed quite ashamed of 
 his awkwardness. A Greek who accompanied me, abused 
 him in bad Italian, in the lowest tone of voice, but, in over- 
 looking his performance, assumed an air of the most respectful 
 submission. 
 
 An antique head, in an eroded state, placed over the gate of 
 the chateau, seems to have belonged to a statue of Bacchus, or 
 of Apollo, rather than to that of an Amazon, although Tourne- 
 fort points it out as such. 
 
 From the top of a high tower a deep valley is seen, watered 
 by the Meles, onthebank of which tradition says Homer drew 
 his first breath, on which account the name of Melesigenes has 
 been bestowed on him. This river, thus ennobled, flows after- 
 wards beneath two aqueducts, and, finally, beneath the bridge 
 of the caravans : throughout nearly the whole of its course it 
 is overshadowed by lofty trees. 
 
 M. Mechain, son of the celebrated astronomer of that name, 
 Consul-General of France at Smyrna, gave me a very polite re- 
 ception, and provided me with the means of visiting the ruins of 
 Ephesus. Ismael, his head janissary, was ordered to provide 
 horses, to make the necessary preparations for our departure, 
 and to escort us. A young Frenchman, attached to the con- 
 sulate, who speaks the Greek, Turk, and Arabic languages 
 with great facility, joined our caravan; and thus, accompanied 
 by a pupil of M. Huyot, who begged to be of the party, and my 
 servant, we gaily took the road of SediceuiL 
 
 Count Auchepied, consul of the king of the Netherlands, 
 and one of the richest bankers of Smyrna, inhabits, at Sedi- 
 ceuil, a fine house, with gardens laid out in the European 
 style. He has a very interesting family, and the reception we 
 met with here was truly hospitable. 
 
 Early the next morning our caravan set out from SediceuiL 
 The road, which was scarcely to be traced, led through a plain 
 surrounded by mountains, and intersected by the small river 
 Tertulitthai, and the brook Durlikeuil : the latter bears the 
 name of a small village. The banks of the river were lined 
 with cypresses, with the agnus castus, and rose-laurels. [Lauras 
 nobilis.] We fell in with a small Jewish caravans [tchifout] 
 it was terrified on seeing the approach of a dozen armed men 
 advancing full speed, for this was the ordinary pace prescribed 
 to us by Ismael, who led the way. Our horses were full of 
 spirit, the weather was delightfully pleasant, and in a few in- 
 
 This festival is celebrated on the first three days of the moon of Schowah 
 
120 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 stants we crossed the plain of Develikeuil, and the valley of 
 Palamon-Deressi. Thge cavalcade did not stop until we reached 
 Ghiridli-Kawe, where we breakfasted in a cottage inhabited 
 by a Turkish peasant. The bed of a torrent leads the tra- 
 veller through a rocky vale : this spot, known by the name 
 of Alaman-Bogazi, is wild and romantic ; sharp rocks display 
 their dark and denticulated points, above thick tufts of laurels, 
 holms, and olive trees. This rocky ground runs to a consi- 
 derable distance before it reaches the station of Alaman- 
 Bogazi, where there is a coffee-house for entertainment: 
 here Ismael halted, according to the practice of the Musul- 
 inans. 
 
 The traveller often meets, in the most deserted spots of Asia 
 Minor, with small huts : a Turk, a poor dervich, sometimes 
 offers him rice, water, and bad fruit, but always coffee. After 
 having crossed the Caystre in a ferry-boat, I saw, on its banks, 
 the remains of a quay belonging to one of the suburbs of Ephe- 
 sus, and the foundations of several large monuments. We now 
 followed the direction of the sea-shore until we came to the 
 ruins of Neapolis, but did not reach Scala-Nova until the night 
 had set in : this small port is become the entrepot and magazine 
 of a great part of the corn of Asia Minor. It is situated oppo- 
 site the island of Samos, the whole of the wine produced in 
 which is shipped for the account of the merchants of Scala- 
 Nova. This city is built on a small hill of a sugar-loaf form : 
 I have not yet been able to conceive how our horses, excellent 
 as they were, contrived to reach the house of the French Con- 
 sul, by such streets, not only steep and winding, but most 
 wretchedly paved. 
 
 Heles Oglou, Aga, commands a part of Cana and Ionia : 
 his usual residence is at Scala-Nova : his government com- 
 mences at the gardens of Smyrna, lying without the gates, 
 and extends to a distance of twelve leagues beyond the 
 Meander. He is very firm in administering justice, the forms 
 of which are prompt and severe. Several traits are, however, 
 cited, both of his sagacity, and the impartiality of his decisions. 
 He has several commanders under him ; and among these is 
 Gumuch, Aga, proprietor of Miletus and Magnesia. 
 
 On the day after my arrival, I was presented to Heles Oglou. 
 He resides in a small house, the appearance and furniture of 
 which do not correspond with the immense riches he is said to 
 possess. He was seated on a carpet at one of the extremities 
 of a small apartment ; and, without doubt to affect an air of 
 much occupation, and solicitude for the welfare of his people, 
 dictated to no less than four secretaries, who were on their 
 knees before him. These poor devils did not dare to turn the 
 
121 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 head aside, to look on the strangers who were introduced to 
 the audience of their master. In the courts in front of the 
 house, or chateau, as it is called, I saw a great number of 
 guards and Bosniacs, together with Albanians who amused 
 themselves with firing at the target, and young Moors em- 
 ployed in breaking in horses of uncommon beauty. Heles 
 Oglou paid very little attention to us ; but, to atone for his 
 neglect, sent the consul a dish of small fish of a detestable 
 quality. He has a striking physiognomy, and is both feared 
 and beloved by his people. It would not be difficult to come 
 to an understanding with him, if a project should be enter- 
 tained of searching for antiquities, in a province covered with 
 the ruins of so many opulent cities. The consul spoke in 
 terms of the warmest enthusiasm, as did all the members of 
 his family, of a young and beautiful female slave, by birth a 
 Sicilian, the favourite of Heles Oglou, and entire mistress of 
 his confidence. She had given many proofs of her benevolence 
 and firmness of character ; and had tempered, by her soft 
 blandishments, the despotic disposition of the aga. 
 
 At day-break, on the following morning, we were on our 
 route towards ilphesus, and had again to cross the ruins of 
 Neapolis. I examined the principal temple of that city, which 
 appeared to me to have been circular, and built of large blocks 
 of marble. A rocky mountain, of difficult ascent, leads, by a 
 devious course, to the extremity of the plain of Ephesus, which 
 is about three leagues in length, from the sea- side to the mos- 
 que, known by the name of the church of St. John. The prin- 
 cipal ruins are about midway from the coast to the hills by 
 which the plain is skirted : the latter is covered with heath, 
 and intersected by the rivulets which descend from the moun- 
 tains, and by the flexuous branches of the Caystre. This little 
 river, after crossing the plain, falls into the sea near a spot 
 where the vestiges of a quay point out the site of the port. 
 This immense space is strewed with fragments of columns, 
 and with the ruins of houses the distribution of which may 
 be distinctly traced. Beneath are subterraneous channels for 
 the conveyance of water ; and around, an infinite number of 
 pieces of granite, marble, and porphyry. An amphitheatre 
 the plan of which is distinctly marked, long aqueducts, and 
 triumphal arches — every thing, in short, proudly proclaims 
 the elegant and magnificent Ephesus. 
 
 The hills which surround this plain are entirely excavated 
 and vaulted beneath: at every step sepulchres and epitaphs 
 are blended with the ostentatious inscriptions of an arch of 
 triumph. To the right the Pharos rises as if the navigator 
 were still approaching this deserted strand : to the left, in ad- 
 
122 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 vancing towards the temple, fennels eight or ten feet in height, 
 and wild fig-trees, coneeal from the view the immense heaps 
 of ruins lying beneath. 
 
 The ancient road led from the port to the city, and was 
 formed of square blocks of marble, or of the stone drawn from 
 the mountain, which is a species of palombina. This road com- 
 mences at the angle of the quay, extends in front of the ruins 
 of the magazines of the Stadium and of the theatre, passing 
 thence between two mountains into the valley in which 
 the principal edifices of the city stood. The arena of the Sta- 
 dium was on a level with this road, and the steps hewn in the 
 rock rose to the summit of the hill. The vestiges of a portico 
 point out the probable site of the Forum. It appeared to me 
 that the Stadium must have contained thrice as many specta- 
 tors as the coliseum of Rome : in general, the theatres of that 
 capital of the world were sufficiently capacious for its popula- 
 tion, while those of Ephesus had to expect the assemblage of 
 all Greece. 
 
 The entrance of the Stadium was decorated by two grand 
 porticoes, one' of which is in a ruinous state. The one still 
 standing is of marble : two of the layers have been restored by 
 fragments brought from another edifice. There are several 
 Greek inscriptions on it, together with a few bas-reliefs, very 
 much decayed, and placed without order. 
 
 In following the road which leads hence to the brow of the 
 hill, I came to another theatre. On an arcade were two in- 
 scriptions; but these I could not read, because some busy 
 traveller had filled them up with plaster. This theatre, like- 
 wise hewn in the rock, is of a surprising magnitude : in what- 
 ever part of its enclosure the spectator was placed, he had in 
 front of him the sea, the circus, the naumachia, the mountains 
 of the gulf, the port, and the temple of Diana. 
 
 Proceeding onward I came to a temple with its columns 
 and entablatures : it was of the corinthian order, and of the 
 greatest beauty. One of the angles of the pediment appeared 
 to me to be of the dimension of the fragments which are pre- 
 served in the garden Colonna at Rome. 
 
 Behind these grand ruins stands a theatre much smaller 
 than the former : it was probably the Odeum. It is circular j 
 and its steps, hewn in the mountain, were without doubt 
 coated with marble. Lastly, the immense baths are still 
 supported by the remains of an aqueduct against which they r 
 were built, between two mountains now covered with scat- 
 tered fragments of more or less note. This interesting research 
 led me to the walls of the city, by which the spectator may judge, 
 with a certain degree of precision, of its immense circumference. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 123 
 
 1 met with some difficulty in reaching, on a sultry day, the 
 vast enclosure of the temple of Diana. The ensemble ap- 
 peared to me to be of the size of the Louvre and Tuileries, 
 comprehending the gardens. The mass of substructions on 
 which the principal edifice was raised still subsists ; but not 
 any of the columns, a part of which had, however, been 
 transported to Constantinople, are standing. Strong walls of 
 stone and brick point out that the posterior part of the temple, 
 on the side of the opisthodomos, has undergone a repair. 
 Vaults, constructed with large blocks of freestone, are pro- 
 vided with an infinite number of passages, which might give 
 the most precise dimensions of the edifice, with the site of the 
 pillars, and that of the walls of the cella . 
 
 A view of these gigantic buildings suffices to give an idea of 
 the vast sums their erection must have cost the nations of 
 Greece and Asia. Behind the temple of Diana is to be seen 
 a circular monument ornamented with columns, with another 
 of a square form, and, in the centre, a wide space which was 
 paved with marble. Another edifice, placed over vaults, has 
 fallen down altogether. The ruins are so piled as to form a 
 mount of considerable dimensions, surrounded by several 
 smaller ones, the whole formed of shattered remnants which 
 bear the marvellous stamp of the exquisite taste of the Greeks, 
 at the brilliant epoch of their power, and of their triumphs in 
 arts and arms. 
 
 What a subject of powerful emotions is that of this great 
 destruction ! What a dreadful and singular lesson is here 
 afforded by a walk of one league in extent, during which we 
 tread on ruins at every step, and where plains, mountains, and 
 valleys, covered with materials wrought with the most ad- 
 mirable skill, are become the asylum of wolves, and of innu- 
 merable wild boars ! 
 
 The gate of the Persecution is a marble monument, con- 
 structed of parts of edifices of an anterior date, purposely di- 
 lapidated : it reminded me of the monuments I had seen at 
 Rome. Two bas-reliefs were fixed, without any regard to 
 symmetry, over the gate : the one representing the death of 
 Hector has been lately removed by an Englishman;* but the 
 operation was so clumsily performed, that the car of Achilles, 
 and the body of Hector, still remain to tempt another specu- 
 lator. I tried to remove the other bas-relief, but, being un- 
 
 * This man, named Nichols, a Russian by birth, but of English extraction, 
 had not the slightest taste for the fine arts, but was led by mercenary motives 
 to this hazardous enterprise, in accomplishing which, not having the permis- 
 sion of the aga, he had great difficulties to surmount. — Editor. 
 
124 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land , 
 
 provided with cords and the necessary implements, failed in 
 the attempt. 
 
 A late earthquake has thrown down this gate, which was in 
 such excellent preservation when I made a drawing of it. 
 Around it, to the extent of more than a mile, the earth is now 
 covered with a frightful chaos of stones and fragments of 
 marble, piled in heaps : friezes, pediments, architraves, me- 
 topes, statues, each object, in short, which once charmed the 
 sight by its regularity and perfection, now affrights it by the 
 confusion of its dismembered parts. 
 
 I followed the line of an aqueduct which still collects the 
 waters of the numerous torrents that flow from the mountains, 
 but which no one frequents to quench his thirst. This river, 
 having its bed supported by walls of a stupendous height, at 
 length meets with a breach covered with wild vines and 
 flowering shrubs of luxuriant growth : it here falls in a cas- 
 cade, and its limpid sheet breaks against the dome of a de- 
 cayed mosque, and the ruins of Turkish baths. The most re- 
 mote ages, and the ages of barbarism, have here jointly in- 
 scribed their annals : what sublime reflexions, mingled with 
 regret, arise from the contemplation of a scene where every 
 object so nobly proclaims death ! 
 
 The citadel, erected on mount Pion, commanded that part 
 of the city beneath which is the great mosque : it is an ex- 
 quisitely fine model of moresque architecture, and even su- 
 perior to the Alhambra in plan and execution. It is constructed 
 entirely of marble of a dazzling whiteness. The gate, the 
 ornaments of which are admirably wrought, and of the high- 
 est polish, leads to a spacious court planted with fine trees, in 
 the centre of which a basin receives a constant supply of 
 limpid water. The lightness of the arches, supported by 
 columns forty-five feet in height, the elegant workmanship of 
 the vaults, whatever, in short, belongs to this edifice, is rap- 
 turous and wonderful. 
 
 We dined in the vicinity of the three or four miserable huts 
 which compose modem Ephesus. The air is here insalubrious, 
 and the inhabitants sickly and pale. An aga, as wretched as 
 the people he governs, was, like them, dying of fever. It is 
 remarkable that a residence in or in the proximity of cities 
 which have fallen into decay, is infinitely dangerous : I have 
 seen frequent examples of this, in Italy, in the Morea, and in 
 Syria. Throughout, death seems to be jealous of reigning ex- 
 clusively over the places he has subdued. 
 
 The general aspect of Ephesus brought to my recollection 
 that of the Pontine marshes. At the moment when the sun 
 immerged in the sea, to cool his celestial fires, the harmony of 
 
125 
 
 In 1817 and 1818 . 
 
 the lineaments, the warm vapour of the distances, and the veil 
 of this mysterious hour, formed a soothing and melancholy en- 
 semble, superior to the finest landscapes of Claude of Lorraine. 
 One day, perhaps, I said to myself, a native of the Floridas, 
 influenced by similar motives, will visit the ruins of my 
 country, where, as in Ephesus, a few names only will survive, 
 amid the mouldered remains of the cedar, the dust of marble, 
 and the rust of bronze. I shall not soon forget the soft but 
 gloomy impression this evening made on me : the echoes, con- 
 cealed in deep conduits, repeated the dullest sounds; the 
 rustling of the wind among the heath resembled subterraneous 
 noises; and the imagination was impressed with the expiring 
 notes of the hymn of the priests of Diana, or the pious strains 
 of the primitive Christians around the apostle of Ephesus- 
 
 We had constant rains on our way back. We should have 
 halted, but swarms of insects drove us from the wretched 
 hovels established for the convenience of travellers on the 
 route. The caravan, therefore, galloping night and day, 
 reached Smyrna at length, worn out with fatigue. 
 
 I should have devoted a much greater portion of my time to 
 the study of this celebrated part of Asia, if I had not been 
 constrained to seize the opportunity the departure of the brig 
 le Lizard for Syria afforded me : I should have ascended the 
 course of the Meander, and have visited Magnesia, Sardes, 
 and Samos. The season was, however, too far advanced to en- 
 able me to undertake this ; and I embarked for Palestine on 
 the 29th of October. I quitted M, Huyot with regret ; but 
 not without exacting a promise from him, that he would join 
 me in the month of march following, by which time it was 
 thought he would be perfectly re-established at Alexandria. 
 If his health had permitted him to fulfil this engagement, the 
 result of our travels would have been much more satisfac- 
 tory. 
 
 After having got under way at four in the morning, with a 
 gentle breeze from the north-east, the brig had to work to 
 windward the whole of the day, and found considerable diffi- 
 culty in doubling Cape Carabournou. On the 31st, at seven 
 in the morning, we were abreast of the island of Scio : the 
 city, which appeared to me to be of considerable extent, is 
 surrounded by country-houses. Pleasant villages are inter- 
 spersed in the valleys, which are in a high state of cultivation : 
 the rocks which encompass them resemble, in colour and form, 
 the mountains in the environs of Toulon. The inhabitants of 
 Scio are remarkable for the amenity of their manners. They 
 owe to the cultivation of the Lentiscus, the shrub which 
 yields the gum mastich, several privileges which make them 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No 5, VoL I. 3 h 
 
126 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land , 
 
 not a little proud ; and, among these, that of wearing, like 
 the Osmanlis, the white turban, is not the least in their esti- 
 mation. I made a drawing of the islands of Spalmadori, and, 
 opposite to Scio, of the city of Tchesma in Asia Minor. This 
 strand, which witnessed the defeat ot the galleys of Antio- 
 chus, one hundred and ninety one years before the Chris- 
 tian era, saw likewise, in 1770, the entire destruction of the 
 Turkish fleet by the Russians : several of the Ottoman ships 
 were burned; and the flames, which lighted the massa- 
 cre of a great part of the crews, favoured the escape of the 
 remainder. From this dreadful blow — from this terrible ca- 
 tastrophe, the Turkish marine has never recovered. 
 
 A fresh breeze from the north-west afforded me a rapid view 
 of Nacri, Lipso, Lero, Colmin£, Stancho, Nicero, Biscopi, Car- 
 chi, and, lastly, Rhodes. On the night of the first of Novem- 
 ber, the sea rose in billows, the vivid lightnings flashed, and, 
 the wind still augmenting, we lost sight of the coast of Cara- 
 mania. From the third until the seventh in the morning 
 the storm raged with unabated fury. 
 
 The winter evenings are very dreary on shipboard, and in- 
 spire, in boisterous weather, an invincible sadness. I vainly 
 interrogated myself why I had quitted my country, my friends, 
 and calm repose, when the waves covered the vessel’s deck, 
 when the moon was concealed by black clouds, across which 
 the lightnings gleamed, and when the fatigued and disheart- 
 ened crew ceased to hear the captain’s voice. The best 
 reasons then appear either frivolous or absurd. Constant suf- 
 ferings, and dangers to which we appear to be fruitlessly ex- 
 posed, are not, however, entirely lost on us : great and pro- 
 found impressions give a new stimulus to the mind, and exalt 
 it to the pitch of the noblest meditations. It is perhaps on 
 the deck of a vessel beaten by the storm that the world is best 
 judged, and its grandeurs and miseries most truly appreciated. 
 What a destiny is that of the navigator ! He sets out on his 
 voyage full of life and hope : suddenly exposed to the horrors 
 of shipwreck, he has still to struggle against his destiny, to 
 form an estimate of the danger, to calculate the duration of his 
 own agonies, and, lastly, to have recourse to expedients which 
 may lead to his inevitable destruction. 
 
 On the morning of the sixth of November land was seen 
 from the mast-head. A general anxiety was displayed, to 
 catch, through a thick haze, the glimpse of a mountain, the 
 form of which each drew, according to his own fancy, in a dif- 
 ferent way. Mount Carmel was at length descried, having for 
 its base an uneven strand : this was the bay of Caifa. 
 
