# 
 
 t\xe ®heoI<rgrai $ 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 b '•*•*« ; i *./ 
 
 N 
 
 A/ • A3, rtyq. 
 
 Shelf. 
 
 Division. - 
 
 Section .8.C..B < 
 
 A 
 
 Number ... j. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 https://archive.org/details/lettersonegypted00craw_1 
 

i 
 

 s s I 
 
 ( / Z- / <L 
 
 LETTERS 
 
 EGYPT, EDOM, 
 
 AND 
 
 THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 LORD LINDSAY. 
 
 A \ ckck.y\ be r \V I ll > a m Cr ix-w 4 ? o ri Lind 
 
 £Sth LArA o^r (£rft- wf ord . 
 
 dTouttlj 32Btlton, 
 
 REVISED AND CORRECTED. 
 
 so. 
 
 X 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 HENRY COLBURN, PUBLISHER, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 (TO THE FIRST EDITION.) 
 
 I hope that those who do me the honour of perusing 
 these Letters will not take them for more than they are 
 worth,—a simple, and, I trust, faithful record of im¬ 
 pressions as they arose, and incidents as they occurred, 
 such as I conceived would be read with interest at home. 
 In preparing them for the press, I have divested them 
 of much that could possess no general interest. If 
 certain allusions to members of my family circle have 
 been allowed to stand, it is only because they arose so 
 naturally out of the circumstances that they serve to 
 illustrate them, or that, in one or two instances, I could 
 not find it in my heart to cut them out. 
 
 I may he permitted to allude to the subject of many 
 reflections in these volumes—the literal accomplish¬ 
 ment of prophecy, as displayed in the actual condition 
 of Egypt, Edom, and Syria. Others have borne their 
 testimony; it is but adding a stone to the cairn, yet I 
 cannot, and ought not, to withhold mine. 
 
 I embrace with pleasure this opportunity of express- 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ing my sincere acknowledgments for the uniform 
 courtesy and kindness I experienced during my recent 
 
 tour. To-Tibaldi, Esq., of Alexandria, and his 
 
 amiable lady,—to Colonel Campbell, her Majesty’s 
 Consul-General in Egypt,—to M. Piozin, Vice-Consul, 
 —to Dr. Walne, John Hannay, Esq., and the Rev. 
 Theophilus Lieder, at Caii'o;—to the Reverend the 
 
 American Missionaries, and - Moore, Esq., at 
 
 Jerusalem;—and to Nathanael Moore, Esq., British 
 Consul at Beyrout, (whose courtesies I regret having 
 been prevented from personally acknowledging,)—my 
 peculiar thanks are due. On my obligations to Mr 
 Farren, Consul-General in Syria, I will not dwell in 
 this place. 
 
 I cannot conclude without adverting to the lamented 
 decease of my friend and near relation, Mr. William 
 Wardlaw Ramsay, the companion of the greater part 
 of my tour. 
 
 If excellent abilities and sound judgment, expand¬ 
 ing and maturing every day—if singular genius for 
 music and drawing, and a general love for the fine 
 arts, balanced by an enlightened taste for science and 
 natural philosophy—if sweetness of temper, a warm, 
 kind heart, and sincere but unostentatious religious 
 principle—be qualities to render a character attractive 
 and estimable, and to enhance the sorrow of surviving 
 friends for the loss of one who, if spared by an all-wise 
 Providence, would have been a blessing to his family 
 and an ornament to society—such a character, such 
 qualities, were Mr. Ramsay’s. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I have extracted from his private journal, and ap¬ 
 pended to the present work, in the shape of notes, 
 many passages which, I think, will be read with interest 
 by every one into whose hands these volumes may fall. 
 
 Haigh, Feb. 1838. 
 
 (TO THE FOURTH EDITION.) 
 
 In sending forth these Letters, probably for the last 
 time, I have carefully revised them, and appended a 
 few additional notes where occasion presented itself 
 Certain speculations—which I would not be understood 
 to insist upon with so much earnestness as I did nine 
 years ago—have been allowed to remain ; others, which 
 more recent research has disproved, have been omitted. 
 My journey was undertaken, and the record of it pub¬ 
 lished, previous to the appearance of the works of 
 Rossellini, Wilkinson, and Bunsen on Egypt, and of 
 Dr. Robinson on Palestine—works invaluable to the 
 student at home and the traveller abroad, and with 
 which the expectation of Europe already classes the 
 labours of Lepsius, Had it been my fortune to possess 
 guides like these during my wanderings in the East, 
 the volume, which I now finally dismiss, would have 
 been more deserving of the favour with which it has 
 been honoured by the public. 
 
 Haigh, 1 January , 1847. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 EGYPT. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Cadiz—Gibraltar—The Cork Wood—Carteia - - - p. 3 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Voyage to Malta—San Giovanni—Ruins and Catacombs of Alex¬ 
 andria - - - - - - - - -11 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Voyage to Cairo—Sais—Introduction to the Pasha—Tombs of the 
 Mamaluke Sultans—Cairo at sunset — Bazaars—Courtesy to 
 Franks—Garden of Roda—Old Cairo—Cemetery of the Mama¬ 
 luke Beys—School at Boulac—Printing-press—Egyptian Chris¬ 
 tians—Jews—Magicians, Jugglers, &c. - - - 21 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Visit to the Pyramids—Pyramid of Cheops—Evening with Caviglia 
 —Pyramids of Cephrenes and Mycerinus—Arab traditions re¬ 
 specting the Pyramids—The Sphinx, a talisman—Heliopolis— 
 The Pyramids probably built by the Pali, or Shepherd-Kings of 
 Egypt, afterwards the Philistines, in the time of Abraham 38 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Our Dahabieh—Night-Scenes on the Nile—Pyramids of Saccara 
 Dashour, &c.—The False Pyramid—Minieh—Story of Ebn 
 Khasib—Siout—Tombs of Lycopolis—Stabl Antar—Traditions 
 of the Copts—Ruins of Abydus—Palace of Sesostris—Ken- 
 
 neh ----..--.-61 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 viii 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Sect. I. — Thebes — Temples — Sculptures — Tombs — Fulfilment of 
 the Prophecies - - - - - - - - 78 
 
 Sect. II.—Esneh—Edfou—Essouan — Ascent of the Cataracts— 
 Nubia—Wellee Kiashef—Wady Haifa—Descent of the Cata¬ 
 racts—Wreck, and detention at Essouan ... 103 
 
 Sect. III. — Temples of Herment—Dendera — Ombos—Tombs of 
 Benihassan—Memphis—Pyramids of Saccara and Dashour— 
 Cairo --------- 148 
 
 EDOM AND THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Journey to Mount Sinai. Desert of Suez—Mara—Route of the 
 Israelites—Wady Shellal—Wady Mokatteb—Wady Feiran— 
 Ascent to the Sinaite Mountains—Ascent of Mount St. Cathe¬ 
 rine—Of Gebel Mousa—Of Gebel Minn- 'gia, possibly the real 
 Sinai --------- - 159 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Departure for Akaba—Abdallah’s wound—Return to the Convent 
 —Joined by Dr. MacLennan and Mr. Clarke - - 198 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Route to Akaba—Conference with the Alouins—Wady Araba— 
 Sheikh Hussein’s camp—Mount Seir—Petra—Cross the desert 
 to Hebron—Bethlehem—Approach to Jerusalem - - 203 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Sect. I.—Jerusalem. Excursion to Jericho and the Dead Sea — 
 Journey to Tiberias by Nablous, Samaria, Acre, Nazareth, and 
 Mount Tabor - -- -- -- - 243 
 
 Sect. II. — Journey, east of the Jordan, by El Hussn, Om Keis, 
 Jerash, Ammon, Bostra, and through the Ilauran, to Damas¬ 
 cus .263 
 
 Sect. IH.—Visit to Palmyra - - - - - - 315 
 
 Sect. IV. — Journey into Mount Lebanon, and return to Damas¬ 
 cus ---------- 329 
 
LETTERS ON EGYPT. 
 
 “ All were but Babel vanities ! Time sadly overcometh all things, 
 and is now dominant, and sitteth on a Sphinx, and looketh upon 
 Memphis and old Thebes, while his sister, Oblivion, reclineth demi- 
 somnous on a pyramid, gloriously triumphing, making puzzles of 
 Titanian erections, and turning old glories into dreams. History 
 sinketh beneath her cloud. The traveller, as he paceth amazedly 
 through those deserts, asketh of her, Who builded them ? and she 
 mumbleth something, but what it is he heareth not. 
 
 “ Egypt itself is now become the land of obliviousness, and doteth. 
 Her ancient civility is gone, and her glory hath vanished as a phan¬ 
 tasma. Her youthful days are over, and her face hath become 
 wrinkled and tetrick. She poreth not upon the heavens ; Astronomy 
 is dead unto her, and Knowledge maketh other cycles. Canopus is 
 afar off, Memnon resoundeth not to the Sun, and Nilus heareth strange 
 voices. Her monuments are but hieroglyphically sempiternal. 
 Osiris and Anubis, her averruncous deities, have departed, while 
 Orus yet remains, dimly shadowing the principle of vicissitude and 
 the effluxion of things, but receiveth little oblation.” 
 
 Sie Thomas Browns. 
 
 3 
 

 
 
LETTERS ON EGYPT. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Cadiz — Gibraltar — The Cork Wood — Carteia. 
 
 TO LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LINDSAY. 
 
 Gibraltar, November 10, 1836. 
 
 Howl longed for you yesterday, dear James, at Cadiz! 
 and here, too, at Gibraltar, happy should I have been 
 this morning to have had your company during the 
 glorious scramble I have had over every ridge of the old 
 Rock! But of Cadiz first:—I thought, as we sailed 
 away yestreen, (a delicious autumnal evening,) I had 
 never seen a lovelier sight,—her long serrated ridge of 
 white buildings sharply defined against a glowing sun¬ 
 set sky—Rota glittering, like a town of King Salem’s 
 sprung up from Ocean, at the further extremity of the 
 bay, tipping its horn, as it were, with a diamond crown— 
 the lateen sails scudding around us like gigantic nauti¬ 
 luses, stooping over the green waters like the beautiful 
 sea-birds that were sporting in every direction—it was 
 lovely, very lovely! 
 
 We had but four hours allowed us to visit Cadiz ; I 
 threw my shyness to the winds, and used my eyes,— 
 stared into every nook and corner, and at every one, 
 man and woman, we met. But you cannot have for- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 CADIZ 
 
 gotten the scene, though long familiarity with its details 
 may have effaced the remembrance of your first general 
 impressions; to me it was all “ fresh and fresh, new 
 and new,”—a living, breathing, moving picture, a waking 
 dream rather, for whether I was in or out of the body I 
 can scarce tell, now that I reflect on the vision, so many 
 ideas familiar to my fancy were then presented to my 
 eyes in the first warm glow of reality; all, too, intensely 
 Spanish:—the long black cloaks of the sleepy hidalgos, 
 long as their names, threadbare, many of them, as the 
 mantle of chivalry their ancestors wore so gracefully— 
 the Moorish faces, conical hats, and sashes of the lower, 
 and, as they seemed to me, far nobler order—the ciga¬ 
 rillos, common to all—the fans, mantillas, the black 
 eyes, beautiful feet, and graceful gliding gait of the 
 Senoritas—but what flights the old women are ! And 
 then the painted balconies above, that give such a cha¬ 
 racter to the straight narrow stradas—flowers in most 
 of them, but alas ! the “ fairer flowers,” Eve’s daughters, 
 were few or none visible upon them—and the dazzling 
 whiteness of the houses; everything, too, as clean as if 
 the Gaditanos were Dutchmen,—it was like a scene of 
 enchantment; to say nothing of the exquisite delight of 
 being on Spanish ground, and hearing the language of 
 Calderon and Cervantes on every lip that passed me. 
 
 I saw but two or three priests, not idly sauntering 
 about, as in the palmy days of Rome, but walking, it 
 seemed to me, with an object,—slowly, however, as if 
 their ponderous shells of hats were too heavy for them, 
 and crest-fallen ; in this respect your Spanish recollec¬ 
 tions must vary from existing circumstances ; the con¬ 
 vents, too, were all shut up, and the bells over the gates 
 looked as if conscious of having tolled their last. We 
 knocked loud and long at one of the conventual build¬ 
 ings, in hopes of seeing some pictures once shown there; 
 
CADIZ. 
 
 5 
 
 but no “ porter hurried to the gate,” the street was silent, 
 only one boy to be seen in it, and he could not tell us 
 who had the keys. 
 
 The cathedral, however, is still building—a most 
 superb edifice, of the richest Corinthian architecture, 
 but overloaded in many places, I thought, with orna¬ 
 ment ; the choir, however, is truly beautiful, all of 
 marble—indeed the whole temple is so, and exquisitely 
 finished. Yet I do not like the Corinthian ; the “airy 
 pillar” and the “ decent matron grace” of the Ionic are 
 far lovelier, far purer, far holier; the Doric and Ionic 
 remind one of Adam and Eve as they walked in naked 
 innocence, and in all their original brightness, through 
 the bowers of Paradise ; but the spirit of the Corinthian 
 is meretricious, too like that of the Laises and Co. of 
 old Corinth herself,—this is fanciful, perhaps, but there 
 is a deep poetry, a hidden melody, in architecture, 
 “frozen music,” as it has been called, but it thaws now 
 and then, when the fancy warms, and discourses most 
 eloquently to her ear and eye. 
 
 How beautiful, by the way, are Schlegel’s criticisms 
 on the Gothic Architecture! Did Anne tell you I have 
 him with me? Shakspeare has been my chief reading 
 since I left Old England; this she will be glad to hear. 
 I have read over again several of his plays, but exqui¬ 
 sitely beautiful as they are whenever he is himself, the 
 pure poet, I cannot away with his clowns and vile puns, 
 grossieretes, and double entendres, bad enough even among 
 men, but which he allows even his heroines to hear, 
 ay, and understand, ay, and reply to. But Desdemona 
 is perfect throughout; I was trying her the other even¬ 
 ing, as I lay in my cabin, by the severest ordeal, 
 St. Paul’s exquisite delineation of Charity, or, as it 
 should be translated, Love ; Shakspeare must have had 
 it in his thoughts ; it fits her in every point, especially 
 
6 
 
 CADIZ. 
 
 in her unsuspicious purity, “ thinking no evilobserve 
 her wonder in what manner her husband could think 
 her false, and oh ! what a contrast between her mind 
 and Emilia’s at the end of the fourth act; and, again, 
 between her and Juliet, the poetical, passionate Juliet; 
 I remember no one simile or metaphor that Desdemona 
 utters, and Juliet’s fancy is rich as the orange groves 
 of Mola di Gaeta, and sparkling as the waves that 
 ripple to their feet, but she is “ of the earth, earthy,” in 
 comparison with the pure azure heaven of Desdemona’s 
 mind, which one can gaze up into as into infinite space, 
 unanested by a cloud, unless of tears and sorrow! 
 How beautiful, though, and how natural is the moon¬ 
 light scene between Juliet and Romeo ! When I think 
 on it, I almost fear I have judged her harshly—and 
 yet, no. 
 
 It has just struck twelve; I am sitting with my window 
 open, a brilliant starlight night, the air balm; I could 
 almost expect a visit from the Diable Boiteux, and 
 should not be sorry to have the houses of Gibraltar un¬ 
 roofed for my inspection,—and this reminds me of one 
 of the things that most interested me at Cadiz—a visit 
 to the terraced roof of M. Campan’s house—a kind old 
 French merchant, our fellow-passenger, who enter¬ 
 tained our party most hospitably. It was the best 
 possible commentary on many a passage, not only in 
 Spanish, but Eastern romance; with a short rope- 
 ladder one might travel over half the town. The house 
 itself seemed but just finished, yet, in character, was quite 
 Moorish; a court in the centre—balconied galleries 
 opening upon it at each story—mats, &c. &c.—every¬ 
 thing calculated to promote coolness. 
 
 I kept a sharp look-out for traces of the Moors, and 
 they are very visible. I thought of riding across country 
 to Gibraltar, but was advised to give up the idea; the 
 
GIBRALTAR. 
 
 7 
 
 country, they said, was uninteresting, (I should have 
 seen manners, however,) and, what decided me, my 
 time here would have been much curtailed; I came on, 
 therefore, by sea, and this morning, about nine, we 
 anchored under the Rock of Gibraltar. 
 
 I am glad that I saw Cadiz, a thoroughly Spanish 
 town, before coming to this mongrel neutral ground, 
 intensely interesting though it be. Bedreddin Hassan, 
 awaking at the gate of Damascus, entered an unknown, 
 but still an Eastern city; the contrast to him was no¬ 
 thing to what it was to me, stepping off the quay of 
 Cadiz, surrounded by wild Cadesians, with their Cala¬ 
 brian-like hats, swarthy as their Phoenician ancestors, 
 to be set down among English uniforms, sentries, and 
 all the pomp and circumstance of British soldiery, 
 guards changing, officers riding past, and all speaking 
 English. But nothing of this incongruity offended our 
 eyes as we approached the Rock—Europe and Africa, 
 
 “ A palace and a prison on each hand,” 
 
 of Nature’s architecture, or such rather by the God of 
 Nature’s decree; the morning was gloomy, a lowering 
 mist hung heavily over the Rock in front of us, and I 
 could almost have fancied we were arriving at the 
 Table Mountain instead of the northern pillar of Her¬ 
 cules. Mount Atlas was but dimly seen in the distance, 
 but a purer light gleamed over Algesiras, as if the rays 
 of chivalry still lingered over the death-scene of “ the 
 good Lord James of Douglas;” as the day advanced, 
 the clouds disappeared, and when I gazed around me 
 a few hours afterwards from the Peak of Tarif, a sunny 
 haze was the only resemblance the scene bore to our 
 northern atmosphere. 
 
 I need not tell you of the excavations, galleries, St. 
 George’s Hall, the blasted watch-tower, &c.; you know 
 
8 
 
 GIBRALTAR. 
 
 them all—I scrambled over the whole mountain, taking 
 a most intelligent artilleryman as my guide, a fellow- 
 countryman, as I ascertained by the first word he 
 spoke—his sergeant is a Lindsay from Dunse. I feared 
 we should not see the monkeys, but there they were in 
 numbers, apparently on excellent terms with the goats, 
 their only companions on the height. 
 
 How beautiful the palmetto is! And how Anne 
 would have enjoyed the descent, through a perfect 
 garden! strange tropical-looking plants, the fantastic 
 prickly pear, and the aloe, hedging the path-way, andher 
 old Italian acquaintances, the fig, almond, orange, and 
 lemon, and the grateful plane-tree—ay, and the Scotch 
 fir, growing luxuriantly (and the richest vines too) on 
 the lower zone of the mountain. We descended by the 
 Mediterranean Steps, as they are called, cut in the pre¬ 
 cipitous face of the rock, and winding round towards 
 Europa Point; the broad Mediterranean—with those 
 picturesque lateen sails that look as if, at the approach 
 of a storm, they would furl themselves up and sink to 
 the bottom—expanded in front of us, glowing in the 
 waning sun, 
 
 “ A leaf of gold 
 
 Of Nature’s Book, by Nature’s God unrolled.” 
 
 I have just been leaning out of the window listening 
 to a serenade ; all below me dark as Erebus, the raven 
 down of night, and all silent save the “ lively guitar,” 
 and the deep voice of the caballero mingling in har¬ 
 mony, and swelling richly on the night-air. And when 
 the last note died away, I could just hear the closing 
 strain of another, far, far off, dying into silence like the 
 echo of the “ song of the olden time” I had just been 
 listening to. Music such as this might have been 
 lingering on the ear of Melancholy, when Albert Diirer 
 surprised, fell in love with, and immortalized her. 
 
GIBRALTAR. 
 
 9 
 
 Very pleasant food all this for midnight musing, yet 
 daylight, too, has its attractions, and I then look down 
 on a motley and ever-shifting scene, all nations seem¬ 
 ing to meet here as at Venice, though Gibraltar, to be 
 sure, is anything but “ enchanted ground,”—the Moor, 
 with his white turban, burnoosh, and trousers; the 
 Jew, with his black skull-cap, beard, and Israelitish 
 face, the index of his pedigree the wide world over— 
 I saw one stalk past this morning with the very air of a 
 Maccabee, his haughty mien, and the scorn throned on 
 his erect brow (or I wronged him) alike contrasting 
 with the humble subdued gait of his brethren, and the 
 holiday attire and light springy step of the Andalusian 
 peasant,—the contrast of a “ gay Gordon” to a “black 
 Douglas”—no disparagement, surely, in a comparison 
 with the Wallace of Judea; then comes the mule or 
 donkey-driver, haranguing his beast as he trudges be¬ 
 hind it, side by side, oh atrocity! with an English red 
 coat. Here, at least, “ motley is the only wear.” And 
 now. dear James, buenas noches, and God be with you ! 
 I will not wish you the misery of living a thousand 
 years. More to-morrow. 
 
 To-day, November the 11th, we have had a delightful 
 gallop, Missirie and I, into Andalusia, past La Roque, 
 to the Cork-wood, about ten miles from Gibraltar; the 
 scenery is quite beautiful; the day, at first rainy, 
 cleared up ere we had ridden half a dozen miles, and 
 the afternoon was lovely. From a ruined Moorish 
 tower in the centre of the wood, we enjoyed a most 
 beautiful prospect over the long vale we had passed 
 through, wooded with cork-trees, olives, vines, oranges, 
 lemons, and one noble palm-tree near a convent—a 
 steep range of mountains closing the vista at one end, 
 
GIBRALTAR. 
 
 1U 
 
 the Rock at the other, rising over the waves like some 
 vast Preadamite sea-monster. 
 
 Returning, we rode hither and thither, this way and 
 that, in search of the old town of Carteia, supposed to 
 have been the first founded by the Phoenicians after 
 passing the pillars of Hercules. After a long search 
 we found it; the theatre is clearly traceable, scooped 
 out in the side of the hill, looking towards Gibraltar; 
 the background of the scene must have been noble 
 indeed, the Mediterranean rushing between the two 
 continents. 
 
 I am more and more pleased with Missirie; he is 
 the most attentive creature possible, good-humoured, 
 observant, and intelligent. I had much conversation 
 with him this morning during our ride; he is really an 
 agreeable companion, having read not a little by fits 
 and starts, and having seen so many countries. He 
 had studied for two years at Odessa, when the Greek 
 revolution broke out, and then joined the patriots. We 
 are on the best terms, and I am sure we shall continue 
 to be so. His facility in acquiring languages seems 
 extraordinary. English he speaks with singular cor¬ 
 rectness (') 
 
 Saturday, November 12. 
 
 I had no idea this letter would go so soon, but a 
 steamer, I have just heard, sails for England in a day 
 or two; and as I have no time to epistolize my mother 
 at length, and she will be anxious to hear all my 
 adventures, I have presumed to direct this letter to her, 
 begging her to read and forward it to its rightful owner. 
 We have a heavenly day, “ blue above and blue below,” 
 for our departure. By-the-bye, they have an admirable 
 garrison library here; the catalogue is well drawn up, 
 on the plan of that of the Royal Institution by Harris. 
 
VOYAGE TO MALTA. 
 
 11 
 
 I think I should like to spend a month or two here; 
 nowhere, I suppose, could one enjoy at once such a 
 climate and such a library. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Voyage to Malta — San Giovanni — Euins and Catacombs of 
 Alexandria. 
 
 TO THE COUNTESS OF BALCARRES. 
 
 Malta. 
 
 We left Gibraltar, my dear mother, on Saturday after¬ 
 noon, the 12th, and have had charming weather, and a 
 delightful voyage to Malta. Sunday and Monday we 
 were coasting Spain and Barbary, and admiring the 
 mountain ridges that frown from either shoi'e, awaken¬ 
 ing memories how interesting ! of Juba and the Romans, 
 on the one hand—of the Xarifas and Fatimas, the 
 Zegris and Abencerrages, of poor Boabdil, and of 
 Gonsalvo de Cordova, on the other. 
 
 About eight on Monday night we touched at Algiers 
 —thrilling name! The crescent moon was gleaming 
 over it, but not very clear; the crescent is pale, pale 
 all over the East now. We landed a young Dane 
 there, the son of the Danish consul at Tangiers, and 
 one of the Royal Guard of Denmark; he was going to 
 join the French expedition against Constantina, and I 
 really felt sorry when he left us on such a perilous 
 adventure. I found him full of information, and very 
 intelligent, particularly on the subject of Northern 
 antiquities; he sang me several of his Danish songs as 
 we walked the deck. 
 
 Still coasting the Barbary mountains—so runs the 
 log-book; pass Bona, old Hippo Regius, dear to the 
 memory as the home of St. Augustine—but during the 
 
12 
 
 MALTA. 
 
 night, alas !—Bizerta—the Cani rocks—Porto Farina 
 (Cato’s Utica) and Cape Carthage, behind which lie the 
 sites of Dido’s palace, Cyprian’s garden, where the 
 soldiers seized him—generous, noble-minded Cyprian ! 
 Then across the Bay of Tunis, with a beautiful view of 
 the mountains hemming it in to the south; before 
 weathering Cape Bon, pass the vast and lofty island- 
 rock of Zembra, reminding one, when directly north of 
 it, of the volcanic isle of Sabrina. Bid adieu to the 
 Barbary coast, and for a while nothing but the sea- 
 circle for our horizon ; pi-esently Gozo in sight—rough 
 rocky hills, but the lights and shadows beautiful—skim 
 past it through the waves on which Telemachus floated, 
 if Gozo be the Isle of Calypso, which I don’t believe it 
 was—and lo ! Malta, with her deep harbours, pictu¬ 
 resque tiers of houses, impregnable batteries, and 
 English shipping! How changed— 
 
 But I had little time, or, in truth, inclination, at that 
 moment, to think of days bygone, for scarcely had we 
 anchored in the quarantine harbour, when dear William 
 came alongside to greet me; he had secured me rooms 
 in Beverley’s Hotel, and we adjourned thither without 
 delay; he is remarkably well, and we look forward 
 with great pleasure to the prosecution of our torn' 
 together. 
 