 The brig came to anchor opposite the small village of Caifa, 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 127 
 
 at the foot of Mount Carmel.* We had to cross the bay, in a 
 boat, to land at Saint- Jean-d’ Acre. The sea was still rough, 
 with high surges, so that we had great difficulty in reaching 
 the small port. 
 
 The high walls of the pier have fallen down in an irregular 
 manner; but a part of the breastworks, surmounted by battle- 
 ments, are still standing. We entered by a breach to avoid the 
 surf which covered the mole, the work of the crusaders, with 
 its foam. 
 
 Saint- Jean-d’ Acre, the ancient Ptolemais, is surrounded by 
 high walls and deep moats : the new fortifications now form a 
 double enclosure, terrassed and flanked by bastions. It is also 
 defended by the old ramparts thrown up by the Christians, and 
 by the recent works of European engineers : its form is that of 
 a semi-circle, having the sea in front. The waves break on the 
 towers with which the beach is lined. 
 
 In this city, a mixture of gothic ruins and modern construc- 
 tions is every where to be seen : here, a church in an entirely 
 ruinous state meets the view ; there, monasteries, a palace, and 
 hospital, alike abandoned ; still further, a new, rich, and ele- 
 gant mosque ; minarets, the bases of which rise from amid 
 heaps of rubbish ; and, lastly, the seraglio, the gardens of 
 which, laid out in terraces, separate the ramparts. Sycamores, 
 orange-trees, and the finest palms, nod their heads gracefully over 
 this motley assemblage ; and this view alone softens the sadness 
 and disgust which a residence at Saint- Jean-d’ Acre inspires. 
 
 The streets are narrow and filthy ; the houses, built of free- 
 stone, low, huddled, with flat roofs, and small doors, resemble 
 prisons. The terraces of the different habitations communi- 
 cate with each other by clumsy arcades. 
 
 The European consuls reside in the kans,* which are large 
 square buildings, having in the centre a court, and which, in 
 times of difficulty, become fortresses. In the interior, the as- 
 cent to the upper apartments is by steep and narrow stair- 
 
 * The name of Syria, bestowed by the Greeks on the country where I 
 landed, is probably derived from that of Assyria, a celebrated empire of Asia, 
 the limits of which were extended to this coast at the time the Assyrians of 
 Ninevah made this part of Syria a province of their empire. 
 
 Syria, at that epoch, did not comprehend either Phenicia or Palestine. It 
 is named by the Arabs Burr el-Cham , or the country to the left; for it is in this 
 way that they distinguish all the space comprehended in the area from Alex- 
 andretta to the Euphrates, and from Gaza to the Desert, taking the Mediterra- 
 nean as the base of this area. 
 
 Damascus, the reputed capital of Syria, is by them called el-Cham. Mecca 
 therefore becomes the centre between the Yemen , or country to the right, and 
 Barr el-Cham, or the country to the left. 
 
 f Likewise known by the name of okels. 
 
128 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 cases, which scarcely afford a passage to a single person : three 
 flights of wide corridors, opened in arcades, face the court, in 
 the centre of which is a fountain. There it was that I was 
 greeted by the hospitality of M. Pillavoine, the consul of France 
 in Syria : he found some difficulty in providing me with a cor- 
 ner in which I could be lodged with any degree of comfort. 
 
 Eight or ten thousand Turks, Arabs, Jews, and Christians, 
 are to be seen parading the streets of Saint- Jean-d’ Acre, and 
 the infected bazars, with an aspect at once savage and sombre. 
 The senses each in its turn, are disagreeably affected by the 
 most hideous deformities : beings, who seem to have risen 
 from their graves, crawl about half naked, wrapped up in 
 large blankets of a dirty white, striped with black, and the 
 head muffled in rags which serve as a turban. At each step, 
 at the side of the victims of opthalmia, are to be seen the 
 victims of Gezzar Pacha,* either blind, or wretches without a 
 nose, and without ears. This assemblage of men, sluggish, 
 miserable, and disgusting, may be constantly seen lying in the 
 sun beneath the walls of the gardens of the seraglio. Soliman 
 Pacha, who inhabits this palace, seldom stirs abroad to show 
 himself to the public ; this successor of Gezzar, deaf to the 
 cries of an unfortunate population, spends his life in myrtle 
 groves, beneath the shade of plaintains watered by deep and 
 limpid brooks. 
 
 The conduct of affairs is entirely abandoned by him to a Jew, 
 named Haim Farhi. This man, who was the intendant of 
 Gezzar Pacha, preserved the confidence of his master by sub- 
 mitting implicitly to his whimsical caprices. The tyrant dou- 
 bled his wages, and heaped benefits on him, on the very day 
 when he had his nose mutilated in so cruel a manner, that 
 this sarraf f has ever since been horribly disfigured. Haim, 
 who is supple and adroit, has hoarded together incalculable 
 treasures. The present pacha of Saint- Jean-d' Acre owes to 
 the intrigues of this Jew the advantage of having been chosen 
 the successor of Gezzar : when the latter was on his death 
 bed, this puppet was brought forward, and placed foremost in 
 the rank of those who paid to him their dissembled homages 
 and respects. Soliman and Haim Farhi are engaged in an ex- 
 clusive and despotic commerce : they are the sole proprietors 
 of the immense grounds which surround Saint- Jean-d’ Acre 
 and Nazareth. The extortions, the oppressions, and the ty- 
 ranny of the details of this odious government, inspire the 
 most profound contempt, for those who submit to it. 
 
 Haim Farhi is the chief of the Hebrews of Syria. He has 
 
 * El-Gezza?', the butcher. 
 
 f Confidential secretary 
 
129 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 a sumptuous palace at Damascus, but received me in a small 
 house, where he was surrounded by his family, and a great 
 number of slaves. I was admitted on the following day to the 
 Pacha's audience. Soliman is about sixty years of age : he 
 was born in Georgia; and his fine figure recommended him to 
 Gezzar, whose slave he was. By that depraved character So- 
 liman was appointed Pacha of Seyde, the ancient Sidon ; but 
 the ungrateful favourite conspired against his patron, was de- 
 tected, and exiled. He wandered for a long time among the 
 Bedouin Arabs ; but, being at length wearied of this life of in- 
 dependence, threw himself at the feet of his master. For some 
 minutes, with the cimeter drawn to sever the head from the 
 body of the proscribed fugitive, Gezzar hesitated ; but at 
 length pardoned him, and gave him back his pachalik. 
 
 I found Soliman squatted at one extremity of a sopha em- 
 broidered with gold, his officers and mamelouks being all as- 
 sembled on the occasion : they were silent and attentive, with 
 their hands laid across the breast, and scarcely dared to smile at 
 the jests of a buffoon who was, it would seem, a great court 
 favourite. The Pacha seated me at his side, and smoked while 
 he paid a particular attention to my side-arm, and every part 
 of my uniform. He politely granted what I asked of him 
 through the medium of the drogoman. Coffee was served up 
 in gold cups set round with diamonds, with which the pipe and 
 poignard of Soliman were covered. He put but few questions 
 to me ; but insisted that I should inspect the new fortifications 
 of Saint- Jean-d 'Acre, and his Arabian breed of horses, which 
 seemed to interest him most particularly. To his kindness, 
 and to the terror he inspires, I was indebted for the perfect 
 tranquillity and facility with which I was enabled to delineate 
 the most remarkable spots. The curiosity we excited in pass- 
 ing through the bezestans, was not productive of the slightest 
 affront, or the smallest menace. Wherever my curiosity led 
 me, I stopped to make sketches, and, among them, that of 
 Saint- Jean-d' Acre, at the very spot where this city was unsuc- 
 cessfully cannonaded by the French troops under General Buo- 
 naparte. With the help of the English, Gezza Pacha sustained 
 a vigorous and well directed fire, and the most desperate as- 
 saults : the capture of Saint- Jean-d’ Acre was to be the signal 
 to sixty thousand Druses to join the French troops; and it is 
 probable that this would have decided the fate of the Turkish 
 empire. 
 
 The foreign consuls feel the necessity of affording each other 
 a mutual aid against such a government, and live together ac- 
 cordingly on the most amicable terms. M. Catafago, a rich 
 Greek merchant, the consul of Russia, received me in a sa~ 
 
130 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 loon furnished in the turkish style : his wife and children, 
 seated on a very low and wide divan, or ottoman, were dressed 
 in the turkish costume, with fillets, ornamented with sequins, 
 bound round the head. They wore velvet robes embroidered 
 with gold; and their hair, in tresses and perfumed, hung 
 on the shoulders. Two of the young ladies were pretty, but 
 listless, and motionless as statues, insomuch that at first sight 
 one would scarcely have suspected them to be animated 
 beings. 
 
 M. Malagamba, the English consul, resides in the same kan 
 with M. Pillavoine and the missionaries, who have a small 
 church in this vast edifice, gradually falling into decay. 
 
 The officers of the Dalmatian and Bosniac militia gave me 
 pressing invitations to take coffee with them at their quarters, 
 when I made my sketches on the ramparts : several of them 
 accompanied me in my rural excursions, and offered me their 
 horses. The Pacha’s first black eunuch, a young Ethiopian 
 admirably skilled in all the military exercises, afforded me 
 the spectacle of the djeryd, in the vast plain which surrounds 
 the remains of the French redoubt. His Arabian horses, of 
 the breed of Guelf£, were selected from the haras of Solyman, 
 whose confident and particular favourite he was. 
 
 His admiration, his astonishment, on seeing a sketch, set all 
 comparison at defiance. He enquired of me, through an in- 
 terpreter, whether the secrets of my art did not go the length 
 of enabling me to divine what was passing in the interior of 
 the edifices the external form of which he could trace on the 
 paper. It was not without some difficulty that I quieted his 
 apprehensions on this head ; but still I cannot help fancying 
 that he was not fully convinced of my innocence. 
 
 On the 12th of November I quitted Saint-Jean-d’Acre with 
 a pretty numerous caravan, which was joined by several offi- 
 cers belonging to the brig. At this time the Abb6 Janson left 
 us, to visit Mount Libanon, and the religious establishments of 
 Sidon and Damascus. After having traversed Caiifa, and 
 passed beneath Mount Carmel, we came to a sandy beach, and 
 to a range of barren hills stretching along the sea shore, from 
 which they are distant about a league. The ruins of an ex- 
 tensive city, and those of the last fortress built by the crusa- 
 ders, rise above tufts of mastics and carob trees. Athmatha 
 displays her long deserted towers ; her port choked with sand ; 
 her ramparts, once the noble refuge of the Christians of Pales- 
 tine ; and her gardens, now become impassable morasses which 
 breathe an infected air. 
 
 We were overtaken by the night near the most wretched 
 hamlet in Syria : the kan ofTantoura was occupied by a cara- 
 
131 
 
 In 181 7 and 1818. 
 
 van which had arrived before ours, and we were forced to take 
 up our lodgings in small huts, the habitual residence of toads, 
 and of hungry insects, whose bites molested us to such a de- 
 gree, that we sallied forth and kindled a large fire. Around 
 it the Arabs danced and sung during the remainder of the 
 night ; but their festivity did not dispel the gloomy recollec- 
 tion of Tantoura, which I still retain. 
 
 As I was particularly anxious to visit Cesarea, we set out be- 
 fore day-light. This city, the position of which is similar to 
 that of Athmatha, is entirely deserted; but its ramparts, port, 
 and monuments, are so well preserved as to excite an inex- 
 pressible surprise. The streets and squares still remain ; and 
 if the gates which belonged to its lofty and formidable walls, 
 were to be re-built, Cesarea might still be inhabited and de- 
 fended. A calamitous event appears to have been either fatal 
 to, or to have put to flight, its numerous population within 
 these few years, perhaps even within a few months. The walls 
 of the church are blackened with the smoke of the incense of 
 the Christians ; and the pulpit, which resounded with the elo- 
 quent discourses of the courageous and enlightened bishops, is 
 still entire. The tombs are open, and the bones heaped around 
 them are the sole testimonies of the past residence of man in 
 this appaling solitude. The silence which prevails at Cesarea, 
 is alone interrupted by the regular and monotonous noise of 
 the sea : the waves seem indignant at having to encounter 
 useless obstacles, and to obey those who are now no more ; 
 they break furiously, and cover with foam the jetty and quays 
 of the port. Their reiterated efforts have shaken the enormous 
 masses of granite ; the tower of the pharos is dilapidated ; and 
 the stair-case and partitions of the cMteau thrown open to the 
 birds of prey who there take up their abode. 
 
 Cesarea, named by the Arabs Qaysaryeh, has still to boast 
 of a great number of superb columns, several of which are 
 entire, and in fine preservation ; others were, in the middle 
 ages, employed in the construction of the mole. The base of 
 this edifice, which projected a considerable length into the 
 sea, was formed of the richest materials. Near its ruins are to 
 be seen blocks of rose colour granite, of the proportion of eight 
 feet, having Latin inscriptions on them, which are, however, 
 by the abrasion of the stone, become too illegible to be deci- 
 phered. In proportion as we protracted our stay, the sea 
 became more boisterous, insomuch that we were thoroughly 
 wetted by the minute particles of the divided spray : I was 
 thus constrained, notwithstanding my curiosity, to quit the 
 port of noble but dejected Cesarea. 
 
 For the space of two leagues we had still to follow the track 
 
132 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 of a rugged and desolate strand : we then quitted the sea- 
 shore to cross the barren plains which lie in front of Humcalad. 
 Disgusted by the smallness and dirtiness of the kan, the caravan 
 drew up in close order beneath a sycamore, near an abundant 
 well : young females, not devoid of beauty, brought thither, 
 with majestic steps, Rachel’s pitcher. The cheykh-el-beled,* 
 a venerable old man, presented to us a kid, oaten cakes, and 
 fuel. Our supper was not long in preparing, for we were both 
 oppressed with hunger and in much need of repose. 
 
 After this frugal repast, and a refreshing sleep, we proceeded 
 on our route to Jaffa, where we arrived on the 15th of Novem- 
 ber. In keeping along the sea-shore, the traveller’s feet sink 
 into a sand, the dazzling whiteness of which fatigues the sight, 
 and it is not until his near approach to the city that he suddenly 
 finds enormous fig-trees, fountains, orange-trees, and tombs. 
 
 Jaffa, the ancient Joppa, named by the Arabs Yafa, has re- 
 cently been enlarged, embellished, and fortified, by Mehemet 
 Aga, the governor of whom I shall have occasion to speak 
 hereafter : he was absent, having very recently set out for Na- 
 bolos, the ancient Sichem, to quell an insurrection. 
 
 The port of Jaffa is small, and dangerous during nine months 
 of the year. Ialighted at the convent of the Fathers, the reverend 
 missionaries of the Holy Land. These monks received us with 
 a degree of coolness, for which they afterwards made amends 
 by an excess of kindness. Their house is very poor ; few alms 
 are collected ; the pilgrimages are difficult of accomplishment ; 
 and the lot of the Christians in Syria is more deplorable than 
 ever. They come, with trembling steps, to hear the mass in 
 a small, vaulted, subterraneous, and obscure chapel, which 
 brings to mind the worship of the primitive Christians in the 
 catacombs. Subject to unceasing persecutions, these poor 
 creatures repair hither, to forget, at the foot of the altar, their 
 sacrifices, and the profound misery in which they are plunged. 
 
 On my return from Jerusalem, I shall have some observa- 
 tions to offer on Jaffa. We set out for Rama at three in the 
 afternoon 5 and this place I reached at night, followed by an 
 interpreter. The horse on which I was mounted was so high 
 mettled, that I was obliged to leave my fellow-travellers be- 
 hind. We were recommended to the/uperior of the convent 
 at Rama, a Spaniard, naturally blunt, of a large stature, and 
 possessed of a Stentorian voice. This good Monk did not ap- 
 pear to me to be resigned to the martyrdom with which these 
 poor ecclesiastics are constantly menaced. The Convent of 
 
 * The commandant of the village ; he is usually selected from among the 
 old men. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 133 
 
 Rama is spacious, vaulted, and has the air of a fortress : my 
 chamber, which was very neat and clean, and the best that 
 could be provided, was on a terrace surrounded by palm-trees. 
 
 To reach Jerusalem, the traveller has to cross, for the ex- 
 tent of two or three miles, plains tolerably well cultivated, 
 those of the ancient Arimathea and Lydda. The rising sun 
 illumined our route, and we reached the hills of Latroun. 
 i( This,” said the Drogoman to me, “ is the birth place of Ba- 
 “ rabbas, the murderer and thief: those who look down into 
 “ this well for a considerable time are sure to see the figure 
 “ of this man of blood.” 
 
 We next entered deep valleys, the vegetation gradually be- 
 coming weaker and more scanty, until it ceased altogether. 
 From these valleys to Jerusalem, the soil is broken, reddish, 
 and ungrateful; while, in the distance, the only objects which 
 meet the view are immense mounds of ruins, the beds of 
 dried-up torrents, and winding roads, covered with flints. 
 Decayed cisjterns, at the bottom of which is a greenish water; 
 steep and naked mountains in the contour : — such, agreeably 
 to the lament of Jeremiah, is the terebinthine vale which pre- 
 pares the mind for the strong and terrible impression made on 
 it by the sight of Jerusalem. 
 
 The sun was about to set, when, from the summit of a moun- 
 tain, in passing along a flinty road, separated by two walls 
 from fields which were also covered with flints, I perceived at 
 length long ramparts, towers, and vast edifices, surrounded 
 by a barren soil, and blackened points of rock which seemed 
 to have felt the lightning’s stroke: this was Jerusalem. A 
 few Chapels fallen in ruins, were here and there to be seen, 
 with Mount Sion, and, in the back ground, the naked chain 
 of the Mountains of Arabia Deserta. Appalled and seized 
 with an involuntary terror, we saluted the Holy City, the first 
 sight of which has as powerful an effect on the senses, as the 
 existence and dispersion of the Jewish nation can produce on 
 the mind. 
 
 The Gate of Beth clem or Ephraim, by which our caravan 
 made its entry, is not far distant from the Convent of the 
 Reverend Fathers, Missionaries of the Holy Land, by whose 
 exemplary display of charity our reception was marked. They 
 inhabit an immense house, the gate of which, while it is con- 
 stantly open to pilgrims, and to all who suffer, is as constantly 
 exposed to the insults of the Musulmans : it is low and de- 
 cayed, with iron fastenings. Having entered it, a vaulted 
 passage terminates in an inner court, provided with dark and 
 winding staircases, which lead to several cloisters, and to the 
 Church. It is there that these courageous monks lead a se- 
 
 Voyagbs and Travels, No. 5, VoL I 3 M 
 
134 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 eluded life, having to struggle daily against the persecutions 
 of the Turks, the hatred of the Greeks, and a fond yearning 
 for their native homes. Although belonging to so many dif- 
 ferent nations, I heard them blend their voices, in sweet ac- 
 cordance, with that of the native inhabitant of Israel. A Monk, 
 whose skill in the arts had once acquired him celebrity in 
 Europe, played on the organ; and incense smoked in the 
 sanctuary, where the words of the God of Horeb and of Sinai 
 still resounded. 
 
 I shall not attempt to describe Jerusalem after the great 
 writer by whose brilliant and animated pen it has been so 
 admirably delineated. It is difficult to see Palestine under 
 any other aspect beside that of M. de Chateaubriand, and im- 
 possible to speak of it after him : he has carried in all the 
 harvest of the Land of Canaan. Notwithstanding the male- 
 diction with which this land is struck, his crop has been 
 abundant : he has exhausted the fields of Zabulon and Ma- 
 geddo, and the plains of Pharan. It would be useless, at the 
 same time that it would betray a want of skill* to endeavour to 
 glean after his footsteps. 
 
 I pity the traveller who, amid these noble ruins, is solely 
 influenced by the doubts that perplex him, and the mazes in 
 which he is plunged. I envy, on the other hand, the happi- 
 ness of the man who has seen this singular land with a lively 
 and confident faith. But whatever the religious opinions may 
 be, intellectual torpor alone can resist the sensation of sur- 
 prise and respect Jerusalem inspires. 
 