 Oh ! the rapture of a first visit to San Giovanni! 
 those gorgeous and chivalric tombs of the Grand 
 Masters and the Knights of St. John! I shall not be 
 content now till I see Rhodes, invested with more 
 familiar interest to a clansman of Randolphus de 
 Lindesay, Lord David of the Byres, and Sir Walter, 
 
 “ Lord of Sainct John, and Knicht of Torphicane, 
 
 By sea and land ane vailzeant Capitane,” 
 
 as Davie Lindsay calls him. 
 
MALTA. 
 
 13 
 
 I visited the armory in the old palace — neither 
 worth seeing; spacious galleries and chambers, but 
 nothing after Venice—the library, too, full of the fat 
 old folios of the seventeenth century. They seem 
 a curious set, these Maltese; their language is most 
 dissonant, a mere jargon of Arabic, but all speak broken 
 English; their national airs, however, are beautiful, 
 especially one, beginning, “ Selloom tal harir,” &c., 
 which you will find in my MS. collection of national 
 music; I have not heard it here, nor indeed anything 
 in the way of minstrelsy except “ Rule Britannia,” 
 which they have been chanting most uproariously in 
 honour of their new governor, Sir Henry Bouverie. 
 
 Before re-embarking, I paid another visit to St. 
 John’s, by far the most interesting spot at Malta—for 
 this is not the Melita where St. Paul was wrecked. 
 One—the last survivor, I believe—of the old knights, 
 a countryman too of Bayard and Duguesclin, was 
 pointed out to me—a poor, decrepit, feeble old man— 
 alas! alas! 
 
 Alexandria, Nov. 30. 
 
 We arrived here last Friday, to wit, November the 
 25th; the day was lovely, the sea of a delicate light 
 green, the sky exquisitely clear, of a rosy transparent 
 hue, smiling our welcome to the city of Cleopatra, as 
 we sailed into the harbour—then a glorious oriental 
 sunset. There is little or no twilight in these latitudes, 
 and it was quite dusk by the time we reached our inn, 
 riding on donkeys, the general conveyance in this 
 country. 
 
 That was indeed a happy evening! A month’s 
 cramp in the cabin of a steam-boat exchanged for 
 freedom and terra-firma, and that terra-firma Egypt, 
 still the land of mystery, still a land of beauty 1 
 
14 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 “’Tis here that the feathery palm-trees rise, 
 
 And the date grows ripe under sunny skies,—” 
 
 and never will palm-trees rustle more melodiously, 
 never will the moon and stars twinkle through their 
 transparent foliage with more loveliness, never shall I 
 enjoy the stillness and repose of an Eastern night with 
 more thrilling pleasure, more thorough enjoyment, than 
 I did that evening, walking in the pretty little garden 
 behind Mrs. Hume’s hotel, or resting in an arbour of 
 trellis-work under a branching vine, meditating on 
 the past and present, and anticipating the future, in 
 which (unless it be the mirage) I see many a hundred 
 miles of Father Nile, many a lengthening vista of 
 temples and colonnades, outstretched before me; Nature 
 and Art beckoning me on, and offering me the fruits of 
 knowledge as the reward of my wanderings. There is 
 nothing, indeed, new to discover; but are not Vesuvius 
 and Naples new to the eye that has never hailed them 
 before ? 
 
 We have been riding about ever since our arrival— 
 over ruins, and nothing more. A town, half Turkish, 
 half Frank, turbans and hats seeming equally at home 
 in it; mounds beyond mounds of rubbish stretching 
 away to the south, east, and west of it; whole lines of 
 ancient streets traceable by the wells, recurring every 
 six or seven yards, by which the contiguous houses, 
 long since crumbled away, drew water from the vast 
 cisterns with which the whole city was undermined; 
 wretched hovels clustered here and t iere in the suburbs, 
 and towering groves of date-trees “ scattered at wide 
 intervals ” over the cheerless solitude — such is the 
 present aspect of Alexandria. The Desert has done for 
 her what Vesuvius did for Pompeii—buried her so 
 completely, that all we see above the present surface 
 
ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 15 
 
 has been brought to light by excavation; not quite all 
 indeed—Pompey’s Pillar and Cleopatra’s Needle, both 
 misnomers, are still erect, solitary monuments of the 
 flight of time, of the youth and decrepitude of Egypt; 
 for the Needle stood at Heliopolis, the On of Scripture, 
 three thousand years ago, ( 2 ) and the shaft of Pompey’s 
 Pillar adorned the temple of Serapis and the library of 
 the Ptolemies till it was removed to its present site, 
 and furnished with a capital and base, in honour of 
 Diocletian, w T hose name Mr. Hamilton was the first to 
 decipher, the whole inscription, long supposed to be 
 entirely lost, having been recovered, letter by letter, by 
 the united acumen of a few wise men of Britain. It is 
 only distinguishable in the strong light of the mid-day 
 sun. ( 3 ) 
 
 One ruin only, just excavated, and a nondescript, 
 will I trouble you with, inasmuch as mine, too probably, 
 may be the only record of its discovery, for these Turks 
 discover only to destroy. Four or five granite columns 
 are still standing on their pedestals of white marble; 
 the rest have been removed; and a few Corinthian 
 capitals, also of white marble, are lying a short distance 
 off, soon probably to be reduced to lime, and applied 
 to as vile purposes, comparatively, as that to which 
 Hamlet’s fancy traced the dust of the royal founder of 
 Alexandria himself. Behind these pillars rises a solid 
 wall of masonry, supported by three arches, on the 
 reverse of which we found vestiges of curious Greek 
 paintings, the colours very vivid, and the subject, it 
 would appear, taken from Homer, the only figure that 
 remained uninjured by the pickaxe being superscribed 
 
 O a V C 
 
 ce y o. 
 
16 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 We observed, with surprise, three or four coats of 
 stucco laid one over the other, all painted, and the 
 lowest the best. It was merely through the chance 
 encounter of an Italian monk that we were led, through 
 a labyrinth of narrow lanes and groves of date-trees, 
 to this interesting spot. 
 
 In Lucas’s time, about one hundred and twenty years 
 ago, a superb piazza was traceable in the middle of 
 the ancient town, ornamented with lofty granite columns, 
 and surrounded, to all appearance, by the principal 
 palaces of the city, with a beautiful fountain in the 
 centre. We saw no traces of it,—in his day the remains 
 were almost entirely covered with the sand.( 4 ) 
 
 As for the far-famed library, its site can only be con¬ 
 jectured ; the first library was attached to the palace of 
 the Ptolemies, and was accidentally consumed when 
 Julius Ca3sar was obliged to burn his ships in the 
 harbour, to which it was contiguous. We visited 
 yesterday some recent excavations, which have laid 
 bare the remains of a vast edifice, pronounced by 
 antiquaries (I know not on what authority) to be those 
 of the second library; but nothing is certain here—not 
 even the date of the catacombs, or whom they were 
 worked by; some contending they belonged to Alex¬ 
 andria, others, to the insignificant town of Racotis, 
 which existed here before the foundation of Alexandria.( 5 ) 
 Of their Greek origin there can be no doubt, the 
 architecture being uniformly Doric. 
 
 These catacombs are at some distance west of the 
 city, and highly interesting. We explored them with 
 torches, creeping in many places on our hands and 
 knees. Entering from the north, three chambers, 
 running westwards, lead you to a large circular room 
 to the south of the third, with a dome of beautiful pro¬ 
 portions, and opening, towards the south, east, and 
 
ALEXANDRIA. 17 
 
 west, into three small recesses, apparently for sar¬ 
 cophagi. 
 
 Over the door-way we found traces of the orb, or 
 globe with wings, that Dr. Clarke mentions, but it has 
 been broken off' since his time. We saw the same 
 emblem, however, (which reminded me of Isaiah’s 
 address to Ethiopia, ch. xviii, ver. 1,) over both doors 
 of the vestibule, that we had entered, and that we pro¬ 
 ceeded by, still westwards; the plan of the catacombs 
 seems modelled on this emblem, for the wings are 
 clearly arranged in reference to the central and cir¬ 
 cular shrine. After exploring several other chambers 
 in the same direction, all strewed with bones, we 
 retraced our steps to the central chamber, and the rest of 
 the party went out, while Captain Lacon (an intelligent 
 officer who had joined our party) and I remained 
 behind to examine more carefully what we had already 
 seen. 
 
 The grand entrance clearly opened from the shore, 
 and we wished, if possible, to discover it. Creeping 
 up the sloping wall, or rather bank, as it ought to be 
 called, of the second chamber from the present entrance, 
 we found it was only the corner of an immense hall, 
 supported by square pillars, that stretched away towards 
 the shore, filled up by a long continuous mound of 
 earth, accumulated so close to the roof, that it was 
 impossible to proceed except by crawling on one’s 
 breast like a worm. On we crept, however, with two 
 or three of our Arab guides; and the result of a long 
 and painful peregrination in this uncomfortable attitude 
 was, that, following the walls, we fairly traced the three 
 sides of the hall, and discovered what probably was the 
 grand entrance, opposite, as nearly as we could guess, 
 to the circular chamber. 
 
 The sea (probably at the time of the great earth- 
 c 
 
18 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 quake, 'when fifty thousand Alexandrians perished, and 
 the islet was washed away to which Mark Antony 
 retired to enact Timon of Athens after the wreck of his 
 fortunes) seems to have washed sand and soil into the 
 catacombs, and, after filling as we now behold them, to 
 have finally choked up the entrance, so that it is undis- 
 coverable from the shore. I do not think we have made 
 any new discovery, for the French are said, in one of 
 my guide-books, to have made a complete plan of these 
 extraordinary excavations; but I am glad we made 
 them out so satisfactorily to ourselves. Oh ! that they 
 were all cleared out, that one could enter from the 
 shore, traverse that noble hall, and enter the shrine, 
 just as the votaries did of old, two thousand years 
 ago! 
 
 So much for this “ City of the Dead ! ” Living 
 Alexandria is equally interesting, though strangely dif¬ 
 ferent; turbaned Turks, wild Arabs, Copts, Armenians, 
 Jews—every nation seems to have its representatives 
 here; and the strings of camels towering along, the 
 women gliding about in their long veils, with holes 
 only for the eyes to peep out at—graceful in their car¬ 
 riage— some carrying their children at their sides,* 
 others astride on their shoulders — are objects tho¬ 
 roughly oriental. The Arabs, especially, dressed just 
 like the Ishmaelites and Midianites of old, cany one’s 
 imagination yet further back even than the catacombs— 
 far, far into antiquity—to the days of Joseph and the 
 patriarchs. 
 
 But it is no use attempting to sketch so varied and 
 shifting a scene; though already it be somewhat fami¬ 
 liar to me, my ideas are still all in a whirl. One is 
 really bewildered, too, with the crowd of associations, 
 
 * “Thy sons shall come from afar; and thy daughters shall be 
 carried at the side.”— Isaiah, lx. 4. 
 
ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 19 
 
 ancient and modern, this place teems with, independent 
 of visible objects ;—Alexander the Great, who intended 
 to make it the seat of his empire, and the emporium of 
 the world, which indeed it became under the Ptolemies, 
 as the link between India and the West—the museum, 
 the library, the revival of Greek literature and phi¬ 
 losophy under the enlightened successors of Alexander 
 —the version of the Old Testament by the seventy-two 
 interpreters, if we may believe the old legend, though 
 its falsity cannot affect the historical fact that the Law 
 and the Prophets were translated into Greek nearly 
 three centuries before our Saviour’s birth, and while 
 those wonderful prophecies of Daniel about the kings 
 of the North and the South, the Ptolemies and Seleu- 
 cidae, were actually fulfilling ( 6 )—Caesar, Cleopatra, 
 Antony, and Shakspeare’s play—Mark and his ministry, 
 the school of Clement and Origen, Athanasius, the 
 noble patriarch, and his chequered fortunes during a 
 lifetime devoted to the defence of God’s truth against 
 Arius—Amrou and the Saracens—and lastly, after 
 twelve hundred years of silence and decay, Aber¬ 
 crombie, gallant Aberci’ombie, his Highland hearts 
 around him, the cry of victory in his ear, 
 
 “ Looking meekly to heaven from his deathbed of fame!” 
 
 —what varied scenes—what opposite characters—what 
 warring influences of good and evil ! 
 
 And under whose banner, Oromasdes’ or Ahriman’s, 
 must I rank Mohammed Ali himself, whose ships, 
 proud as their mother Alexandria may well be of their 
 magnificence, are, like his army, a very curse to the 
 country ? * 
 
 * We visited the admiral’s ship, a three-decker, on the 28th of 
 November. “ I had heard much,” says Mr. Ramsay, in his private 
 Journal, “ of these vessels, and was prepared for their magnificence, 
 
 c 2 
 
20 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 .But I must conclude. We start, I hope and believe, 
 to-morrow morning, provided we get a boat, but the 
 Pasha has impressed all he could lay his hands on, for 
 the conveyance of his son’s harem, and we may have to 
 wait. 
 
 Adieu, my dear mother. 
 
 P. S.—Dec. 1. Think of our scampering off this 
 morning on jackasses, (instinctively,) on hearing that 
 the harem was about to embark for Cairo ! We had 
 about three miles to ride, and when we got near it 
 there was nothing to be seen of the ladies, nor could 
 we approach the carriages (English and four-in-hand) 
 they rode in. We watched them from a distance, and 
 after seeing two or three children handed out, followed 
 by a veiled lady, whom William pronounced to be 
 dreadfully thick-ankled, we turned round and retraced 
 our steps at a gentle trot, and have been laughed at for 
 our wild-goose chase ever since. We were not, how¬ 
 ever, the only English who joined in it, and were the 
 first to retreat—that is some comfort. 
 
 and even for more than I found. The show certainly was very fine 
 on the upper, the main, and the lower decks, everything being very 
 spacious, clean, polished, and in order; the breadth of beam, and 
 the total freedom from all (I should imagine even necessary ) encum¬ 
 brance, gave her a noble appearance; but one missed a great deal; 
 there was no accommodation for officers—all are down in the cock¬ 
 pit, and thus the whole range of the decks is thrown open from poop 
 to stern in both decks. The officers seemed to be very poorly off, 
 and as this was not a show part of the ship, it stood no comparison 
 with the rest. The men not dining, like us, at tables, the lower 
 deck was free from that encumbrance, like the main deck. There 
 was not the finish which characterizes everything in our ships, or the 
 air of aptness and congruity which ought to pervade it. The crew 
 are 1100, but a useless set; every gun requires a marine to stand 
 over the men with a musket, and eight small cannon are planted 
 abaft to command the ship in case of a mutiny, I suppose.” 
 
CAIRO. 
 
 21 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Voyage to Cairo—Sais—Introduction to the Pasha—Tombs of the 
 Mamaluke Sultans—Cairo at sunset—Bazars—Courtesy to Franks 
 — Garden of Roda — Old Cairo — Cemetery of the Mamaluke 
 Beys—School at Boulac—Printing-press—Egyptian Christians— 
 Jews—Magicians, Jugglers, &c. 
 
 December 17, 1336. 
 
 Here, my dear mother, in Grand Cairo, we have been 
 settled for more than a week, delighted with all we have 
 seen, and fully prepared to enjoy ourselves during the 
 remainder of our trip. We reached Cairo from Alex¬ 
 andria on the sixth day, the wind having been contrary 
 during the first two or three of the voyage ; we sailed 
 on the Mahmoudieh canal* to Atfi in the course of a 
 night, and there embarked on the Nile in one of the 
 cangias, or boats of the country, which hold two con¬ 
 veniently enough. Missirie and Abdallah, a handsome 
 Kordofani—black as ebony—whom we have engaged 
 as Arab interpreter and aide-de-camp extraordinary, 
 
 * “ In the greatness and the cruelty of its accomplishment, this 
 canal may vie with the gigantic labours of the Pharaohs. Two 
 hundred and fifty thousand people, men, women, and children, were 
 swept from the villages of the Delta, and heaped like a ridge along 
 the destined banks of that fatal canal. They had only provisions for 
 one month, and implements they had few or none; but the Pasha’s 
 command was urgent—the men worked with all the energy of 
 despair, and stabbed into the ground as if it was their enemy; 
 children carried away the soil in little handfuls; nursing mothers 
 laid their infants on the shelterless banks; the scourge kept them to 
 the work, and mingled blood with their milk, if they attempted to 
 nourish their offspring. Famine soon made its appearance, and they 
 say it was a fearful sight, to see that great multitude convulsively 
 working against time. As a dying horse bites the ground in his 
 agony, they tore up that great grave—twenty-five thousand people 
 perished, but the grim contract was completed, and in six weeks the 
 waters of the Nile were led to Alexandria.”— Warburton's Crescent 
 and the Ci'oss , tom. i, p. 52. [1847.] 
 
CAIRO. 
 
 2 ° 
 
 Ci—i 
 
 occupied a tent in front of the cabin, and altogether we 
 got on very comfortably. 
 
 The only place of interest on the western branch of 
 ihe Nile is Sa-el-Hagiar, the site of the ancient Sais, 
 from whence the worship of Nith, or Minerva, was 
 carried to Athens by Cecrops and his Egyptian colony, 
 sixteen centuries before the Christian era. There she 
 stood, the idol of Egyptian worship, veiled with her 
 mysterious peplus, carried for ages afterwards, though in 
 ignorance of its mystic meaning, in the sacred proces¬ 
 sions of Athens, and uttering those thrilling words of 
 wisdom, that text for human vanity to meditate on— 
 “ I am all that is, all that hath been, and all that will 
 be ; and my veil no mortal hath ever yet upraised !” 
 
 Long before arriving at Cairo, we saw the Pyramids 
 towering in the distance like mountains cut down into 
 their present shape; we have not yet visited them; 
 Monday next will, I hope, dawn on our departure for 
 that purpose. Caviglia, the famous Italian, who rivals 
 Belzoni in enterprise and success, breakfasted with us 
 this morning; he is certainly a very extraordinary 
 man; there is an account of his researches in an article 
 of the Quarterly, furnished some years ago by Mr. Salt, 
 very interesting, and well worth your perusal. 
 
 But I have had other visitors of no less celebrity— 
 Linant, the French artist, who accompanied Laborde 
 to Petra, and who discovered the ruined capital of 
 Meroe; Gobat, too, the Abyssinian missionary—Mr. 
 Lieder the resident missionary at Cairo, introduced him 
 to me—a tall majestic figure, benevolent countenance, 
 long beard, and in the Turkish dress; I had along and 
 interesting conversation with him. 
 
 We have received the kindest attentions from every 
 one. Colonel Camjjbell, our Consul-general, has 
 procured us everything we could desire in the way of 
 passports, firmans, &c. He introduced us to the Pasha 
 
CAIRO. 
 
 23 
 
 a few evenings ago; as it is now Ramadan, (the Turkish 
 Lent, during which they fast all day and feast all night,) 
 he receives after sunset. We visited the old spider in 
 his den, the citadel, where lie ensnared and murdered 
 the Mamalukes. Ascending a broad marble passage 
 on an inclined plane, (the substitute for a staircase,) 
 and traversing a lofty antechamber crow T ded with 
 attendants, we found ourselves in the presence-chamber, 
 a noble saloon, richly ornamented, but without an 
 article of furniture except a broad divan, or sofa, ex¬ 
 tending round the three sides of the room, in one 
 corner of which squatted his highness Mohammed Ali. 
 Six wax-candles, ten feet high, stood in a row in the 
 centre of the hall, yet gave but little light. ( 7 ) 
 
 About half an hour’s conversation ensued between 
 Colonel Campbell and the Pasha, chiefly statistical, and 
 interesting as showing his singular and intimate know¬ 
 ledge, extending to the minutest details, of everything 
 going on in his dominions.* He does, in fact, every 
 thing himself; he has made a great deal of Egypt, 
 
 * “We walked straight into the Divan chamber without being 
 announced, or any ceremony whatever. The renowned Mohammed 
 Ali was squatting in one corner of the room, smoking a most 
 superb pipe, clustered with whole handfuls of diamonds ; we all, 
 after bowing, sat down on each side of him. Coffee was brought to 
 each in the small cups like egg-cups, in beautiful filagree stands, 
 universally used in the East; a pipe is never given but to a peer 
 He sent for his interpreter, and Colonel Campbell sustained the con¬ 
 versation for three quarters of an hour nearly. The Pasha spoke 
 most practically and statistically of all his manufactures and under¬ 
 takings ; entered into all the details of ship-building, and the merits 
 of particular woods; told us of some extraordinary instance of his 
 lenient rule in the case of a village which he had pardoned its con¬ 
 tributions ; informed us he had exported 425,000 quintals of cotton 
 last year, and so on. 
 
 “ He did not address any of his guests, but I observed his sharp 
 cunning eye fixing itself on every one. The light was not strong 
 enough to remark minutely, but I can agree with former travellers 
 as to the vivid expression of his eye, and, for the rest, under a huge 
 
24 
 
 MOHAMMED ALT. 
 
 considered as his private property, but at the expense 
 of the people, who are fewer in number, and those few 
 far more miserable than they were before his time. 
 
 And how could it be otherwise?* He “ has drained 
 the country of all the working men. He presses them 
 as sailors, soldiers, workmen, &c., and nobody can be 
 sure of his own security for a day. His system appears 
 to be infamous, and the change which has taken place 
 in the general appearance of the country within a few 
 years is said to be extraordinary. Everywhere the 
 land is falling out of cultivation, villages are deserted, 
 houses falling to ruin, and the people disappearing. 
 
 “ He taxes all the means of industry and of its 
 improvement, and then taxes the product. Irrigation 
 is the great means of cultivation and fertility; he 
 therefore charges fifteen dollars tax upon every Persian 
 wheel; and as the people can find a way of avoiding 
 it by manual labour, raising the water in a very curious 
 way by the pole and bucket, he lays a tax of seven 
 dollars and a half even on that simple contrivance. 
 
 “ He then, in the character of universal land-pro- 
 prietorin his dominions, orders what crop shall be sown, 
 herein consulting his own interest solely, in direct 
 opposition to that of his people. He settles the price 
 of the crop, at which the cultivator is obliged to sell it 
 to him, for he can sell it to no one else; and if he 
 wishes to keep any himself, he is obliged to buy it back 
 
 tarboosh and immense white beard and mustachioes, it is absurd to 
 talk of, or to have any clear idea of the expression of his face: but 
 an expression I have read somewhere, ‘ his cold heartless laugh,’ 
 came suddenly into my head when I heard him laugh: it sounded 
 hard, cold, and pleasureless, and enough to make any one freeze 
 whose head was at his mercy.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
 * The following observations on the present state of Egypt are 
 extracted from Mr. Ramsay’s Journal; I have substituted them for 
 my own, which were nearly to the same effect, though shorter and 
 less interesting. 
 
CAIRO. 
 
 25 
 
 from government at the new rate which the Pasha has 
 fixed for its sale, of course many per cents dearer 
 than when he bought it. Numberless are his little tricks 
 for saving money; e. g. when he has to receive money, 
 it has always to be paid in advance; taxes, particularly, 
 he collects always just before the plague breaks out, so 
 that, though the people die, he has their money; in 
 paying the troops and others, it is vice versa ,—he pays 
 after date, and gains also upon the deaths. 
 
 “We have heard much at home of the reforming 
 enlightened spirit of Mohammed All, but what is it 
 founded on? It looks more like a great and sudden 
 blaze before the whole is extinguished and falls into 
 total darkness ; and whether this is to happen at his 
 death or before, seems the only question; it seems not 
 far distant. Last year he had no money (and he pushed 
 hard for it) to pay his troops and dependents, and this 
 year he will have no more than he had last. 
 
 “ He has forced the riches of the country prematurely, 
 and to an extent they could not bear, at the same time 
 removing the means of their reproduction, and thus he 
 has procured the present means of prosecuting the 
 really wonderful, and what in other circumstances would 
 have been the useful and beneficial improvements and 
 institutions which we have heard so much of, and which 
 certainly strike a traveller much. 
 
 “ It is to the unprincipled roguery and ignorance of 
 his European advisers and officials that most of this 
 waste and expense is to be charged. His counsellors 
 consist of all the needy emigrants from France and 
 Italy, who are scouted or in bad odour at home, and 
 who have the assurance to pretend to be what they are 
 not here, where detection is difficult, and where success 
 is their fortune for life. Ideas of the most extravagant 
 kind, such as that of damming up the Nile, and others 
 on which he has thrown away many hundred thousands 
 
26 
 
 MOHAMMED ALT. 
 
 of pounds, have been put into his head by these spe¬ 
 culating adventurers, who fill their own pockets by it, 
 and thus prey upon the country. 
 
 “ A man who has received the education of a scribe 
 or clerk, conies out, talks of cotton-growing, and soon 
 rises to the head of the cotton department; another, 
 who has thought of nothing but trade and manufacturing 
 is put into the engineering office ; and thus everything 
 is mismanaged. The English are no longer employed 
 in his service; he has found them too hard to deal with, 
 too honourable and straightforward, not supple and 
 promising enough. Mr. Hill is the only one here who 
 understands engineering, and is now dismissed from 
 his service. A steam-engine has been sent out; three 
 years have passed, and its undertaker cannot put it up, 
 though constantly at work. Mr. Hill has offered to do 
 it in a week, but his offer is not allowed to reach the 
 Pasha’s ear.” 
 
 But enough of this—the prospect is very cheerless. 
 
 Mr. Hill, by the way, is our landlord, and a very 
 clever, ingenious, obliging man he is. With English 
 hotels at Alexandria and Cairo, and floating palaces at 
 command for navigating the Nile, what is there to pre¬ 
 vent our English ladies and their beaux from wintering 
 at Thebes, as they have hitherto done at Paris and 
 Rome? An hotel in the city of Sesostris would in that 
 case prove a most profitable speculation. 
 
 One word more, however, about Mohammed Ali:— 
 Few in England seem to be aware how vast his 
 dominions really are; nominally the Pasha of Egyjiit, 
 he is supreme in Nubia, Dongola, Sennaar, to the 
 borders of Abyssinia; the Hedjaz, the Peninsula of 
 Mount Sinai, Palestine and Syria, and Asia Minor south 
 of Mount Taurus, pay him tribute and obey him ; and 
 even the desert-dwellers as far as Palmyra stand in awe 
 
CAIRO. 
 
 27 
 
 and respect him. Cut it is not mere extent of dominion 
 that gives an abiding niche in the temple of history; 
 he sits on the throne of Zenobia, but who will remem¬ 
 ber his name a hundred years hence? 
 