 Around this city all is mute and silent : the last excla- 
 mation of the Son of God seems to have been the latest sound 
 repeated by the echoes of Siloe and Gehennon. From the 
 summits of Abarim, of Phasga, and of Achor, desolated nature 
 presents herself to the view, like a witness still struck with 
 terror by the scene which has just passed. The imagination por- 
 trays the sanguinary wars of the Crusaders, like those aerial com- 
 bats which forebode great disasters to the children of the earth. 
 
 On the day of my arrival, I saw the whole of the Hebrew 
 population of Jerusalem collected in the valley of Jehosaphat: 
 the Motsallam* had sold the Jews the permission to celebrate 
 there the festival of the tombs. On seeing these captives 
 seated in silence on the tomb-stones of their ancestors, one 
 might have said that the clamour of the last trumpet was 
 heard, that generations were crowding to the banks of the 
 Cedron, and that the words of joy and of tribulation had 
 already burst from the cloud. 
 
 * Governor. 
 
9 
 
 . 
 

 iVf T' 
 
 View of Bethlehem, 
 
 ~' T \ V r Errand 
 
 R.F11S9 OF ASCAI^OW. 
 
In 1817 and 1818, 135 
 
 The quarter of the Jews was what attracted my earliest at- 
 tention. Eight or nine thousand of the children of the masters 
 ot Jerusalem still inhabit this capital of the past. A narrow 
 craggy space, covered with filth, which can scarcely be called 
 a street, divides the houses of this quarter, which are falling 
 in ruins. Pale and sickly beings, with a strongly marked 
 physiognomy, there engage in warm disputes about a few 
 ne ins. Having descended, by a flight of broken steps, into 
 th . e fal Mg roofs of which were propped by pillars once 
 sculptured and gilt, I learned with surprise that this was the 
 gteat synagogue: children in tatters there learned from an old 
 b hnd man the history of this city, where their ancestors adored 
 the Oodoflsraelandof Judah, beneath marble porticoes, and 
 roofs supported by the cedars of Libanon. They counted over 
 again the miracles of him whom they also expected, of him who 
 had guided the footsteps of their ancestors in the Deserts of 
 Madian, and who so often brought, them back triumphantly 
 mto tins Land of Canaan, where were to flow fountains of milk 
 and honey.f 
 
 Such are the remains of this nation, whose captivity left 011 
 every side such great remembrances, and who raised with their 
 hands, and bathed with the sweat of their brows, the proudest 
 monuments of Memphis and of Rome. 
 
 On the same day I paid a visit to Abdil-Kerym, the Aga- 
 motsallam Governor of Jerusalem : J this city is dependent on 
 the Pachahk of Damascus, from which it is distant four 
 stations, or days journeys. He is a native of Constantinople, 
 and enjoyed a certain portion of favour at the Court of Selim : 
 on the death of the latter, however, he fell into complete dis- 
 grace, and was banished to Jerusalem, over which, as gover- 
 nor, he now exercises a mild sway. His manners are polished : 
 he entertained us with pipes and coffee, after having, in token 
 ot submission and respect, approached to his forehead the 
 firman of the Grand-Seignor. I next presented to him the 
 persons who accompanied me, and the letters addressed to 
 him. Ihe drogoman of the convent of the Holy Sepulchre 
 was our interpreter. I insisted on being allowed to take views 
 ot the city and adjoining territory. Abdil-Kerym, after a Jong 
 explanation respecting the object and the means, at length 
 granted me this favour. He cheerfully offered me an escort 
 
 * A small Turkish coin. 
 
 ettclucam S Hp l0 tpr^ T®’- descendi ut liberem eum de manibus TEgyptiorum, 
 hcpZl. ‘(Sotr ^ M SPati ° Sam ’ in terrarSqu* fluit 
 
 and fn 330 rff a l°t long“ tables ’ thiscit y is si «““ d “ ^tude 3i» 46' 34- 
 
136 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 1 ^ 
 
 for my journey to the Dead Sea, which I was desirous to under- 
 take after my visit to Bethelem. , T , 
 
 Abdil-Kerym had at his side a lovely infant on whom I la- 
 vished my caresses ; and having made presents to the janis- 
 saries, and distributed money among the slaves, we parted ex- 
 tremely well satisfied with each other. 1 „ , 1 
 
 We had to cross the valley of Rephaim to reach Bethelem 
 (in Arabic, Beyt el-lahm.) This name, by which is denoted 
 the house of bread. * is said to have been bestowed on it by 
 Abraham : it was likewise called Ephrata (the fruitful) to dis- 
 tinguish it from another Bethelem belonging to the tribe ot 
 Zabulon. Here it was that David tended his flocks. Abesan, 
 Booz, and Ruth were Bethelemites. The primitive Christians 
 built a small chapel containing the stable in which our Saviour 
 was born ; and in its place, the Emperor Hadrian erected the 
 altar of Adonis, which was thrown down by the order of fc>t. 
 Helen, and on the ruins of which she built a spacious church, 
 the form and architecture of which resemble those of the 
 church of Saint Paul, without the walls of Rome. Forty- 
 eight columns of Egyptian red marble support a wooden fabric 
 said to be of cedar : the mosaics and paintings with which the 
 walls are ornamented, bear all the characteristics of the bar- 
 barism of the middle ages ; but are in a better taste than the 
 carvings of the capitals and bases of the columns. The Arme- 
 nians are in possession of this temple. 
 
 The monks, in full procession, led me to the subterraneous 
 church : they there pointed out to me the spot where the magi 
 stopped, and the one where our Saviour was born: all the 
 chapels are incrusted with marble, jasper, and thin plates of 
 gilt bronze : they are lighted by numberless gold and silver 
 
 lamps. . 
 
 The convent is spacious, and enclosed by high walls : it has 
 a strong resemblance to a fortress. The principal gate is very 
 low and narrow, to guard against the Arabs making their way 
 within on horseback, and in large bodies. There was a 
 dreadful tumult at the time of my arrival : a contribution of 
 ten thousand piastres had just been levied on the population of 
 Bethelem, exclusively composed of Christians. Cries and 
 threats were to be heard on every side ; but the good monks, 
 who are accustomed to these storms, did not on that account 
 forbear the honours of their modest refectory, which was spread 
 out to us with all the display of the charitable and hospitable 
 spirit I met with in the other convents of Palestine. 
 
 The inhabitants of Bethelem cultivated a part of the coasts 
 
 It also signifies the house of flesh. 
 
THE CHriCH OF THE MANGER. 
 
 
■ 
 
 
In 1817 and 1818 . - 137 
 
 of Rama— of those coasts which heard the loud and pathetic 
 plaints of Rachel. Of this resource they have since been de- 
 prived, and are now reduced to the necessity of making rosa- 
 ries, wooden crosses inlaid with mother of pearl, and imita- 
 tions of the crib : these are all consecrated at the Holy Se- 
 pulchre, sold to pilgrims, and their produce paid to the Turks. 
 The features of the daughters of Bethelem are in general re- 
 gular, and their forms graceful : over the face a veil is thrown, 
 but without concealing it ; and their arms are naked, and fre- 
 quently of the finest form that can be imagined. We found 
 them very affable and courteous. I visited several families ; 
 and on my departure, these good people accompanied me, 
 offering up their prayers to heaven for my safety. 
 
 The houses of Bethelem, which are low and square, like 
 those of Jerusalem, are covered with a terrace, or with a 
 small dome : almost all the flights of stairs are without side. 
 On leaving the city, the view to the right commands the 
 mountains of Hebron, where they still point out to you the 
 tomb of Abraham, and the valley of Mambre, where the ashes 
 of Caleb repose. Still further are seen the mountains of Er- 
 gaddi, the hills of Odollam, the pointed rock which overlooks 
 the cavern where David concealed himself to shun the fury of 
 Saul, Massada, the vestiges of the fort of Herod, Bethulia, 
 and the summits of Sennacherib. 
 
 I was scarcely returned to Jerusalem, when I busied myself 
 with the necessary preparations for my journey to the Dead 
 Sea : the dread that the tranquillity of this country, at all 
 times so precarious, might be disturbed, led me to hasten my 
 departure for Jericho. Abdil-Kerym gave me, as an escort, 
 four of the bravest and most determined horsemen of his guard, 
 with a Christian drogoman who spoke bad Italian, and an 
 Arab chief named Mehemet. I was also provided with a ma- 
 melouk, named Haggy Soliman, who had been presented to 
 me by the pacha of Acre. Soliman was the gentlest and 
 most charitable of men j and 1 should have been quite satisfied 
 with him, if his zeal had not led him occasionally to overact 
 his part, in driving away those who interrupted me in making 
 my sketches. My servant followed me ; the aga sent me ex- 
 cellent horses ; and we were all well armed. 
 
 At an early hour of the morning our caravan left Jerusalem 
 by the gate of Setty-Mariam, and, having cfossed the torrent 
 of Sedron, took the direction of Jericho, by the route ofBe- 
 tliania. It would have been difficult for me, if I had lost the 
 tablets of my memory, to determine, by the temperature of 
 the air, and the aspect of the fields, the precise epoch of this 
 journey : throughout all Judea, a few showers of rain are what 
 
138 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 alone indicate the winter season ; the autumn does not bring 
 her fruits ; in the spring not a flower is seen to blow ; and, 
 nevertheless, the summer heats consume the Haceldama, and 
 dry up the source of the Silo6. It would seem that there are 
 not any seasons in this unhappy country. 
 
 At Bethania the grotto in which Lazarus was buried is 
 shown to you. In his resurrection, painted by Rembrandt, 
 that great master has so completely divined the spot where the 
 scene passed, that one would almost be led to suspect him of 
 having consulted the port-folio of a traveller. 
 
 Having entered a narrow valley, we followed the bed of a 
 torrent, which, after several windings, leads to mount Ado- 
 mim : this is a reddish and argillaceous hill, uncultivated, like 
 the ground we had hitherto trodden, and having on its sum- 
 mit the ruins of a monastery, or, perhaps, of a kan. Adomim 
 in Hebrew signifies of blood. After having halted for half an 
 hour, we entered ravines, almost impassable, which appeared 
 to be the effects of a recent convulsion of nature. White 
 mountains, which could not be more aptly compared than to 
 the solfatara of Naples, were to be seen furrowed by fire, and 
 marked with the stains of sulphur. After having descended 
 into frightful abysses, we were obliged to climb up sharp 
 rocks, to procure a sight of the plain of Jericho, which we 
 shortly after reached. 
 
 Jericho,* named by the Arabs Ryhad, is at present nothing 
 more than an assemblage of huts built of earth and reeds, 
 covered over with a species of dried fern. Where its celebrated 
 walls once stood, fagots of briars and thistles now scarcely 
 suffice to defend the flocks against the frequent attacks of wild 
 beasts. The aga, to whom I had a letter from the governor of 
 Jerusalem, inhabits a square tower, in so ruinous a condition, 
 that I found considerable difficulty in ascending to the apart- 
 ment in which he was lodged. He was sick ; and, judging 
 without doubt of my credit, by the orders he received, begged 
 of me to intercede with the motsallam to procure him an em- 
 ployment at Jerusalem. This chief of the spahis selected for 
 my night’s lodging the most convenient place he could find; 
 for I could not endure the filth and bad smells of the habitation 
 in which our caravan was assembled. My people took their 
 stations around a large fire in the open air, and devoured a 
 kid killed in our presence, a part of which was, however, 
 consumed by the cinders. Wrapped in my mantle, and 
 stretched on the earth, I slept soundly, notwithstanding this bad 
 supper, and the interruptions of my guests ; the notables of 
 
 * In Hebrew Jericho signifies the moon. 
 

 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 . 
 
 ■ 
 
 . . ' 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
N°.V 
 
 TOW OJF JOIBAF. 
 
 Walt t San 352 Strand 
 
 
 TELE SEA OF GAL FLEE 
 
139 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 Jericho had thought proper to pay a visit to the Turks belong- 
 ing to my escort ; and the conversation which ensued was long 
 and clamorous. We were stirring before day-break : the sun 
 rose behind the mountains of Arabia Deserta : their form was 
 lost in a silvery, changeable vapour, shadowed with the richest 
 tints, and the most beautiful colours. How much I regretted 
 that I could not paint this fugitive and marvellous effect ! 
 
 Jericho is situated in a plain. On the right appears the Dead 
 Sea, partly concealed by the promontory of Segor. The Jordan 
 is seen in the distance on the left, between hillocks covered 
 with briars. Behind me were the mountains I had just passed, 
 and the disorder and solitude of which made so lively an im- 
 pression on me. 
 
 The women of Jericho are dressed in a blue chemise, fast- 
 ened by a girdle ; their head is covered by a veil. Their legs 
 and feet are naked, as are likewise their arms, which are orna- 
 mented with bracelets of silver, pewter, or glass. They are for 
 the greater part tall and slender; but their forms are usually 
 shrunken ; and among the youngest may be noticed a constant 
 struggle between beauty and wretchedness. 
 
 The aga of Jericho added to our escort a few of his people. 
 We crossed a sandy plain, on which were to be seen, at distant 
 intervals, a few prickly shrubs, and a few plants breathing the 
 most delicate perfume. Several authors think that the crown 
 of thorns of Jesus Christ was formed of a branch of the rham - 
 nus, a shrub named by the Arabs alausegi , and which is found 
 in great abundance near the Jordan : several volumes have 
 been written either to attack or defend this supposition. Its 
 banks are frequently covered by locusts the Arabs cook them 
 with great care, and find their flavour excellent ; but I was not 
 tempted to taste this dish. Where, alas! are the gardens 
 which once covered these banks ? Jericho is left without flowers, 
 and without harvests. Sicut plantatio rosee in Jericho. Achor 
 calls aloud for her refreshing streams ; Asason-tliamar bewails 
 her forests of palms : a powerful hand has plucked up by the 
 roots her beautiful vines. Botrus cypri dilectus mens mihi , in 
 vineis Engaddi. 
 
 We drew up in a regular line of march, a few of our men 
 forming the advance-guard. The aga had received notice that 
 a band of Bedouin Arabsf had been seen on the preceding 
 evening, and were to pitch their tents for the night on the 
 opposite bank of the Jordan. Lances were perceived behind 
 
 * Of two species : Aphi'os and anos. 
 
 + Arab , solitude; bedaouy , man of the desert, derived from bid , an uninha- 
 bited land. 
 
140 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 a rising ground, and horsemen fleeing in several directions : 
 we set off at full speed in pursuit of them. A Bedouin was un- 
 horsed, and fell among the reeds, just as he was plunging into 
 the Jordan; he was overtaken by our mamelouks ; the cime- 
 ters were drawn ; and he would have perished if I had not 
 asked his life, which Soliman found some difficulty in granting 
 me. This Arab was so terrified, that it was a long time before 
 he could find the power of utterance. He had come, with his 
 companions, from the land of Hebron, to avenge the death of 
 one of their cheykhs, who had been killed three days before by 
 the Bethelemites. My spahis would not yield to my earnest 
 entreaties to restore to him his mare, which neighed, and seemed 
 conscious of her master’s captivity ; while his prayers and tears 
 irritated them afresh. A second time I had to rescue this poor 
 Arab from their hands : he plunged into the Jordan, gained the 
 opposite bank, and disappeared. 
 
 The banks of the sacred river, called by the Arabs el-Charia, 
 are lofty, and covered with trees : its water is yellowish, turbid, 
 and of some depth ; its breadth is about one-fourth less than 
 that of the Seine.* I made an exact drawing of the Jordan at 
 the part where an islet, concealed by the trees and reeds, stops 
 the current, occasions a reflux, and agitates a surface which in 
 every other part is smooth and tranquil. Charmed with the 
 soft murmuns of the water, to which our ears had been unac- 
 customed, we joyfully plunged into the stream. 
 
 I discharged all the duties of the traveller, made by ablutions, 
 and brought away with me a flask of the holy water we had 
 found so much pleasure in drinking. Our horses experienced 
 some difficulty in crossing the sandy plain .which leads to the 
 Dead Sea : my janissaries and Arabs sung, and discharged their 
 pistols ; Soliman Aga, the chief of the escort, mounted on a 
 superb Arabian horse, was the most dexterous ; and I followed 
 the example of my guides. We sometimes paced silently, 
 plunged in reveries, the subject of each of which was no doubt 
 different ; and at others, giving the reins to our horses, galloped 
 over these sandy plains, breathing perfumes, and enjoying our 
 independence. In this way I reached the banks of the Dead 
 Sea, or lake Asphaltites. 
 
 It is said that this sea, or lake, is twenty leagues in length, 
 and about ten leagues in breadth at the widest part. It is na- 
 med by the Arabs Bahar Loth, They formerly tendered their 
 services to travellers, to conduct them to a pillar coated with 
 bitumen, which they showed as the pillar of salt ; but it is im- 
 
 * It may be estimated at about eighty feet. The Jordan in this part has a 
 depth of from twelve to fifteen feet. 
 
141 
 
 In 1817 and 1818. 
 
 possible at present to penetrate so far without danger, the Be- 
 douins in the vicinity being in a state of constant warfare with 
 travellers. For the greater part of its extent the Dead §ea 
 stretches north and south. On the western bank were situated 
 the five cities of Sodom, Gomorrho, Adama, Seboyn, and Se~ 
 gor. The Jews are persuaded that, at the coming of the Mes- 
 siah, these cities, now covered with the waves, will re -appear 
 with all their splendour. Et soror tua Sodoma et filice ejus re - 
 vertentur ad antiquitatem suam. 
 
 The general view of the Dead Sea, and of the mountains 
 which surround it, made by me, was taken from the summit 
 of a heap of shapeless ruins, said to be those of Gomorrho. 
 They are opposite to mount Nebo, where Moses died, and at 
 the foot of which he was buried. In searching on the sea 
 shore the vestiges of these guilty cities, it was my good fortune 
 to meet with the remains of walls, those of a tower, and several 
 columns. The water of the Dead Sea is troubled, pungent, 
 and bitter. It throws up on its banks pieces of petrified wood, 
 and porous stones in a calcined state. In speaking of it, 
 which they do with the most religious respect, many mysteri- 
 ous things concerning it are related by the Arabs. 
 
 A layer of a glutinous, saline, and corrosive substance covers 
 the ruins, as well as the whole extent of the shore of lake As- 
 phaltites. The vegetation, which anciently followed the banks 
 of the Jordan, from lake Tiberiades, has given place, near the 
 Dead Sea, to small tufts of zaggoum and other shrubs, from 
 which a precious balm is extracted. 
 
 We afterwards followed, by the mountains, the route leading 
 to the monastery of Saint-Sabas. I had never before met with 
 any sight so dismal and sombre as that of the deep valleys 
 which are suddenly shut in by a high mountain, perfectly 
 white, and easily to be mistaken, at the decline of day, for an 
 enormous spectre whose office it is to defend the passage : the 
 clefts and caverns represent his traits, and the ravines supply 
 the folds of his frightful robe# Mountains of ashes, cones mu- 
 tilated and throwm down, broken rocks of a capricious and fan- 
 tastic form : — such were the objects which met my view for 
 the extent of several leagues, until I came to a more elevated 
 point. This afforded me another sight of the Dead Sea, just 
 as the sun was setting over Arabia Deserta, behind the moun- 
 tains of Edom. 
 
 JVho is this that cometh from Edom , with dyed garments from 
 Bosrah? 
 
 I will tread them in mine anger , and trample them , in my fury ; 
 and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments , and I will 
 stain all my raiment. (Isaiah) 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol. J. 3 N 
 
142 Travels in Greece, Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 From this elevation the Dead Sea appeared like a table of 
 lapis lazuli, the golden margin of which was formed by the 
 surrounding mountains. 
 
 Still further, the piled rocks resembled, now a fortified city, 
 the walls and buildings of which menaced the starry firma- 
 ment ; and now an amphitheatre having for its spectators and 
 performers kites and vultures ; while eagles soared majesti- 
 cally in the air, over their proud domain. 
 