 So here we are at Cairo, the city of Victory—• 
 daughter of the Fatimites and the bride of Saladin— 
 the Tyre of Saracen commerce, and of The Thousand 
 and One Nights at that later era when Arab chivalry 
 had burnt out, and the children of Antar had ceased to 
 be gentlemen.* Viewed from any of the neighbouring 
 eminences, she is still Grand Cairo, but the narrowness 
 of the streets, a perfect labyrinth of alleys, and the gene¬ 
 ral air of decay, forbid one’s application of the epithet 
 to the interior of the city.f ( 8 ) Saladin sleeps at 
 Damascus, and his house survived him but a few brief 
 generations ; a race of slaves succeeded them, Circas¬ 
 sian slaves, raised successively from bondage to the 
 throne of this “ basest of kingdoms,” for two hundred 
 and thirty years previous to 1517, when Selim, the 
 Grand Turk, conquered it. Their cemetery is one of 
 the most interesting sights at Cairo. 
 
 * There are three stages, or periods in Arabian history and man¬ 
 ners—the heroic, preceding the Hegira—the chivalric, which suc¬ 
 ceeded it—and the mercantile, of the later Caliphate; the former 
 represented by the romance of Antar, the second by that of Habib, 
 and the last by the Arabian Nights. [1847.] 
 
 + “ In the streets where there are no shops, the buildings are still 
 closer; in fact, the second stories are almost always quite joined; 
 the little projecting windows of the houses opposite fit into each 
 other, and the sky is only at glimpses visible from below. They give 
 one more the idea of private passages in a house, till you are unde¬ 
 ceived by meeting people on horseback, and by their interminable 
 extent and labyrinthic properties. Many are not much above a yard, 
 wide, few more than six or eight feet. They have the merit of cool¬ 
 ness at least.” — Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
28 
 
 TOMBS OF THE SULTANS. 
 
 Crossing a mile or so of the Desert, you come in 
 sight of a city of tombs and mosques,—the most splen¬ 
 did domes, pillars of the most exquisite Saracenic 
 architecture,* and minarets the lightest and airiest 
 imaginable, rising from the desert, like an oriental 
 Venice, to greet you; I never saw anything more lovely 
 than this City of the Dead—the evening sun shining 
 brightly and cheerfully down its silent avenues. On a 
 nearer approach you find with sorrow that they are 
 already crumbling with decay; the muezzin has long 
 ceased his summons to prayer, and a few miserable 
 Arabs are the only human tenants of their lofty courts 
 and chambers. 
 
 After riding through the wide extent of the tombs, 
 we climbed up to the top of the sandhills which sepa¬ 
 rate the lonely sepulchral plain from the city of Cairo. 
 It was a scene for Mirza to dream of—an hour for 
 years to look back upon!—the sun setting behind the 
 Pyramids—the Nile, that once flowed blood, winding 
 between the two deserts that are ever striving to rob 
 him of the rich verdure that edges his channel—Cairo, 
 with her thousand minarets, rising over the thin curling 
 smoke—and the busy hum of men, that denotes how 
 densely peopled she still is, murmuring from below,— 
 and then to turn round and look down on the hollow 
 and silent valley of the dead sultans, already lost to the 
 sun’s rays, still and lifeless, except a string of camels 
 winding among the tombs—’twas a strange contrast! 
 The sun sank, sank, sank, and at last disappeared, 
 while w r e still stood there watching the Pyramids 
 piercing the glowing sky, and listening for the Muezzin; 
 
 * “ In many of these tombs there are the same light pillared 
 arcades as in the churches of Pisa and its neighbourhood”—the later 
 Lombard architecture .—Original Journal. [ 1847.] 
 
CAIRO AT SUNSET. 
 
 29 
 
 at last a cannon from the citadel announced the sun’s 
 total disappearance, and then first one, then every 
 minaret “ found a tongue,” answering each other in the 
 self-same words, “ God is great! There is no God but 
 God, and Mahomet is his prophet!” 
 
 The crescent moon brightened over us as the night 
 fell, and, pondering on the past and the present, we 
 rode slowly homewards through the motley crowds 
 with which this strange city is peopled, all eagerly 
 preparing for their evening meal. 
 
 We are now tolerably familiar with oriental objects ; 
 but the first three or four walks we took through the 
 bazars were like a visit to another world, familiar to the 
 imagination, but passing strange when first realized by 
 the eyes ; portly duennas, veiled from head to foot, 
 waddling along, followed by their slaves — harems 
 taking the air on donkey-back, escorted by their black 
 eunuchs, the most consummate puppies in Cairo—Arabs 
 on their dromedaries—richly-drest Bedouin Sheikhs on 
 their prancing steeds—Turks with their long pipes and 
 ataghans—water-carriers, buffaloes, half-naked San- 
 tons, ( 9 ) or religious fanatics, singing and rocking 
 backwards and forwards—criers perambulating the 
 bazars with objects of curiosity to dispose of—the small 
 shops on either side the street, their owners sitting 
 cross-legged and smoking,—everything reminded us of 
 the Arabian Nights and Haroun Al-Raschid. 
 
 In one respect, however, a great and a happy change 
 has taken place; the insults Christians were formerly 
 subject to are now unknown. Whatever be one’s 
 opinion of the Pasha’s domestic policy, travellers owe 
 him much—for throughout his dominions (in Egypt 
 and Syria at least) they may travel in the Frank dress 
 with perfect safety. What would old Sandys or Lith- 
 gow have said, had any one prophesied in their days 
 
30 
 
 RODA. 
 
 that two Britons would, in 1836, walk openly through 
 Cairo, preceded by a native servant clearing the road 
 before them by gentle hints indiscriminately adminis¬ 
 tered to donkeys and Moslemin, to get out of the 
 Giaours’ way? ( 10 ) 
 
 The Turks are perfect gentlemen, and never stare— 
 a marvel and a mystery to me, for we must cut uncouth 
 figures in our tight European garments. But we have 
 made up our minds in no case and nowhere to discard 
 our national dress as if we were ashamed of it,—though 
 I think we well may be so. 
 
 None, I fear, are likely to be permanent of the few 
 real improvements the Pasha has introduced here. His 
 trees only are likely to survive him; he has planted 
 two hundred thousand olives in the neighbourhood 
 of Cairo, and expects that in a few years they will 
 pay him yearly a dollar per tree. We rode through 
 this plantation a few days ago, and were delighted with 
 it, but far more so with the gardens his son Ibrahim 
 Pasha has planted in the island of Boda, which you 
 reach after traversing the olive grounds. They are 
 managed by two Scotsmen, at least of Scottish descent, 
 and do them great credit. I longed for you and dear 
 Anne; it is indeed a lovely spot; one w T alk, with bor¬ 
 ders of myrtle, particularly charmed me, leading, be¬ 
 tween rows of orange-trees in full bearing, to a fountain 
 surrounded by cypress and lignumvitae trees. Rosemary 
 edges the walks like box in England, and roses bloom 
 in profusion ; gorgeous butterflies, “ winged flowers,” 
 as some one prettily calls them, w'ere flitting about in 
 every direction, and some strange plant or other, the 
 banana, prickly pear - , the beautiful acacia speciosa, or 
 the date-tree with its graceful head-gear, constantly 
 reminded us of the East. 
 
 Little canals for irrigation a.re conducted all over the 
 
GARDEN OF RODA. 
 
 31 
 
 garden, some of them of hewn stone, others merely dug 
 in the earth, and the water is transferred from one into 
 the other by opening or damming it with the foot, as 
 in Moses’ time. The under-gardeners, in their gay 
 oriental dress, were in perfect keeping with the flowery 
 landscape, but they were Greeks, alas! sighing for 
 their own dear isle of Scio! 
 
 Mr. Traill, w r ho had the kindness to accompany us 
 all through the garden, showed us several foreign plants 
 he is attempting to naturalize,—the india-rubber tree, 
 the sago palm, and one diminutive oakling—I wish it 
 may answer; it will do his heart good to look at it—■ 
 
 “ Sae far frae hame in a strange countrie!” * (”) 
 
 On this island of Roda stands the Nilometer, a gra¬ 
 duated octagon pillar, on which the rise of the river is 
 marked during the inundation; we visited it, but it is 
 scarcely worth seeing. I believe one cannot depend 
 on the government reports of the rise of the Nile; his 
 highness reports the height he chooses it to be, and if 
 he is in want of money, the inundation is sure to be 
 the right height. 
 
 Recrossing to Old Cairo, we proceeded over mounds 
 of rubbish (the ruins of the Egyptian Babylon) to the 
 Coptic Convent, and thence to the tombs of the Mama- 
 luke Beys, far inferior in point of grandeur to those of 
 the Sultans, but still many of them very elegant, and 
 the tout ensemble a most impressive sight. Here—a 
 curious situation for him to have selected—Mohammed 
 
 * “ Mr. Traill showed us a sarcophagus, which he had converted 
 into a prison of state; instead of the bastinado, he put any refractory 
 workman into it, and slued the heavy top round over him, keeping 
 him there sometimes for two or three days. Its effects, he assured 
 me, were wonderful.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
32 
 
 COLLEGE AT BOULAC. 
 
 All has erected a grand tomb for himself and his family, 
 of coarse workmanship, but it contains spacious halls 
 with lofty domes, and the monuments are already very 
 numerous; all bear inscriptions in letters of gold, and 
 the floors are richly carpeted. 
 
 Re-entering Cairo, we remarked an aloe planted over 
 the door of a new house—a custom, I am told, con¬ 
 stantly observed here : what can be its origin? 
 
 Two or three days ago we visited the college or 
 school Mohammed Ali has founded at Boulac; give 
 him his due,—this is an improvement he deserves much 
 credit for ; there are separate rooms for each of the six 
 classes, all airy, and opening on broad spacious gal¬ 
 leries. Being Ramadan, the boys were enjoying their 
 holidays, but in one of the rooms I found an “ awkward 
 squad” of voluntary “saps,” gathered round a board, 
 on which the tutor was working a sum in Arabic nume¬ 
 rals. One or tw T o of the lads were pointed out to me 
 as being very clever, but, in general, the difficulty with 
 the Arabs is to fix their attention. They are a lively, 
 good-humoured people, and with kindness you may 
 get them to do anything they are up to. 
 
 We visited the Pasha’s printing establishment, also 
 at Boulac, the same day; the workmen seemed very 
 active and well acquainted with their business. We 
 saw several works in progress, the presswork, paper, 
 &c., neater than the ordinary run of books printed in 
 Germany or Italy—the types are English; they litho¬ 
 graph also.* I shall send home a specimen or two of 
 
 * “ At Boulac saw the Polytechnic School, formerly Ismael 
 Pasha’s Palace, a splendid establishment. The boys are neatly 
 enough dressed, and, except the tarboosh and slippers, might pass 
 for Europeans. They appeared, some of them that we saw, very 
 quick and intelligent, and I am told that their examination surpasses 
 most such in England in outward show, but it is all head-know- 
 
PRINTING PRESS. 
 
 33 
 
 Egyptian typography, the Arabian Nights for instance. 
 There is at present a quarrel, something like that be¬ 
 tween the stomach and the members, between the print¬ 
 ing-office and the magazine, and, till it is settled, which 
 cannot be till after Ramadan, no books can be pur¬ 
 chased. 
 
 Perhaps the most useful work the Pasha has pub¬ 
 lished is an Atlas in Arabic, copied from one the mis¬ 
 sionaries have executed at Malta. It is forbidden to 
 print the Koran, or even to sell it to a Christian; I 
 have procured, however, through the kind mediation of 
 my friend, Mr. Lieder, a most beautiful manuscript 
 (once a vizier’s) of that holy volume, richly illuminated 
 with gold and colours in the Arabesque style of our old 
 missals—a style, indeed, imported from the East by 
 Rome, and which, though condemned by the classic taste 
 of Vitruvius, Raphael thought not unworthy of revival. 
 
 Missionary exertions throughout the Levant are 
 chiefly directed to the conversion (as it may be called) 
 of the native Christians, as a step to that of the Mos¬ 
 lems. This they attempt to effect by schools for the 
 young, and the circulation of the Scriptures in the 
 native dialects among those of more advanced years. 
 Mr. Lieder is the amiable and zealous promoter of the 
 good cause in Egypt, now, as in every age, emphati- 
 
 ledge. They apply to algebra and abstruse mathematics. Their 
 benches, slates, &c., were quite European. The printing press we 
 also saw, and were much pleased. They print a paper every week, 
 and we saw several books in hand; the Arabian Nights is just 
 finished; the impressions are, some of them, beautiful. One vener¬ 
 able savant, with spectacle on nose, appeared to be inspecting and 
 deeply immersed in some old chronicle; such an individual is much 
 more striking and characteristic-looking in the handsome Turkish 
 dress he wore, with a reverend beard, than any dapper old Euro¬ 
 pean in a snuffy brown coat out at the elbows, and glorying in 
 unbrushed classic dust.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal. 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 EGYPTIAN MAGICIAN. 
 
 eally a house of bondage; spiritual darkness, fore¬ 
 shadowed, one might almost think, by the three days’ 
 gloom of Moses, broods over the land ; the Christians 
 seem to differ little from the heathen; indeed their 
 character is, generally speaking, so bad as materially 
 to impede the progress of the truth among the Maho¬ 
 metans.* 
 
 There are many Arab Christians, besides the Copts 
 and Armenians, all of whom rank nominally as such. 
 The Copts, the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, 
 are by far the cleverest of the modern natives, and the 
 business of the country is, for the most part, in their 
 hands. Boghaz Bey, the Pasha’s right-hand man, is 
 an Armenian, but I do not believe there are many of 
 his sleek and comely, honest, plodding countrymen 
 here. The Jews are numerous—the same in appear¬ 
 ance and character as elsewhere—scorned alike by 
 Turk and Christian,— 
 
 “ Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, 
 
 When will ye flee away, and be at rest!” 
 
 You will easily gather from what I have said, that I 
 think there is no hope for Egypt—at least at present. 
 There is a gleam in the sky, as if the light of civilization 
 were about to rise, but like the false dawn in India, it 
 will fade away, and deeper darkness will succeed. Y'et 
 the true dawn will come at last, and brighten into 
 perfect day, and then, and not till then, will Egypt, 
 Christian Egypt, rise from the dust, and resume her 
 seat among the nations. 
 
 Do you remember the strange story Miss H- 
 
 told us of the Egyptian magician ? I have had him 
 twice here,—that is to say, the gentlemen at the inn 
 
 * Mr. Lieder is still at his post, and active as ever. [1847.] 
 
EGYPTIAN MAGICIAN. 
 
 35 
 
 had him the first time, and as I was not satisfied with 
 his performance, and he hardly got fair play among us, 
 I had him a second time to myself, wishing to give him 
 a fair trial. I am not yet satisfied; he succeeded in 
 the first person we called for, but failed egregiously 
 in the others. 
 
 The first night we all assembled in the salle a manger 
 of the hotel, and the wizard being introduced, we seated 
 him on the divan, furnished him with a pipe, and then 
 proceeded to question him as to his power, &c. He 
 said he was from Algiers, (quasre of the family of 
 Sycorax, Caliban’s mother?)—and that he belonged to 
 a tribe or caste who are ruled by sheikhs or chiefs, and 
 call themselves servants of Solomon. We asked him 
 whether he worked by Allah or by Satan ; he gave me 
 a Scotch answer the first day, “ Does not Satan come 
 from Allah ?” but the following evening affirmed it was 
 by Allah. 
 
 I asked him whether he understood the words he 
 used, which are not Arabic; at least one of my friends 
 here, who speaks the language, could make nothing of 
 them. He said Yes; and, in answer to my further 
 inquiries, repeated thirteen words or names, which, he 
 said, were all a man needed the knowledge of, to obtain 
 the same power as himself;—you must learn them by 
 heart, (he is willing to teach any one “ for a considera¬ 
 tion,”) then for seven days make a fire seven times 
 every day, throw incense on it, and walk round the fire 
 seven times, pronouncing seven times the thirteen 
 names,—then go to sleep, and you will awake with the 
 faculty required. A complicated receipt this ! 
 
 The magician, meanwhile, was writing several lines 
 in Arabic on a piece of paper, which he afterwards tore 
 into seven pieces, each containing a distich. A boy 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 EGYPTIAN MAGICIAN. 
 
 having been procured, (for a child only can receive the 
 power of magical vision,) he drew a double-lined square, 
 with strange marks in the angles, on his hand, put 
 some ink on the palm, and bade him look into it and 
 tell us what he saw. 
 
 A chafing-dish having now been brought in, the 
 wizard, his beads in his hand, began mumbling prayers 
 or invocations, the same words, I believe, over and over 
 again, at first in a loud voice, then gradually sinking 
 till they were quite inaudible, (like a top falling asleep,) 
 though his lips continued moving apace. From time 
 to time he placed incense and one of the torn scraps of 
 paper on the fire, frequently interrupting his incanta¬ 
 tion to ask the boy whether he saw anything, to which 
 he as frequently replied in the negative: at last he said, 
 “ I saw something flit by quicklybut nothing more 
 came, and the wizard said we must procure another 
 boy, which we did. 
 
 The same ceremonies having been repeated, a man 
 made his appearance, and, at the word of command, 
 began sweeping; then he bade the boy call for seven 
 flags in succession, all of which made their appearance, 
 and, last of all, the Sultan, whom he described as seated 
 on his divan, drinking coffee. “Now,” said the magi¬ 
 cian, “ the charm is complete, and you may call for 
 any one you like.” 
 
 The first person we summoned was the Rev.- 
 
 -, a mutual friend of William’s and mine, and the 
 
 first person who told him of these magicians ; he was 
 described, upon the whole, accurately, but this was the 
 only successful summons; the spirits either would not 
 come, or appeared by proxy, to the sad discomposure 
 of our Arab Glendower, who, it is but fair to state, 
 attributed the failure to its being Ramadan. 
 
 I tried him with Daniel Lambert, who, I was in- 
 
JUGGLERS. 
 
 37 
 
 formed, was a thin man, and with Miss Biffin, who 
 made her appearance with arms and legs. He has 
 been equally unsuccessful with a party of Americans, 
 —this is odd enough, when one considers how strongly 
 Mr. Salt, Lord Prudhoe, and Major Felix, who sub¬ 
 jected him to long and repeated examinations, were 
 impressed with the belief of his supernatural powers. 
 
 One thing is unquestionable—that the children do 
 see a crowd of objects following each other—and, at 
 the commencement of the incantation, the very same 
 objects, as vivid and distinct as if they looked out of the 
 window at noonday. How is this to be accounted for? 
 I cannot answer the question ( 12 ) 
 
 We have seen the jugglers; they show great dexte¬ 
 rity in sticking daggers into their eyes, necks, hearts, 
 &c., running long bodkins up their noses, sheathing 
 swords in their stomachs, the skin lapping quite over 
 them (indeed their skins seem to hang quite loose on 
 their bodies), and, lastly, applying burning torches to 
 their naked breasts; upon the whole, a disagreeable 
 exhibition, not worth seeing. 
 
 The psylli, or serpent-charmers, were not to be found 
 when we sent for them; many believe in their preten¬ 
 sions ; my friend Mr. Lieder told me they charmed a 
 poisonous snake out of his house, which he himself 
 had seen the day before, but failed to kill, besides two 
 others which they might have introduced. They never 
 pronounce the name of God Allah, but Pullah. 
 
 Both psylli and magicians seem to have been known 
 among the Jews; “ the deaf adder that shutteth her 
 ears” is proverbial, and “ the stone of imagination— 
 that is, certain smooth images, in which, by art magic, 
 pictures and little faces were represented, declaring 
 hidden things and stolen goods,” mentioned by Jeremy 
 
38 
 
 PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 
 
 Taylor, on the authority, I suppose, of some rabbinical 
 comment on Leviticus, was evidently kindred sorcery 
 to that practised in Egypt. 
 
 Our boat is ready, and to-morrow, December 21st, 
 we start for Upper Egypt. We returned from the 
 Pyramids to-day. I have written Anne an account of 
 our visit, which I inclose to you; read and forward it. 
 
 Adieu. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Visit to the Pyramid of Cheops—Evening with Caviglia—Pyramids 
 of Cephrenes and Mycerinus—Arab traditions respecting the 
 Pyramids—The Sphinx, a talisman—Heliopolis—the Pyramids 
 probably built by the Pali, or Shepherd-Kings of Egypt, after¬ 
 wards the Philistines, in the time of Abraham. 
 
 TO MRS. JAMES LINDSAY. 
 
 Top of Cheops’ Pyramid, Dec. 19, 1836. 
 Did you ever expect, my dear Anne, to receive a letter 
 from the top of the Great Pyramid ? Here I am, and 
 William at my side, a burning sun above us, and four half- 
 naked Arabs chattering around us, greatly marvelling, 
 doubtless, at the magical propensities of the English. 
 It is a fatiguing business climbing up, but, once here, 
 all is repaid! Such a view ! the desert on one side, 
 stretching away into Libya—waves beyond waves, as 
 far as the eye can reach; the vale of Egypt on the other, 
 green as if Hope had chosen it as her peculiar home, 
 with a thousand little canals traversing it in every direc¬ 
 tion, left by the retiring Nile, for the inundation has 
 scarcely yet subsided. 
 
 Caviglia is working here, and we are now his guests. 
 He has palisadoed off a little citadel for himself, the 
 
PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 
 
 39 
 
 chambers consisting of tombs excavated in the rock on 
 which the Pyramids are built. After our descent, he is 
 going to cicerone us through this monument of pride, 
 science, or superstition—who knows which ? It was 
 building while Abraham was in Egypt; Joseph and his 
 brethren must have seen the sun set behind it every 
 day they sojourned in Egypt; it must have been the 
 last object Moses and the departing Israelites lost sight 
 of as they quitted the land of bondage ; Pythagoras, 
 Herodotus, Alexander, the Caliphs—it has been the 
 goal of nations! lost nations have pilgrimized to its 
 foot, and looked up, as their common ancestors did 
 before them, in awe and humility, — and now, two 
 strangers, from the “ ultima Thule” of the ancients, 
 Britain, severed from the whole world by a watery line 
 which they considered it impious to transgress, stand 
 here on the summit, and, looking round, see a desert 
 where once the “ cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous pa¬ 
 laces,” the temples and tombs of Memphis, arose in their 
 calm beauty, and Wisdom dwelt among the groves of 
 palm and acacia—solitary now and deserted, except by 
 the wandering Arab and his camel. 
 
 Midnight. Caviglia’s Tomb. 
 
 After dining withCaviglia, dear Anne, to continue my 
 yarn, we started by moonlight for the Pyramid, in com¬ 
 pany with the Genius Loci, and duly provided with 
 candles for exploration. I must premise that Caviglia, 
 whose extraordinary discoveries you are doubtless well 
 acquainted with, has just been set to work again by 
 Colonel Vyse, Mr. Sloane, and Colonel Campbell, our 
 Consul-general at Cairo. He is at present attempting 
 to make further discoveries in the Great Pyramid, and, 
 as soon as he gets a firman from the Pasha, intends to 
 attack the others. 
 
40 
 
 PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 
 
 The shape of this Pyramid has been compared to 
 “ four equilateral triangles, on a square basis, mutually 
 inclining towards each other till they meet in a point,”* 
 while “ Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, the area of which cor¬ 
 responds to its base, wholly filled up with an edifice 
 higher by a third than St. Paul’s, may give some idea 
 of its dimensions.’T 
 
 The entrance is on the northern face of the Pyramid, 
 on the sixteenth step, though you can ride up to it, 
 such immense mounds of fallen stones have accumulated 
 at the base. A long low passage, most beautifully cut 
 and polished, runs downwards, above 260 feet, at an 
 angle of 27 degrees, to a large hall, sixty feet long, 
 directly under the centre of the Pyramid, cut out of the 
 rock, and never, it would appear, finished. This was 
 discovered by Caviglia; the passage, before his time, 
 was supposed to end half way down, ( 13 ) being blocked 
 up with stones at the point where another passage meets 
 it, running upwards at the same angle of 27, and by 
 which you might mount in a direct line to the grand 
 gallery, and from that to the king’s chamber, where 
 stands the sarcophagus, nearly in the centre of the pile, 
 were it not for three or four blocks of granite that have 
 been slid down from above, in order to stop it up. 
 
 By climbing through a passage, forced, it is supposed, 
 by the Caliph Mamoun, you wind round these blocks 
 of granite into the passage, so that, with the exception 
 of ten or twelve feet, you do in fact follow the original 
 line of ascent; we descended by it. Close to the open¬ 
 ing of this passage on the grand gallery is the mouth of 
 a well, or shaft, about 200 feet deep, by which we 
 
 * Greaves, Pyramidographia, ap. Churchill’s Collection of Voy¬ 
 ages and Travels, vol. ii. 
 
 f Conder, Modern Traveller—Egypt. 
 
PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 
 
 41 
 
 ascended from the neighbourhood of the great lower 
 hall. Two or three persons had descended it before 
 Caviglia’s time, but he cleared it out to the full depth 
 that his predecessors had reached, and believing it went 
 still deeper, hearing a hollow sound as he stamped on 
 the bottom, he attempted to excavate there, but was 
 obliged to desist on account of the excessive heat, which 
 neither he nor the Arabs could stand. 
 
 Think, then, what his delight must have been, when, 
 in the course of clearing the passage, which, as I men¬ 
 tioned to you, leads directly from the entrance to the 
 great lower hall, smelling a strong scent of sulphur, and 
 remembering he had burnt some in the well to purify 
 the air, he dug in that direction, and found a passage 
 leading right into the bottom of the well, where the 
 ropes, pickaxes, &c. &c., were lying that he had left 
 there in despair, on abandoning the idea of further ex¬ 
 cavation in that direction as hopeless ! 
 