 The monastery of Saint Lebas is built in the angle of a rock, 
 on an eminence four hundred feet above the dried torrent of 
 the CtMron. I have never seen so frightful a solitude as this : the 
 cells of the monks are excavated in the rock a hundred feet above 
 the torrent, in places which appear to be inaccessible. Pigeons 
 and thousands of hermits formerly inhabited this inauspicious 
 and desolate valley : over the abyss the turtle-doves still take 
 their lonely flight. The space inclosing the immense monas- 
 tery, near which not a tree, not a plant, nor even the smallest 
 rivulet, is to be seen, is defended by large square towers. Two 
 low, narrow gates, covered with bands of iron and enormous 
 nails, were inhumanly closed against us : the Greek monks, who 
 thought the hour unseasonable, and were without doubt like- 
 wise terrified by the number of men composing our caravan, 
 as ^vell as by the impatience with which our solicitations were 
 accompanied, refused us admission into the monastery. They 
 spoke to us from the top of the ramparts, concealing themselves 
 behind the battlements : the negociation lasted for an hour ; 
 but neither the most importunate supplications, nor the strong- 
 set menaces, were of any avail. A jar filled with water, which 
 had been long and anxiously expected, was lowered from the 
 summit of a tower forty-eight feet in height. There the ca- 
 ioyers keep watch by night and by day, in constant dread of 
 the Arabs, who frequently come in whole tribes to assail them. 
 The latter take possession of all the avenues, until they make 
 themselves sure of a contribution by a treaty. 
 
 Our horses, exhausted by fatigue, were not in a state to pro- 
 ceed any further : the night was dark ; but still we were con- 
 strained to reach Jerusalem. Our Arab led us across places 
 in a manner inaccessible, at the momentary risk of rolling 
 down a precipice. I closed my eyes and abandoned myself to 
 the prudent management of my horse, who sometimes slid 
 along steep declivities, and at others stopped short, turned 
 back, or stepped aside with surprising intelligence. The 
 thunder howled tremendously over head ; and it was not until 
 two in the morning that a vivid flash of lightning afforded us a 
 sight of Jerusalem. Another, of still greater intensity, shed its 
 inauspicious ray over the valley of Jehosophat, the Mount of 
 
r In 1817 , and 1818 . 143 
 
 Olives, and the tomb of Ezechias : had it not been for the in- 
 cessant cries of our guides, the caravan would certainly have 
 lost its way ; for never was darkness more intense. 
 
 After having, by a laborious ascent, reached Bab el-Naby 
 Daoud , the gate of David, we discharged our blunderbusses 
 and pistols, which at length awakened the guard, and we en- 
 tered Jerusalem. 
 
 On the following day I visited the church of the Holy Se- 
 pulchre, from which the convent of the Holy Land is distant 
 about four hundred paces only. The streets of Jerusalem are 
 crooked and badly paved ; and the houses, which are for the 
 greater part built of free-stone, are indebted for a scanty por- 
 tion of light to a small door and one or two windows provided 
 with wooden lattices. In a few paltry shops, olives, fruits 
 brought from Damascus, rice, corn, and a scanty supply of 
 dried leguminous plants, are sold : while a group of Arabs, dy- 
 ing with hunger, eagerly survey these stores, the Turkish 
 dealer smokes his pipe with indifference, as if utterly regardless 
 of his profits. 
 
 The convent of the reverend fathers, missionaries of the Ho- 
 ly Land, being situated in the most elevated part of the city, 
 I had to descend, by a flight of steep steps, into the decayed 
 vaults of Souq el-Nassara, to reach the site of the Holy Sepul- 
 chre. The fayade of this monument is a mixture of the mo- 
 resque and gothic stiles of architecture : a square tower, 
 deprived of its steeples, and levelled to the height of the 
 church, has been thus mutilated since the epoch when the 
 Turks regained the possession of Jerusalem. The exact 
 drawing made by me of this place will perhaps help the 
 reader to form an idea of it. It was on a festival ; the doors 
 were thrown open ; and pilgrims thronged either to enter or 
 pass out. Turks, in the interim, squatted on a divan, merci- 
 lessly exacted the entrance-tribute : the ear was deafened by 
 importunate cries, and blows were struck ; while the crowd 
 mingled with the processions as they crossed each others 
 the ensemble presented a tumultuous and afflicting spectacle. 
 
 The church of the Holy Sepulchre has been described in so 
 exact a manner, that I shall forbear a repetition of what has 
 been so often said respecting it : the plan of the edifice is so 
 irregular, that it requires a considerable time to come at the 
 distribution of the parts. The dome of the circular church in 
 the middle of which the chapel of the Holy Sepulchre is 
 placed, was burned on the twelfth of October, 1807, and was 
 rebuilt six months after, comformably to the plans of a Greek 
 architect of Constantinople, named Com^ano Calfa. The Latins 
 ascribe this accident to the Armenians and Greeks, without 
 
144 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land y 
 
 whose riches, however, the restoration could not have been 
 made. Accordingly, the Greeks find, in the rebuilding, a 
 pretext for excluding the Latin Catholics from the Holy Se- 
 pulchre. 
 
 The cupola, built of stone cemented with stucco, and open 
 like that of the Pantheon at Rome, is supported by six pilas- 
 ters, each'separated by an arcade, which forms a circular gal- 
 lery, divided between the different communions admitted into 
 this basilick. 
 
 The Holy Sepulchre is a low marble altar, seven feet in 
 length, and two and a half in breadth, enclosed in a small 
 square chapel built of marble, lighted by rich and magnificent 
 lamps, and entirely covered by hangings of velvet. A paint- 
 ing within, above the sacred stone, represents the triumph 
 of Jesus Christ over death. It is impossible not to feel a pro- 
 found emotion, not to be impressed with a religious awe, on 
 seeing this humble tomb, the possession of which has given 
 rise to more disputes than that of the finest earthly thrones ; 
 of this tomb the power of which has survived empires, which 
 has been so often bedewed with the tears of repentance and 
 of hope, and from above which the most ardent supplications 
 daily ascend to heaven. In this mysterious tabernacle, before 
 this altar of perfumes, to which our attention has been direct- 
 ed from our earliest infancy, we feel an irresistible influence — 
 an overpowering delight. This is the land promised by the 
 prophets, and guarded by angels, to which the tiara of Con- 
 stantine, and the brilliant helmet of Tancred, did homage. 
 Lastly, it would seem that the regards of the Eternal are more 
 specially fixed on this monument, the sacred pledge of the 
 pardon and redemption of man. 
 
 I quitted the chapel, and spent an hour in visiting the dif- 
 ferent stations, which the Italian monks who accompanied me 
 explained. By several lateral naves, beneath lofty vaults sup- 
 ported by columns of an order of architecture unknown to me, 
 we proceeded, sometimes amid the glare of thousands of lamps, 
 and at others feebly aided by the uncertain light let in by small 
 glazed windows. “ Here,” said my conductors, “ Christ was 
 scourged; here,” proceeding onward, 6S his head was invested 
 with the crown of thorns and, still farther, " here lots were 
 drawn for his garments.” Having ascended by a flight of steps 
 winding spirally round an enormous pillar, we entered another 
 church, on the pavement of which they imprinted kisses : it 
 was Golgotha. A monk who was still busied in reciting his 
 prayers, pointed to a gate through which the cleft in the rock 
 where our Saviour’s cross was fixed was to be seen. “ Here,” 
 said he, {t is the place where opprobrium and sorrow aided 
 
• icvo'i.i k 3o TOd'af Miax itoh tool aro xMEvna arra.i 
 
145 
 
 In 181 7, and 1818, 
 
 death to consummate the triumph of sin. Here was committed 
 the crime which dismayed the heavens, scared the sepulchres, 
 and shook the remotest foundations of the earth.” 
 
 Christians of Coptos, of Yemen, and of Abyssinia, were there 
 prostrated at the side of the pilgrim of Tobolsk, of Novogorod, 
 or of Teflis. In quitting this hallowed spot, I said to myself, 
 alas ! that the sensations which these great remembrances 
 kindle in my soul should be vain, useless, and lost to others ! 
 What has the obscure traveller, sentenced to oblivion, whose 
 passage through life will not leave any earthly trace, to do 
 here ? How is he to speak of Jerusalem, he whose noblest emo- 
 tions were stifled between the prejudices and the conformities 
 of the old world ? Can he comprehend these mysterious and 
 prophetic monuments, he whose regrets, the sad inheritance of 
 the commerce of men, and of the passions of youth, are what 
 alone bind him to the earth ? 
 
 But what an unknown and divine language would have been 
 revealed to Dante, to Milton, to Racine, and to Klopstock, if 
 they had come hither to listen, during the still solemnity of the 
 night, to the sorrowful hymns of the daughters of Jerusalem 
 if the golden harps of these immortal bards had accompanied 
 their pathetic strains amid the ruins of the temple f Israel ! 
 
 Lastly, from the summit of Mount Sion, like the oird whose 
 soaring aspect dares to fix itself stedfastly on the sun, Raphael 
 might have snatched a few additional traits to represent the full 
 majesty of Jehovah. 
 
 With respect to the general effect of the interior of this edi- 
 fice, I may refer those who wish to form an approximate idea 
 of it, to one of the fine paintings of Rembrandt, more parti- 
 cularly to that of the woman taken in adultery. In treating the 
 subject of the Samaritan, this painter has been so happy, that 
 one would be led to suppose he had spent all his life in Pales- 
 tine. Poussin painted the people of God listening to his voice 
 in the desert ; and Rembrandt has brought about the resurrec- 
 tion of the Scribes and Pharisees. 
 
 In quitting the holy sepulchre, and following the route of 
 Mount Calvary, pilgrims repair to what is called the palace of 
 Pilate : this is a large fabric, surmounted by a tower, and evi- 
 dently bears, in its ensemble, and each of its details, the cha- 
 racter of saracenic architecture. I was permitted to ascend 
 to a high terrace, where I descried the immense space formerly 
 occupied by the temple of Solomon : on its site are two 
 mosques, distinguished by the Arabs by the names ofel-Harem 
 el-Mogaddes, or Cheryf, and Djami el-Hadrar.* 
 
 * The Turks are persuaded that Mahomet descended from heaven to bless 
 
146 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 I have observed that this space was immense : two of its sides 
 are surrounded by buildings supported by arcades. When I 
 made a sketch of it, I had behind me the Pool of Probation ; 
 ( piscina mirabilis), and on my left, the long walls of Jerusalem, 
 which shut in the eastern part of the great enclosure. The 
 octagonal temple, placed in the centre, on a platform paved 
 with marble, to which, passing beneath insulated porticos, 
 there is an ascent of a few steps, was perhaps built on the site 
 of the Sancta Sanctorum : its form is, as well as its ornaments, 
 in the highly finished and tasteful style of Arabic architecture. 
 The enclosed space at length terminates, being shut in towards 
 the south by another temple, supported by the crenated walls 
 of Jerusalem, which command, as well as the eastern wall, the 
 valley of Jehosophat. It is thought that this latter temple was 
 that of the Presentation. (Djami el-Hadrah.) Ali-bey el Abassi* * 
 asserts that this mosque is supported by four rows of columns : 
 the details he gives, on this subject, are so interesting, that it 
 is much to be regretted he did not make drawings of the in- 
 terior of these celebrated mosques, to enter which is now more 
 impracticable than ever. I was not able to complete my sketch 
 without murmurs, although those who surrounded me belonged 
 exclusively to the motsallams guard •, several of them, how- 
 ever, were haggy, that is, pilgrim's of Mecca, who thought 
 that they could not better display their zeal than by blaming 
 aloud the obliging toleration of Abdil-Kerym. The musul- 
 mans have gone to the length of insulting all those, not of their 
 own faith, whose indiscreet curiosity has led them to peep 
 narrowly through the porticoes of the Ecce Homo : they make a 
 boast of having refused Sir Sidney Smithf the favour of visiting 
 these monuments. 
 
 I blush at the small effect produced by my feeble sketch, 
 when I bring to my recollection the magical effect of the light 
 
 these mosques ; and that he visited Jerusalem, mounted on his mare, el- 
 Boraq , which is no other than an angel with the body of a winged horse, and 
 the face of a woman. The prophet is to return to Jerusalem on the day of 
 the last judgment, accompanied by Jesus Christ, Rouh Allah. (The spirit of 
 God.) He will stride over the valley of Jehosophat, with one of his feet placed 
 on the temple, and the other on the Djebel-Tor. His robe will be formed of 
 the skin of a young camel ; the souls of the Just will nestle in it like so many 
 insects ; and, as soon as Mahomet perceives, by the weight of his garment, 
 that the souls of all the true believers have sheltered themselves beneath his 
 wings, he will take his flight towards the etherial expanse. 
 
 * M. Badia, a Spaniard, known in the East by the name of Ali-bey el-Abbassi 9 
 having engaged in a new series of travels in the Levant, died, it is said, near 
 Damascus. The Pacha of Egypt mentioned him to me in terms which made 
 me regret that I did not counsel him to forbear paying a second visit to that 
 country. 
 
 t After the defence of Saint Jean d’Acre. 
 
In 1817, and 1818. 147 
 
 on these edifices, so varied in the colour of their ornaments, 
 and so elegant in their details. A plain of turf, overspread 
 with fountains, tombs, and palms, envelops this marble plat- 
 form : its reverberated light is blended with the lustre of the 
 enamel and gold with which the mosques are covered. To the 
 west, behind the ramparts, and beyond the torrent of Cedron, 
 ( el-buald ), the mount of olives ( Djebel Tor ), terminates in the 
 hamlet of Siloan : beyond, in a landscape embellished by the 
 illusion of a brilliant and gilt vapour, are to be seen the hills of 
 Bethelem, the Dead Sea, and the mountains of Arabia. 
 
 If it were possible to search at this time for the venerable re- 
 mains of Hebraic antiquity, to what discoveries might not such 
 an enquiry lead in a land enriched by the destruction of so many 
 immense monuments ! 
 
 The present mosques, built by Omar, felt the dreadful ven- 
 geance of the Crusaders. Saladin, to purify the temple from 
 this religious stain, had the pavements and walls washed, when 
 he made himself master of Jerusalem, in 1188. Five hundred 
 camels, it is said, scarcely sufficed to bring from Yemen the 
 prodigious quantity of rose-water employed in this lustral ce- 
 remony. 
 
 I walked round the walls of Jerusalem : it is said that this 
 city has a circumference of four thousand five hundred paces. 
 The gate of Sion, Bab el Moghreb , and the Sterquilinary gate 
 (Porta Sterquilinii) lie to the south, as does likewise that of 
 Naby Daoud. The Roman architecture of the gilt gate, B&b 
 el-Dahrie, which has for a long time been filled up with stone, 
 is apparently of Hadrian’s time. The Christians of Syria are 
 persuaded that Jesus Christ made his entry into Jerusalem by 
 this gate, for which they have a great veneration. Bab el-Sbal , 
 or Bab, el -Setty- Mariam, situated to the east, leads, as well 
 as Bab el Dahrit, to the valley of Jehosapliat. The gate of Da- 
 mascus, Bab el-Amond , stationed to the north, is the one the 
 form of which appeared to me to be the most romantic, and 
 most picturesque. Lastly, to the west, is the gate of Ephraim, 
 together with that of Bethelem, or the well-beloved, Bab el~ 
 Khalyl. The walls are high, crenated, and provided with 
 square towers from distance to distance. Godfrey of Bouillon 
 took Jerusalem by assault on the 12th of July 1099, at three in 
 the afternoon, on the side of the gate of Damascus. This is 
 still the part of the ramparts the easiest of attack : Jerusalem 
 would with difficulty hold out a few days against the weakest 
 battery which might be erected above the grotto of Jeremiah. 
 
 Jerusalem, in Arabic el- Quods, (the holy) is situated between 
 two hills, Acra and Moria. When Hadrian re-built this city. 
 Mount Calvary was enclosed within the ramparts. Golgotha 
 
148 Travels in Greece, Turkey } and the Holy Land, 
 
 is a point of the hill of Moria, so inconsiderable, that it is en- 
 tirely locked in the principal nave of the church of the holy 
 sepulchre. It is thought that Jerusalem still contains twenty- 
 five thousand inhabitants, Arabs, Turks, Jews, and Armenians : 
 not more than two hundred Christian families are to be found 
 in it. The compass of the city would easily contain six times 
 that number of inhabitants ; and, accordingly, great part of its 
 steep and unpaved streets are without inhabitants : spacious 
 houses, churches, and monasteries, have been entirely aban- 
 doned. 
 
 I frequently passed over these deserted spots, and had to force 
 my way through thickets, brambles, and the stems of the prickly 
 pear. Ivy creeps along the walls, and the aloes grow in secu- 
 rity on the terraces, and in the fissures of the steeples. The 
 palm, neglected in the gardens, shoots up to the loftiest of the 
 cornices : its fruit, which no one gathers, becomes the food of 
 the solitary bird. I have frequently passed several hours 
 seated on the summit of a terrace, of a tower, or of a minaret : 
 my soul, was dejected at the sight of this terrible desolation. 
 
 “ All that pass bp clap their hands at thee; they kiss and wag their head at the 
 daughter of Jerusalem , saying , is this the city that men call the perfec- 
 tion OF BEAUTY, THE JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH?” 
 
 Lamentations of Jeremiah . 
 
 I was present at all the disastrous scenes which, during my 
 stay, passed in this unfortunate city, the constant theatre of 
 the passions of men, and the wrathful vengeance of heaven. 
 How often was the air rent with the exclamations of grief! 
 how often was the blood of its citizens, equally bereft of the 
 means of extinguishing the fire which consumed it, and the 
 fury of its vanquishers, wantonly spilled! The most terrible 
 scenes were incessantly presented to my view : the flames of 
 the temple ascended into the highest regions of the air, which 
 they kindled : the celestial hosts saw them with a holy terror 
 consume those altars, whence had before issued the vapours of 
 sweet perfumes, the mysterious cloud of the incense of Israel ! 
 
 Oppressed by a thousand painful sensations, I descended to 
 other monuments : I crossed the decayed courts of the monas- 
 tery of Saint Helen, of the convent of Saint Peter, of the 
 mosque of Aboubeker, and of the church of the Seven Sorrows : 
 throughout I found ashes, ruins, and the accomplishment of a 
 terrible decree. 
 
 Thus does desolation proceed. I vainly sought two noble 
 tombs in the church of the Holy Sepulchre : they had been re- 
 moved by the Greeks a few years before : their sacrilegious 
 hands had dared to mutilate and destroy the tombs of Godfrey 
 
In 181/ and 1818. 149 
 
 of Bouillon, and of Baudouin, his brother. The following in- 
 scriptions were to be read on them : 
 
 EPITAPH OP GODFREY OF BOUILLON. 
 
 Hicjacet inclytus dux Godefridus de Bui ion, qui totum istam terram acquisivil 
 cultui Christiana ; cujus anima regnet cum Christo, Amen. 
 
 EPITAPH OF BAUDOUIN. 
 
 Rex Balduinus, Judas alter Machabaus , 
 
 Spes pat rue, vigor ecclesia , virtus utnusque , 
 
 Quern Jbrmidabanty cui dona tributa ferebant 
 Cedar et JEgyptus , Dan ac homicida Damascus , 
 
 Proh dolor ! in modico clauditur hoc tumulo . 
 
 Indignant at this outrage, and without recollecting that I 
 had not any authority to redress a wrong of this nature, I ran 
 to the Greek patriarch to know the truth, and to make him re- 
 sponsible for these respectable monuments. I endeavoured to 
 impart my holy wrath to the drogoman who accompanied me ; 
 and we united in devising a number of things which I should 
 have to say to these Greeks, all of which appeared to me to 
 be unanswerable. 
 
 The patriarch was surrounded by bishops, respectfully 
 waited on by caloyers, and guarded by several janissaries in 
 the pay of the Greeks. These soldiers make their court to 
 him by ill treating the Roman Catholics. 
 
 The patriarch, his archimandrites, and deacons, were all 
 of them overwhelmingly polite. They possess a kind of sub- 
 tile ignorance ; and I had but little dependence on the success 
 of my negociation, when I had satisfied myself that not two of 
 them had heard of the crusades, or knew what was meant by 
 the Jerusalem delivered.* What was left for me to say to 
 such people ? They affirmed that these ruins had been de- 
 stroyed by the fire, at the same time that the conflagration did 
 not reach that part of the church of the Holy Sepulchre. In 
 the interim, they smoked their pipes, and ate of the candied 
 fruits of Damascus. 
 