 Up this well, as I said, we climbed, holding a rope, 
 and fixing our feet in holes cut in the stone ; the upper 
 part of the ascent was very difficult, and bats in num¬ 
 bers came tumbling down on us; but at last we landed 
 safely in the grand gallery, a noble nondescript of an 
 apartment, very lofty, narrowing towards the roof, and 
 most beautifully chiselled; it ends towards the south, 
 in a staircase—if I may so term an inclined plane, with 
 notches cut in the surface for the feet to hold by , the 
 ascent is perilous, the stone being as polished and slip¬ 
 pery as glass ; before ascending, however, we proceeded 
 by another beautifully worked passage, cut directly 
 under the staircase, to a handsome room, called the 
 queen’s chamber. Returning to the gallery, we mounted 
 the inclined plane to the king’s chamber, directly over 
 the queen’s. The passage leading to it was defended 
 by a portcullis, now destroyed, but you see the grooves 
 
42 
 
 CAVIGLIA. 
 
 it fell into. His majesty’s chamber is a noble apart¬ 
 ment, cased with enormous slabs of granite, twenty feet 
 high ; nine similar ones (seven large and two half-sized) 
 form the ceiling. (") 
 
 At the w r est end stands the sarcophagus, which rings, 
 when struck, like a bell. From the north and south 
 sides, respectively, of this room, branch two small ob¬ 
 long square passages, like air-holes, cut through the 
 granite slabs, and slanting upwards, the first for eighty 
 feet in a zigzag direction, the other for one hundred and 
 twenty. 
 
 It is Caviglia’s present object to discover whither 
 these lead. Being unable to pierce the granite, he has 
 begun cutting sideways into the limestone, at the point 
 where the granite casing of the chamber ends; he has 
 reached the northern passage at the point where it is 
 continued through the limestone, and is cutting a large 
 one below it, so that the former runs like a groove in 
 the roof of the latter, and he has only to follow it as a 
 guide, and cut away till he reaches the denouement .— 
 “ Now,” said Caviglia, “ I will show you how I hope to 
 find out where the northern passage leads to.” 
 
 Returning to the landing-place at the top of the 
 grand staircase, we mounted a rickety ladder to the 
 narrow passage that leads to Davison’s chamber, so 
 named after the English consul at Algiers, who disco¬ 
 vered it seventy years ago ; it is directly above the king’s 
 chamber, the ceiling of the one forming, it would ap¬ 
 pear, the floor of the other. The ceiling of Davison’s 
 chamber consists of eight stones, beautifully worked, 
 and this ceiling, which is so low that you can only sit 
 cross-legged under it, Caviglia believes to be the floor 
 of another large room above it, which he is now trying 
 to discover. To this room he concludes the little pas¬ 
 sage leads, that branches from the south side of the 
 
PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 
 
 43 
 
 king’s chamber. He has accordingly dug down into 
 the calcareous stone at the further end of Davison’s 
 chamber, in hopes of meeting it: once found, it will 
 probably lead him to the place he is in quest of. 
 
 And now, I am sure, if I have been happy enough to 
 inspire you with a tithe of the interest with which I fol¬ 
 lowed every winding of the Pyramid and of our cice¬ 
 rone’s mind—itself a most extraordinary labyrinth— 
 you will be glad to hear that there seems every proba¬ 
 bility of his soon reaching the little passage. Leaving 
 a servant in the excavation, descending to the king’s 
 chamber, and shouting at the hole, the man answered 
 by striking on the stone—distinct strokes—as satisfac¬ 
 tory a reply as could be "wished for. 
 
 Here, of course, our wanderings ceased. We re¬ 
 gained the gallery, and from thence descended, as I have 
 already intimated, in a direct line, past the well, through 
 the passage forced by Mamoun, and up the passage of 
 entrance to the open air; and glad were we to breathe 
 it; but our first care was to don our coats and cloaks, 
 as preventives against catching cold; the toil-drops 
 were falling from us like rain, and such hands and 
 faces were never seen, for many a rood had we to creep 
 on our hands and knees, or, like the king of the beg¬ 
 gars, who used to haunt the purlieus of the Tower 
 when I was a little boy, legs forward and face forward, 
 punting with one’s hands,—an attitude somewhat diffi¬ 
 cult to describe.* 
 
 * “ It is a pity no one thinks of looking for any probable entrance 
 to the chamber in which Herodotus says the king is buried, in a 
 sarcophagus isolated from the rest by the water of the Nile, which 
 enters and flows round it. The level of the Nile is 130 feet below 
 the foundation; the angle of descent always used here is known, 
 and, with these two data, it is easy to calculate the level at which 
 any passage to it must begin, and the distance from the Pyramid. 
 It might be fruitless, but would be worth a minute examination all 
 round.”— Mr- Ramsay s Journal. 
 
44 
 
 CAVIGLIA. 
 
 After ablutions, &c., we drank tea, delicious tea! in 
 Caviglia’s tent; a candle stuck in a bottle enlightened 
 our repast, but dark, mystical, and unearthly was our 
 conversation,—a sequel to the lecture he bad given us 
 inside the Pyramid, pointing out an end, a hidden 
 purpose, a secret meaning in every nook, cranny, and 
 passage of the structure—-the scene, he told us, of 
 initiation into the ancient Egyptian mysteries. 
 
 We had him to breakfast two or three days ago at 
 Cairo, and I had had a long confab with him before 
 that. Living, as he has done, so solitary—I should 
 rather say, in such society as that of the old Pharaohs 
 of Egypt, their pyramids his home, and that strange 
 enigma of a sphinx his fellow-watcher at their feet, he 
 has become, to use his own expression, “ tout-a-fait 
 pyramidale,” in dress, feature, manner, thought, and 
 language. We are told that in Ceylon there are insects 
 that take the shape and colour of the branch or leaf 
 they feed upon—Caviglia seems to partake of their 
 nature, he is really assimilating to a pyramid. His 
 history is very curious: “ As a young man,” he told us 
 this evening, “je lisais Voltaire, Jean Jacques, Diderot 
 —et je me croyais pliilosophe he came to Egypt—the 
 Pyramids, Moses, and the Holy Scriptures converted 
 him, “ et maintenant,” said he, “ je suis tout Biblique.” 
 I have seldom met with a man so thoroughly imbued 
 with the Bible; the great truths of the Gospel, man’s 
 lost condition by the fall of Adam, Christ’s voluntary 
 death to expiate our sins, our inability to save our¬ 
 selves, and the necessity of our being born again of the 
 Holy Spirit—every one of these doctrines he avowed 
 this evening; he seems to cling to them, and to love 
 our blessed Saviour with the simplicity of a child ( ls ) 
 —he never names him without reverence; but on these 
 doctrines, this rock, as a foundation, he has reared a 
 
CAVIGLIA. 
 
 45 
 
 pyramid of the most extraordinary mysticism—astro¬ 
 logy, magnetism, magic, (his familiar studies,) its 
 corner-stones, while on each face of the airy vision he 
 sees inscribed in letters of light, invisible to all but 
 himself, elucidatory texts of scripture, which he read 
 off to us, with undoubting confidence, in support of his 
 positions. 
 
 Every religious truth, in short, unessential to salva¬ 
 tion, is in his eyes fraught with mysticism. His me¬ 
 mory is as accurate as a Presbyterian minister’s—every 
 text he quoted was prefaced by a reference to the 
 chapter and verse where it occurs. He loves the Arabs, 
 and looks forward to their conversion and civilization 
 as the accomplishment of the prophecies that “ there 
 shall be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria” in that 
 day when “ Israel shall be a third with Egypt and 
 Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land,”— 
 when the Lord shall have “ set his hand the second 
 time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, 
 from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush,” &c., and shall 
 bless the assembled myriads, saying, “ Blessed be 
 Egypt, my people, and Assyria, the work of my hands, 
 and Israel, mine inheritance.” 
 
 He quoted these remarkable prophecies, and I had 
 the pleasure of telling him I looked forward to their 
 speedy fulfilment with the same interest as himself.* 
 
 * “ Caviglia told me that he had pushed his studies in magic, 
 animal magnetism, &c., to an extent which had nearly killed him— 
 to the very verge, he said, of what is forbidden to man to know; 
 and it was only the purity of his intentions which saved him. He 
 told me he could have the power of performing all the magical rites 
 formerly practised, only that by the coming of our Saviour every¬ 
 thing of minor degree was included, and it would now be a profa¬ 
 nation to attempt such things. 
 
 “ Now one is very apt to call such a man a monomaniac on this 
 particular point, and I should not know well how to reply to any 
 
46 
 
 CAVIGLXA. 
 
 I must wish my clear Anne good night. You can 
 have no idea how comfortably we are lodged here. 
 The rock is honeycombed with tombs, but this one has 
 been cleared out, furnished with mats, glass-windows, 
 &c. &c. Caviglia seems really to enjoy himself in his 
 little fortress; the Arabs are very fond of him—he is 
 monarch of all he surveys, knows his fame, and enjoys 
 it—and long may he do so ! He is now sixty-six, but 
 still hale, active, and hearty. He hates Cairo, he says, 
 the noise and bustle distract him, and he is quite 
 happy here, with his pyramids, his mysticism, and his 
 Bible* _ 
 
 one who should do so. He gave us a sort of history of his life ; he 
 had come out a perfect infidel to Egypt; he had curiosity about the 
 Pyramids, and on being told that they did not make attempts at 
 discovery, because the devil was there, ‘ If it’s only the devil,’ said 
 he, ‘ I shall not trouble myself about him,’ and so descended to the 
 well, and made the discoveries he showed us. By reading, first of 
 all, the works of the Greek philosophers, and then the Bible, he has 
 become, as he said, ‘ peu a peu Bihliste et Chretien.’ 
 
 “ Yet he has strange unearthly ideas, which seem to open up to 
 you, as he says them, whole vistas of unheard-of ground, which close 
 up again as suddenly, so that one can hardly know what his theories 
 are. He says it would be highly dangerous to communicate them, 
 and looks mystical, but evidently does not like to speak on the sub¬ 
 ject, and otherwise loves a good hearty laugh and joke as much as 
 any one.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal. 
 
 * A full account of Caviglia’s early labours, from information 
 furnished by Mr. Salt, may be found in the nineteenth volume of the 
 Quarterly Review, pp. 395 sqq.—Shortly after my visit to the Pyra¬ 
 mids he withdrew from the field and returned to Europe, spending 
 the last few years of his life at Paris, enjoying the warm friendship 
 and sympathy of the late Earl of Elgin and Lady Elgin. He died 
 there, at his lodgings in the Faubourg St. Germain, on Sunday the 
 7th September, 1845. His Bible was buried with him by his own 
 desire.—Many have wondered at my having spoken in such terms 
 of a believer in magic, astrology, and the other occult sciences; but 
 subsequent intercourse confirmed the favourable impression I ori¬ 
 ginally formed of him in Egypt,—and not only in my own mind but 
 that of many others, my relatives and friends, whose opportunities of 
 
PYRAMID OF CEPHRENES. 
 
 47 
 
 Here we are at Cairo again. This morning, after 
 breakfast, the kind Caviglia took us to Cephrenes’ 
 Pyramid, or Belzoni’s as the Arabs call it. The pas¬ 
 sage of entrance descends very rapidly; entering back¬ 
 wards, it is difficult to keep one’s footing except by 
 pressing one’s back against the roof, and “ straddling,” 
 like Apollyon, over the whole breadth of the way. 
 After creeping under the portcullis, which Belzoni 
 raised so successfully, and descending the shaft by a 
 ladder which Caviglia has placed there, we reached the 
 chamber of the sarcophagus, beautifully cut out of the 
 rock; the roof is composed of hewn stones, and rises 
 in a pyramidal shape, which shows there must be a 
 chamber above; but how to get at it? The passage, 
 leading to the other room discovered by Belzoni, has 
 been blocked up with stones by the Arabs. Altogether 
 this pyramid is much inferior, both within and without, 
 to that of Cheops, alias Caviglia’s. 
 
 Standing at the entrance, Caviglia pointed out to us 
 a white hill, about a league and a half distant, where, 
 he says, the base of a pyramid, three hundred feet 
 long, is traceable, surrounded by little pyramids of 
 pulverized granite, probably still more ancient than 
 the pyramids of Djizeh themselves. 
 
 The rock has been cut away so as to form a spacious 
 area to the north of Cephrenes’ pyramid; we rode 
 through it towards that of Mycerinus—much smaller 
 than its fellows, but of workmanship far superior to 
 that of Cephrenes. The ground is covered with dis¬ 
 lodged blocks of the red granite with which it was 
 cased. ( 16 ) 
 
 cultivating his acquaintance were still more favourable than mine. 
 For myself, I can truly aver, that a simplicity more childlike, a 
 humility more touching, a religious veneration more profound, I 
 never witnessed among men. [1847.] 
 
48 
 
 TRADITIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 A pretty story is told of this Pyramid. Pharaoh, it 
 is said, was presiding in his court at Memphis, when 
 an eagle, hovering over his head, dropped into his lap 
 the smallest and prettiest slipper that ever was seen. 
 Inquiry being made whence it came and whose it was, 
 it turned out to be the property of the fair Rhodope of 
 Naucratis, and to have been snatched by the eagle out 
 of her attendant’s hands while she was bathing. Rho¬ 
 dope became queen of Egypt, and, on her death, was 
 buried by her disconsolate husband in this Pyramid. 
 Do you remember our poor friend Howison mentioning 
 this legend as possibly the original of Cinderella? ( ,7 ) 
 Nor less fanciful are the Arab traditions as to the 
 origin of these world’s wonders! Saurid ebn Salhouk, 
 who ruled in Egypt three hundred years before the 
 flood, saw in a dream the earth convulsed, its inhabit¬ 
 ants lying on their faces, the stars falling from heaven, 
 clashing as they fell, and, marvellous to relate! chang¬ 
 ing into white birds, which, snatching up his unfortunate 
 subjects, hurried them between two vast mountains 
 which closed behind them, and then the remaining 
 stars went out, and there was thick darkness on the 
 earth. Springing up in horror, he summoned the wise 
 men of Egypt, one hundred and thirty priests; ( ,8 ) they 
 consulted the stars, and foretold the deluge. “Will it 
 come to our country?” asked the king. “Yea,” said 
 they, “ and will destroy it.” “ And there remained a 
 certain number of years for to come, and he commanded 
 in the mean space to build the Pyramids, and a vault 
 to be made, into which the river Nilus entering should 
 run into the countries of the west, and into the land of 
 A1 Said; and he filled them with talismans, and with 
 strange things, and with riches and treasures, and the 
 like. He engraved on them all things that were told 
 him by wise men, as also of profound sciences, the 
 
TRADITIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 49 
 
 names of alakakirs,* the uses and hurts of them, the 
 science of astrology, and of arithmetic, and of geometry, 
 and of physic. All this may be interpreted by him 
 who knows their character and language. 
 
 “ After he had given orders for this building, tney 
 cut out vast columns and wonderful stones. They 
 fetched massy stones from the Ethiopians, and made 
 with these the foundation of the three great pyramids, 
 fastening them together with lead and iron. They 
 built the gates of them forty cubits under ground, and 
 they made the height of the pyramid one hundred royal 
 cubits. The beginning of this building was in a for¬ 
 tunate horoscope. After he had finished it, he covered 
 it with a coloured satin from the top to the bottom, and 
 he appointed a solemn festival, at which were present 
 all the inhabitants of his kingdom. 
 
 “ Then he built in the western pyramid thirty 
 treasuries, filled with store of riches and utensils, and 
 with signatures made of precious stones, and with 
 instruments of iron and vessels of earth, and with arms 
 that rust not, and with glass which might be bended 
 and yet not broken, and with strange spells, and with 
 several kinds of alakakirs, single and double, and with 
 deadly poisons. 
 
 “ He made also in the eastern pyramid divers celestial 
 spheres and stars, and what they severally operate in 
 their aspects, and the perfumes which are used to them, 
 and the books which treat of these matters. 
 
 “ He also put in the coloured pyramid the com¬ 
 mentaries of the priests in chests of black marble, and 
 with every priest a book, in which were the wonders of 
 his profession and of his actions, and of his nature, and 
 what was done in his time, and what is, and what shall 
 be, from the beginning of time to the end of it. 
 
 * Magical spells engraven upon precious stones. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 TRADITIONS OP THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 “ He placed in every pyramid a treasurer. The 
 treasurer of the westerly pyramid was a statue of marble 
 stone standing upright, with a lance, and upon his head 
 a serpent wreathed; he that came near it, and stood 
 still, the serpent bit him on one side, and, wreathing 
 round about his throat and killing him, returned to his 
 place. He made the treasurer of the eastern pyramid 
 an idol of black agate, his eyes open and shining, 
 sitting upon a throne with a lance; when any looked 
 upon him, he heard on one side of him a voice, which 
 took away his senses, so that he fell prostrate upon his 
 face, and ceased not till he died. He made the 
 treasurer of the coloured pyramid a statue of stone, 
 sitting; he which looked towards it, was drawn by the 
 statue till he stuck to it, and could not be separated 
 from it till such time as he died.”* 
 
 Here, then, in these pyramids—the sepulchres of 
 Saurid, his brother, and his nephew, who were all 
 buried there, were the knowledge and science of the 
 antediluvians preserved, and hence they sprang forth 
 again into life after the deluge. But it was still a 
 grander flight of imagination to attribute their con¬ 
 struction, with Baalbec and Istakhar, to Gian ben Gian, 
 the Preadamite monarch of the world!—Well might 
 the Arab poet look up at them, and say, “ Ce sont des 
 edifices que les siecles redoutent, pendant que ceux 
 que nous elevons redoutent les siecles !”f 
 
 Temples or tombs, monuments of tyranny or of 
 priestly wisdom, no theory as to the meaning of the 
 pyramids, 
 
 “ These glorious works of fine intelligence,” 
 has been broached so beautiful, to my mind, as old 
 * Greaves’ Pyramidographia. 
 
 f Quoted byEbn A1 Ouardi, Notices desMSS.de la Billiotheque 
 du Roi, tome ii. 
 
TRADITIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 51 
 
 Sandys’s, who, like Milton and the ancients, believing 
 them modelled in imitation of “ that formless form¬ 
 taking substance,” fire, conceives them to express the 
 “original of things.” “For as a pyramis, beginning 
 at a point, by little and little dilateth into all parts, so 
 nature, proceeding from one individual fountain, (even 
 God the Sovereign Essence,) receiveth diversity of 
 forms, effused into several kinds and multitudes of 
 figures, uniting all in the supreme head, from whence 
 all excellences issue.”—A truth that will outlive even 
 the pyramids. 
 
 Each of them, according to the Arabs, has its guar¬ 
 dian spirit; that of the southern pyramid is often seen 
 hovering round it towards sunset, in the shape of a 
 beautiful girl—but all go mad whom she favours with 
 a smile.( 19 ) 
 
 The sphinx, too, according to the ancient Arabs, was 
 a talisman fixed there to protect the disti’ict from the 
 encroaching sand, that ever-rising, never ebbing tide 
 of the Desert—which had already in the geographer 
 Bakoui’s time—the fourteenth century—swallowed up 
 the palace and the city of Pharaoh, and other flourishing 
 towns and villages to the west of Djizeh; one marble 
 column remained, towering over the waste, but no one 
 could reach it. Caviglia cleared away the sand from 
 around the sphinx about twenty years ago, but the 
 winds have nearly covered her again—her back, I should 
 rather say, for she always held her head above water. 
 Her attitude bespeaks the calm repbse of conscious 
 strength, her expression of countenance benevolence—• 
 the tout-ensemble , strange mysterious beauty, awful in its 
 stillness, A monster she is indeed, but not one to 
 tremble at—you stand before her in awe and reverence, 
 as before the wise but benevolent Simurgh ; and oh ! 
 if one could but give her a tongue, what histories she 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 THE SPHINX. 
 
 would tell, what wisdom reveal to us!(*°) A little temple 
 is built between her paws: a lion couches in front of it, 
 looking up at her — both now fathom deep under the 
 sandy deluge.* 
 
 There are numbers of tumuli, or barrows, around 
 the three great pyramids, heaving the soil, like graves 
 in a country churchyard; they look mere molehills from 
 the top, but contain spacious halls and chambers. 
 
 The sphinx, by-the-bye, Caviglia told us he believed 
 to express, enigmatically, the doctrine of man’s re¬ 
 generation, as explained to Nicodemus by our Saviour, 
 and which he supposes to have been one of the ancient 
 Egyptian (it certainly was one of the Indian) doctrines 
 derived from primitive revelation. That they had much 
 traditional wisdom is unquestionable, and Heliopolis, 
 the On of Genesis, was the shrine where it was pre¬ 
 served,—I know few places of more intense interest; 
 Potipher,f Joseph’s father-in-law, was prince and priest 
 there; there dwelt the sages of Egypt, and there 
 Moses, Herodotus, Plato, Eudoxus, successively became 
 “ learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” 
 
 We visited the site two or three days ago—a range 
 of mounds, enclosing an oblong square, smooth and 
 covered with corn—Selim encamped on it when he 
 came to conquer Cairo—one obelisk, lone survivor, still 
 
 * “ The expense incurred by these operations (in the Pyramids and 
 around the Sphinx) amounted to about 18,COO piastres, a share of 
 which was contributed by Mr. Salt and two or three other gentlemen, 
 who liberally engaged that the disposal of whatever might be dis¬ 
 covered should be left wholly to M. Caviglia; and he, on his part, 
 generously requested that everything might be sent to the British 
 Museum, as a testimony of his attachment to that country, under 
 the protection of whose flag he had for many years navigated the 
 sea.” Quarterly Review, tom. xix, p. 418.—Caviglia was indeed a 
 British subject, as a native of Malta. [1847.] 
 
 Poti-ph’-re, Priest of Re. [1847.] 
 
HELIOPOLIS. 
 
 53 
 
 pointing to the sky. It was erected, we know, by the 
 Pharaoh Osirtesen, in the eighteenth century before 
 Christ, in front of the temple of Vulcan; but where, 
 you ask, is the temple ? I see no propyla, no dromos, 
 no shrine—where is the temple ? Are those shapeless 
 fragments of granite the sphinxes Strabo mentions? 
 Possibly—Heliopolis was desolate even in his day. 
 You may search, but there is nothing more to be seen; 
 the corn waves in the breeze, and you push- your way 
 through it without stumbling; all is smooth, and you 
 are ready to think the genies of Aladdin’s lamp must 
 have carried off the temple, and left that single obelisk 
 to tell the tale. Alas, poor Phoenix! wert thou to come 
 to life again, and revisit Heliopolis ! ( 2l ) 
 
 I have said that the Pyramids were building while 
 Abraham was in Egypt. I dare say you have been 
 wondering on what grounds I assert this, so much 
 dispute having always existed as to their antiquity. 
 And when I add, that I think there is every reason to 
 believe that they were built by the “ Royal Shepherds” 
 of Egypt, who afterwards became the Philistines, you 
 may well call on me for my reasons. 
 
 Come, dear Anne, for I know the delight you feel in 
 such adventures—come and let us venture, hand in 
 hand, into this dark chasm, at the mouth of which we 
 stand, the cavern of the past, and, with mummy-torches 
 to guide us, explore its recesses. We shall find facts, 
 isolated facts, like carbuncles, casting a sure light 
 through the gloom—-jewels of historical truth, worthy 
 of being set into a necklace which Clio herself need not 
 
 disdain to wear. Are you ready? Come then. 
 
 The cave grows chillier and chillier, gloomier and 
 gloomier, as V’e descend; do you hear the roar of 
 
54 
 
 FOUNDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 waters ? the deluge is still seething up here; the cave 
 extends far beyond that dark and stormy water, but 
 there is no crossing it, no reaching yon distant shore 
 without the Ark of Noah, and that has been buried for 
 
 ages under the snows of Ararat. Here stop we- 
 
 But a truce to this nonsense, and let me to my argu¬ 
 ment. 
 
 Yet do not mistake me; I have no new theory to 
 advance; I aspire only to dovetail into one harmonious 
 piece of marqueterie the scattered discoveries of those 
 learned men who have studied the subject, and which, 
 viewed connectedly, lead to the results briefly expressed 
 above. Ab initio , then, dear Anne, in other words, 
 commenqons par le commencement. 
 
 Of Ham’s three sons, Canaan, the youngest, (the 
 only one on whom the curse was pronounced,) was 
 ancestor of the ten tribes whom Abraham found in 
 occupation of the Promised Land, bearing the national 
 patronymic of Canaanites—how awfully depraved in 
 their morals, I need not remind you. Their iniquities, 
 however, had not come to the full till four hundred 
 years after Abraham, when the Israelites were the 
 hammer in the hand of God for crushing them. 
 
 A giant race, distinct from the Canaanites, “a people 
 great, and strong, and tall,” occupied many parts of 
 the country between the Nile and the Euphrates in 
 Abraham’s day; their punishment, probably as being 
 earlier depraved, took place between his time and that 
 of Moses; the Anakim, who dwelt at Hebron in the 
 hill-country of Judah—the Emim, who possessed the 
 country east of the Dead Sea, afterwards Moab—the 
 Zamzummim, who dwelt in what was afterwards called 
 Ammon, &c., being so utterly “ destroyed by the Lord,” 
 through the agency of the children of Lot, and others, 
 who occupied their country, that in the time of Joshua, 
 
FOUNDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 55 
 
 “ only Og, the king of Bashan, remained of the remnant 
 of the giants.” 
 
 Besides these nations, the Chorim or Ilorites, who 
 occupied Mount Seir, were destroyed to make room for 
 the children of Esau, or the Edomites ; and the Avim 
 for “ the Philistines, the remnant of the country of 
 Caphtor”—“who came out of Caphtor”—“whom,” God 
 emphatically tells us, “ I brought from Caphtor.” 
 
 Caphtor is the same word as Egypt, or Copt, applied 
 in Scripture to Lower, as Pathros is to Upper Egypt, 
 or the Thebaid. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, from the word of truth, that 
 God, our Author and Disposer, “ who hath made of one 
 blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of 
 the earth, and hath determined the times before 
 appointed, and the bounds of their habitation”—brought 
 the Philistines, after some great revolution which re¬ 
 duced them to the mere remnant of a once powerful 
 nation, out of Lower Egypt into the land of Canaan. 
 
 While Canaan was peopled by the descendants of the 
 younger, Egypt was so by those of the elder son of 
 Ham, the Misraim. From her great natural advan¬ 
 tages, she soon rose to civilization, and flourished till a 
 nomadic race, surnamed the Uk-sos, or Royal Shep¬ 
 herds, (by some, says Manetho, supposed of Arabian 
 origin,) poured down upon the country, subdued the 
 natives, and held the sceptre for two hundred and sixty 
 years, till the natives roused themselves, and, after a 
 long and bloody contest, compelled them to take refuge 
 at Abaris, probably Pelusium, a stronghold on the 
 eastern branch of the Nile, which the first shepherd 
 king had fortified as “ the bulwark of Egypt” against 
 the Assyrians, then the dominant power in Asia. After 
 a tedious siege, the Egyptians, in despair of getting rid 
 of them otherwise, allowed them to depart, with their 
 
56 
 
 FOUNDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 families and cattle, in quest of another settlement, 
 which they did, in the direction of Syria. 
 
 It must have been during this usurpation that Abra¬ 
 ham visited Egypt, for the revolution by which they 
 were expelled had evidently taken place shortly before 
 Joseph’s time, when “ every shepherd was” such “ an 
 abomination to the Egyptians,” that the pasturing Israel¬ 
 ites were assigned the district of Goshen, “ the best of 
 the land,” rich unoccupied pasture ground, for their re¬ 
 sidence, that they might dwell there with their flocks 
 and herds apart from the natives ; by which providen¬ 
 tial separation they were preserved as a distinct people. 
 Jacob passed through Goshen, and Joseph met him 
 there, on his road from Canaan to Egypt; the Israelites 
 did not cross the Nile when they quitted Egypt; Goshen, 
 therefore, lay to the east, probably along the eastern 
 bank of the Pelusiac branch of the river. Why was 
 “ the best of the land ” unoccupied, but because the 
 shepherd owners had just been expelled ? 
 
 Now, when we read in the Bible that the Philistines 
 came out of Lower Egypt, and were settled in the land 
 of Canaan before the arrival of the Israelites, from 
 whose triumphant exodus (though Manetho ignorantly, 
 and Josephus wilfully, confound them) theirs differed 
 in being so calamitous an expulsion that “ a remnant” 
 only survived, though that remnant was numerous 
 enough to subdue the Avim, and occupy their country; 
 and when, naturally inquiring what light Egyptian 
 history throws on the subject, we find this story of the 
 expulsion of the shepherd kings, in the direction of 
 Canaan, at a period anterior to the arrival of Joseph; 
 is it possible to doubt the identity of the royal shep¬ 
 herds and the Philistines?—that warlike people, those 
 “ foreigners ” of the Septuagint, speaking a language 
 distinct from that of the Jews, who, occupying the sea- 
 
FOUNDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 57 
 
 coast, between the Nile and Ekron, gave it their own 
 name, Palestina, confined by the prophet Isaiah to their 
 pentapolis, but afterwards extended to the whole land 
 of Israel, Palestine—a word, mark you, not Hebrew, 
 but Sanscrit, and still implying, in that language, 
 “ the shepherd’s land!” 
 
 If this needed confirmation, we should find it in the 
 testimony borne by the Hindoo records, that a branch 
 of the great Pali, or shepherd race of India, -whose 
 sway extended from their far-famed capital, Pali-bothra, 
 to Siam on the east, and the Indus on the w r est, the in¬ 
 termediate country bearing the same name Palisthan, 
 or Palestine, afterwards imposed on the land of Canaan 
 —conquered Egypt, and oppressed the Egyptians, in 
 the same manner as the Egyptian records tell us the 
 royal shepherds did. Nor is it less remarkable that 
 while Abaris, or Avails, the stronghold of the Aunt® 
 or royal shepherds, in the land of Goshen, derives its 
 name from Abhir, ( 22 ) the Sanscrit word for a shepherd— 
 Goshena, or Goshagana., in the same language, implies 
 “ the abode of shepherds,” and gosha is explained in 
 Sanscrit dictionaries by the phrase Abliiropalli, “ a town 
 or village of Abhiras or Pallis.” ( 23 ) 
 
 And who, then, (to revert to the point from which I 
 set out,) who can the shepherd Philitis* who fed his 
 flocks near Memphis, whose name the popular tradition 
 of the Egyptians, in Herodotus’s time, gave to the 
 pyramids, built by his contemporaries Cheops and 
 Cephrenes, the tyrants who shut up their temples, and 
 forbade the sacrifices, and whose names the people held 
 in such abhorrence that they would not pronounce 
 
 * Bhilata or palita, “ a shepherd,” in Sanscrit. It is remarkable 
 that one of the ancient Pali tribes in India was called Rajpalli, or 
 Royal Shepherds.—See Colonel Tod’s Annals of Rajasthan , vol. i, 
 p. 119. 
 
58 
 
 FOUNDERS OF THE PYRAMIDS. 
 
 them—who and what can he he, but a personification 
 of the shepherd dynasty—the Palis of the Hindoo 
 records, who, after erecting the pyramids, those im¬ 
 perishable monuments of their glory, after the models 
 they remembered in their native Assyria, reappear in 
 later years, and when failed from their high estate, as 
 the Philistines, “ the remnant of the country of Caph- 
 tor,” ever at enmity with the people of God, and now, 
 like every nation that oppressed them, vanished from 
 our eyes? 
 
 I have argued it clumsily, but do you not now agree 
 with me that the pyramids were built by the shepherd 
 kings of Egypt, the ancestors of the Philistines, in the 
 time of Abraham? 
 
 And will you not sympathize with me, dear Anne, 
 when I add, that the name of Pali, that once rang as 
 the slogan of victory from the Irawaddy to the Po,— 
 which blazed on the banner that, ages before Rome was 
 thought of, waved as free to the wind on Mount Palatine 
 as on the hills of Meroe and the towers of Palibothra, 
 (what a pyramid of empire!) is now a reproach, a curse, 
 and a hissing, to the wretches on whose outcast heads 
 that crown of glory has descended—Pali, Pelasgi, Pala¬ 
 tines all extinct—its sole inheritors; dwelling on the 
 hills where erst Palibothra rose—girt round by the 
 Rajpoots, who supplanted their power and called their 
 country by another name—and still worshipping Maha- 
 deva, their ancestral god, who, in the twilight of 
 Egyptian history, led their kinsmen to the conquest of 
 Meroe and the Nile,—robbers, thieves, outcasts, of all 
 the degraded tribes of India, there are none more 
 miserable, one only more despised, than the Bheels, 
 the Palis of Malwah! 
 
 Bear with me a few minutes longer. Is it too much 
 to argue from the fact that both nations were punished 
 
CHRONOLOGY OF DR. HALES. 
 
 59 
 
 only, not exterminated, by a just and discerning God— 
 that, fearfully as both had gone astray, neither the 
 royal shepherds at the period of their expulsion from 
 Egypt, nor the Egyptians at the time of the exode of 
 the Israelites, had reached that acme of depravity, 
 which, at corresponding seasons in the history of the 
 chosen people, caused the earth to swallow up the cities 
 of the plain—to vomit forth the tribes of the Canaan- 
 ites? 
 
 And were, then, the Anakim, the Emim, the Zam- 
 zumrnim, the Horim, the Avim, equally depraved ? 
 Else, why were they thus exterminated? 
 
 “ The Zamzummims, a people great, and many, and 
 tall as the Anakims; hut the Lord destroyed them be¬ 
 fore them; and” the Ammonites “ succeeded them, and 
 dwelt in their stead; 
 
 “ As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in 
 Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; 
 and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead, even 
 unto this day; 
 
 “ And the Avims, which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto 
 Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came out of Caphtor, 
 destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.” 
 
 -Oh! who can sum up, who can form a concep¬ 
 tion of the misery, moral, physical, temporal, and 
 eternal, brought into this world by sin, and laid all 
 upon our Saviour, when the life and death of three 
 nations extirpated for their vices—we know nothing 
 more of them—are summed up in three verses—a mere 
 parenthesis in the Bible such as this ! 
 
 One word more. I forget whether or not you are a 
 convert to the longer system of chronology, so ably 
 advocated by our friend Dr. Hales, by which we get 
 six hundred additional years before, and seven hundred 
 after the Deluge—years most welcome to the historical 
 
60 
 
 CHRONOLOGY OF DR. HALES. 
 
 antiquary, who feels himself wofully cramped in his 
 investigations by the common Bible chronology, which 
 makes Noah alive at the time of the great apostasy at 
 Babel, and Shem contemporary with Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob ! * May we not derive another argument for 
 this system from the consideration, that if God bore 
 with the vices of the Canaanites four hundred years 
 before he considered it a righteous thing to destroy 
 them, the A vim, Emim, Zamzummim, Horim, &c., 
 must surely have existed as nations at a period earlier 
 than the received chronology assigns to the Deluge ? 
 If not, the Avim and Horim, to take these two as 
 examples, must each have become a nation, have for¬ 
 saken the patriarchal worship, sunk into all manner of 
 depravity, and been destroyed from the face of the 
 earth, within six hundred years after the Deluge— 
 judging by analogy, a manifest impossibility. 
 
 Adieu, dear Anne; we start to-morrow for Upper 
 Egypt. 
 
 * See the New Analysis of Chronology, (vol. i, pp. 272—289, 
 second edition,) a work, the title of which, says Mr. Hartwell 
 Horne, “ very inadequately describes its multifarious contents. Not 
 only is it the most elaborate system of Chronology extant in our 
 language, but there is scarcely a difficult text in the sacred writings 
 
 which is not illustrated.The ‘ New Analysis’ ought to have a 
 
 place in the library of every biblical student.” 
 
OUR DAHABIEH. 
 
 61 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Our Dahabieh—Night-Scenes on the Nile—Pyramids of Saccara, 
 Dashour, &c.—The False Pyramid—Minieh — Story of Ebn 
 Khasib—Siout—Tombs of Lycopolis—Stabl Antar—Traditions 
 of the Copts—Ruins of Abydus—Palace of Sesostris—Kenneh. 
 
 December 28, 1836. 
 
 My dear Mother, — I have just been admiring our 
 little bark from the banks of the Nile, as she glided 
 slowly along, her wings spread, wooing the breeze, and 
 a blue sky above us, 
 
 “ So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful, 
 
 That God alone was to be seen in heaven! ” 
 
 You must understand the epithet little as one of endear¬ 
 ment, according to Burke’s theory of the Beautiful ; in 
 truth, she is of ample dimensions, — come, let me 
 describe her to you, premising that we left Siout last 
 night, and are now in Upper Egypt, the land of 
 Thebes —a rapturous reality sometimes difficult to 
 convince ourselves of. Two crocodiles have welcomed 
 us already; we have only just entered their territory. 
 No hippopotami are to be seen north of the cataracts; 
 to supply the deficiency, we have named our boat “ the 
 Hippopotamus,” an epithet by no means inappropriate 
 to a river-riding bark like ours. 
 
 She is of the dahabieh class, the middle size of those 
 employed on the Nile. Our first care, after securing 
 her, was to have her sunk, to destroy the rats and 
 vermin, then to have her painted and repaired; she is 
 now quite clean, and I hope will continue so a good 
 while. The inner and smaller cabin is just large 
 enough for me; the larger is furnished with a Turkish 
 divan on one side, and William’s bed on the other, 
 
62 
 
 OUR DAHABXEH. 
 
 with a table between and a mat below; the windows 
 are Venetian blinds, and open or shut at pleasure, with 
 chintz curtains drawing across them; on the panels we 
 have suspended three pair of pistols, our large tele¬ 
 scope, straw hats, looking-glass, &c. &c. A sword, 
 with which we equip our dragoman, Abdallah, when we 
 go on shore in state, and William’s gun and rifle, occupy 
 the corner. Shelves are put up in both cabins; in 
 mine I have marshalled our little library, which looks 
 charmingly there. 
 
 In front of the cabin a large tent is pitched, of double 
 canvas, open at the mast end, furling upwards at the 
 sides during the day, and closing in at night, when Mis- 
 sirie, Abdallah, and Hadji Achmet (an Arab help ) sleep 
 on its cushioned divans. In this tent we breakfast and 
 dine ; we live here, in fact, during the daytime, and 
 after dinner (at sunset) adjourn to the cabin to drink a 
 cup of delicious Mocha coffee; we then read till tea- 
 time, and afterwards till about midnight—and then to 
 Bedfordshire. 
 
 Beyond the tent, and facing the mast, is the kitchen, 
 a little edifice of wood and brickwork, where Missirie 
 presides as cuisinier, and a first-rate artiste he is. Be¬ 
 yond the mast are the quarters of the crew, and a small 
 cannon. 
 
 The crew consists of ten men, besides the reis or 
 captain; they are active, willing, good-humoured fel¬ 
 lows, and have harmonious voices, a great lounge, (to 
 speak Etonice,) as the Arab boatmen are a noisy set, 
 constantly singing to their work, and always in chorus ; 
 one of them leads, and the rest join in, generally line 
 by line, alternately, neither uttering more than five or 
 six words at a time. The chorus of each song is always 
 the same, but the Coryphaeus, or leader, seems to sing 
 
NIGHT-SCENES ON THE NILE. 
 
 63 
 
 ad libitum, -words and air both, often deviating into a 
 wild yell. 
 
 A curious scene -was going on around us three or 
 four evenings ago. We are now in Ramadan, the 
 Mahometan Lent, always rigorously kept by the Arabs, 
 who taste nothing from sunrise to sunset. The sun 
 had gone down behind the bank of the river, but, as 
 they might not eat till the legal horn' of sunset, there 
 they sat, poor fellows ! each with an onion in his hand, 
 their eyes fixed on Missirie’s watch, by which he was 
 to let them know when they might conscientiously set 
 to. That evening was a very merry one; squatted in a 
 circle, they sang unceasingly for two hours or more— 
 strange wild chants, keeping time by clapping their 
 hands, a custom handed down to them from the ancient 
 Egyptians, and to the accompaniment of a rude tam¬ 
 bour or drum. Each song ended with two extraordinary 
 yells, not inharmonious, in which all joined, the voices 
 dropping, as if from exhaustion, at the close. Between 
 each song was heard the distant chorus of a crew toil¬ 
 ing on the other side of the river, and the whistling 
 drone of a reed-pipe from a boat full of Bedouins from 
 the west, pilgrims to Mecca, keeping company with us; 
 sitting silent and motionless, their features almost in¬ 
 visible— their dark eyes gleaming from under their 
 massive white drapery — never saw I figures more 
 savagely picturesque! The reises, meanwhile, being 
 in the complimentary mood, guns and pistols were 
 going off every moment, each followed up by the yell 
 of all the crews, succeeded, at least on board our vessel, 
 by another song—and so on. The rolling echo of the 
 guns from the rocks across the river added to the effect 
 of this strange night-scene on the Nile. I do enjoy 
 these wild old airs. 
 
64 
 
 SCENERY OF THE NILE. 
 
 We have had favourable breezes for the most part 
 hitherto, and have gone night and day, the crew reliev¬ 
 ing each other; the breeze generally fails at sunset, 
 after which they punt the boat, or tow it along the 
 shore. We constantly run aground, and then they 
 dash over into the water, fearless of the crocodiles, 
 and push away, hands and shoulders, to the usual chant 
 of “ Haylee sa! haylee sa ! ” till they clear her. Wil¬ 
 liam gets a walk and a little shooting every day, and I 
 often accompany him as his gamekeeper. The banks, 
 as we skim past them, are sometimes absolutely covered 
 with wild geese—fire a gun, and they rise in myriads, 
 as clunginglg as Homer heard them settle on the banks 
 of the reedy Cayster. 
 
 And what delicious weather ! the morning and even¬ 
 ing clear and transparent as the dew; but no pencil 
 could paint, no tongue describe, the rich glow of the 
 western sky at sunset, or the pink zone that girdles the 
 horizon as the night falls,—pink at first, but changing 
 from shade to shade, like the cheek of Iris, till the 
 last, a delicate green, like chrysophraz, darkens into 
 night. And night, how lovely ! the moon riding tri¬ 
 umphantly along, not let into the sky, as in the north, 
 but visibly round and detached—you can see far beyond 
 her,—with all her starry train around her, “ the poetry 
 of heaven!” But richer sunsets and still lovelier nights 
 are before us. 
 
 We are pressing on for Thebes, and have conse¬ 
 quently left several interesting objects unvisited till our 
 return, when we shall be better judges of their merit. 
 We started under peculiarly gratifying auspices, fairly 
 distancing a boat that put off in pursuit of us from the 
 custom-house; had they boarded us, a teskeray, which 
 we had received that morning from M. Piozin, the vice- 
 consul, would have cleared us. 
 
MINIEH. 
 
 66 
 
 Never, dear motlier, knew I what luxury was till 
 now! I have realized Horace’s idea of complete repose 
 in lying at length under a green arbutus (at least as 
 shady a tree) beside his own bright fountain at Lucre- 
 tilis; but what is that to reclining under a tent, on a 
 Turkish divan, in an Arab boat, ascending the Nile—a 
 never ending diorama of loveliness! villages, dovecots, 
 mosques, santons’ tombs, hermits’ cells, temples, pyra¬ 
 mids, avenues of the thorny acacia, (from which the 
 country derives one of its old Sanscrit names,) and, 
 loveliest of all, groves after groves of date-trees, 
 
 “ bending 
 
 Languidly their leaf-crowned heads, 
 
 Like youthful maids, when sleep, descending, 
 
 Warns them to their silken beds,”— 
 
 all slumbrous—all gliding past like the scenery of a 
 dream—without effort—peacefully—silently; and yet, 
 as when watching the stars at midnight, you feel all the 
 while as if the sweetest music were murmuring in your 
 ear.* 
 
 The Pyramids of Djizeh, of Abousir,of Saccara—that 
 of Dashour, the False Pyramid, as it is called, rising in 
 degrees, as we are told the tower of Babel did,—all 
 these have flitted past, and minareted Minieh, the 
 largest town on the Nile between Cairo and Siout,— 
 a pretty legend is attached to this place by one of the 
 old Arabian travellers, and I must tell it as we sail 
 
 by:— 
 
 Ages ago, in the days of the Abbassides, to whom 
 Egypt bowed the knee from the middle of the eighth to 
 that of the ninth century, one of the Caliphs, even the 
 
 * On one occasion .we were witness to a very curious instance of 
 double refraction—the river we were ascending was reproduced in 
 the horizon at right angles to ourselves—date-trees, mosques, vil¬ 
 lages, &c., all in motion, and as if crossing our course. [1847 ] 
 
66 
 
 EBN KHASIB. 
 
 great Haroun Al-rascliid himself, was wroth with the 
 Egyptians, and, desirous at once to punish, and make 
 them an example to others, he picked out the lowest of his 
 slaves, one Ebn Khasib, the bath-warmer of the palace, 
 and sent him governor to Egypt, in the confidence that 
 the insolence, rapacity, and cruelty of such a ruler would 
 amply express his resentment. Never was a man more 
 mistaken than the Caliph; never was Egypt happier 
 than under the mild rule of Ebn Khasib. His fame 
 spread far and wide; many even of the Caliph’s imme¬ 
 diate courtiers, and one, especially, of his nearest kins¬ 
 men, visited and were entertained by him ; in short, 
 Ebn Khasib was a second Chebib. 
 
 On the return of his kinsman to Bagdad, the Caliph, 
 who had remarked and wondered at his absence, in¬ 
 quired where he had been ? “ To Egypt,” replied the 
 
 prince, and proceeded to extol the humanity, justice, 
 benevolence, and generosity of the governor, and dis¬ 
 play the presents he had received from him. The 
 Caliph, enraged at the failure of his scheme, sent in¬ 
 stant and peremptory orders for his degradation, that 
 his house should be razed to the ground, his goods 
 confiscated, his eyes put out, and that he should be 
 cast forth, naked and a beggar, into the streets of 
 Bagdad. 
 
 To hear, of course, was to obey; a few weeks, and 
 behold Ebn Khasib, friendless, hungry, destitute, grop¬ 
 ing his way through the streets, or sitting near the gate 
 of the seraglio, forgotten by his old fellow-slaves, un¬ 
 heeded by the nobles who had eaten his bread and salt 
 in Egypt, and whose silken garments touched as they 
 swept past him; the summer birds flee with the summer 
 flowers! 
 
 He was accosted one morning by a poet:—“ Ebn 
 Khasib,” said he, “ I was on the point of starting for 
 
EBN KHASIB. 
 
 67 
 
 Egypt with a poem in your praise; your ariival here 
 in Bagdad saves me the trouble of that long journey, 
 and, if you will listen, I shall have great pleasure in 
 repeating it.” 
 
 “ Poor and blind, naked and miserable,” replied Ebn 
 Khasib, “ what have I to give thee ? Go, my friend, 
 seek a richer patron ; my star has set.” 
 
 “ Only listen to me,” replied the child of song, “ and 
 as for recompence, God only do for you as you have 
 done for others!” 
 
 Ebn Khasib listened, and his heart was touched; 
 they were the first words of sympathy that had consoled 
 him in his misfortunes. He cut open a seam of his 
 robe, and took out a ruby—it was the only valuable 
 that he had been able to secrete on the wreck of his 
 fortunes. “ Accept this gem,” said Ebn Khasib—the 
 poet expostulated — Ebn Khasib insisted — and the 
 poet accordingly carried it to the jewellers’ bazar. 
 
 “ Such a stone,” cried the syndik of the jewellers, 
 “ can only belong to the Caliph,” and before the Caliph 
 they brought him. He told his little story; the Caliph’s 
 eye glistened, he sent for Ebn Khasib, owned he had 
 done wrong, loaded him with presents, and sent him 
 back to Egypt, proprietor of Minieh, the spot he was 
 fondest of in all the valley of the Nile—that Nile, to 
 whose bounty the poet’s fancy had likened his own; 
 the place is still called after him, “ Minieh Ebn Khasib,” 
 and his posterity flourished there for I cannot say how 
 many generations, but they were extinct when my 
 authority, Ebn Batuta, visited the spot in the four¬ 
 teenth century.* 
 
 “ As pretty a story as that of Queen Rhodope and 
 her slipper!” But this is true , dear children ! And 
 
 * “Travels ” &c., translated by Dr. Lee, 4to, 1829, p. 14. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 TOMBS OF LYCOPOLISi 
 
 what a commentary on the prophecy ,—“ Egypt shall 
 be a base kingdom—the basest of kingdoms!” Surely 
 looking merely to the cause of Ebn Khasib’s promo¬ 
 tion, her subjection to the warrior Mamelukes was not 
 so degrading. ( 24 ) 
 
 Siout, on the west bank of the river, was the first 
 place we stopped at—to visit the catacombs and tombs 
 of ancient Lycopolis, excavated in the mountain that 
 overhangs that city, the modem capital of Upper Egypt. 
 For many hours before arriving at Manfalout, ( 2y ) the 
 vast rocks that edge in the Nile to the east are perfo¬ 
 rated with hundreds of grottoes, some natural, others 
 cut by the hand of man, and often at a great height 
 above the water—the retreats of the Christian hermits 
 who treated S. Athanasius so kindly during his repeated 
 exiles from Alexandria. We often sailed close under 
 them, and with the glass I could see far within the 
 dusky portals, uncrossed now for many centuries. The 
 tombs of Lycopolis (so called from the old Egyptian 
 wolf-worship) were in later times appropriated by a 
 similar swarm to that which hived north of Manfalout: 
 —“ They sunk,” says Gibbon, “ under the painful 
 weight of crosses and chains, and their emaciated 
 limbs were confined by collars, bracelets, gauntlets, and 
 greaves of massy and rigid iron; they often usurped 
 the den of some wild beast whom they affected to 
 resemble; they buried themselves in some gloomy 
 cavern which art or nature had scooped out of the rock, 
 and the marble quarries of Thebais are still inscribed 
 with the monuments of their penance.” This he says 
 generally of the Anchorets, but the description is pecu¬ 
 liarly appropriate to those of Lycopolis, who ejected 
 the mummies of wolves to make living mummies of 
 themselves! Some of the grottoes, however—those, 
 probably, appropriated to the wealthier human mum- 
 
TOMBS OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 69 
 
 mies, are of noble proportions; they are excavated, 
 one above another, in the receding face of the rocks. 
 We visited, I believe, all the larger, and explored with 
 torches some of the smaller catacombs to which they 
 lead; many of them end abruptly, others seem to be 
 continued far into the bowels of the mountain. Every¬ 
 where the ground sounds hollow under the feet, and 
 one must walk with caution, the floors being full of 
 mummy-juts and depressions where the earth has 
 fallen in. 
 
 The first excavation we reached is called “ Stabl 
 Antar,” after the far-famed lover of Ibla.” A lofty arch¬ 
 way leads you into a hall of noble proportions, once 
 most elaborately ornamented with hieroglyphics on the 
 walls, and the richest tracery on the ceiling, flowers 
 and diamond-shaped devices, of different patterns and 
 colours, succeeding each other in parallel rows; they 
 are now much defaced, and, from the description that 
 Norden, a Danish traveller of last century, gives of 
 them, must have suffered much during the last hundred 
 years. Great pains seem to have been taken with 
 this chamber; we found in none of the others such 
 elaborate ornament or such beautiful proportions. 
 
 Leading the way up the hill, our guides following us, 
 we found, above the Stabl Antar, a range of smaller 
 excavations, and, above them again, a third tier, more 
 extensive, but of rougher workmanship, than the first; 
 a very large hall, once ornamented with hieroglyphics, 
 and supported by square pillars, (left standing when 
 the grotto was hewn out of the rock,) forming a cross 
 with an inner chamber, narrower but longer, leading to 
 further catacombs and passages. Regaining the face 
 of the mountain, which looks N.E., and turning to the 
 left, we came to another very large hall on the same tier, 
 originally entered by a vestibule between two square 
 
70 
 
 TOMBS OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 pillars, both now gone ; of two others, which correspond 
 with them at the farther end, the one to the right only 
 remains. On the right, entering the vestibule, is a 
 large tablet of hieroglyphics, beautifully sculptured, 
 especially the birds, and coloured blue; to the left, on 
 entering the hall, are the remains of sculptures running 
 along the wall, three rows of warriors marching in pro¬ 
 cession, with large shields, covering nearly the whole 
 body, and long spears or billhooks. The lower row is 
 almost gone. Above them, and below (as it were sup¬ 
 porting) the ceiling, runs an elegant frieze of ornaments 
 shaped like daggers. Bones and fragments of mum¬ 
 mies are lying here and there, wherever the riflers of 
 the mummy-pits have thrown them—disgusting objects. 
 