 It has been seen that I had reason to complain of the want 
 of hospitality of the caloyers of Saint Sabas. I had scarcely 
 returned home when the superior of the monastery came to 
 make his apologies. On another hand, the patriarch’s people 
 brought me from him a present of wine of Chiras. This was 
 the best result of my negociation. 
 
 Since my return to Europe I have spoken of this profana- 
 
 * Of Tasso. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vo'l. I . 3 0 
 
150 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 tion, and of the facility with which these two tombs may be 
 re-established ; but with as little success as I had with the pa- 
 triarch of Jerusalem. 
 
 Although I have by no means the intention of constituting 
 myself the judge of the disputes which have so long subsisted 
 between the Greek church and the Latin church, I still feel a 
 disposition to take up the defence of the Roman Catholics, be- 
 cause they are poor and persecuted. This warfare, of which 
 the Holy Sepulchre is the constant field of battle, exasperates 
 the Italian and Spanish monks to a degree hard of belief. 
 Their rivals are rich, and pay the Turkish government daily 
 the price of the privileges they wrest from the Latin priests. 
 Sometimes it is an organ displaced, at others a picture taken 
 down, and at others, again, a refusal to sing at the high mass. 
 Volumes are written at Constantinople on these disputes ; and 
 it is not unusual to see a sainted monk die with chagrin at a 
 small triumph of the Maronites, Greeks, or Jacobites. The 
 choleric paroxysms of these pious cenobites were extremely 
 painful to me; for I was at a loss to conceive how such little- 
 nesses could be displayed on the heights of the mountain of 
 Sion. They constantly denounce anathemas against each 
 other, and either party consoles itself with the certainty of the 
 reward which awaits it in the world to come. 
 
 The temporal government of the convents of the Holy 
 Land is, as well as the spiritual, vested in the Spanish monks. 
 Their sovereign formerly remitted to Syria large sums. All 
 these establishments are under the protection of the king of 
 France. At this time Spain promises much; the king of 
 Portugal offers up his vows; the Pope bestows his blessing bn 
 Palestine; and the other sovereigns find a difficulty in per- 
 mitting alms to be collected in their states, in behalf of the 
 Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 The fathers, missionaries of the Holy Land,* have debts and 
 enemies : I found them at open war with several persons. 
 They persecuted M. Pillavoine, Consul General of France in 
 Syria, whom they accused of not being a sufficiently zealous 
 catholic : on his side, the consul complained of the want of at- 
 tachment these monks displayed to France, and of the profusion 
 of Spanish, Portuguese, and Austrian escutcheons with which 
 their walls were covered. It is easy to perceive that this liti- 
 gation was, on either side, a kind of pastime. 
 
 If I found models of virtue among the monks of Jerusalem, 
 
 * They are Franciscans: I left forty of them at Jerusalem, six at Bethe- 
 lem, as many at Nazareth, four at Rama, and four at Jaffa. 
 

 
N°V 
 
In 181 7 and 1818. 151 
 
 there were not wanting, as is every where the case, examples of 
 priests who were by far too much occupied with the affairs of this 
 world. However, if the monks who compose the convents of 
 the Holy Land are not all of them equally praiseworthy, I did 
 not discover in any one of them the turpitude and avidity of 
 which M. Volney accuses them : this is the only point on 
 which it is not possible for me to agree with that writer, who is 
 in every other respect so exact and profound. The monks by 
 whom we were hospitably entertained in the convent of Jeru- 
 salem, are, of all the individuals with whom I am acquainted, 
 least deserving of being consigned to the contempt of Europe : 
 their poverty is but too real, and their courage has been put to 
 too strong a proof. It may be that the state of human affairs 
 has, as well as the principles of men, undergone a great change 
 within these thirty years ; and, if this hypothesis be granted, I 
 can only affirm that there has been a complete reform. The 
 most reverend Father Antonio Salvator, is a Maltese, young, 
 of a feeble temperament, and of a mild and conciliating charac- 
 ter ; but the power is entirely in the hands of the procurator- 
 general, Father Clemente Perez, a Spaniard, of a firm and de- 
 cided character : he is constantly surrounded by the monks of 
 Castille, who pay him a most implicit obedience. 
 
 I left Jerusalem on the 25th of November, by the gate of 
 Ephraim, to visit the sepulchres of the kings. They are situa- 
 ted two miles from the city, in a quarry thirty feet in depth, 
 square, and divided into two courts by a rock in the form of a 
 wall, which appeared to me to be from four to five feet in 
 thickness : the entrance into the second court is by a round 
 gate, so low, that it is necessary to stoop exceedingly to pass 
 through it. The four sides of this quarry are hewn perpendi- 
 cularly : an opening, eight feet in height, and in length about 
 thirty, made in one of them, passes eight feet into the rock. 
 The left side of this artificial cavern has so narrow a door, that 
 the first chamber cannot be entered without creeping : this 
 chamber, which is small, is followed by three others, each of 
 which has an out-jutting, or projecting tablet, on which the 
 embalmed bodies were laid. The doors by which these sepul- 
 chres were shut, were of stone, as were likewise their hinges, 
 which were skillfully wrought. A large serpent, and enor- 
 mous bats, were what alone I met with in this dismal place. 
 At the entrance of the vault is to be seen an elegant frieze, in 
 the finest taste, sculptured in the rock. History does not throw 
 any light on the date of this monument ; but the sculptures of 
 the pediment may have belonged to the epoch when Herod 
 the Great governed Judea. The Sepulchres of the judges are 
 at some distance from those of the kings. The ruins of several 
 
152 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 cisterns prove that an attempt was formerly made to cultivate 
 the steril space by which they are separated: the naked rock is 
 almost every where to be seen, with olives of a feeble growth 
 in its clefts, surrounded by brambles and thorns which elbow 
 them, as if angry that their inheritance should be thus usurped. 
 
 Jerusalem is the city of tombs ; the valleys of Hal cedoma 
 and Jehosophatare covered with them ; and the living appear 
 to have no other task assigned to them than that of keeping 
 watch over these numberless ashes. The rocks are all exca- 
 vated to receive bones, and the sides of the mountains incum^ 
 bered with sepulchral stones : mysterious inscriptions protect 
 from the efforts of time the memorial of those whose remem- 
 brance was so soon effaced in the heart of man. Such are 
 these places of lamentations — these vales of tears — these vast 
 annals of death. 
 
 Near several ancient olives the place is shewn to you which 
 was bathed with the sweat of the blood of Jesus Christ,* where 
 was presented to him the bitter cup of opprobrium and death ; 
 and, proceeding onward, the place where the faithful still 
 fancy they see him carried up to heaven, leaving behind him a 
 brilliant and luminous lustre. Marks of human feet are im- 
 printed in the rock : these the pilgrim regards with a pious 
 confidence : he no sooner applies his forehead, full of care, to 
 this miraculous spot, than all his fatigues and sufferings are 
 forgotten. 
 
 The bazars of Jerusalem, in which a few merchants and ma- 
 nufacturers are still to be found, are vaulted and spacious : 
 every thing about them announces that, instead of having been 
 occupied, as they are at present, by timid and needy inmates, 
 these magazines were formerly the residence of those Asiatic 
 merchants who traded in the perfumes of Arabia, in the pearls 
 of the Ganges, and in the tissues of Labor. Long rows of 
 camels press forward beneath the arch-roofs; the assembled 
 groups make way for them ; the leader of the caravan, wrapped 
 in his gilabias , f and mounted on the favourite dromedary, 
 laying his right hand on his breast, salutes the passers by ; the 
 latter answer his salutation ; and while they propound ques- 
 tions to him, the dervich bestows his benediction on the tra- 
 veller who prostrates himself before him. 
 
 I paid occasional visits to an old and rich Jew, a native of 
 Constantinople, to whom I had letters of recommendation : 
 he was come to die in the city of David. Raphael-Baruch 
 
 * But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came 
 thereout blood and water. — John , chap. 19. v. xxxiv. 
 t A large mantle striped with black and white. 
 

 ■ } . 
 
 
 
 
A ■€ MMI S T IAN FMIILY AT JERUS AEEM . 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 153 
 
 Motro spoke the Spanish language with purity; his conversa- 
 tion was lively and engaging ; he was a profound observer; 
 and the philosophy he had acquired in the course of his long 
 travels was mild and liberal. 1 have met with few men who, 
 knowing the world so well as he did, spoke of it with less ill- 
 humour. His house, which he was fitting up with great 
 care, had cost him five hundred purses.* At this time, among 
 the papers of a brother of Baruch Motro, who died at Jeru- 
 salem, was accidentally found a contract passed between him 
 and two rabbins, which secured to this credulous Jew a com- 
 modious place in Abraham’s bosom at the moderate cost of 
 eight hundred purses. 
 
 Abou-Souan, the second drogoman of the convent of the 
 Holy Sepulchre, introduced me to his family ; his house was 
 small but commodious ; and I occasionally called in to rest 
 myself after my long walks. The eldest of the four sisters of 
 Abou-Souan was eighteen years of age ; but in Syria a girl 
 is marriageable at twelve : these young females were all of 
 them either agreeable or handsome. The youngest, Angela, 
 who was aged thirteen, had fine eyes, teeth like pearls, and 
 an expressive and timid physiognomy, accustomed to be half 
 concealed by a veil. The Christian females of Jerusalem 
 never go abroad without being wrapped in a black mantle: 
 the most aged and tottering are scrupulous on this head; and 
 it is inconceivable how .they can make their way, with such 
 an encumbrance, in streets so narrow and badly paved. It is 
 a favour to find admission to a Christian family, to see the 
 women there with the face uncovered, and to receive from 
 them the coffee, the rose water, and the pipe which they fill 
 with aloes, and which, having lighted, they gracefully present. 
 
 We were very desirous that M. Prevost should draw his 
 panorama of Jerusalem from the top of the tower of David, 
 which forms a part of the citadel, [el-Qalaa] or, at least, 
 from the terrace of the Armenian convent ; but it was impos- 
 sible to obtain this favour, although the absence of the mufti, 
 Laher Effendi, who had just set out for Mecca, might, we 
 imagined, have alforded us this opportunity. Abdil-Kerym 
 dreaded the fanaticism of the chief of the emirs, Omar Effendi, 
 on whom the Franks have bestowed the title of Capo Verde , 
 [the green bonnet.] He was obliged to take the central point 
 of this panorama from the summit of the convent of the 
 Fathers, missionaries of the Holy Land, At this time I made 
 my general view of Jerusalem, taken in the valley of Jehoso- 
 
 * Upwards of six hundred pounds sterling. 
 
] 54 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land , 
 
 phat, at the spot where the Christians suppose Jesus Christ, 
 looking on this city, to have pronounced the terrible words : 
 Woe he to thee, Jerusalem 1 Under these circumstances, I was 
 greatly indebted to the kindness of the monks, and more par- 
 ticularly to the good offices of the respectable fathers Bayon 
 and Angelo Munnos, both Spaniards. These good monks 
 came to chat with us in the evening in a small refectory, 
 'where they treated us with the best they could procure. I 
 could not forbear admiring their courage, their self-denial, 
 and the gaiety they displayed in awaiting the new persecution 
 with which the churches of Palestine were threatened. 
 
 Nothing can be more gloomy and dismal than Jerusalem, 
 when the north wind, pregnant with showers, whistles through 
 the battlements of the ramparts, is ingulfed in the deserted 
 streets, or groans in the cloisters and corridors of the convent. 
 I was lodged in a cold chamber, which received the light from 
 a small grated window : it commanded the view of a garden 
 terminated by the high walls of the city. 
 
 The climate of Jerusalem is frequently rigorous during 
 winter: snow sometimes falls; and the cold was somewhat 
 intense when we prepared to leave it. The monks conferred 
 on me the knighthood of the order of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 The sword of Godfrey of Bouillon, the last relic that was shown 
 me, was not the one I respected the least. I fancied I saw it 
 wielded by the hand of this valorous and just man, who over- 
 threw whatever he encountered to resist his progress : a noble 
 pride brought to my recollection that this hero belonged to 
 my country. 
 
 The second of December was the day fixed for my departure 
 from Jerusalem: I quitted the monks with a secret presenti- 
 ment of the calamities which were afresh to overtake them. 
 The convoy, drawn up in good order, took the road of the 
 terebinthine vale : the day, which had been at first overcast, 
 became very fine. When we reached the village of Jeremiah, 
 the chief residence of the Arabs of Abou Goch, we found that 
 numerous Vabyleh* in an almost entirely ruined state : they 
 offered us, among other refreshments, honey, and sour mare’s 
 milk ; and we partook of every thing not to displease our 
 hosts. I was indebted for this kind reception to the friendship 
 of Ibrahym Abd-el-Rahman, brother of Abou Goch, the chief 
 
 * Tribe, family. The Arabs commonly bestow on the inhabitants of a 
 country the name of “ child” of that particular territory : they thus name 
 the Egyptians Oulad Masr; the Syrians Oulad Cham, &c. The fathers 
 commonly add to their own name that of their first-born son : they accord- 
 ingly say Mohamed Abou Qdscm, Mohamed, the father of Qasem. 
 
In 1817, and 1818. 155 
 
 of this tribe : we had formed an acquaintance at the house of 
 the governor of Jerusalem ; and he insisted on my visiting his 
 establishment in the desert. Ibrahym occasionally inhabits 
 Keryet-Lefta, or the valley of el-Byr. 
 
 There is an extreme difference of temperature between the 
 mountains of Judea and the sea shore : it was winter at Jeru- 
 salem, and spring at Jaffa. We were delighted at breathing 
 the perfume exhaled by the gardens of oranges and lemons 
 which lie before Jaffa, on the road of the ancient Arimathea. 
 These gardens are planted without symmetry and without art ; 
 brooks flow amid rows of trees pressing on each other ; the 
 flowers and fruits with which the branches are loaded, make 
 them yield beneath their weight, and cool themselves in the 
 water as it gently murmurs along ; while beautiful palms rise 
 like so many minarets above this balmy forest. It is impos- 
 sible to convey an idea of the pleasure the traveller feels when 
 he penetrates into these groves, after having had his eyes 
 fixed throughout the day on a scorching strand, and his ears 
 struck by the shrill and incessant cries of an Arab population, 
 which seems to be always menacing, and always in revolt. 
 
 Mehemet, the aga of Jaffa, anticipated my visit by a present 
 he sent me, consisting of four lambs, rice, corn, poultry, sugar, 
 and coffee. I went to thank him ; and he received me in a 
 pavilion he had just had constructed at the sea-side : his man- 
 ners were cordial and polished, and we soon came to a good 
 understanding. This aga, by birth a Circassian, was about 
 forty five years of age : he had been brought to Constantinople 
 when very young, and was purchased by Gezzar, the pacha of 
 Acre, who made him one of his mamelouks. Having been 
 sent on several difficult missions, Mehemet displayed on these 
 occasions great intelligence ; and bravery did for him the rest. 
 Having been appointed governor of Jaffa, after the death of his 
 patron, he looks forward to independence, and perhaps aspires 
 even to the general government of Syria. This man, posses- 
 sing a fine figure, active, adroit, and cruel even to ferocity, is 
 capable of not sparing any means to obtain his aim. The ter- 
 ritories surrounding Jaffa, Ascalon, and Gaza, are cultivated for 
 his profit ; and he possesses exclusively the commerce of this 
 territory. Constantly on horseback, either engaged in exer- 
 cising his troops, or inspecting his workmen, during the day, 
 he watches in person over the security of the city by night. 
 When he makes the tour of Jaffa, followed by the executors of 
 his orders, his rencounter is sure to be fatal to those who en- 
 deavour to frustrate his vigilance. He augments his guard 
 daily, fortifies his ramparts, enlarges the port, and constructs 
 quays. Lastly, Mehemet is a man whom destiny seems to 
 
156 Travels in Greece, Turkey and the Holy Land, 
 
 have pointed out as the successor of Gezzar Pacha, and who 
 will, perhaps, like him, close his career tranquilly amid the 
 numerous victims of his daily tyranny. 
 
 He was on a pretty good footing with the monks of the con- 
 vert of Jaffa, all of them Spaniards. The Father procurator 
 was hospitable, mild, and breathed ' the true spirit of evan- 
 gelical simplicity. Father Juan Soler, the rector, was, on the 
 other hand, influenced by a spirit of policy, by the welfare of 
 his order, and by the credit he endeavoured to maintain with 
 the aga. He was united in close bonds of friendship with a 
 Christian, a native of Syria, named Elias Basila, the second se- 
 cretary of Mehemet Aga, whom he endeavoured to raise to 
 the post of prime minister: he propped him with all the 
 weight of his influence, tormented him, and tried to rouse him 
 from his apathy ; while the latter, whose probity was blended 
 with a certain portion of indolence, smoked two hundred pipes 
 daily, in waiting his promotion — a forbearance which, in my 
 opinion, was not unphilosophical. The drogoman of the con- 
 vent of Jaffa was as poor, and, to say the least of him, as obse- 
 quious, as the other interpreters with whom the traveller is 
 persecuted in the cities of Syria : like spaniels, they are con- 
 stantly crouched at his feet ; and he cannot procure the slight- 
 est information from them, until after he has, by way of 
 prologue, had to listen to two or three long compliments in 
 bad Italian. 
 
 The aga of Jaffa spoke to me frequently of the French ar- 
 mies : he insisted on knowing what I thought of the new forti- 
 fications he had just added to those which stopped Bonaparte 
 a few t hours only.* This led him to enquire of me the details 
 of the recent events of Europe. I found him uncommonly 
 well informed, not only as to facts, but likewise as to men. 
 Mehemet Aga affected to show a profound aversion to the Eng- 
 lish and Russians : the reality of this hostility was not, how- 
 ever, confirmed to me by those who were most about his per- 
 son, and enjoyed the greatest share of his confidence. One 
 morning I found him seated in the centre of a quay which was 
 just completing : the Arab peasants beat, in measured time, a 
 sort of pouzzolana, or cement, which was to line the foot of the 
 walls opposite the sea. Their task was performed to the sound 
 of several harsh and discordant instruments ; and this orches- 
 
 * The French carried the city of Jaffa by assault in 1799 : they penetrated 
 by the quarter of the Christians, situated in the most elevated part of the city, 
 and, mistaking them for Musulmen, massacred a great number of them. 
 This error, which they had in the sequel great reason to regret, damped the 
 zeal of all the Christians of Syria, who looked forward to the French as their 
 deliverers. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 157 
 
 tra they accompanied by songs as barbarous as its harmony. 
 They afterwards formed dances, and seemed to delight more 
 especially in exercising, and marching and countermarching, 
 like European soldiers. Pipes and sorbet were brought ; and 
 we conversed for a considerable time surrounded by upwards 
 of fifty mamelouks, the greater part of whom had escaped from 
 the last massacre at Cairo. Mehemet spoke to me of his 
 troops, and dwelt much on the confidence with which he was 
 inspired by the courage of the inhabitants of Nabolos, or Nap- 
 louse, the ancient Sichern : this part of the mountains of Syria 
 furnishes the greater proportion of his guard. Extraordinary 
 anecdotes, which evince the most ferocious intrepidity, are 
 related of this tribe of Arabs, who are the sworn enemies of the 
 tribe of Abou Goch, the ancient Jeremiah. There is bbod 9 
 according to their phrase, between the two countries ; and of 
 this confirmed hatred lone individuals are the daily victims. 
 
 How often, in this fine climate, have I regretted the fogs 
 and clouded sky of France ! How often have my eyes been 
 sorrowfully turned towards the west ! When, after having seen 
 in each of the countenances I met the expression of hatred, I 
 returned to the convent of Jaffa, the mild and affectionate be- 
 nevolence of the European monks comforted my heart, made 
 it expand, and recalled to it its dearest affections. 
 
 In my chamber a young swallow was my companion ; it 
 settled every evening on a peg in the ceiling ; and each morn- 
 ing, at sun-rise, I gave my little friend his liberty. It is not 
 improbable that he came from France; and he may have 
 quitted a roof which sheltered the objects of my tender soli- 
 citude. 
 
 A sudden indisposition on the eve of my departure from 
 Jaffa, was the more distressing to me, because it seemed to me 
 to be the forerunner of a severe fit of illness. I submitted to 
 a Turkish remedy ; and a mixture of coffee and punch, made 
 very warm, fortunately enabled me to get on horseback the 
 following morning, although I was not as yet fully assured 
 that I should have sufficient strength to prosecute my journey. 
 In Syria not any medical aid, nor succour of any description, 
 is to be had ; and the sick must submit to the award of nature, 
 either to recover or to die, without the intervention of man. 
 