 Proceeding to the left, w r e came to another large and 
 loftier hall, much fallen in; many other chambers at 
 different heights of the mountain have suffered the same 
 fate. After visiting two or three other ranges of exca¬ 
 vations one above another, we reached the summit of 
 the mountain, and enjoyed a lovely view of the valley 
 of the Nile—itself a river of verdure meandering through 
 the desert—diversified with date-groves, the dark- 
 foliaged fig-sycamore, and avenues of the yellow-blos¬ 
 soming Egyptian acacia, alternating with fields of the 
 richest produce, every shade of green, striped with 
 canals and water-courses, the white minarets, towering 
 over the capital of Upper Egypt, rendering a town of 
 mud houses the most picturesque object in the land¬ 
 scape. ( 26 ) 
 
 Interesting too, very interesting, is Siout, as the resi¬ 
 dence of our Saviour and his Virgin mother after the 
 flight into Egypt, if we may lend the ear of credulity to 
 the tradition of the Copts, who consider the place holy, 
 and often come here to die. ( 27 ) An ancient sycamore 
 
TOMBS OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 71 
 
 at Mataria, near the plain of Heliopolis, which sheltered 
 the holy fugitives during the heat of noon, and opened 
 spontaneously to conceal them from the pursuers, (so 
 runs the legend,) and a grotto in Old Cairo where they 
 subsequently found refuge, both of which we visited, 
 share with Siout in the veneration of the Copts. Look¬ 
 ing down on Siout, it is pleasing to remember and be¬ 
 lieve the ti’adition ; and the fact of there being no monk¬ 
 ish edifice either there or at Heliopolis lends a degree 
 of credibility to both legends, which one cannot con¬ 
 cede to many of the so-called “ loca sancta” of Pa¬ 
 lestine. 
 
 The traditions, however, of early Christianity point 
 out Hermopolis as the residence of the Holy Family till 
 they removed to the balsam-grove of Mataria, ( 28 ) adding, 
 that when the heaven-born child “ w r as, either by design 
 or providence, carried into a temple, all the statues of the 
 idol-gods fell down, like Dagon at the presence of the ark, 
 and suffered their timely and just dissolution and dis¬ 
 honour, according to the prophecy of Isaiah: £ Behold 
 the Lord shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt 
 shall be moved at his presence.’”* Hermopolis has 
 now resumed her pristine name, Asmunein; her beauti¬ 
 ful portico burnt for lime, no one now halts to notice 
 her; we passed her by 'some days ago. But this is a 
 digression. 
 
 The modern cemetery of Siout, a beautiful object, 
 lies on the slope of the hill we stood on; north of the 
 town stands the palace of the Pasha, and to the east, 
 beyond the Nile, the horizon is bounded by the Gebel 
 Mokattam, or eastern mountains, answering to the 
 western or Libyan chain, on a ridge of which we were 
 
 Jeremy Taylor’s Life of Christ. 
 
72 
 
 TOMBS OF LYCOPOLIS. 
 
 standing; sometimes approaching, sometimes receding 
 from the river, they hem in the valley of Egypt, from 
 Cairo to the cataracts. 
 
 After examining sundry other smaller tombs, from 
 several of which low slanting passages, like those of the 
 Pyramids, now choked up, seem to run deep into the 
 mountain, we descended through a stony valley (not a 
 blade of vegetation) perforated on both sides by similar 
 excavations, (they are really countless—there must be 
 thousands of them,) and turning to the left again, arrived, 
 to my great delight, (for, after reaching the first excava¬ 
 tion, the lazy Arabs left me to lead the way and explore 
 for myself,) at a portal far more magnificent than any 
 we had previously seen,—not arched (remember, every¬ 
 thing here is cut out of the living rock) but flat-roofed, 
 the sides inclining towards each other with the old 
 Egyptian courtesy, and beautifully sculptured,—a tablet 
 of hieroglyphics is inscribed on either side of the en¬ 
 trance, but in the hall it led us into we found none. 
 This hall, though inferior in beauty to that of Antar, 
 appeared larger and loftier than any we had yet seen; 
 if the hills of rubbish heaped up in it were cleared 
 away, it would be very nearly a perfect square. We 
 observed vestiges of four square pillars, stained, as in 
 all these larger excavations, in imitation of granite ; the 
 Egyptians excelled in these deceptions. Arched en¬ 
 trances are cut in every side, and, to judge by one we 
 entered on the right, lead to low chambers of consider¬ 
 able extent. We lighted our torches, and, creeping 
 along, found our way to the opening of another smaller 
 passage, about six feet from the ground. We climbed 
 up it, and found ourselves in the first large cavern we 
 had reached above Antar’s, a very agreeable surprise. 
 Our descent to the plain was soon effected, and a plea- 
 
ABYDUS. 73 
 
 sant walk of about half an hour brought us to our boat 
 —our palace rather.* 
 
 January 3, 1837. 
 
 A happy new year to my dear father and mother, 
 and all dear to me ! For some days past we have made 
 but little or no progress, but this morning we are skim¬ 
 ming along meiTily; we shall perhaps reach Kenneh 
 to-day—to-morrow certainly, if the breeze lasts. These 
 days, however, have been days of great enjoyment. ( M ) 
 
 Yesterday we rode on donkeys from Girgeh to Arabat 
 Madfoun, the ancient Abydus, sending on our boat to 
 wait for us at Bellini. Next to Thebes, Abydus was 
 once the chief city of the Thebaid, but had fallen 
 from her high estate as long ago as the Greek geo¬ 
 grapher Strabo’s time, about the commencement of the 
 Christian era. The day was lovely, and a pleasant ride 
 of three hours and a half, through com and bean fields, 
 all alive with buffaloes, camels, goats, and children 
 perfectly naked and as brown as bricks—alternating 
 with groves of majestic date-trees, each grove generally 
 
 * Dec. 29. (Two days after we visited Siout.) “ I noticed this 
 morning on, or rather in, the bank on the east side, a heap of im¬ 
 mense masonried stones, and discerned hieroglyphics on one or two 
 with my telescope, but there was nothing to lead one to suppose 
 there was anything further to tempt a traveller to land. I asked 
 what was the name of the village ? ‘ Gow el Kebir,’ they said. 
 
 So these were the last remnants (which will be swept away next 
 summer) of the temple which, a few years ago, was said to be 
 ‘ perhaps the most picturesque on the banks of the Nile.’ It was 
 singularly appropriate to find that the extensive plain on which it 
 stood (formed by a deep bay in the Mokattem range) is that on 
 which the combat between Osiris and Typhon, the principles of 
 good and evil, and which has been interpreted by many learned men 
 to imply the contest between the Nile and the cultivated land, is 
 fabled to have taken place.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal 
 
74 
 
 ABYDUS. 
 
 sheltering an Arab village, took us to the town and 
 burial-place of Osiris, where the spouse of Isis was 
 adored in his holiest character, and where Rameses the 
 Second, the Grecian Sesostris, built himself a palace 
 which it was our chief object to visit.* 
 
 Threading a noble grove of date-trees, and passing 
 the modern village, we found ourselves on the site of 
 the ancient Abydus, mounds beyond mounds of ruins, 
 
 * “ Jan. 2. Our route from Girgeh lay through the rich vale of 
 the Nile, studded with frequent villages under groves of dates and 
 palms,—threading our way through fields of young wheat just 
 preparing to sprout into the ear, rich clover on which the cattle, 
 camels, and horses were grazing, tethered in lines to certain ranges, 
 so that the field gradually disappeared, and was again producing 
 another crop where they had first commenced it,—extensive fields 
 of beans also, and the stubble of large sugar plantations. The 
 large groups of the nearly naked, half-black, savage-looking beings 
 reminded one of the drawings of the natives of the South Sea 
 Islands. The young camels were gamboling about, and here and 
 there an old and stiff one, instead of supporting its character for 
 staid and solemn stateliness, might be seen, free from the control of 
 pack-saddle or halter, capering before his astonished comrades, 
 flying before the wind at full gallop, or playing such antics as the 
 ungainly form Nature has assigned him might admit of.”— Mr. 
 Ramsay's Journal. 
 
 — The total herd receiving first from one 
 That leads the dance a summons to be gay, 
 Though wild their strange vagaries, and uncouth 
 Their efforts, yet resolved with one consent 
 To give such act and utterance as they may 
 To ecstasy too big to be suppressed— 
 
 These, and a thousand images of bliss, 
 
 With which kind Nature graces every scene, 
 Where cruel man defeats not her design, 
 
 Impart to the benevolent , who wish 
 All that are capable of pleasure pleased, 
 
 A far superior happiness to theirs— 
 
 The comfort of a reasonable joy.” 
 
PALACE OF SESOSTRIS. 
 
 75 
 
 covered with the drifted sand of the desert,—nothing 
 visible above the soil; think, then, of our astonishment 
 and delight at coming suddenly on a lovely little lake, 
 nestled in a hollow of the sandhills that form a sort of 
 amphitheatre around it, girdled with graceful date-trees, 
 and the doum, or Theban palm, with its fantastic head- 
 gear, like a gay coquette by the side of a lovely single- 
 hearted woman—of such the date-tree w T ere a fit emblem. 
 I cannot express to you the pleasure the discovery of 
 this little loch gave me, and which will be as vivid years 
 hence in recollection as when first it gleamed before 
 me, “ a vision of delight.” 
 
 Antiquaries have been burrowing here, as elsewhere, 
 and have found, ’tis said, treasures ; but, oddly enough, 
 they seem to have left the palace untouched. It is 
 almost covered with sand, so that a step or two lands 
 you on the flat roof, which is in perfect preservation, 
 built of enormous stones, some of them above twenty 
 feet long. The interior also is choked with sand nearly 
 to the capitals of the columns, and it is very fatiguing 
 to explore it. It was near sunset, consequently we had 
 not time for a thorough examination, but, creeping from 
 one apartment into another, we clearly traced the ex¬ 
 tent of the grand hall, a noble apartment, supported by 
 pillars, and beautifully sculptured in every direction, 
 roof, walls, pillars, with hieroglyphics:—two-thirds, at 
 least, of it are buried in the sand. Every wall, every 
 column, in Egyptian architecture, was painted; the 
 colours often remain as brilliant as if they had only 
 been laid on yesterday. 
 
 While William had found his way down into the hall, 
 I descended to the extremity of the ruins, where I found 
 two or three other chambers, all of them vaulted, that is 
 to say, the span of the arch cut out of the single stones, 
 of immense thickness, that form the roof; all but one 
 
76 
 
 PEDIGREE OF SESOSTRIS. 
 
 are choked up with sand; that one, after rejoining 
 William, and visiting the hall with him, we proceeded 
 to examine. Here we found the most beautiful bas- 
 reliefs we have yet seen, more exquisitely delicate and 
 highly finished than I could have imagined,—as fresh, 
 too, as if finished yesterday, £nd yet more than three 
 thousand years old, for Rameses succeeded to the throne 
 of Egypt above one thousand three hundred years 
 before our Saviour. The sculptures describing his 
 eastern conquests are the most interesting historical 
 documents yet discovered in Egypt,—those we shall see 
 at Thebes; these at Abydus are, I dare say, equally 
 curious, though chiefly mythological. One of them, 
 representing the sacred boat, we uncovered—it was 
 lovely indeed. Above us, sculptured in the roof, we 
 recognised a genealogical tablet, which we conclude to 
 be that of the ancestors of Sesostris, discovered here 
 some years ago by Mr. Bankes—a precious document 
 for ancient Egyptian history.* 
 
 Here, too, in the very sanctum of Sesostris—blissful 
 moment! —I bought a papyrus—for about eighteen- 
 pence English! It is in very tolerable preservation, 
 but very fragile, and no wonder, for it must be at least 
 two thousand years old. 
 
 * “ It was formed of the ovals of hieroglyphics, which always 
 imply some name, in a regular list, separated by stars. It was 
 evidently a genealogical chart, and must be the one spoken of, but 
 .it is odd to call a vaulted roof a tablet. At the end we entered, the 
 stones were ornamented with hieroglyphics in alto relievo, very 
 protuberant and marked; on one side, the characters were those of 
 the ordinary style, but on the other there was a specimen of a very 
 superior style, which we deeply regretted our time did not permit 
 us to clear away a little more. The ground was milk-white stone, 
 and continued in the same-coloured stucco, over part of the darker 
 stones forming the roof; the drawings were executed with a deli¬ 
 cacy, vigour, and beauty we had not yet seen, and in that particular 
 manner which, it struck me, must be peculiar to sacred subjects. The 
 
BELLINI. 
 
 77 
 
 The sun had gone down before we quitted Abydus— 
 three hours’ walk to Bellini ( 30 )—no matter; it was a 
 beautiful starlight night,—the path, however, was diffi¬ 
 cult to keep, being only perceptible at a distance, 
 like the blind road over a heath in Scotland, and we 
 soon lost our way; inquiring at a village, a man, after 
 offering us hospitality for the night, volunteered to put 
 us into the right road—not for bagskish , but for love; 
 he walked some distance ■with us, smoking his pipe., 
 and we parted with friendly signs, though in silence— 
 one of those little incidents that lend such a charm to 
 daily life. One exchanges much courtesy of this sort 
 here, talking by signs, a smile winding up each sen¬ 
 timent, like the little fillip in talking with one’s fingers. 
 After reaching the river, we had some difficulty in 
 finding the boat, till the cannon and pistols of those on 
 board replying to our e-pistol-ary interrogations from 
 the shore, we soon rejoined them. 
 
 Kenneh, January 4, 1837, 
 
 We intended visiting Dendera to-day, but having a 
 fair wind, have written to Isis, “ postponing that plea¬ 
 sure,” &c. &c., till our return. We have just been 
 drinking coffee and smoking our pipes with a jolly old 
 cock of an Arab, his Britannic Majesty’s consular 
 
 subject was not at first sight apparent, but I conjectured the 
 various groups and objects above the sand to be all united, and 
 form, perhaps, a boat or vessel, which, on having it a little cleared 
 away, we found to be the case,—but I had no time to draw it, and 
 it is impossible to describe the extraordinary forms. We are gene¬ 
 rally inclined to attach an idea of sameness and rigidity to these 
 hieroglyphical figures, and the poor specimens we have at home 
 favour the idea; but in regard to those we saw here, nothing could 
 be more incorrect. Every figure was varied, and quite of a different 
 character from the others.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal. 
 
78 
 
 THEBES. 
 
 agent here, who wanted us to dine with him, and 
 accept his escort to Dendera—an honour which we 
 had some difficulty in evading. On rising to depart, 
 he mounted us on two superb donkeys, and sent a 
 dwarf to escort us to the boat. 
 
 I have no time for more,—we are ready to start. 
 We are both well—God bless my dear mother! 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Sect. I.—Thebes. Temples—Sculptures—Tombs—Fulfilment of 
 the Prophecies. 
 
 Sect. II.—Esneh—Edfou—Essouan—Ascent of the Cataracts— 
 Nubia—Wellee Kiashef—Wady Haifa—Descent of the Cataracts 
 —Wreck, and detention at Essouan. 
 
 Sect. III.—Temples of Herment, Dendera, Ombos—Tombs of 
 Benihassan—Memphis—Pyramids of Saccara and Dashour— 
 Cairo. 
 
 Section I. 
 
 February 3, 1837. — Returning down the Nile. 
 
 Far have we wandered, and much have we seen, 
 dearest mother, during the last month and a half. We 
 arrived at Thebes, glorious Thebes ! the day after I 
 despatched my letter from Kenneh, and fired our 
 cannon in triumph; we always do so on reaching any 
 place which forms an epoch in our voyage; it asto¬ 
 nishes the natives. We saluted a Turkish Kiashef, or 
 governor, the other evening, as he left our boat, after 
 dining and chatting with us for three hours; the poor 
 ruan tottered with astonishment,—he took it in very 
 good part, however—more of him anon. 
 
 Colonel Vyse, whose boat was moored alongside 
 
GOURNOU. 
 
 79 
 
 of ours, paid us a visit the evening we arrived at 
 Thebes. He advised our taking advantage of the 
 favourable wind, and proceeding direct to Nubia before 
 it changed. It was impossible absolutely to turn our 
 backs on Thebes without one glance at her, yet the 
 advice was too just to be disregarded, and we there¬ 
 fore took a hurried look only at the ruins, merely to 
 familiarize ourselves with their plan; on our return 
 we examined them minutely. But I will say now 
 all that I think will interest you on the subject. 
 
 For a glance at the principal objects, two days 
 suffice; the first we devoted to the western or Lybian 
 suburb—for the Nile divides the city of Ammon into 
 two portions, of which the eastern is the most con¬ 
 siderable. Mounting, therefore, a couple of Arab 
 steeds, we started for the ruins, Ali Massaoud, the 
 guardiano, leading the way, with a long spear on his 
 shoulder. 
 
 We soon came in sight of 
 
 “ Memnon’s statue, which at sunrise played,” 
 
 and his companion, and in about half an hour dis¬ 
 mounted at Gournou, to visit the temple of Ammon, 
 the Theban Jupiter, begun by Osirei, and finished, 
 with the palace contiguous to it, by his illustrious son, 
 Rameses the Second. It is small comparatively, but 
 very interesting,—the columns of the portico, lotus- 
 stalks bound together, being evidently the prototype of 
 the Doric. The eastern court was the hall of assembly 
 of ancient Thebes. A royal palace was attached to 
 most of the great temples; the priests were equally 
 well lodged in the lateral apartments. 
 
 Do you remember the discovery struck out some 
 years ago by Dr. Young, and perfected by Cham- 
 pollion, of a hieroglyphical alphabet, by which they 
 
80 
 
 MEMNON. 
 
 were enabled to read the names of all the kings who 
 have recorded themselves on the ancient monuments 
 of Egypt? It is to this discoveiy that we now owe 
 the exact knowledge when, and by whom, every temple 
 was built and tomb excavated. This alphabet gives 
 us no insight into the wisdom concealed under the 
 abstruser hieroglyphics, yet we owe to it many gleams 
 of history, not the least interesting of which is the 
 confirmation of all that ancient historians have told 
 us—so long discredited—of the glory of Sesostris ! 
 
 Memnon’s statue is indeed a marvel,—between fifty 
 and sixty feet high, and originally of one block of 
 stone, he fell asunder before our Saviour’s time, but 
 was rebuilt soon afterwards; his companion is still 
 entire, though the features are much defaced. The 
 name of Memnon is a misnomer;* they represent 
 Amunoph the Third, who flourished about a century 
 before Sesostris. Hadrian and his ill-fated queen 
 Sabina stood and gazed up at them just where we did, 
 and, among the numerous inscriptions that prove 
 Memnon’s identity, we read, with no small interest, 
 the names of the Roman ladies who accompanied their 
 imperial mistress, and heard (as an inscription which 
 I could not find testifies) the “unseen melody” salute 
 the ill-assorted pair twice, the morning they were there. 
 And there they will sit, probably, to the end of time; 
 looking down, in the same silent austere majesty, on 
 pilgrims from lands unheard of when they were bom— 
 peoples even yet uninscribed in the muster-roll of 
 nations. These statues marked the termination of 
 
 * Corrupted from Mi-ammon, “ the beloved of Ammon,” the 
 favourite title of Kameses the Great, confounded by the Greeks with 
 the Memnon of Homer, and applied by them indifferently to all the 
 Pharaohs so surnamed. See an interesting note, p. 9, of Wilkin¬ 
 son’s “ Topography of Thebes.” 
 
MEMNONIUM. 
 
 81 
 
 a noble avenue, which led to the temple and palace of 
 Amunoph, now levelled to the ground; two or three 
 colossi, which once ornamented this grand approach, 
 lie across it on their faces, half buried under the soil 
 accumulated by successive inundations. 
 
 The Memnonium, as the palace and temple of 
 Sesostris are now misnamed, is indeed a noble ruin. 
 The enormous granite statue of the monarch, over¬ 
 thrown by Cambyses, lies on its face, prone as Dagon 
 fell, the upper half split into two or three vast frag¬ 
 ments, the lower shivered to atoms ; the workmanship 
 is exquisite. He sat a little in advance of the temple, 
 his hands on his knees, resting after his conquests. 
 Judge of his stature by the breadth of his shoulders, 
 twenty-two feet! Not quite such a giant, either, as 
 Gog Magog Mac Finn Mac Coull, whose mouth was 
 eleven miles wide, his teeth ten miles square: 
 
 “ He wad upon his taes upstand, 
 
 And take the stars doun with his hand, 
 
 And set them in a gold garland 
 To deck his wifis hair.” 
 
 Near the colossus lie the neck and shoulders of another 
 statue of ffcameses, better known as that of “young 
 Memnon,” whose head Belzoni removed to England. 
 
 I cannot express to you how delighted William and 
 I have been with the historical sculptures that the 
 temples of the age of Sesostris are adorned with. The 
 battle-scenes on the Memnonium have reminded every 
 traveller of Homer, and it is not unlikely, if he did visit 
 Egypt, that he may have studied them, though in his 
 sacred character of bard he must have witnessed many 
 a noble melee —for blind, born-blind at least, he could 
 not have been; Schlegel has convinced me of this, 
 Anne’s favourite critic and mine, since she introduced 
 me to him. The sculptures, however, Homeric as they 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 HISTORICAL SCULPTURES. 
 
 are, remind me as much, or more, of the glowing war- 
 imagery of the Prophets ; lend them the eyes, the ears 
 of your imagination, and you have “ the rattling of the 
 wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping 
 chariots, the shield of the mighty men is made red, 
 the valiant men are dyed scarlet, the chariots rage in 
 the streets—they justle one against another in the 
 broad ways ; the horseman lifteth up the flame of the 
 sword and the lightning of the spear, and there is a 
 multitude of the slain, and a great number of carcases, 
 and there is none end of their corpses—they stumble 
 upon their corpses.” The “ horse and his rider”—the 
 chariots of Pharaoh—all are pictured here, such as 
 Moses beheld them.* 
 
 But, after all, is not this resemblance of Homer and 
 the Prophets to these sculptures and to each other very 
 simply to be accounted for, by the similar state of 
 society that prevailed in the respective countries during 
 the heroic ages ? “ Antar” is in many passages as 
 
 Homeric as the Iliad—for the same reason. We are 
 apt to think of none but the heroic age of Homer, yet 
 the world has never been without an heroic age, acting 
 on one of her hundred national stages. What the age 
 of Antai was to the Saracens, of Camillus to the 
 Romans, of Achilles to the Greeks, of Joshua to the 
 Jews, of Rustum to the Persians—that of Sesostris was 
 to the Egyptians. 
 
 The magnificent hall of the Memnonium (you enter 
 it between gigantic statues twenty feet high, their arms 
 folded, tranquil and sublime in the consciousness, it 
 
 * Mr. Ramsay’s observations on the sculptures and paintings of 
 Thebes, and of Egypt generally—scattered through his Journal— 
 will be found collected together at the close of the first part or sec¬ 
 tion of this letter ; they will thus be read somewhat in the order in 
 which he would probably have arranged them himself. 
 
MEDINET HABOU. 
 
 83 
 
 would seem, of benevolence and power) opens into a 
 smaller chamber, to me by far the most interesting as 
 the repository once of the books of Thoth—the earliest 
 library on record! The ceiling is astronomical, and 
 very interesting, as the date of Sesostris’s reign is 
 determined by it to b. c. 1322, the year from which the 
 grand Canicular cycle of 1461 years, hieroglyphically 
 veiled under the story of the Phcenix, began. On the 
 northern wall of this library, Sesostris is represented 
 seated under the Tree of Life, which overshadows him, 
 while Ammon-re and Thoth, or Mercury, write his 
 name on the leaves* — one of the many curious 
 patriarchal memories preserved among the Egyptians. 
 
 From the Memnonium we rode to the ruins at 
 Medinet Habou—Medina Tabu, as it ought to be 
 written—that is to say, the city Tabu—Thebes; for 
 Tapo, the Sanscrit, and Tape, the Coptic name, could 
 only be accommodated to the Arab pronunciation by 
 the substitution of b for p.\ We visited the smaller 
 temple first; the area, gateway, and propylon you 
 enter by, and the second area and propylon—addi¬ 
 tions of yesterday, the former by the Ptolemies and 
 Caesars, the latter by Tirhaka, king of Ethiopia, the 
 rival of Sennacherib—introduce you to the original 
 edifice, built by a nameless predecessor of the second 
 and third Thothmes, who completed it rather more 
 than one thousand five hundred years before our 
 Saviour. The small sixteen-sided pillars in the oldes.. 
 part of the building bear a still nearer resemblance to 
 the Doric than those we observed at Gournou. 
 
 * “ Her leaf hath withered on the Tree of Life.” 
 
 Thalaba.—B. x, 26. And see note. 
 
 + Tapovana, or Tabenna, is the name always given to Upper 
 Egypt in the sacred books of the Hindoos.— Vide Wilford on Egypt 
 and the Nile, Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. 
 
84 
 
 PALACE OF KAMESES THE THIRD. 
 
 The palace of Raineses the Third stands contiguous 
 to the smaller, and to the south of the larger, temple. 
 You ascend to it between two pavilions—porters’lodges 
 probably—built in advance of the lofty towers; but there 
 are no menials nqw to hinder your intrusion into the 
 most private apartments of the Pharaoh. In the 
 sculptures of one of the upper rooms, the floor of which 
 has fallen in, you see him, seated with his wife and 
 daughters around him—’tis like seeing their ghosts ! 
 