 Having determined to repair to Damietta by crossing Pales- 
 tine and the Desert, I did not allow myself to be discouraged 
 by the various difficulties attendant on such a journey. The 
 aga gave me a man on whom the fullest dependence could be 
 placed, and of this man, Abou Douad, I shall have occasion to 
 speak in the sequel. He had spent some years in France ; and 
 the consequence was, that when he spoke French I could not 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol. I. 3 P 
 
158 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 understand him without considerable difficulty, and when he 
 spoke Arabic he was equally incomprehensible. I had besides, 
 as an additional escort, two horsemen, an Arab of Nabolos, 
 and an African of Mogador. The whole of the city of Jaffa 
 assisted in the preparations for our departure. Our caravans 
 was very numerous : the streets were encumbered with the 
 camels, the dromedaries, and Mehemet’s guard : janissaries 
 ill treated the Arabs, who uttered hideous exclamations ; our 
 affrighted horses sprung and pranced, while, in the interim, the 
 cowls of the good monks, who braved the insults of this mul- 
 titude, were blended with turbans of so many colours, while 
 they bade us adieu. I succeeded at length in extricating my- 
 self from this croud, a small portion of which was so insolent, 
 and the remainder so destitute and wretched. 
 
 The aga of Jaffa, a part of whose guard of cavalry escorted 
 us as far as Gaza, offered me, as a token of his remembrance, 
 an Arabian horse, which I refused ; but, to make an equal 
 display of generosity on my side, I sent him a watch set with 
 pearls, with whi<3h he was highly pleased. 
 
 Our departure from Jaffa was not without pomp : the guns 
 were fired, and numerous horsemen voluntarily joined our es- 
 cort, to accompany us during a part of our journey. We slept 
 in the open air, beneath a sorry tent, at Jabena, the ancient 
 Jamnia, which was inhabited by a few Arab pastors only. The 
 whole of this territory is susceptible of a surprising fertility ; 
 but the hand of despotism destroys during the day what the 
 dew of heaven has made to spring. 
 
 I quitted the caravan, which was to direct its course to- 
 wards Giza, long before break of day; and, having with me a 
 drogoman, my servant, and a mamelouk, went in quest of the 
 ruins of Ascalon. The dawn broke just as we were joined by 
 an Arab near the ruins of Azoth, once so flourishing under the 
 domination of the Philistines. This Bedouin, who was wan- 
 dering without any settled plan, was delighted with the op- 
 portunity afforded him of hearing the praises bestowed on 
 the beauty and fleetness of his mare, whose flashing eyes vied 
 in lustre with those of the antelope: he hung unceasingly 
 over the neck of this charming animal, to whom he spoke as 
 to" a beloved child, stifling her with kisses. On our drawing 
 near to a ravine, our companion pointed out to me ell-Tell, 
 the chief residence of the tribe of Ouahydyeh, to which he 
 himself belonged, and which was in close alliance with the 
 aga of Jaffa. He expatiated for a long time on the power 
 and glory of his tribe ; but, unfortunately, what he delivered 
 in a very animated and impressive manner, was translated to 
 me very laconically. 
 
In 1817, and 1818. 159 
 
 We cleared with the rapidity of lightning the space of 
 eighteen miles lying between Jabena and Madjedal. This 
 hamlet, distant two miles from the ruins of Ascalon, (in Arabic, 
 Azgalan,) and from the sea, is situated in a fine plain, sur- 
 rounded by a rampart of palms and large aloes. The hedges 
 are formed of hornbeam and the prickly pear interwoven, and 
 are more impenetrable than the thickest wall. It was here, in 
 the plains of Ascalon, that the Crusaders obtained a signal vic- 
 tory over the army of the Sultan of Egypt, the loss of which 
 was immense. This memorable battle is thus charmingly de- 
 scribed by Jean Baptiste Rousseau 
 
 La Palestine enjin, apris iant de ravages , 
 
 Vit fair ses ennemis , comme on volt les nuages 
 
 Dans le vague des airs fair devout Vaquilon ; 
 
 El des vents du midi la devorante haleine 
 N’ a consume qu' a peine 
 
 Leurs ossamens blanchis dans les champs d 1 Ascalon. 
 
 I repeated these verses with still more delight, because other 
 Frenchmen, who came to seek new dangers, were encamped, 
 a few years ago, on this spot. A plain leads to the ruins of 
 Ascalon : this city, which is now without a single inhabitant, 
 is situated on a high hill, in the form of a semi-circle : the de- 
 clivity is almost insensible on the land side •, but there is a con- 
 siderable slope towards the sea, which forms the chord of this 
 arch. The ramparts and gates are standing, and the turret 
 awaits the watchful sentinel* The streets lead to two squares $ 
 and over a flight of steps, in the interior of a palace, the ante- 
 lope bounds : in the vast churches not any echo is to be heard, 
 save that of the cry of the jackal : large flocks of these animals 
 are assembled in the great square, and they are at present the 
 only rulers of Ascalon. 
 
 The Arabs, by whom it is named Djaurah, without doubt 
 impressed by its gloom and awful stillness, make it the abode 
 of evil spirits : they assert that, during the night, lights are 
 often seen passing along, and innumerable voices heard, toge- 
 ther with the neighing of horses, the clashing of arms, and the 
 tumultuous shouts of the embattled hosts. 
 
 Not far from the Gothic monuments of Ascalon are to be 
 seen the extensive ruins of a temple of Venus : forty lofty 
 columns of rose granite, and capitals and friezes of the finest 
 marble, rise from a deep vault half laid open. A well, having 
 an immense aperture, descends into the bowels of the earth : a 
 part of this great wreck is concealed by fig-trees, palms, and 
 sycamores. What a picturesque and philosophical contrast is 
 that of these Greek ruins, of matchless elegance, with the 
 
160 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 ogive* and linked columns which support the dome of a chapel 
 of the Virgin. She presided over this strand, and was without 
 doubt invoked more than once amid the perils of a stormy 
 coast. On the azured roof are still legible these words, written 
 in Gothic characters ; — Stella matutma, advocata navigantium, 
 ora pro nobis . 
 
 The works of the port are become the sport of the waves : 
 they break furiously, and at a great height, over the rocks, the 
 firm and unshaken bases of these useless towers, and of these 
 deserted turrets. I was rivetted to the spot, and could cheerfully 
 have awaited the darkness which, fancy told me, was to re- 
 people this dreary and fearful abode. 
 
 There once dwelt might and brilliant valour: it was in 
 Ascalon that the elegance of the chivalrous age, and European 
 politeness, were blended with the voluptuous pageantry and all 
 the enjoyments of eastern luxury. There it was that religion, 
 love, and a thirst of glory, wrought the imagination of the 
 warrior to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, and gave birth to 
 those proud achievements which bestow on the history of the 
 time all the edat^ and all the charms, of the most sublime 
 fictions of poetry. 
 
 The Arab of el-Madjehal, urged by want, is to be occasionally 
 seen engaged in digging among the sands of Ascalon *. he sur- 
 veys with a vacant look the breast-plate, once gilt, which 
 chance has thrown in his way : his son tries to place on his 
 head the helmet which rust has half consumed, and raises with 
 difficulty the ponderous sword of the Christian knight. 
 
 Agricoh , incurmo terram molit&s aratro , 
 
 Exesa inveniet scabra ruhigine pita, 
 
 Aut gravibus rastxis galeas pulsabit inanes t 
 Grandiaque effo&sh uitfabitur msa sepulchris . 
 
 Viito. Georg, lib. 1. v. 4 97- 
 
 Coats of mail, the iron head of a lance, or the shattered re- 
 mains of a buckler, may be found at almost every step. Lady 
 Esther Stanhopef had recently attempted to explore the soil 
 
 * An arch, or branch of a Gothic vault, which, instead of being circular* 
 passes diagonally from one angle to. another, and forms a cross with the other 
 arches. 
 
 t Lady Esther Stanhope has been for some years an inhabitant of Syria* 
 and has fixed her residence m the small city of Antoura, at the foot of Mount 
 Libanon: her bounties have attached to her the Bedouin Arabs; and it is 
 said that they have every wish to proclaim her queen* and do homage to her 
 as such. A ceremony, which bore a strong resemblance to the coronation of 
 the sovereign Queen of the Desert, was prepared for her at Tadmor, the 
 ancient Palmyra, when she went to visit its ruins ; but her modesty led her 
 to refuse this extraordinary triumph. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. ' 161 
 
 of Ascalon ; but she soon found these researches too expen- 
 sive. She had engaged a whole tribe of Arabs in this enter- 
 prise: the protection, however, of the aga of Jaffa was so 
 costly, that she was obliged to abandon her project. 
 
 I did not arrive at Gaza until very late. After having crossed, 
 to be enabled to reach it, forests of palms and nopals, the 
 road suddenly quits the strand, and leads to rural valleys, and 
 to brooks which must be sought beneath the fragrant shrubs 
 that cover them. There it perhaps was that the noble and 
 gentle Herminia fell in with those shepherds, with that lone 
 retreat, which had never before witnessed any thing so bril- 
 liant as her armour, or so agitated as her breast. 
 
 Cibo non prende gia , che d£ suoi mali 
 Solo si pusce , e sol di pianto ha sete. 
 
 Non si desto jinche garrir gli augelli 
 Non send lieti , e salutar gli arboscelli , 
 
 E con Vonda scherzar Vaura , e co' jiori, 
 
 Apre i languidi lumi , e guardar quelli 
 
 Alberghi solitari de pastor i 
 
 E’ parle voce uscir , tra Vacqua e i rami , 
 
 Cli ai sospiried al pianto la richiami. 
 
 (T. Tasso. Gerusal. liber, vir.) 
 
 These plains, although almost entirely uncultivated, are de- 
 lightful : a vegetation at once active and vigorous, and palms 
 laden with fruit of the most exquisite flavour,* display nature 
 redoubling her efforts on the frontier of the Desert. It may 
 easily be conceived that this land, so highly favoured, was long- 
 disputed. 
 
 Gaza, named by the Arabs Razzd, built on a hill of a mode- 
 rate elevation, and of a circular form, overlooks these rich and 
 fertile plains. By the dubious light of the moon, which was 
 then obscured by clouds, I was astonished at the extent of this 
 city, while my admiration was excited by the fine lineaments 
 of the seray of the palace which brings to remembrance the 
 reign of the Sultan Saladin. 
 
 Gaza e cittd della Guide a nel fine, 
 
 Su cpiella via ch* inver Pelusio r nenct, 
 
 Posta in riva del mare ; ed ha vicine 
 Immense solitudini d arena, 
 
 JLe quai , coma austro sud Vonde marine, 
 
 Mesce il turbo spirante , onde a gran perns 
 Mitrova il peregrin riparo o scampo 
 Nelle tempeste delV insiabil campo., 
 
 (T. Tasso. Gerusal. liber, xvii.) 
 
 * The dates, the oranges, and the lemons of Gaza, have a very exquisite 
 flavour, and are most esteemed in the Levant. 
 
162 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 I crossed groves of banana- trees, and sprang over moresque 
 arch-roofs, to deliver to the aga the recommendatory letter, 
 or rather the orders, of Mehemet of Jaffa, his superior. 
 
 This terrible master was so well obeyed, that I met with a very 
 polite reception. The marble palace, built in the time of the califs, 
 in which the aga resides, must have been a voluptuous abode 
 in the time of the sultans: each object still speaks there of 
 these brave and gallant princes, who aided with their arms the 
 bewitching Annida. The governor of Gaza was wretchedly 
 lodged in a tattered divan, amid these magnificent ruins. The 
 walls are, however, still incrusted with azure and gold; and 
 marble arcades, skilfully wrought, afford a passage to the per- 
 fumes of the adjacent forests. The illusion of the evening em- 
 bellishes every where that which exists, and gives a fine relief 
 to that which is no more : accordingly, on the following day, 
 I could no longer find the traces of what, on the preceding 
 evening, had constituted the chief allusion of my brilliant and 
 chivalrous reveries. 
 
 After having smoked the pipe, and taken coffee, which was 
 presented to us by fine youths of from twelve to fifteen years of 
 age, I was shown to the house of a Greek, the aga’s first secre- 
 tary. We there selected for our quarters a court, in preference 
 to the interior of the house, and slept beneath thick trellises. 
 In the morning, I was awakened at an early hour by the arrival 
 of a courier from Jaffa, who brought me a present from the aga 
 of very rich Damascus cloths. I was not at all surprised at this, 
 as his munificence was, as well as his wish to make himself 
 agreeable to foreigners, to the French more especially, well 
 known to me. 
 
 Gaza at that time scarcely contained eight thousands inha- 
 bitants, divided between Turks, Arabs, and Greeks. The pa- 
 laces facing the rampart were almost entirely deserted. All 
 the surrounding objects bore testimony to the riches and ele- 
 gance of remote times, and to the bad taste and misery of the 
 present. The principal mosque is ornamented with four rows 
 of columns of African marble, surmounted by Corinthian capi- 
 tals in the best taste : these ornaments were evidently brought 
 hither from Ascalon. My host pointed out to me respectfully 
 the remains of ancient walls on the summit of a hill : these he 
 would have to be the ruins of the temple which Sampson over- 
 threw: and, beyond these remains, he showed me the spot 
 where this Hercules of the Israelites deposited the gates of Ga- 
 za. We fell in with the aga, who was proceeding towards the 
 sea side, distant about four miles, on a hunting excursion. He 
 was followed by a numerous retinue of mamelouks, among 
 whom were several of the young men whose beauty had made 
 
In 1817 and 1818. ' " ~ 163 
 
 so great an impression on me the preceding evening : I was 
 told that these unfortunate youths, who were brilliantly armed, 
 and mounted on superb horses, were the favourites of the aga, 
 whose treasures and power they contested. 
 
 At the epoch of the campaign of Egypt, the French did not 
 obtain possession of Gaza until after a pretty severe action. 
 The French engineers then threw up a redoubt capable of 
 keeping the city in check ; and the remains of this work I saw, 
 but in a very ruinous condition. 
 
 If I had been alone, and could have submitted to pay the 
 enormous sum which was demanded of me, I should certainly 
 have confided my destiny to the Arabs of Bakyr, and to a few 
 known individuals of Gaza, to seek in the Desert, to the south- 
 east of lake Asphaltites, the ruins of the cities of the Naba- 
 theans and the Idumeans. The Honourable Mr. Banks, an 
 English Traveller, was at the time on the eve of visiting that 
 particular part of Asia, hitherto so little known : I was told 
 that he was to be furnished with an escort of three hundred 
 men for this expedition. He will see without doubt the De- 
 sert of el-Tyh, to which Moses led the Hebrews ; together 
 with Pharan, and the remains of Asion-Gaber and Aylah, 
 which were, even in the time of Solomon, the entrepot of the 
 commerce of Arabia and India. 
 
 The Greek at whose house I was lodged spoke a little Ita- 
 lian : he was affectedly grave, and gave himself airs of import- 
 ance, because the aga did not undertake any thing without con- 
 sulting him. I have never, even among the other secretaries 
 and drogomans, met with an indolence which could be com- 
 pared to that of this man. I do not know how the affairs of 
 the government were managed; but I saw him incessantly 
 with a pipe in his mouth, and twirling between his fingers a 
 chaplet of amber. 
 
 It is impossible to conceive the perplexities and torments of 
 an unfortunate traveller who is obliged to consume whole 
 days in waiting for a bouyourdik * The agas, the emirs, the 
 interpreters, and the camel-drivers, all conspire to keep him in 
 a state of suspense; and it is by the dint of money alone that 
 he succeeds in obtaining what might be had without the least 
 difficulty. 
 
 The sums which Syria had at this time to pay annually to 
 the khazneh , the sultan’s treasurer, were estimated at three 
 thousand purses, somewhat more than one hundred and thirty 
 thousand pounds sterling. Aleppo, Tripoli, and Saint- Jean- 
 
 * A sort of permit, or passport. 
 
164 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 d’Acre, were the places which had to furnish the principal 
 part of the contributions. The musulmans do not pay any 
 thing : the Christians, the Maronites, the Druses, and the 
 Jews, are considered as the immediate subjects. The kharadj, 
 the impost to which the former are liable, is a capitation tax 
 under a distinct management, and for which they likewise are 
 responsible to the sultan's treasurer. Syria might remit half a 
 million sterling to Constantinople; for this province, which 
 groans under taxation, in reality pays upwards of a million and 
 a quarter sterling : this is consumed by the pachas, the mot- 
 sallams, the agas, and their agents. If all the troops in the 
 pay of the pachas of Damascus and Saint- Jean-d' Acre, and of 
 the aga of Jaffa, were to be summed up, they would scarcely 
 amount to eight thousand men, in which number only two 
 thousand foot soldiers, all either metoualis or moghrabrins, are 
 to be reckoned. 
 
 I quitted Gaza on the 9th of December, after having had to 
 encounter obstacles which threw a damp on an enterprize suf- 
 ficiently arduous in itself. I refused the armed escort which 
 was offered me ; but I was supplied with camels, dromedaries, 
 and a chief of the camel-drivers, whom I was led to select, 
 from among many others, by the nobleness and frankness of 
 his phyiognomy. Abd-allah-d’el-Arych did not falsify the opi- 
 nion I had entertained of him : this gentle and affectionate 
 creature was of great use to us. The preparations for our de- 
 parture soon collected around us, as was customary in these 
 cases, all the rabble of Gaza. The most adventurous among 
 them loaded us with abuse, and a few stones were thrown ; 
 but the threat of a volley of our fire arms soon quieted this po- 
 pulace, the most insolent in all Syria. We mounted on our 
 dromedaries amid the shouts of the Arab guides. The fury 
 displayed by these armed men among themselves would have 
 led one to suppose that slaughter would ensue ; but there was 
 nothing of all this : the dispute was at the most about a lea- 
 thern strap, a cord, or a few medins : when the feeblest was 
 dragged by the beard beneath the feet of the camels, the janis- 
 saries interfered, and, having discharged a shower of blows on 
 the combatants, order was restored. 
 
 The step of the dromedary* was at first so painful to me, 
 that I thought I should be greatly inconvenienced during a 
 journey of such a length; but I found in the sequel 
 that the motion was supportable. I contrived to seat myself 
 pretty well on the back of this enormous animal, so tractable. 
 
 * Surnamed, by the Arabs, the ship of the desert. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 165 
 
 so gentle, and so sure of foot : I found a greater difficulty, 
 however, in accustoming myself to the hideous guttural cries of 
 this poor animal, every time he was forced to lie down, either 
 to enable me to mount on his back, or to alight. 
 
 At ten at night, we halted in a plain overspread with heath : 
 while some were busied in collecting dry wood, others kindled 
 a fire near a heap of ashes which indicated that another caravan 
 had recently passed. Thus far, we had had to cross immense 
 uncultivated plains : neither palms nor sycamores were to be 
 seen ; and the monotony of this barren waste was alone varied 
 by clayey ravins, and the beds of dried torrents. During the 
 whole of the evening the screams of the jackals were what 
 alone interrupted the solitude ; and during the night our people 
 were obliged to discharge their pistols, to drive away these un- 
 pleasant neighbours, who swarmed about the tent. I slept 
 soundly, nevertheless, until four in the morning, when I was 
 awakened by the pious hymn of the camel-drivers. The cara- 
 van was composed of nine persons, four of whom were mounted 
 on dromedaries: the baggage, water, and provisions, were 
 carried by five camels. Our Arabs preceded us on foot. 
 
 I was desirous to reach el- Arych by night : the journey was 
 long, and the road bad. We crossed hills and valleys of a fine, 
 shifting sand, of a dazzling whiteness, without discovering the 
 smallest trace of vegetation : as we passed along, large rats, on 
 our approaching them, sought refuge in the holes with which 
 the sands abound. At noon, the sun was scorching, and the 
 heat almost insupportable. We fell in with several Arab shep- 
 herds near the tomb of a santon : they drank with eagerness 
 the brackish water which they drew from a cistern falling in 
 ruins. What a picture of wretchedness and suffering did these 
 half- famished creatures present ! This tribe, which was inde- 
 pendent a few years ago, had been persecuted, and finally sub- 
 jected, by the aga of Gaza : the women and children were de- 
 tained prisoners in that city, and made responsible for the 
 fidelity of the men of the tribe, to whom he had given the 
 charge of his folds. 
 
 Having descended towards the sea side, we followed the 
 strand during six hours. At length the palms of el- Arych were 
 descried ; but it required a long time to reach them. El- 
 Arych consists merely of a small fort, surrounded by cottages 
 sunk in the sand ; but its forest of palms is truly magnificent : 
 beneath their dome, ruffled by the evening breeze, we forgot 
 the fatigues of the day. The overspreading darkness gave a 
 relief to the sight ; and the stillness and coolness of the night 
 were inconceivably pleasant. It is then that the soul recovers 
 its energy, while the body resumes its vigour and elasticity. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol. 7. 3 Q 
 
166 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 The Arabs of this territory have not forgotten the visit paid 
 them by the French : they pointed out to us the different 
 positions their troops had occupied, and the places which had 
 been the scene of the most obstinate conflicts, throwing into 
 the air handbills of sand to denote the numbers of the slain. We 
 were supplied with fish, which we cooked in the best way we 
 could, and with fresh dates of an exquisite flavour. 
 
 After a progress of two hours along the sea-shore, we came 
 to a well of turbid water, which was, however, passably good : 
 our skins* were filled, and our caravan took the direction of 
 the mountains towards the great Desert. In proceeding, the 
 traveller has to cross, either sands intersected by very low 
 hills, or plains immensurably spread, covered with a saline 
 crust of a dazzling whiteness. At the horizon are to be seen 
 shifting downs, on the surface of which the different directions 
 of the winds impress varied forms : these represent, with 
 great regularity, the gutters of a column, festoons, and, more 
 frequently, waves similar to those the sea delineates on the 
 strand. The water of the Mediterranean flows in by the 
 valleys when the north winds prevail ; and what is left of this 
 water in the lowest of the plains, forms immense natural salt- 
 pans. At intervals, and these very distant from each other, 
 are to be found small tufts of a blackish and prickly heath. 
 The herds of antelopes are so numerous as in a great measure 
 to obscure the horizon. A few hares, the course of which the 
 eye is enabled to follow for nearly a league, and a few tortoises 
 crawling slowly to their retreat : these, and these alone, are 
 the objects which attract the traveller’s notice in the Desert. 
 Not the warbling of one bird meets his ear to cheer this land- 
 scape, the monotony of which is so awfully striking : the 
 solemn stillness of the scene is alone interrupted by the thun- 
 derclap, or by the deaf howlings of the tempest. 
 
 An Arab showed me, on a small mound of white sand, the 
 recent tracks of a wild beast which had crossed it with its 
 young, perhaps a few minutes before our passage. We fell in 
 with two caravans only : several Arab women followed the 
 latter on foot, carrying their children on the hips, and a pit- 
 cher on the head. Their husbands were naked, with the ex- 
 ception of the loins, which were covered with a leathern 
 girdle, to which was attached a piece of stuff as small as 
 could be well contrived for the purpose. 
 
 The Arab of the Desert is a far superior character to the 
 Arab who dwells in a city : he is hospitable, faithful to his 
 
 * Goat-skins made to hold liquors. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 167 
 
 promise, and is sensible of the full value of his independence. 
 The Bedouin passes without longing through the bazars of 
 Cairo and of rich Damascus : he is not to be seen, under any 
 circumstances, struggling against his destiny. Civilized man 
 expects from life what it can never bestow on him : in his in- 
 quietude, he makes the most strenuous efforts to remount the 
 current of a rapid river, which the Bedouin Arab descends 
 with resignation. All those we met with on our route ac- 
 costed us with the most confident benevolence : with the right 
 hand laid on the breast, they tendered to us their pious wishes : 
 God is gi'eat , he will protect your journey and ours, was their 
 usual formula in addressing us. Alla kerym and In did Allah 
 terminated the conversation which had commenced by multi- 
 plied salems, the salutations of peace. 
 
 In the evening my people laid out our repast beneath the 
 tent. We were not long in taking it ; for it was our custom to 
 refresh ourselves with sleep, at eight, or nine o'clock at the 
 latest, to be enabled to set out at three in the morning. 
 
 The heat which prevailed during the day, was augmented by 
 the powerful action of the reverberation of the sun's rays on 
 the plains of salt : the temperature could not be more aptly 
 compared than to that of a very hot day, in the month of Au- 
 gust, in the South of France. The humidity of the nights 
 produces a sensation of the most piercing cold : these dews 
 were occasionally so abundant, that it became very difficult to 
 kindle a fire : our tent was as wet in the morning as if it had 
 dipped in water. To seek relief from the awkward gait of my 
 dromedary, I frequently mounted a small Arabian mare, aged 
 three years, fleet, gentle, and a perfect model of beauty : she 
 was so caressing and tame, that in the evening she frequently 
 placed her fine nostrils on my shoulder, and partook of the 
 supper. 
 
 After their repast, our Arabs drew up in a circle, and each in 
 his turn told a story: by the physiognomies of those who 
 listened to him, it was easy to judge of the interest of the 
 recital. 
 
 One evening they appeared to be more attentive, and to feel 
 a greater emotion, than usual : I wished to know the cause of 
 this, and procured from Abou Doaud, our interpreter, the 
 translation of a tale which must have been much more 
 pathetic from the lips of Ibrahym el-Arish. u My Lord, 3 ' said 
 the drogoman to me, u I have heard it repeated several times 
 “ by a Monk of Jaffa : I am almost certain that I can tell it as 
 cC well as he did." 
 
168 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 THE HISTORY OF ISMAYL AND MARYAM. 
 
 In the continual quarrels which subsisted between the Arabs 
 of the Desert and the Motsallam of Jerusalem, the people of 
 the latter surprised and made prisoner, near the valley of 
 Beq&a, a young cheykh who had already distinguished himself 
 by his valorous achievements. He was named Ismayl, the son 
 of Ahmed, the son of B&hir : his father was chief of the tribe of 
 Ouahydyeh, one of the most considerable of Barr el-Cham.* 
 Ismayl defended himself with the courage of the lions he had so 
 often attacked in the sands of M&an and Karac. Being des- 
 perately wounded, it was not without great difficulty that he 
 was transported to Jerusalem, where he was lodged, with his 
 head resting on a column, in the court of the Governor’s 
 Palace. The paleness of death overspread his sunburnt visage, 
 without changing the masculine and dignified beauty of his 
 features : his stiff and chilled limbs, however, seemed to an- 
 nounce that he who was the rampart of the Desert, and the 
 terror of Syria, would soon yield up the ghost. But his blood 
 still flowed ; and what pity denied, was inspired by a sordid 
 interest. The motsallam, expecting a considerable ransom for 
 the only son of the cheykh of the Ouahydyeh, ordered the 
 drogoman of the convent of the Holy Land, who had the repu- 
 tation of a skilful physician, to be called. “ Hakim/’ + said he 
 to him, cc seeing that thou hast received from heaven the gift 
 “ of curing men, and that my people see in thee a second 
 <e Averro&s, I will confide to thee this prisoner, if thou thinkest 
 “ that thou canst save his life : let him be conveyed to thy 
 “ dwelling. Swear that thou wilt bring this slave into my pre- 
 “ sence on the twentieth day of the moon of schowal : if thou 
 u failest, if he escape thy vigilance, the treason be on thy head. 
 “ The half of his ransom shall be the reward of this service.” 
 
 The drogoman bowed his head, examined the wounds of the 
 young cheykh, and, after laying his hand successively on his 
 breast, on his beard, and on his forehead, said, “ My Lord, what 
 “ thou hast commanded shall be done : deliver up to me this 
 “ slave, and I will endeavour to restore him to thee worth 
 “ all the ransom which thy justice has a right to expect.” 
 
 The expiring youth was conveyed to the house of the drogo- 
 man, who was named Youhanna ebn-Temyn. The fire of cha- 
 rity warmed the breast of this Christian man : he dwelt near the 
 gate of St. Stephen, on the via dolorosa , J and the garden of his 
 
 * Syria. f Doctor. Physician. 
 
 X The road by which our Saviour was led to crucifixion. 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 1 69 
 
 house was formed on the ruins of one of the walls of the piscina 
 probatica* to the bottom of which it descended. 
 
 Maryam, the most beautiful of the daughters of Palestine, 
 heard the sounds of redoubled blows : having discerned the 
 voice of Ebn-Temyn, her father, she opened the door, which 
 was barricadoed like those of all the Christians of Jerusalem, 
 and was not a little surprised at seeing him enter with the 
 inanimate body of the young cheykh. “ My daughter/' said the 
 drogoman, “ I bring to thee one in affliction and thenceforth 
 compassion was depicted on the celestial countenance of Ma- 
 ryam. “ He is the most formidable chief of those Bedouins, 
 “ the son of Ahmed, the cheykh of the Ouahydyeh ” 
 
 What ! so young," said she; “ and it is he who made himself so 
 “ terrible to the Bethelemites ! O my father, let us pardon him : 
 6( bring to thy remembrance the history of the Samaritan, If 
 66 thy art could save this unfortunate youth !" — a Haste, run l" 
 replied to her Ebn-Temyn, “ bring the balm of zaggoum, and 
 66 stripes of linen." 
 
 With hasty steps she departed. Ismayl w'as laid on the 
 plain divan of the drogoman. Maryam got ready the folded 
 linen : on her knees, she supported in her arms the drooping 
 head of the youth, and waited impatiently the opinion her fa- 
 ther was about to form of the state of Ismayl. Alas l a sigh, 
 perhaps the latest, is ready to escape his lips ; the strong throbs 
 which heave the bosom of the young virgin do not rekindle in 
 his bosom the torch of life. Maryam watches the slighest 
 movement, the smallest spark : she sees for the first time a 
 man — a stranger — she contemplates with an ardent pity the 
 closed eyes of the Bedouin, whose long black lids cast their 
 shadow on his wan cheeks. On the breast of Ismael a deep 
 wound has been inflicted ; Ebn-Temyn thinks it mortal : Ma- 
 ryam shudders, and presses to hers the sad burden she sup- 
 ports. One of her hands holds what has been prepared to 
 quench the blood which flows abundantly on the sash and un- 
 folded turban of the Bedouin. Her tears, which she cannot 
 wipe away, bathe the brow of the young man : this potent 
 balm might have awakened him from the last sleep : he opens 
 his eyes, and fixing them stedfastly on this ravishing beauty, 
 in the delirium of the fever which consumes him, “ Maho- 
 “ met," he exclaims, “am I at length in thy divine Paradise!" 
 
 — “ O Virgin, mother of the true God," cries Maryam, 
 
 “ he is still alive ! blessed be thy name : help this poor infidel, 
 for without thee our endeavours will be vain." 
 
 During the time of his long confinement, Ebn-Temyn and 
 his daughter did not quit the son of Ahmed for an instant. 
 
 * A pond at Jerusalem where the sheep intended for sacrifice were washed. 
 
170 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 He saw almost unceasingly, by day and by night, the expres- 
 sion of the softest pity embellish the features of Maryam: 
 words of kindness afforded the hope of a better destiny to this 
 ardent youth, whose ignominious bonds galled him more sorely 
 than the sufferings he endured. 
 
 In the mean time Ismayl recovered strength, and his heart 
 paid back with interest the debt of his life. His soul was 
 filled with love and gratitude. As soon as he was able to walk 
 Maryam led him beneath the sycamore the branches of which 
 overshadowed the house and garden of Ebn-Temyn : seated 
 side by side, it was her delight to call on him to relate the wars 
 of his tribe, the revenge taken by the Ouahydyeh on the perfi- 
 dious Gezzar, the particulars of his family, and his pleasures 
 in the Desert. The evening surprised them in the midst of 
 these long and agreeable reveries, from which they were at 
 length roused by the voice of the mouezzin , who, from the lofty 
 minaret of the rich mosque of El-Harem, called the musulmans 
 to prayers. 
 
 <c Maryam,” said the Arab to her, “ thou makest me forget 
 “ my father, the Prophet, and my tribe. Within these 
 “ gloomy and high walls which shut out the light of heaven, 
 “ thy eyes are become the only stars I wish to follow. Either 
 “ will my bones become light ashes, to be the sport of the wind 
 66 of yamyn, or I will plant for thee the nuptial tent in the de- 
 “ sert : my father and mother will leap for joy at thy sight ; all 
 C£ the Ouahydyeh will kiss the skirt of the robe of Ebn-Te- 
 “ myn ; and the girls of the qabyleh will contend for the ho- 
 “ nour of washing the dust from thy feet.” Maryam, confused 
 and moved to pity, replied to him that she was a Christian— 
 that every thing in this life separated them. ££ Death, alas !” 
 she added with a sad presentiment, ££ death will perhaps be 
 more just.” 
 
 In the interim, the pacha of Damascus, coveting the trea- 
 sures of the motsallam of Jerusalem, called him to his divan,* 
 and reproached him with his extortions : his head fell by the 
 stroke of the cimeter ; and those eyes, a single glance from 
 which would, the evening before, have terrified all Judea, be- 
 came dim. A favourite of the pacha was appointed governor 
 of Jerusalem: being desirous to repay the favour his patron 
 had conferred on him by an acceptable present, he levied con- 
 tributions, as well on the convent of the Holy Sepulchre, as 
 on those of the Armenians and Greeks : twenty of the richest 
 Jews sunk under the merciless blows of the staffs of the 
 chiaoux. Grief and consternation prevailed throughout the 
 whole city of Jerusalem. ££ Listen, son of Ahmed,” said the 
 drogoman to the cheykh confided to his care : “ bound by a 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 171 
 
 44 sacred oa#i towards the last motsallam, I have not made any 
 44 promise to his successor : if thy strength will enable thee, 
 ^ profit by the confusion which prevails in the city ; go out to- 
 44 morrow, at sunset, by the gate of Naby Daoud; conceal 
 44 thyself in the grottoes of Haceldama, where the sepulchres 
 £t will afford thee a sacred asylum ; and afterwards direct thy 
 44 steps with prudence towards the Desert. May the God who 
 44 sent thee to my house, protect thy flight, and may he be- 
 44 stow on thee, as on those whose blood flows in thy veins, 
 
 long life.” Maryam blushed on hearing these words : the 
 cup, filled w r ith the drink she was about to offer, fell from her 
 hand. 
 
 44 O my father,” said Ismayl, 44 wherefore is it that thou 
 44 wouldest have me sever myself from thee, when danger 
 44 menaces those my heart will never abandon ? That cruel 
 46 man, Abd-allali, now persecutes the chief men of Jerusa- 
 44 lem ; but, when this new motsallam shall have sacrificed 
 44 the dromedaries, his hand will slay the ewes, and shear the 
 44 tender lamb. He will recollect the combat of Tiberiades, 
 44 when he shall be told that Ismayl is a captive ; and not any 
 44 ransom will be the purchase of my life : there is blood be- 
 44 tween us and the children of our children. Soon will Abd- 
 44 allah demand of thee an account of the slave ; and thy 
 44 mouth, the daughter of truth, what reply will it have to 
 44 make ? Let us rather flee together ; or, if thou wilt plight 
 44 thy faith to me, I will proceed towards my father : he w r ill 
 44 draw near to Pharan with the children of his tribe, gentle 
 44 as antelopes, and courageous as lions ; and I will bring a 
 44 docile camel, which Maryam will guide without difficulty. 
 44 Accompanied by her, thou wilt come out to meet us at the 
 44 entrance of the valley of Gaza, and shouts of joy will wel- 
 44 come thee among the sons of Ouahydyeh. We will await 
 44 thy coming during the last three days of the moon of sepher; 
 44 and I will watch unceasingly on the heights of Ebor to dis- 
 44 cern thine arrival.” 
 
 44 My father,” said Maryam, embracing his knees, 44 the 
 44 offer of this young man is an inspiration of heaven : yester- 
 “ day I prostrated myself before the altar of the virgin, and 
 44 my heart divined all that he has proposed to us. Let us 
 44 flee from the first blows of these barbarians : the hand of 
 44 God will afterwards dispel this storm : this powerful God 
 44 will look down on his people with compassion : but, I con- 
 44 jure thee, let us depart without loss of time.” 
 
 Ebn-Temyn, struck by the wisdom of these words, and by 
 his daughter’s grief, yielded to her prayer. Every thing 
 having been agreed on, and all the measures taken, Ismayl 
 
■172 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 addressed to them the parting wish. “ May you pant after 
 “ the sight of the camp of Ahmed, the son of Bahir, as the 
 “ wearied traveller pants after that of the Oasis !” This pro- 
 ject, however, was soon disconcerted : the tumult had become 
 such in the streets of Jerusalem, that Ebn-Temym would not 
 consent to allow his guest to depart : he even obliged him to 
 conceal himself beneath the vaults of the cistern, there to 
 wait a more favourable moment. After this precaution, he 
 ascended more tranquilly to Maryam, with whom he was con- 
 versing when a party of spahis came to seize him. He had 
 been denounced by a perfidious Greek, and was conducted to 
 the motsallam : his daughter never saw him more. 
 
 What little Ebn-Temym possessed was confiscated. Maryam, 
 in despair, hastened to throw herself at the feet of the su- 
 perior of the monks of the Holy Land, to conjure him to sue 
 for her father. The monastery was surrounded by soldiers, 
 and the monks menaced. “My daughter,” said the most 
 reverend father to Maryam, “ Our Lord has inflicted on us a 
 “deep wound, and you, of all the victims, are subjected to the 
 “ severest trial : offer up your griefs to Him who, at this very 
 “ spot, voluntarily drank of the cup, even unto the dregs : 
 “ daughter of Jesus Christ, your father is no more.” 
 
 The wretched girl was ignorant of this deplorable loss : she 
 fell motionless. By the time she had recovered her senses, 
 she was surrounded by several Christian women, who wept, 
 and resisted her being taken before the governor. This man, 
 having been informed of the beauty of Mariam, was desirous 
 to present to the pacha of Damascus a gift sweet as in- 
 cense, and well worthy his acceptance. The prayers of the 
 monks, however, and their money, delayed this measure for 
 a few hours. They were in hopes that they should be enabled 
 to shield the young Christian from all further inquiries, by 
 confiding her to the nuns of Bethelem ; but news was brought 
 in the evening that that city likewise had been delivered up to 
 the fury of the Metoualis. Information was at the same time 
 received, that the convent of Jerusalem, and the church of 
 the Holy Sepulchre, were to be forced in the night. From 
 that moment, every one betook himself to flight, as the only 
 resource. The women concealed themselves, with their chil- 
 dren, in the deep caverns containing the tombs of the kings 
 and judges. Courageous Christians scaled the walls, and 
 buried the most precious of the relics in the sands of the grotto 
 of Jeremiah, or in the depths of Siloe. 
 