 Beyond the palace, traversing a spacious area, two 
 enormous pyramidal propyla (towers of entrance, that 
 is to say—and I ought to have said it before—truncated, 
 and connected by a curtain pierced with a doorway) 
 introduce you into the great court of the temple, 
 eclipsing all you have seen of previous grandeur. Do 
 not expect architectural plans or descriptions from 
 me—I have neither time nor patience for them—-I 
 will only say, that all I had anticipated of Egyptian 
 magnificence fell short of the reality, and that it was 
 here, surveying those Osiride pillars, that splendid 
 corridor, with its massy circular columns, those walls 
 lined, within and without, with historical sculptures of 
 the deepest interest, the monarch’s wars with the Eastern 
 nations bordering on the Euphrates—study for months, 
 years rather ! it was here, I say, here, where almost 
 every peculiarity of Egyptian architecture is assembled 
 in perfection, that I first learnt to appreciate the spirit 
 of that extraordinary people, and to feel that, poetless 
 as they were, they had a national genius, and had 
 stamped it on the works of their hands, lasting as the 
 Iliad. Willing slaves to the vilest superstition, bonds¬ 
 men to form and circumstance, adepts in every 
 mechanical art that can add luxury or comfort to 
 human existence-—yet triumphing abroad over the 
 very Scythians, captives from every quarter of the globe 
 
PALACE OF RAMESES THE THIRD. 85 
 
 figuring m those long oblational processions to the 
 sacred shrines in which they delighted, after returning 
 to their native Nile—that grave, austere, gloomy archi¬ 
 tecture, sublime in outline and heavily elaborate in 
 ornament, what a transcript was it of their character! 
 and where could Clio write their history so appro¬ 
 priately as on the walls of their temples ?—And never 
 were pages more graphic. The gathering, the march, the 
 melee—the Pharaoh’s prowess, standing erect, as he 
 always does, in his car — no charioteer — the reins 
 attached to his waist—the arrow drawn to his ear—his 
 horses all fire, springing into the air like Pegasuses,— 
 and then the agony of the dying, transfixed by his 
 darts, the relaxed limbs of the slain—Homer’s truth 
 itself; and, lastly, the triumphant return, the welcome 
 home, and the offerings of thanksgiving to Amunre—the 
 fire, the discrimination with which these ideas are 
 bodied forth, they must be seen to judge of it. 
 
 Here, on our first visit, we met Colonel Vyse, and ac¬ 
 companied him to a place called Qoornet Murraee, to 
 see the tomb of the elder brother of Amunoph the Third 
 -—the melodious Memnon. The entrance is a mere 
 hole in the side of the hill; we crept in on all fours,— 
 though inferior in size and beauty to the tombs we 
 afterwards visited, the paintings lend it the highest in¬ 
 terest, representing the chiefs of Cush, or Ethiopia, 
 bringing gold rings, (the money of those times,) skins, a 
 cameleopard, &c., in tribute to Pharaoh. In an upper 
 compartment, the sable queen of Ethiopia throned on 
 her chariot, with the chattah, or umbrella of state, and 
 a train of attendants carrying presents, pays a visit to 
 the monarch of Egypt,—so attended must the Cushite 
 queen of Sheba have approached King Solomon, and 
 thus will “the kings of Tarshish and the Isles bring 
 presents,” “ the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts”— 
 
86 
 
 TOMBS OF THE PHARAOHS. 
 
 “ the gold of Sheba,” to “ the King’s son,” the “ greater 
 than Solomon,” at Jerusalem. ( 31 ) 
 
 After visiting another old temple called Deir el Bah- 
 ree, at the very foot of the western mountains, which 
 tower up majestically above it, we retraced our steps, 
 and, climbing over the hills, descended into the Valley 
 of the Tombs of the Kings by a narrow and precipitous 
 ravine—not the regular approach, but far more impres¬ 
 sive. The valley is desolation itself, long and winding, 
 shut in by lofty rocks—not a trace of vegetation,—fit 
 scene for the funeral processions of mighty Pharaohs— 
 fit indeed for the last home of the extinct dynasties of a 
 vanished nation ! They are temples rather than tombs, 
 broad passages and gorgeous chambers opening one 
 into another, till you find yourself in the lofty hall of 
 the sarcophagus, terminating each. Some of them run 
 three or four hundred feet into the heart of the moun¬ 
 tain, a gradual slope figuring the descent into Amenti, 
 the Egyptian Hades, or world unseen. The most 
 beautiful are those of the Pharaohs who reigned from 
 Rameses the First, grandfather of Sesostris, to Rameses 
 the Fifth, in whose reign Troy was taken, b. c. 1184, 
 inclusive. A regular series of portraits of the Pharaohs 
 might be taken from these tombs; the likenesses are 
 always exactly preserved.* 
 
 The spoilers have been at work in Belzoni’s tomb : it 
 makes the heart ache and the cheek burn to see such 
 wanton outrage; one whole pillar (to say nothing of 
 partial robberies, figures cut in two for the sake of a 
 limb or an ornament) has been stript of its sculptures, 
 and stands a melancholy wreck, naked and dazzlingly 
 
 * Portraits of the Pharaohs, taken from these and similar remains, 
 have been engraved in the great work of Professor Rossellini. [1847.] 
 
TOMBS OF THE PHABAOHS. 
 
 87 
 
 white, amidst its companions, the chips all around it— 
 tongues of reproach, that curse the hand that maimed it! 
 
 But, in spite of all this sacrilege, wonderful, indeed, 
 and brilliant is this tomb ; the great hall, where the sar¬ 
 cophagus once stood, is rich beyond conception in 
 hieroglyphics, sculptures, and general ornament; but 
 the unfinished chamber beyond it, where you see the 
 simple and beautiful outlines drawn for the sculptor to 
 work upon, and corrected bv the master’s hand, is, to 
 a lover of the arts, by far the most interesting of the 
 series. The whole is so fresh, and the drawing so 
 beautiful, that you almost expect the return of the artist, 
 and feel that it would be a shame to go without compli¬ 
 menting him on his performance. He was embalmed 
 three thousand years ago—for this was the tomb of 
 Osirei, the father of Sesostris ! 
 
 In Bruce’s tomb—poor calumniated Bruce !—(I felt 
 more pleasure in visiting it for his sake than for the 
 real owner’s, Raineses the Third)—we saw the paintings 
 of harps, copied and published by him, from which it 
 has sometimes been called the “ Harper’s tomb,” but 
 shall not be so by me; the harps are of the most elegant 
 construction, and one of the performers seems to be 
 damping the strings, just like a modern player. They 
 are respectively of eleven strings and thirteen—or four¬ 
 teen, I could not ascertain which. I have counted the 
 harp-strings in almost every tomb ; there seems to have 
 been no fixed number. I have seen also the five-stringed 
 lyre, like that which Apollo played on among the 
 Muses, the guitar, (exactly like the modern instrument, 
 and held in the same manner,) a sort of mandoline, the 
 double flute, &c. They kept time by clapping hands ; 
 Herodotus mentions this, and our Arab-Egyptian sailors 
 still practise it when singing in the evenings. 
 
88 
 
 TOMB OF RAMESES THE THIRD. 
 
 There are many other paintings in the side-chambers 
 of Bruce’s tomb, of great interest, as illustrative of the 
 manners and domestic life of the Egyptians; in one 
 you have the whole process of sowing and reaping, in 
 another the mysteries of Egyptian cookery ; a third is 
 a painted armory; in a fourth you see every descrip¬ 
 tion of Egyptian furniture, to the full as elegant as that 
 of Greece—arm-chairs like our own, and of the most 
 inviting appearance, ottomans precisely like ours, steps 
 for ascending to bed—at least exactly resembling those 
 used in England for that purpose, and sofas, with 
 crescents for the leg and neck to rest upon—luxurious 
 appendages which Cowper had never heard of when 
 he wrote the Task.* 
 
 The tomb of Rameses the Fifth is peculiarly inter¬ 
 esting, and Champollion has desci’ibed it as a guide to 
 the rest, the subjects represented in it being found in 
 most of the other tombs, but not so detailed. The roof 
 of the passage leading to the principal chamber is most 
 richly painted, red and black, in the style of the Etruscan 
 vases. The ceiling of the chamber of the sarcophagus 
 is quite beautiful, and delightfully mystical, describing 
 the procession of the Sun through the hours of the day 
 and night—emblematical of the life and death, or post 
 mortem pilgrimage of the terrestrial luminary, Ph’re, the 
 Sun, or Pharaoh, of Egypt. The symbolical paintings 
 are enclosed by the double body of Nith, the goddess of 
 the firmament, prolonged, like the folds of a serpent, 
 round the ceiling and through the middle of it, separat¬ 
 ing the day from the night. In the east, Nith becomes 
 the mother of the Sun, an infant, who is carefully placed 
 in the bark, in which he descends the celestial river 
 
 * Coloured engravings of all these will be found in Rossellini’s 
 work on Egypt. [1847.] 
 
TOMB OF RAMESES THE FIFTH. 
 
 89 
 
 •with a large cortege of deities. Each hour of the day is 
 marked by a globe—of the night by a star. They begin 
 sounding at the seventh hour, and a pilot comes to steer 
 them through the remaining hours of light, the river 
 growing shallower and shallower, till, at the twelfth, the 
 scene changes, and veering round in the great western 
 lake into which the river empties itself, they commence 
 their return eastward, through the hours of the night, 
 towed by ropes up a branch of the celestial river, which 
 terminates, like the main stream, in the western lake. 
 The Sun is attended only by the pilot and one other 
 deity during this nocturnal voyage. 
 
 I am not sure that this description is precisely cor¬ 
 rect, for the vault of this hall of mystery was too obscure 
 for me to see as distinctly as I could have Avished. 
 Tablets of hieroglyphics are interspersed w’ith the sym¬ 
 bolical paintings, describing, says Champollion, the 
 celestial influences of each successive hour on the seve¬ 
 ral parts of the human body. In a recess at the end of 
 the hall, Tethys, the w r ife of Oceanus, stretches out her 
 arms to receive the descending bark of the Sun. In 
 similar paintings in other tombs, she is represented 
 rising from the celestial Nile, the Oceanus of Homer. 
 This mysterious imagery gives one an insight into the 
 origin of the ancient Greek idea (first hinted at by 
 Homer), that the Ocean -was a river encircling the Earth, 
 into which the Sun descended in the west, and sailed 
 round to his starting-place in the east every night. 
 
 But the information we can gather from these paint¬ 
 ings, as to the religious opinions of the Egyptians, is 
 still more interesting. The doctrines of a future state, 
 of judgment after death, and of rewards and punish¬ 
 ments, are invariable subjects of representation; in one 
 instance, a condemned soul is carried away in the shape 
 of a sow, and the word gluttony is written over it to ex 
 
90 
 
 EGYPTIAN DOCTRINES. 
 
 plain his crime; this is probably emblematical only, 
 but it looks like the ancient Oriental doctrine of trans¬ 
 migration, which Pythagoras is supposed to have picked 
 uj> in Egypt. The punishments of the bad are frequently 
 depicted, and the rewards of the good, who swim and 
 sport like fish in the celestial Nile—“ the river of the 
 waters of life.” 
 
 But, amidst these gleams of traditional truth, “ every 
 form of creeping things and abominable beasts, and all 
 the idols of the house of Israel, are portrayed upon 
 the wall round about,” in these dark chambers of 
 imagery, just as Ezekiel beheld them in the temple at 
 Jerusalem. Serpents of the most extraordinary forms 
 are seen in every direction—short, thick, and hooded, 
 or long and tapering—the latter often carried in long 
 mystical procession, human heads surmounting their 
 own, or female heads growing, as it were, on their 
 backs, between each bearer. Belzoni’s tomb is rich in 
 serpents; I saw there a beautiful winged snake, with 
 three heads and four human legs; others had a head at 
 each extremity, crowned with the corn-measure and 
 mitre, the body, curving downwards, supported by four 
 human legs, two looking each way; others with four or 
 five legs respectively On each side of the descent to 
 the sepulchral chamber of Rameses V. is a most mag¬ 
 nificent snake with vulture’s wings. How Holden, 
 Faber, and those other excellent men who have written 
 so ably and convincingly in proof of the literal fall in 
 Paradise through the wiles of the serpent, arguing, 
 among other proofs, from the universality of serpent- 
 worship, would have been interested with a sight of 
 them! Every step I took reminded me of some inci¬ 
 dent in Indian or Grecian mythology, and convinced 
 me more and more that every system, eastern or 
 western, is intimately connected in its origin—primi- 
 
PROPHECY OF ISAIAH. 
 
 91 
 
 tive revelation and patriarchal tradition, more or less 
 corrupted. One subject, frequently repeated in these 
 tombs, forcibly struck me—the eventual conquest of 
 the great serpent, Apophis, by the gods, who transfix 
 him with daggers, and bind him, head and foot, with 
 ropes ; it was impossible not to think of the prophecies. 
 
 What a commentary are these tombs on that most 
 sublime passage of Isaiah, in which Hades, the world 
 unseen, personified, is represented as stirring up the 
 mighty dead, all the kings of the nations, from the 
 thrones on which “ they lie in glory, each in his own 
 sepulchre,” to behold the corpse of Belshazzar, cast 
 forth at the mouth of their long home, unburied, 
 trodden under foot, and dishonoured:— 
 
 “ Art thou also become weak as we ? art thou made 
 like unto us ? 
 
 “ Is thy pride brought down to the grave, and the 
 sound of thy viols ? Is the worm spread under thee, 
 and doth the earth-worm cover thee ? 
 
 “ How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of 
 the morning!—art cut down to the earth, thou that sub- 
 duedst the nations! 
 
 “ Yet thou hast said in thine heart, £ I will ascend 
 into heaven, above the stars of God I will exalt my 
 throne ; I will sit on the Mount of Congregation on the 
 sides of the North ; ( 32 ) I will ascend above the heights 
 of the clouds; I will be like the Most High! ’ 
 
 “ But thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the 
 sides of the pit! 
 
 “ They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee 
 and consider thee—‘ Is this the man that made the 
 earth tremble, that did shake kingdoms ? 
 
 ‘ That made the world as a wilderness, and de¬ 
 stroyed the cities thereof? that opened not the house of 
 his prisoners ? ’ 
 
92 
 
 PRIVATE TOMBS OF 
 
 “ All the kings of the nations, all of them, lie down 
 in glory, each in his own sepulchre: 
 
 “ But thou art cast out of the grave, like an abo¬ 
 minable branch, and as the raiment of those that are 
 slain, thrust through with a sword,—that go down to 
 the stones of the pit, — as a carcass trodden under 
 foot! ” 
 
 In front of the tomb of Amunoph’s brother I saw a 
 mummy that once possibly was his, and wore a crown, 
 rifled of its cerements, black and bent double, peering, 
 like a creature of life, over the brow of the hill, as if it 
 watched my motions ; an Arab pushed it with his foot—- 
 it fell on its side, and the back broke,—and there it 
 lay, “ a carcass trodden under foot,” soon to be re¬ 
 dissolved into the elements that human art had so 
 many ages defrauded of their prey. “ Was this the 
 man that made the earth tremble, that shook king¬ 
 doms ? ” A Pharaoh probably, I could have fancied 
 him Belshazzar; at all events, the miserable epitome 
 at my feet had been a man three thousand years before 
 me. Hamlet might have moralized there for hours, but 
 we have a brighter hope— 
 
 “ Why should this worthless tenement endure, 
 
 If its undying guest be lost for ever ? 
 
 Oh! let us keep the soul embalmed and pure 
 In living virtue, that, when both must sever, 
 
 Although corruption may our frame consume, 
 
 The immortal spirit in the skies may bloom ! ” * 
 
 How often, rambling over the ruins of Thebes, has 
 that noble poem sung itself to me ! 
 
 But why should the kings’ tombs engross all my 
 praise? Gorgeous as they are, and interesting for the 
 study of ancient mythology, those of the private The- 
 
 * From the Address to the Mummy in Belzoni’s exhibition by 
 Delta, D. M. Moir, Esq. 
 
THE THEBANS. 
 
 93 
 
 bans are yet more so for the history of manners and 
 daily life among the old Egyptians. Every light and 
 shadow, indeed, of human life, is portrayed in them, 
 from the laughter of the feast to the tears of the 
 funeral—ointments poured on the head at the one, 
 dust heaped on it at the other. You see on one side 
 the arrival of the guest in his chariot, white horses and 
 a train of running footmen betokening his conse¬ 
 quence ; the other guests, already assembled and 
 seated, the men apart from the women, wait for their 
 dinner, and beguile the intervening moments with 
 smelling the lotus-flower, and listening to the. music of 
 the dancing-girls. The master of the house and his 
 wife, richly dressed, and lovingly seated side by side, 
 preside at the entertainment. But the picture would 
 be incomplete without side-views of the shambles and 
 the kitchen, and a beggar at the gate, receiving a bull’s 
 head and a draught of water from one of the menials. 
 Facing this, on the opposite wall, the mourning-women, 
 with wailing cries and dishevelled hair, precede the 
 coffin that bears the hospitable Egyptian to his long 
 home; the wife or the sister walks beside it, silent in 
 her sorrow; a scribe takes account of the dead man’s' 
 riches, his cattle, his horses, his household chattels: 
 Death — and then the Judgment: — the deceased is 
 ushered into Amenti; Horus and Aroeres weigh his 
 merits against the ostrich-feather, the symbol of Truth;* 
 Thoth, the god of letters, presents a scroll, the record 
 of his thoughts, words, and works, to the Judge Osiris, 
 into whose presence he is at length admitted on the 
 favourable result of the scrutiny. Sad presumption for 
 man thus to usurp his Creator’s prerogative of reading 
 and judging the heart! 
 
 * “ The good actions are weighed in the grand balance against a 
 feather—a fine idea.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal. 
 
94 
 
 TOMB OF THE ROYAL SCRIBE. 
 
 And amidst all these varied scenes, as if to show how 
 narrowly joy may be partitioned off from sorrow, how 
 the merry-hearted and the broken-hearted may un¬ 
 consciously pillow within an inch of each other, and 
 how the world jogs on in daily routine, indifferent to 
 the feelings of either—the occupations of every-day 
 life are pictured in their minutest details around you— 
 scenes of industry, scenes of frolic, parties pledging 
 each other’s healths, young folks dancing to the music 
 of the harp, husbandmen in the fields, artificers of every 
 trade at their work, (many of them with tools precisely 
 like those now in use,) carpenters, smiths, glass-blowers, 
 shoemakers, wheelwrights, statuaries, idol-makers—I 
 saw a god under the graver’s hand, and thought of 
 Isaiah’s noble apostrophe, which Sir Frederick Pollock, 
 you may remember, read so beautifully that delightful 
 evening he spent at Haigh last summer. The illustra¬ 
 tion was perfect. 
 
 But of all the Egyptian tombs, scarcely any in¬ 
 terested me so much as one I visited at Eilethyise 
 above Thebes. Life on the one wall—Death was pic¬ 
 tured on the other; to the left, rural occupations, 
 ploughing, sowing, l'eaping, and gathering into barns— 
 the vigour of the year and of human life; the owner 
 and his wife, lovingly embracing each other, entertain 
 their friends with the fruits of their labour; servants 
 are in attendance, young men and maidens—the heyday 
 of youth and riches; to the right he stands erect, but 
 stiff and lifeless—the embalmer extracts his brain with 
 a long crooked instrument,* preparatory to filling the 
 skull with aromatics and spices; that work over, the 
 coffin is borne in solemn procession; a figure, muffled 
 up and shapeless—his wife (she was embracing his 
 
 See Herodotus, book ii, chapter 86. 
 
THEBAN TOMBS. 
 
 95 
 
 knees five minutes ago)—is drawn on a sledge in front 
 of it; the sacred boat of the dead, two obelisks, and 
 two trees like cypresses—Horace’s lines came across 
 me, as I gazed on them, with an indescribable feeling 
 of melancholy,— 
 
 “ Linquenda tellus, et domus, et placens 
 Uxor, neque harum, quas colis, arborum 
 Te, prater invisas cupressus, 
 
 Ulla brevem duminuni sequetur!” 
 
 “ Thy lands, thy home, the wife of thy bosom—all 
 must be relinquished; nor of these trees that thou cul- 
 tivatest wall any, save the hateful cypress, accompany 
 their short-lived lord ! ” 
 
 In another tomb at Eilethyi® you see the father 
 dandling his child, and the lady’s pet monkey tied to 
 her chair.* In the tomb of one of the royal scribes at 
 
 * “3rd Feb. We went to see the grottoes of Eilethyiae, which 
 lie on the east bank, about a mile and a half inland. On the way, 
 we came upon the walls of the ancient town, which are of crude 
 brick, about thirty feet high and twenty thick, and in a very perfect 
 state, the square openings for the gates in the middle of each side of 
 the square being quite preserved ; they enclose an area a mile long, 
 and three quarters of a mile broad. The interior is flat and bare, 
 except to the west, where a range of high mounds evidently conceals 
 what remains of the ancient town. What its antiquity may be, I 
 do not know. The grottoes are behind it. They are chiefly tombs, 
 of tolerable size, dug out of the mountain-face, and extending some 
 distance in. They are in general in a ruined state. The pits for 
 the mummies are very apparent in some, and they have evidently 
 heen all ransacked and sacked by previous travellers and speculators. 
 About six or eight of them contain designs on the walls, in a tole¬ 
 rably perfect state, of which three are highly interesting. They 
 contain drawings, very well done, of the whole life of the individuals 
 of whom they treat. One gentleman, who was a proprietor of boats 
 on the river, then governor of the government shipping, and, lastly, 
 an officer in different wars under Thothmes, has a very curious 
 tomb; and next to him lay a priest of the goddess presiding here. 
 The history begins from childhood The principal figures are the 
 person and his wife, seated together on a chair, under which is a 
 
96 
 
 THE ROYAL SCRIBE. 
 
 Thebes, the young princess of Egypt, Amunoph the 
 Third’s daughter, whose tutor he had been, sits on his 
 knees, as little Minnie might on mine, and playfully 
 puts the lotus flower to his nose. It is nonsense limit¬ 
 ing our sympathies by time and space— 
 
 “ A heart has throbbed beneath the leathern breast, 
 
 And tears adown the dusky cheek have rolled”— 
 
 pet monkey; they appear to be on loving terms, and are entertain¬ 
 ing a party of friends, who sit opposite a large collection of dainties ; 
 pages pour water on their hands, present them with lotus-leaves, 
 &c. Behind are all the preparations,—the butchers are killing and 
 cutting up the oxen (very well executed)—the process of cooking 
 goes on—the guests come over the river in boats. In another part, 
 the proprietor comes in his car to superintend all his rural affairs; 
 ploughing, sowing, reaping, thrashing, stowing, and weighing the 
 corn, and selling it for money in rings, and everything connected 
 with agriculture, are minutely represented. The songs of the dif¬ 
 ferent occupations are written above, and Champollion has read 
 them, he says. Droves of oxen, donkeys, sheep, &c., very spiritedly 
 done, are brought up to scribes, who register them. The similarity, 
 and, in many instances, identity of things in common use with those 
 used now in this country is very striking. The filtering water-jars, 
 and their wooden stands, are the very same; the plough is the 
 same, and the head-dress also. In one place boats are represented, 
 some sailing, others being rowed, and others getting mended, or 
 being charged or emptied. Our sailors were in raptures with them, 
 and found out their own likenesses in the crew. The sail used was 
 a very strange one. Again, they are drawing large nets for wild- 
 geese, which are no sooner caught than plucked, dressed, and served 
 up. The funeral is a very conspicuous part. In some the process 
 of embalming is shown very clearly. The body was placed on a 
 bier, resting on a sledge, to which a long cord was attached, the end 
 of which was fastened to a cow, and all the mourners had a hold of 
 it. In some the preparations and sport of hunting are represented. 
 These tombs are of the period of the eighteenth dynasty—about 
 3300 years ago ; the colours are as fresh as ever, and, except where 
 the people who, probably, live in them at times, or strangers have 
 broken them down, they are not in the least the worse for their 
 longevity. The precision with which the dates of all these places 
 is determined is quite clear; they have the dates inscribed, even to 
 the day and month, in general.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
LUXOR. 
 
 97 
 
 and children have “ climbed the knees and kissed the 
 face” of every mummy that we trample on, scarcely 
 regarding it as the sacred relic of humanity it really is. 
 Human nature was the same then as now; she has 
 oscillated between smiles and tears ever since Adam’s 
 fall—and philosophers may say what they please, but 
 I will defy the most callous of them to visit these 
 tombs, and deny that man may sympathize with man, 
 his elder by half the world’s age. 
 
 The largest of all these Theban tombs is the least 
 interesting, except from its immense extent, ramifying 
 over more than an acre of ground—exceeding that of 
 any of the royal sepulchres. A priest, named Petamun- 
 ap, excavated it for himself, and probably his family, 
 quite recently—in the seventh century b. c. It is 
 blackened with smoke and dirt; the bats flew past in 
 swarms, as we intruded on their dusky domains; the 
 descent to the lower range of excavations was like the 
 mouth of Hades itself—I never plunged into a place so 
 dreary. 
 
 So much for Western Thebes. You may well 
 imagine it took us some days to examine all the places 
 I have described. We visited the temples the first day 
 of our first visit, and some of the principal tombs, and 
 a day of delight it was. Colonel Vyse sailed for Cairo 
 the moment we reached Gournou, where the boats 
 were moored; we saluted him with our cannon, and 
 then crossed to the other side of the river. 
 
 The next morning we visited the temples of Luxor 
 and Carnac. The former is a most magnificent pile, 
 architecturally considered, but otherwise the least inte¬ 
 resting of the four great temples of Thebes. You 
 originally entered between four gigantic statues of 
 Rameses the Great, and two superb obelisks, of which 
 one only remains—the French have carried off his 
 
 it 
 
98 
 
 CARNAC. 
 
 brother, and every lover of antiquity must regret their 
 separation. The obelisks, statues, and pyramidal 
 towers were additions by Rameses to the original 
 edifice, founded by Amunoph the Third. 
 
 From the propyla and obelisks of this temple, an 
 avenue, guarded by sphinxes, facing each other, ex¬ 
 tended northwards to the great temple of Jupiter 
 Ammon at Carnac, meeting it at right angles, the latter 
 extending from west to east. The road we followed 
 lay nearer the river, and led us through a comparatively 
 small temple of Isis, which would have detained us 
 longer in a less attractive neighbourhood, into the 
 great court of Jupiter Ammon’s temple, the noblest 
 ruin at Thebes. A stupendous colonnade, of which 
 one pillar only remains erect, once extended across 
 this court, connecting the western propvlon or gate of 
 entrance built by Sesostris, with that at its eastern 
 extremity, leading to the grand Hall of Osirei and the 
 sanctuary. We ascended the former;—the avenue of 
 sphinxes, through which the god returned, in solemn 
 procession, to his shrine at Carnac, after his annual 
 visit to the Libyan suburb, ascends to it from the river, 
 ■—the same avenue traversed age after age by the con¬ 
 queror, the poet, the historian, the lawgiver, the phi¬ 
 losopher—Sesostris, Cambyses, Homer, Herodotus, 
 Thales, Anaxagoras, Solon, Pythagoras, Plato—and 
 now the melancholy song of an Arab boy was the only 
 sound that broke the silence; but that poor boy was 
 the representative of an older and a nobler race than 
 the Pharaohs. 
 