 Dejected, dismayed, without any one to counsel her, and 
 without an asylum, Maryam returned to Ismayl, whom she 
 found worn out with anxious expectation. When he heard 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 173 
 
 of the death of Ebn-Temym, and witnessed the despair of his 
 daughter, he foamed with rage, and breathed nothing but re- 
 venge. "If God,” said she to him, " has still left me a little 
 " strength, it is that I might engage thee to depart. I have 
 " told in confidence every thing to the Father of the convent. 
 " Yousef, one of the janissaries to whom the protection of the 
 " monks is confided, has been brought over by them, and will 
 " facilitate thy flight: he has consented to conceal himself in 
 " the ruins of Bethamia, where the Arabs of Siloah will fur- 
 " nish him with a camel. It is night ; gain the valley of Je- 
 " hosophat ; thou wilt there find thy guide, who will wait for 
 " thee until the ninth hour. May God bless this journey, and 
 " may he accompany thy steps ! Bring sometimes to thy re- 
 " membrance Ebn-Temym and his unfortunate daughter. 
 
 f Thou wilt not follow me/ said Ismayl, 6 and thou pro- 
 
 * posest to me to flee?’- — —"I am a Christian,” replied Mary- 
 am, " and am not permitted to be thy wife : but, Ismayl, if 
 " thou lovest me, save thy life be happy in the desert : 
 " Maryam will not fail to find a refuge near the tomb of her 
 " God.” Then, taking courage, she added with a voice half 
 stifled by her tears : " the only grief which I could not sup- 
 " port, would be that of forgetting my duties, or of seeing 
 " thee lose thy life : all others I shall be able to resist.” " Thou 
 " didst not imagine that I would depart,” said Ismayl in a sor- 
 rowful tone of voice, laying down his weapons and his 
 mantle: " I have not given thee reason to suspect the son of 
 " Ahmed of so dastardly an act. Was it thy wish to try me ? 
 " And what signifies life to me when removed from what I 
 " love ? What is it I have just heard ? Is it possible that thou 
 " canst live far from Ismayl ? I remain, and I attest the 
 " Prophet that no earthly power shall drag me from thy pre- 
 " sence.” " Thou remainest,” exclaimed Maryam, " and the 
 " death \yith which thou art menaced!” "I despise it,” said 
 Ismayl. "And thy father who expectetli thee, and the tribe 
 " which impatiently awaiteth thy coming !” " I remain,” re- 
 peated Ismayl. "Wretch,” replied Maryam, "dost thou not 
 " know that I cannot survive thee ?— I will at least be the 
 " first to die,” said Ismayl. These last words, emphatically 
 pronounced, had all their weight : they decided the fate of 
 Maryam. 
 
 "Oh my God ! what is to be done?” exclaimed the young 
 girl, falling on her knees. " Ought I to quit this soil sprinkled 
 " with the blood of my father ? Ought I to suffer Ismayl to 
 " perish ? Am I then, a poor and desolate orphan, to sacri- 
 " fice him thus ? If my father were living, a sacred duty 
 " would attach me to him ; but, alone in the world, insulated. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 5, Vol. I . 3 R, 
 
174 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land , 
 
 “ and without a prop, where is the tie that binds me ? A 
 “ numerous family would have to deplore the loss of Ismayl ; 
 “ and ought I to consent to his death ? What matters the 
 “ fate of Maryam ? He will live, and may still be happy. 
 “ Ismayl ! save thy life, and dispose of mine : I depart with 
 i: thee. Pardon me, O ! holy Virgin, pardon me ; and, if 
 “ we are both culpable, punish me alone.” 
 
 Not a moment was to be lost : directed by the light of the 
 conflagration winch consumed the convent of the Armenians, 
 Ismayl and Maryam penetrated with great difficulty through 
 the hedges of aloes which bound the gardens of the environs. 
 They reached the wall which encompasses Jerusalem, and 
 climbed over it with the help of a few Christians, to whom 
 they rendered a like service. They might be seen— -they 
 might be heard — the smallest noise might betray them : Ismayl 
 knew for the first time what fear is. They hastened their 
 steps : Maryam, accustomed to the sedentary life of the fe- 
 males of the East, found it difficult to follow her friend : he 
 carried her in his arms. The minaret of Bethania was at 
 length in sight : now it was that the son of Ahmed persuaded 
 himself that he was master of the destiny of Maryam, who 
 was still engaged in offering up thanks to heaven when they 
 came to the ruins. They hastened to make the signal which 
 had been agreed on ; but it was not answered : all w r as 
 hushed ; the night was dark ; and the guide and the camel 
 missing. Ismayl repeated the signal; he searched in vain, 
 for nought was to be seen: the ninth hour was certainly 
 passed. 
 
 What was to he done ? How travel over sixty miles of dreary 
 and rugged roads, without help, and without provisions, to 
 have to find, at the end of this journey, moving sands scorched 
 by the sun. What obstacles will not love surmount ! Ismayl 
 had not any difficulty in persuading Maryam that they ought 
 to proceed. “I know,” said he, u a spring midway between 
 e( this and the land occupied by my tribe : near the fountain 
 “ we shall find date-trees the fruit of which will nourish thee. 
 u I will carry thee : it will require two days only to accom- 
 “ plish this. journey ; and if thy strength should fail thee, I 
 et will press thee to my bosom to restore it.” 
 
 A pure and sacred love inwrapped them in its virginal 
 robe : it tempered the ardour of their souls, where reigned a 
 holy confidence — the tender and religious charm of a first 
 love. Maryam readily believed what Ismayl said to her : they 
 hastened to quit these solitary ruins: it was their wish to take 
 advantage of the coolness of the night, to accomplish a small 
 portion of their journey with less fatigue. Vain hope ! Maryam 
 
'* " " In 1817 and 1818. 175 
 
 was already exhausted by fatigue : her tender feet were lace- 
 rated by the thorns. Ismayl saw her efforts and her sufferings, 
 and his heart was broken. He took her in his arms, and 
 carried her for a long time ; but he advanced slowly in tread- 
 ing 011 the sharp flints which his feet buried in the sand. The 
 rising sun displayed to their view the desert : — an immense 
 plain of sand, reddened by its earliest rays, without a tree, 
 and without shelter. But this sight, far from dismaying Is- 
 mayl, gave him new courage : to him the Desert was the 
 country and the image of liberty. “ O ! Maryam,” said he, 
 “ be of good cheer : before the end of this day we shall reach 
 u the fountain of Engaddi, and to-morrow we shall be with 
 4( my father.” Maryam, somewhat encouraged by these 
 words, tried to conceal her sufferings : she attempted to walk, 
 leaning on Ismayl ; but her paleness soon betrayed her, and 
 she was near fainting when he again took her in his arms. 
 Towards the close of this long journey, the Arab, not yet 
 fully recovered from the effect of his wound, also became 
 weak, and still the tops of the palms of Engaddi were 
 scarcely perceptible at the horizon : it appeared impossible to 
 reach them before the hour of darkness should set in ; but 
 Maryam languished : the thirst that consumed her scarcely 
 allowed her to articulate one word. ,r fwas for him that she 
 was dying ! This recollection inspired the bedouin with new 
 courage : he walked, stopped, and walked again. The fear 
 of losing the object of his adoration, diffused over his fore- 
 head a cold sweat : trembling, panting for breath, he pressed 
 his treasure against his anxious bosom : yet a few steps, and 
 they will reach the fountain so ardently desired. They reached 
 it at length, both of them ready to sink ; and each, deprived 
 of motion, lay stretched on the sand. 
 
 Ismayl rose, however, and dragged his wearied steps to the 
 cistern : he took water in the palms of his hands, and moist- 
 ened with it the lips of Maryam ; she slowly opened her eyes 
 bedewed with tears, which a feeble smile tried vainly to dis- 
 guise. Anxious about the condition of Ismayl, all her thoughts 
 were concentrated in him. u Alas 1” said the young girl, 
 ee without me thou wouldst not have been thus dying, and ex- 
 “ hausted with fatigue.” She accused herself 5 and, while 
 she lamented him she loved, tried to find, even in her sacri- 
 fices, the occasion of her own blame. 
 
 During the night, and the following day, they reposed be- 
 neath the date-trees. When Maryam fell into a broken sleep, 
 Ismayl was at her feet, and watched over her ; she then often 
 uttered inarticulate and incoherent words, to which the Arab 
 listened with a mixture of surprise and terror. The soft 
 
176 Travels in Greece , Turkey , and the Holy Land, 
 
 and bewitching spell of an oriental night seems to bring 
 man into contact with heaven : the harmonies of these myste- 
 rious hours accompany alike the plaint of the sufferer, and the 
 hymn of gratitude. Sometimes transient lights flit across the 
 horizon like a fiery chariot, and tinge with a pale and fugitive 
 red the fleecy clouds which hover over the summits of the 
 mountains : these uncertain vapours then resemble the celes- 
 tial intelligences which defend the children of the earth from 
 the spirit of darkness. The savoury fruit of the date-tree and 
 pure water soon restored the strength of Ismayl} but the 
 daughter of Jerusalem will not recover heris. Under constant 
 apprehensions for the safety of the young cheykh, she was 
 anxious to depart. This third day was less painful than the 
 others : Ismayl carried water and dates with which they might 
 refresh themselves on the route. 
 
 They at length fell in with a party of Arab shepherds, who, 
 moved by their sufferings, presented to them the milk of their 
 mare, and bread baked in the ashes. The oldest of them, who 
 was united in bonds of friendship with the Ouahydyeh Arabs, 
 undertook to be the guide of these poor fugitives, who directed 
 their steps towards the valley of Harma : the shepherd aided 
 them to climb the summits of Gabar, and to cross the torrent 
 of Soeta, and the dreary waste of Hebron. “ My daughter,’* 
 said he to Maryam, u place thy trust in God : it is He who 
 “ guided thy steps towards us in the pasturages of Edom. He 
 u hath snatched from me, to take unto himself, a beloved 
 “ daughter, the only prop of my old age : thou bringest her to 
 (e my remembrance. Grief loveth grief : lean on me, poor 
 “ broken reed ; together we shall resist the tempest.’* Ma- 
 ryam, in the mean time, could scarcely drag her feeble limbs : 
 the fountain of her tears was dried up. In the evening, the 
 piercing sight of the Arab enabled him to discover several 
 horsemen stationed on a height : he concealed his friends be- 
 hind a rock, and ran with harte towards these men, whom he 
 perceived to be Arabs. The Bedouins no sooner descried the 
 shepherd, than they descended the hill with the speed of light- 
 ning. u O ! sons of the desert,” exclaimed the old man, can 
 “ it be that ye are the children of the noble gabyleh of Ouahy- 
 “ dyeh, the queen of Bosor and of Eblata?” “ Yes, yes,” 
 exclaimed they all at once. The old man, without replying to 
 them, returned to Ismayl, who confided to him his precious 
 charge, to hasten towards his people, to send tidings to his 
 father, and bring a camel. He returned a few instants after ; 
 and, falling on his knees before Maryam, said to her, 66 My 
 “ sister, take courage, all the tribe awaiteth thee, and I wish 
 “ to restore unto thee a father.” 
 
In 1817 and 1818. 177 
 
 Maryam was placed on a mare as gentle and swift as a kid : 
 her lover, aided by one of the Arabs, supported her. She 
 fainted several times before she reached the small circular 
 plain of Hanna, near unto which the old clieykh came out to 
 meet her, with his wife and daughters. When they drew near 
 to each other, Ismayl exclaimed unto him : “ heykd of the 
 ee Ouahydyeh, O ! my father, here is the angel who hath pre- 
 u served unto thee thy son ! let the new-born camel be killed 
 u in honour of her, and present unto her bread and salt.” He 
 afterwards related unto him the misfortunes of the Christian 
 maiden ; and tears overflowed the venerable beard of the son 
 of Bahir. Alas ! death had already taken possession of the 
 heart of Maryam. The young sisters of Ismayl vainly tried to 
 divert her : when it was thought that she was somewhat re- 
 vived, they led her to the well of Laban : seated beneath the 
 fig-tree, the Arab maidens recounted to her their solicitudes 
 during the absence of their brother, and all that lie told them 
 of the benevolence and good offices of Ebn-Temym. When 
 they returned to the tent of the women their mother, who 
 anxiously expected them, spread open her arms to Maryam, 
 called her her daughter, and treated her as she would have 
 treated a beloved child in affliction ; she sent to Gaza to seek 
 what it was thought might be agreeable or salutary to Alary am. 
 u We are poor and ignorant in the desert,” said she to her; 
 “ but our hearts open to friendship, as the pomegranates of 
 “■ Ascalon open to the sun, by which they are coloured and 
 u sweetened.” 
 
 Maryam was deeply moved by these marks of the simple 
 and unfeigned interest taken in her welfare. She loved the 
 young Cheykh ; but her piety, the terrors of another life, so 
 cogent in the breast of a Christian female bom at the foot of 
 the sacred mountain of Golgotha — every reflection, in short, 
 conspired to trouble her soul : she unceasingly thought she 
 heard the voice of her father, who called her to his presence. 
 In the mean time she was a prey to fever and want of rest. 
 Ismayl, intoxicated with love, saw Maryam descend slowly 
 into the tomb ; enraged at fate, he wandered around the camp, 
 and roared like a young lion wounded by the empoisoned shaft 
 ,of the hunter. His father went out to seek him. “ God is 
 great,” said Ahmed to him, u seeing that he has permitted 
 “ the dove to seek refuge in my tent. Be persuaded, Ismayl, 
 “ that this is a lucky sign to the Ouahydyeh : sooth, therefore, 
 cc thy breast, more agitated than the waves of the great sea.” 
 
 The tenderest cares were fruitless. One day, the head of 
 Maryam fell on her breast, the last sigh escaped her pallid 
 lips, and her pure soul took its flight towards the Almighty. 
 
178 Travels in Greece , Turkey, and the Holy Land, 
 
 All tlie roots which supplied nourishment to this feeble plant 
 had been cut off. The death of her father, religious scruples, 
 a first love — every thing conspired to wither this flower which 
 had a little time before been so resplendent in freshness and 
 beauty. Ismayl denied the relief of tears, continued sullen and 
 pensive amid the lamentations of the females of his family. 
 The old cheykh, dejected and dismayed, presided at the 
 funeral obsequies : he concealed beneath the palms the mortal 
 remains of the Christian Virgin, and had the crucifix which 
 this unfortunate girl had constantly worn next her heart, 
 placed on her tomb. The words which have been so often 
 employed to express the sharp agonies of man — would these 
 words suffice to delineate the grief of Ismayl, of this child of 
 nature, rebelling against her barbarous decrees ? It was in 
 vain that his father presented to him a little nourishment ; 
 that he spoke to him of the interests of the tribe ; and of the 
 wars with which he was menaced : not a single word could be 
 drawn from his lips. In the mean time the repose of this great 
 family was about to be interrupted by the aga of Gaza ; and 
 the council of the elders had just decided on a general retreat 
 to the Desert of Mephaath, beyond the Black Sea, in the 
 country of the Moabites. Each individual belonging to the 
 tribe was engaged in making preparations for departure, 
 when, at the going down of the sun, the planet appeared sur- 
 rounded by a circle of the colour of blood : the sky, which had 
 suddenly assumed a yellowish hue, gave out a dim and livid 
 light ; the birds, skimming the surface of the earth, fled to- 
 wards the west; the soil appeared luminous, while the air was 
 dull and opake ; the motionless palm let fall towards the sand 
 its flexible branches, while the slightest wind raises and tosses 
 in the air ; all was silent ; fear prevailed around ; and the 
 plaintive moans of the animals announced the approach of the 
 dreadful semoum, that pestilential wind, the terror of the 
 desert. Ismayl, smiling at the prospect of this scourge, em- 
 braced the tomb of her whom he loved ; his hands dispersed 
 the sand which covered her ; he touched, he pressed to his 
 bosom the sheet, and raised the veil with which the virgin’s 
 face was covered. Ismayl contemplated with eager looks the 
 traits which death still respected : Maryam appeard as if 
 smiling on her friend. “ Come,” she seemed to say to him, 
 “ come, O! my well beloved : quit the land of tribulatian for 
 
 C( the abode of peace.” u Yes,” exclaimed Ismayl, pressing 
 
 his lips on the icy forehead of Maryam, ‘ receive the chaste 
 “ kiss of the spouse of the sepulchre : I am about to burst my 
 “ chains, and we shall be reunited for ever!” The wretched 
 youth waited with an impatient joy the death which was to 
 
In 181 7 and 1818. 179 
 
 confound his remains with those of the object of his deep sor- 
 rows, of his agonizing pangs. In a little time a reddish cloud 
 came from the east : the fury of the storm made a chaos of 
 this tranquil desert: waves of sand came in conflict; the 
 loftiest of the date-trees were deracinated; and a few minutes 
 sufficed to heap up a valley. Amid this fearful destruction 
 Ismayl disappeared. Ah! He towards whom the prayer of 
 the afflicted heart ascends still quicker than the incense of the 
 tabernacles, — He who judges the most secret thoughts of men, 
 without doubt wished to reunite these two noble and pure 
 souls in the region of holy, eternal, and ineffable joys ! 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 
 
 General view of Jerusalem. 
 
 The drawing from which this subject has been engraved, was taken 
 at the midway of the ascent of the Djebel Tor, in the valley of Jeho- 
 sophat, beyond the torrent of Cedron. This spot was selected by Count 
 Forbin because it appeared to him to be the one from which the cir- 
 cumference of Jerusalem, the surrounding monuments, and the grand 
 effect of the hills Acra and Moria, were to be best judged. The tradi- 
 tion has handed down that at this particular spot our Saviour wept 
 over the misfortunes of Jerusalem. 
 
 View of the river Jordan. 
 
 The spot at which the drawing of this subject was made, is, accord- 
 ing to tradition, highly venerable. The Christians of Syria believe it 
 to have been here that Jesus Christ was baptized by Saint John. 
 
 View of the sea of Galilee, or Dead Sea. 
 
 The draughtsman has been too studious and particular in the forms 
 he has given to the ruins heaped up in the fore ground. Beneath and 
 behind these vestiges are to be seen portions of wall half concealed be- 
 neath the waters of the dead Sea. 
 
 View of Bethelem. 
 
 In the fore ground are seen the ruins of a gate by which the enclo- 
 sure, or court, of the convent was shut in. 
 
 Ruins of Ascalon. 
 
 Count Forbin remarks that he might have spent a month in making 
 sketches amid these ruins, so picturesque, and producing such sublime 
 emotions. Both the thickness and circumference of the walls of Asca- 
 lon, and the depth of the moats, are proofs, among many others, that 
 this was one of the most important points of Syria. If an European 
 colony were to settle at this spot, it would find a city ready to receive 
 it, a fertile plain, a delightful climate, and all the means essential to 
 the establishment of a considerable port. 
 
 Interior of the Church of Bethelem. 
 
 This plate represents a lateral nave of the church which belongs to 
 
180 Explanation of the Plates , fyc. 
 
 the Armenians. Behind the chapel at the extremity is the staircase 
 which leads to the stable where, according to tradition, Jesus Christ 
 was born. 
 
 Interior of the pool of Siloe, at Jerusalem. 
 
 This spring is equally revered by the Christians and musulmans. 
 The Abbe Desmazures * penetrated recently, at the risk >f his life, 
 into the subterraneous conduit of this fountain, in which he remained 
 for a considerable time with the water up to his neck. The Arabs of 
 Siloan were angry at this research, which had not any important result. 
 
 The chapel of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 A Coptic priest is at his prayers, before his entrance into the chapel. 
 The periphery of this monument is of marble. The cloth which co- 
 vers it is a kind of damask, the seams of which are concealed by broad 
 gold fringes. A portion of the circular church, in the centre of which 
 the Holy Sepulchre is placed, is to be seen. The great veil which fills 
 the upper part of the engraving, is spread over the holy chapel to pre- 
 serve it from the rain, the summit of the dome, like that of the Pan- 
 theon at Rome, being open. 
 
 Entrance into the Sepulchre of the Kings, at Jerusalem. 
 
 The description of this spot given in the work renders all further 
 observations unnecessary. 
 
 Tombs in the valley of Jehosophat. 
 
 An absurd tradition will have these tombs to be those of Absalom 
 and Ezechias : they are evidently of Roman construction. An immense 
 number of Hebraic sepulchral stones cover the flanks of the moun- 
 tain. 
 
 Interior of the dwelling of a Christian family at Jerusalem. 
 
 Count Forbin was lodged at the house of the second drogoman of 
 the convent of the Holy Land. The mother, the wife, and the sis- 
 ter of this Christian are conversing with him in a small apartment on 
 the ground floor. 
 
 * A French clergyman, almoner to the Marquis de Riviere. He has travelled 
 over the whole of Palestine, carefully measuring whatever appeared to him to be 
 of any interest. 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER. 
 
 General view of Jerusalem to face the Title Page. Page 
 
 View of Bethelem 135 
 
 Interior of the Church of Bethelem 136 
 
 The River Jordan 139 
 
 The sea of Galilee, or Dead Sea 140 
 
 The chapel of the Holy Sepulchre 144 
 
 Sepulchre of the Kings, at Jerusalem 151 
 
 Tombs in the valley of Jehosophat. 152 
 
 A Christian family at Jerusalem. 153 
 
 The pool of Siloe , 156 
 
 Ruins of Ascalon , ... , ....................... . 159 
 

 
 
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