 Long did we gaze on the scene around and below us 
 —utter, awful desolation! Truly, indeed, has No been 
 “ rent asunder!” The towers of the second or eastern 
 propylon are mere heaps of stones, “ poured down”— 
 as prophecy and modern travellers describe the founda- 
 
TEMPLE OF CARNAC. 
 
 99 
 
 tions of Samaria—into the court on one side, and 
 the great hall on the other,—giant columns have been 
 swept away like reeds before the mighty avalanche, 
 and one hardly misses them. And that hall, who could 
 describe it? Its dimensions, 170 feet by 329,—the 
 height of the central avenue of columns 66 feet, exclu¬ 
 sive of their pedestals,—the total number of columns 
 that supported its roof 134,—these particulars may 
 give you some idea of its extent; but of its grandeur 
 and beauty—none. Every column is sculptured, and 
 all have been richly painted. The exterior walls, too, 
 are a sculptured history of the wars of Osirei and Ra 
 meses.* How often I longed for James and Anne, 
 
 * Of the historical sculptures, “ I was most pleased with those on 
 the Northern wall of the Great Hall,—they detail the wars of Osirei 
 with the Rot-n-no, or Lydians, in the first year of his reign, and 
 his offerings to Amunre on returning from conquest; on his return 
 he passes through various countries, one of which, Kanana (Canaan) 
 offers opposition,—they are routed, however. Another compartment 
 details a war with the inhabitants of Mount Lebanon (Limanon) ; 
 the fugitives hide themselves among trees, which we may suppose to 
 be cedars, and express their humiliation by throwing dust on their 
 heads. Osirei is always represented alone in his chariot,—on one of 
 the figures representing him so, the paint is still visible, his flesh 
 red, his hair, or wig, blue—it came off on applying my wet finger 
 to it—having been exposed to the weather for three thousand years. 
 The sculptures on the West wall describe the wars of Rameses—the 
 most interesting group in this quarter is that representing the 
 prisoners brought by Shishak from Jerusalem on the right of the 
 portal by which you enter the Great Court from the temple of Isis.” 
 — Orig. Journal. 
 
 The words Rot-n-no and Ludin or Ludim, I may observe, are the 
 same, R and L, D and T, being interchangeable letters. Rossellini, in 
 fact, reads Ludin. The name seems to have extended over the whole 
 of the country west of the Euphrates. Our first historical knowledge 
 of Lydia is at a much later period.—Are not the Shairetana of Wil¬ 
 kinson the Carians? Kh and Sh are interchangeable, and this 
 would account, inter alia , for their wearing crests,—see the “ Man¬ 
 ners and Customs,” &c., vol. i, p. 336. [1847.] 
 
 II 2 
 
100 
 
 TEMPLE OF CARNAC. 
 
 while examining these noble designs! Except those I 
 shall presently mention at Beit Wellee, I have seen 
 nothing in Egypt that would interest them so much. 
 In one corner, of especial interest, are represented the 
 Jews captured by Shishak, and their king Rehoboam, 
 with the hieroglyphic inscription “ Jehouda Melek,” 
 “ the king of the Jews.” This is the only reference to 
 the Israelites found in Egyptian sculpture ; many have 
 wondered at finding no allusions to their residence in 
 Egypt, but I think without cause; for, except the pyra¬ 
 mids, the tombs in their vicinity, those of Beni Hassan, 
 and a few other remains of but little interest, I do not 
 believe that any monuments exist coeval with Moses 
 and the Exodus.* 
 
 Two large boats ornament one of the outer walls of 
 the great hall; these sacred arks are sculptured in every 
 temple—reminiscences, evidently, like the Argo of the 
 Greeks, the Argil a of the Hindoos, &c., of Noah’s. It 
 is very curious that Baris, the old Egyptian word for 
 them, is mentioned by Nicholaus Damascenus, a peri¬ 
 patetic of Augustus’s time, as the name of the mountain 
 on which the patriarch’s bark rested. 
 
 Passing two or three propyla and two lovely obelisks, 
 each mourning a prostrate brother,—(the larger—it is 
 sweet to think of it—dedicated by Amense to the 
 memory of her father Thothmes I. 3400 years ago, yet 
 the hieroglyphics are as sharp as if cut yesterday,) —- 
 two small granite pillars, ornamented with lotus-stalk 
 
 * According to Dr. Hales’ rectified Chronology, the Exodus took 
 place b. c. 1648, the birth of Moses, b. c. 1728, and the settlement 
 of Jacob and his family in Goshen, b. c. 1863.—May I be permitted 
 to suggest that, in calculating the reigns of the very early Egj’ptian 
 kings, allowance should be made for the greater longevity of those 
 times; and that the restitution of the seven hundred years abstracted 
 in the common Bible Chronology from the generations of the post¬ 
 diluvian patriarchs, will amply justify such an extension. 
 
CARNAC. 
 
 101 
 
 and blossom, the remains of the ancient portal, introduce 
 you to the sanctuary—not the original edifice, for that 
 was destroyed by Cambyses, but the restoration by 
 Philip Aridaeus, brother of Alexander the Great. 
 Beyond it are the remains of the small polygonal 
 columns erected by the Pharaoh Osirtesen, the oldest 
 in this temple, indeed in all Thebes. It is curious to 
 trace at a glance the progress of Egyptian architecture 
 from these diminutive columns to the stupendous 
 pillars of Osieri. Many other halls and buildings, 
 almost buried under the accumulated soil, extend as 
 far as an unfinished propylon, commenced by the 
 Ptolemies, which closes the eastern appendages to the 
 temple. 
 
 Returning to the great obelisk, and seating myself 
 on the broken shaft of its prostrate companion, I spent 
 some most interesting moments in musing over the 
 scene of ruins scattered around me, so visibly smitten 
 by the hand of God in fulfilment of the prophecies that 
 describe No-Ammon as the scene of desolation I then 
 beheld her. The hand of the true Jove Ammon, Ael- 
 Amunah, the God of Truth, has indeed “ executed 
 judgment on all the gods of Egypt,” but especially on 
 his spurious representative, the idol of this most stu¬ 
 pendous of earthly temples; silence reigns in its courts; 
 the “ multitude of No” has been Cut off; Pathros is 
 “desolate;” the land of Ham is still “the basest of 
 kingdoms,”—so sure is the word of prophecy, so visible 
 its accomplishment! 
 
 But, oh ! that obelisk is lovely !—yet ten times dearer 
 to me than ever mere loveliness could make it; temples 
 and palaces have been crumbling into dust, dynasties 
 and nations vanishing around it, yet there it stands, 
 pointing to heaven in its meek beauty, the record of a 
 daughter’s love—love strong as death—stronger, for it 
 
10-2 
 
 CARNAC. 
 
 has triumphed. Time, surely, read the inscription, and 
 could not find it in his heart to strike. 
 
 Or might not one fancy, rather, that when earth cried 
 out to heaven for vengeance on Thebes, and the Lord 
 came down,as he had threatened, to “rend No asunder,” 
 he planted a guard of angels round this monument of 
 filial piety, to shield it in the storm—to protect it 
 against the indiscriminating zeal of the ministers he 
 had commissioned to destroy ? 
 
 And is not the same record of filial love written by 
 the Spirit on the heart of every Christian, and when 
 “ the Lord our Righteousness” comes down in his glory 
 to take vengeance on his enemies, and on “all the 
 people that forget God”— spiritual Babel and spiritual 
 Egypt—will he not then encircle with his angels the 
 faithful few on whose hearts he reads that blessed 
 inscription, and, amid the crash of empires, and the 
 wreck of all that this world esteems most excellent and 
 glorious, strengthen their hearts, and stablish their feet, 
 and cheer them with the smile of his love ? 
 
 Meditation “might think down hours to moments” 
 among the ruins of Carnac. 
 
 We returned to Luxor through the four propyla, 
 successively built across the avenue that connects the 
 two temples,lined with sphinxes, massive and mutilated, 
 yet singularly beautiful in design and execution; the 
 face of one that we discovered in a cross avenue near 
 the lake is very lovely,—a little girl’s, evidently—the 
 cheek as soft and rounded as dear little Mayflower’s. 
 We started that same evening. For this fytte adieu !*( 33 ) 
 
 * Remarks by Mr. Ramsay on the Theban Sculptures. Battle- 
 pieces at Carnac .—“ There is extreme spirit and boldness in the 
 execution, and the story is told most distinctly and plainly. Though 
 modern artists might have more correct ideas of perspective and 
 true proportions, yet I doubt if any of them, following those rules, 
 
TEMPLE OF ESNEH. 
 
 103 
 
 Section II. 
 
 I will be brie", my dear mother, in my description of 
 the temples of Esneh and Edfou, which we visited en 
 route for Essouan; the names of both are Egyptian, 
 and have survived the comparatively modern Greek 
 appellations of Latapolis and Apollinopolis Magna. 
 
 could so clearly represent in the same space the subjects contained 
 in these. The liberty used by the sculptor, of giving you ground- 
 plans, or elevations, or both, as it suits his purpose, is undoubtedly 
 contrary to all just rules of drawing; but one’s eye soon accustoms 
 itself and ceases to be offended, while the story is told with much 
 greater facility and correctness.” 
 
 Sculptures at Medinet Habou. “ It is difficult to analyze one’s 
 feelings with regard to these drawings ; except in the hieroglyphical 
 representations of animals, (which ar e perfect,) nothing is critically 
 correct; you confess that the drawing of everything is most faulty, 
 but yet the soul and fire, the animation and expression in the figures, 
 is most wonderful! A lion wounded, for example, strikes you as the 
 most admirably expressive and living thing ever drawn; but look 
 again, and though the idea of a lion in agony and rage has been 
 most forcibly represented to your mind, yet there is not a single line 
 of the lion critically correct.” 
 
 “ In a neighbouring tomb to the first we saw at Qoomet Murraee, 
 a group of oxen is splendidly drawn. I don’t think I ever saw finer 
 execution ; the rules of perspective are quite observed ; the gambols 
 of the calves in every possible position, and the free touch and taste 
 of the whole, are admirable. Near them are a few which have been 
 fatted, for show, I suppose—not less beautifully done. It is thus in 
 almost all of the tombs; here and there, amidst the common work of 
 routine of professed painters, a master hand has been called in to 
 dash off a few groups. In one it was particulai’ly evident—two 
 groups were unfinished in the middle of a series of the usual repre¬ 
 sentations of a funeral—they were merely sketched in with red paint, 
 but with a vigour and correctness of proportion which would have 
 done honour to Raphael.” 
 
 “ The grand Entrance-Hall is the place which stamps Carnac as 
 the first architectural remain in the world. Ammon had indeed 
 a magnificent temple for his worship. The varied style of the 
 columns is interesting; some are as old as Joseph’s time. On the 
 
104 
 
 TEMPLE OF ESNEH. 
 
 Of the former, dedicated to Kneph by the early 
 Caesars, the beautiful portico only remains; fresh from 
 Thebes, we little expected to view it with the admiration 
 it excited. The features are so grand, and the general 
 effect so sublime, that one almost forgets the modern 
 mud walls which divide it into two unequal parts, and 
 intercept the light so much that we looked in vain for 
 
 last propylon towards Luxor are the torsos of two lovely statues, 
 perhaps twenty-five or thirty feet high; they are much mutilated 
 and have no heads, but what remains of their sculpture and contour 
 is beautifully graceful, and yet in the Egyptian style, arms close to 
 the sides, and left foot advanced. The priests seem to have employed 
 real master geniuses, but to have confined them to certain fixed forms, 
 at least in the human figure; for where they are freed from these 
 shackles, as in the animals in the phonetic hieroglyphics, nothing 
 can surpass the execution of the drawing, as well as the finishing. 
 Hundreds of sphinxes, statues, and figures of all sorts, are lying about 
 this grand approach. One sphinx, in particular, made a great im¬ 
 pression on me; they say all sphinxes are male, but the features of 
 a really sweet, pretty girl, could not be mistaken; and though her 
 nose, part of her mouth, and chin were gone, yet one hardly missed 
 them, what remained was so pretty and elegant. One pitied the poor 
 thing being tacked to such an uncouth body as that of a sphinx, and 
 obliged to sit in line with a hundred uninteresting fellows for ever, 
 as it were fascinated down by the wand of some ancient magician.” 
 
 “ Off Luxor. We have revisited the temple here, and walked as 
 far as Carnac, which is certainly the most stupendous thing con¬ 
 ceivable. Everything else sinks into perfect insignificance in the 
 comparison. But we could only give a hurried glance before the 
 sun set. We revisited the crowds of sphinxes and broken statues 
 on the grand southern approach.—There is a great deal that is 
 uncouth and unskilful, the effect of which is only to be estimated by 
 their situation as parts of a grand whole, and the constrained stiffness 
 of which must be explained and excused by the despotic influence of 
 form and custom in religious matters, studiously inculcated and 
 preserved by the priests ; but there are among them forms of eternal 
 beauty, such as remain henceforth part and parcel of one’s mind — 
 pure and clear as truth — no mystery, no mere symbol of mystical 
 priestcraft, but a bright embodying of the soul of genius, which 
 speaks from mind to mind at the interval of three thousand years.” 
 
TEMPLE OF ESNEH. 
 
 105 
 
 the zodiacs sculptured on the ceiling between the walls 
 and the last row of pillars at each extremity. Nothing 
 would offend the critical eye, were the capitals more 
 uniform; they are variations of the lotus-leaf, and all 
 individually beautiful; the sculptures and hieroglyphics 
 reveal the decadence of Egyptian architecture, but, on 
 the other hand, the columns are of juster proportions 
 and more regular distribution than any we have yet 
 seen.* 
 
 The temple of Edfou (delightful was our walk to it 
 
 * 11 The pillars, twenty-four in number, are magnificent. They 
 are straighter and more classical-looking than any we have yet seen, 
 somehow or other reminding one of the Pantheon at Rome, one 
 hardly knows why; for, except the absence of the usual enormous 
 swell of the pillars, they retain all the characteristics of the 
 Egyptian style, and are, to my mind, the most beautiful we have yet 
 seen, as well from their regularity and beautiful proportions, as from 
 the majestic elegance of the capitals, so different from anything 
 Grecian! But nothing could be finer; though these pillars be pon¬ 
 derous, they are by no means heavy; there is nothing which offends 
 the eye, all is in character and keeping. The fact of being reminded 
 of the Pantheon, however inexplicable, makes me feel certain that 
 the same mind which gave birth to the one style had influence in the 
 formation of the other. People derive Grecian architecture from 
 the Egyptian, and there is no doubt they drew much of their science 
 and wisdom from this country; but that the Egyptian is the coarse 
 rough attempt of beginners at an art afterwards improved and 
 brought to perfection in Greece, is too much to say ; for two dif¬ 
 ferent lines have been pursued, and superlative excellence has been 
 reached in both, as this portico at Esneh proves. If v.e look solely 
 to Egypt for the origin of Grecian architecture, we may easily talk 
 of cutting down and paring away, and thus this style of Esneh, of 
 the largest pillars at Carnac, Luxor, &c., will merge into the Corin¬ 
 thian, and the other style used here into the Doric ; but it appears 
 to me absurd to slice off, for the sake of argument or supporting a 
 theory, the most essential and peculiar features of a particular style. 
 Why, one might pare every upright thing in the world down to the 
 Doric, as it is the simplest of all—may we not for this very reason 
 suppose that it is the earliest, or, at least, original ?”— Mr. Ramsay's 
 Journal, 
 
106 
 
 EDFOU. 
 
 through fields of the beautiful castor-oil plant, of cotton, 
 Indian corn rustling in the breeze, and groves of date- 
 trees,) is quite perfect—not a stone displaced, and an 
 Arab village is built on the roof. And no wonder—it 
 was built only yesterday. Antiquity, in our enlarged 
 ideas, ends with the reign of Rameses the Fifth, the 
 contemporary of Hector and Achilles. We had a 
 hearty laugh the other day at the expression “ stupen¬ 
 dous antiquity” being applied to a pitiful infancy of 
 nine hundred years. The propyla, dromos, or court, 
 portico, and cella, are richly ornamented with sculptures 
 and hieroglyphics ; but it is the general effect, the dis¬ 
 tribution, the proportions of this temple, its perfect 
 state of preservation, and the grandeur of its outline, 
 that render it so interesting; the details are of inferior 
 execution. The court is choked with Arab huts, and 
 from the top of the propylon you have a curious view 
 of the town beneath, like an enormous honeycomb, mud 
 cells, for the most part roofless, with a single minaret 
 towering above them — our Reis had gone there to 
 pray.* 
 
 * “ Edfou, Jan. 9. The fields were looking very beautiful; the 
 system of irrigation is carried on to an immense extent here, it is 
 everything; at every short distance, one sees the water raised from 
 the Nile by men, who hand it up in buckets one to another, into 
 little tanks, till it reaches the top, when it runs down the channels 
 formed for it. There is one great channel which branches off into 
 smaller ones, and these again into smaller, till at last it enters the 
 small fields or plots, generally about ten feet square, where it spreads 
 and remains, each little plot being enclosed by raised banks, on which 
 the channels run ; when one plot is watered, the entrance for the 
 water is closed with a lump of earth, and the water passes on to the 
 next; when the whole of one division has received its share, the con¬ 
 nexion with the grand passage is stopped, and so on. The squares 
 are all very neatly and carefully kept, and, in fact, in this irrigation 
 consists the whole system of husbandry. A plough, I suppose, is 
 never used ; all the land tequires is a rough breaking up with a hoe 
 
EDFOU. 
 
 107 
 
 We saw some ostriches near Esneh, others since— 
 they are numerous in the Eastern desert; crocodiles, too, 
 in abundance—William fires at them sometimes ; the 
 young ones flounce into the water in an awful fright, the 
 old ones look astonished at our impudence, and then 
 sink down with more regard to their dignity, but still 
 it is a very clumsy operation. Of the other “ venomous 
 creatures bred in this river, as scorpions, water-snakes, 
 grievous misshapen worms, and other monstrous things, 
 which,” according to old Lithgow, “ often annoy the in¬ 
 habitants and those who traffic on the water,” I can give 
 you no account. 
 
 The colour of the natives waxed darker and darker 
 as we approached the tropic ; the peasants, who were 
 
 for wheat—for clover not even that. Indian corn is now ripe, and 
 its harvest is going on. It is sown before the rise of the Nile, and is 
 ripe soon after its fall; and it is thus calculated that it must have been 
 the corn which was not smitten in the plagues of Egypt by the hail, 
 as it was just sprouting above ground when the other corn, which is 
 sown on the waters retiring, was ripe and fit for the harvest. The 
 same system seems to be pursued now as in the early and palmy days 
 of this country. The drawings on the walls of some of the tombs 
 display all the processes of husbandry and other daily occupations— 
 and allusions in the Bible might have been made as to what happens 
 at the present day, so much the same has everything remained. It 
 is called ‘the country which thou wateredst with thy foot,’ and it is 
 so now—the people use their naked feet for stopping their water- 
 channels, when required. A very beautiful plant, which we saw a 
 good deal of to-day in the fields, is the castor-oil tree—I never saw 
 such a diversity of appearances on one plant at the same time ; two 
 totally different flowers on the same stalk, one red, the other white, 
 berries, buds, and fruit something like horse-chesnuts, but more 
 delicate—the young leaves also were of a deep purple, the old ones 
 bright green.”—“ 2 Feb. Edfou. Since we were here last, the appear¬ 
 ance of the country is very much altered. The forests of Indian 
 corn are cut down, and the stubble is a poor substitute, especially 
 when the sun is so hot as to-day; the wheat has grown to eight inches 
 or a foot, in three weeks; the cotton plants have withered, and the 
 irrigation has altered its character.”— Mr. Ramsays Journal. 
 
108 
 
 ESSOUAN. 
 
 plying the shadoof, or pole-and-bucket water-engine, 
 where we landed at Edfou, were nearly black, and 
 naked above and below the waist—the children quite so. 
 
 The vale of Egypt appears to end in a cul-de-sac as 
 you approach Essouan, old Syene,its southern boundary 
 since the days of the prophets, and, indeed, from time 
 immemorial; for though many of the Pharaohs extended 
 their sway over Ethiopia, the two countries remained 
 always politically, as they are geographically, distinct. 
 We reached Essouan, one of the most beautiful spots 
 in Egypt, on the 10th of January, mooring on the 
 eastern bank near the enormous granite rocks on which 
 the ancient Syene stood ; a Saracenic succeeded to the 
 Egyptian town, but was visited so severely by the plague, 
 four hundred years ago, that the survivors deserted it; 
 the ruins at a distance strikingly resemble an old Euro¬ 
 pean town of the middle ages. ( 34 ) 
 
 Opposite Essouan is “ the Isle of Flowers,” ancient 
 Elephantine, the dwelling, according to Herodotus, of 
 the Ichthyophagi, or fish-eaters, whom Cambyses sent 
 as his ambassadors to the Ethiopians—those “ blame¬ 
 less Ethiopians” eulogized by Homer, whose country, 
 according to the father of song, the gods visited an¬ 
 nually, and who appear to be the Yadavas or Yatus of 
 Hindoo story, a primitive and sacred race, which, emi¬ 
 grating from the east in the infancy of time, established 
 themselves, under their monarch, Yatupa, on the moun¬ 
 tains of Yatupeya—the Ethiopia and Ethiops of the 
 Greeks, who, designating these as the Western, refer to 
 their brethren who remained near the Indus, as the 
 Eastern Ethiopians, describing the whole nation as “ a 
 two-fold people, w r ho lie extended in a long tract from 
 the rising to the setting sun”—Cushites, I conceive, all 
 of them, and whose original settlement must surely have 
 been Kliusistan, Susiana, or Cush, between the Tigris 
 
ELEPHANTINE. 
 
 109 
 
 and Persia. But I shall weary you.—Elephantine! 
 this was really mythic land! We crossed to the lovely 
 island, and, walking to the rocky southern extremity, 
 saw the Nile, no longer pent in as below Syene, but 
 expanded a bright broad lake before us, studded with 
 islets of granite, polished and glittering in the sun. 
 Hence to the northern extremity, through fields of the 
 richest verdure, irrigated by innumerable little canals, 
 about a foot wide, of banked earth, supplied by Persian 
 wheels with the precious water of the Nile—and groves 
 of date-trees, that draw their nutriment seemingly from 
 the very sand of the desert, whispering in reply to them. 
 These little canals (opened or shut by the foot) connect 
 my associations with the Egypt of Scripture, “ where 
 thou sowedst thy grain, and wateredst it with thy foot,” 
 as God described it to the Israelites in contrast to 
 Palestine, “ the land of hills and valleys, drinking 
 water of the rain of heaven,” more vividly than all 
 the temples and pyramids. They are often alluded 
 to in Scripture, particularly in that most beautiful 
 proverb of Solomon, true indeed of every man, “ the 
 heart of the king is like the canals of waters in the 
 hand of Jehovah; whithersoever it pleaseth him, he 
 inclineth it.” Here, as elsewhere, from ignorance of 
 Eastern scenery and manners, our translators, admira¬ 
 ble as their version is for all practical purposes, have 
 failed in expressing the minute poetical beauty of the 
 original imagery. These little aqueducts are more 
 refreshing to the eye than it is possible to conceive in 
 your frigid zone. 
 
 The temples that, till of late years, adorned Elephan¬ 
 tine, have all been levelled with the ground; two or 
 three square pillars, some vestiges of what is called the 
 Nilometer, and a solitary statue seated among the ruins, 
 are the only remains. But old remembrances and the 
 
110 
 
 ASCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 perennial verdure of nature are still enough to render 
 it a little paradise for the imagination. Here was the 
 limit of Herodotus’s Egyptian travels; the geographer 
 Eratosthenes (I honour his memory) probably often 
 sauntered along the shore ; I have too little love for 
 Juvenal to feel much interest in the remembrance that 
 he was banished to Syene—his spirit was little akin to 
 such a scene as this. 
 
 Now for the cataracts. Next morning, (the 11th,) 
 soon after breakfast, the reis, or pilot of the cataracts, 
 made his appearance, and, after pipes and coffee, an¬ 
 nounced that, till the wind sprang up, it was useless 
 starting. rEolus had compassion on us, and sent a 
 breeze so favourable that within half an hour we were 
 under sail, a prayer having previously been offered up 
 by the reis and crew for our safe passage. 
 
 Bidding adieu to Elephantine, the breeze carried us 
 gently along between the black granite islets mentioned 
 above, of the most singular forms, many of them sculp¬ 
 tured with hieroglyphics—their polished edges glitter¬ 
 ing in the sun; a scene strangely beautiful, almost too 
 wild for beauty. A hawk, nature’s sculpture in the 
 living rock, springing up propitiously on the left from 
 the brow of the eastern crags, seemed to invite us to 
 the sacred isle of Philrn, and augur a prosperous ascent 
 of the intermediate cataracts. The wind freshened, and, 
 ere long, the lovely isle of Shehayl stole into sight and 
 flitted past like a dream, its palm-trees waving in the 
 breeze, and children sporting under them, naked as on 
 the day they were born; an Isle of the Blest it seemed— 
 one of those happy islands where poets tell us the 
 shades of heroes of old wander, under whispering 
 groves, in sweet converse, placid and at rest after the 
 turmoils of life—aptly figured by the black rocks that, 
 hemming in the noble river, gave so awful a character 
 to the surrounding scenery. And yet this little isle had 
 
ASCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 Ill 
 
 once still more exalted inhabitants; Sati and Anuki, 
 the Juno and Vesta of Egyptian mythology, and Kneph, 
 the spirit of the universe, delighted in its bowers, and 
 honoured it with their protection; and hieroglyphical 
 tablets, anterior to the birth of Cecrops, attest its early 
 sanctity. The whole valley, indeed, of the Nile, be¬ 
 tween Elephantine and Philse, was “holy ground” to 
 the Egyptians and Ethiopians. 
 
 The scenery now exchanges its character of mingled 
 beauty and terror for that of unmingled grandeur; 
 not that the rocks are particularly lofty, but Salvator 
 never dreamed of such strange unnatural combinations 
 —sometimes shooting into craggy pinnacles, often piled 
 one on another, regularly and methodically, as if in 
 mockery of human architecture, or wildly and con¬ 
 fusedly heaped like the fall of a volcano shower—all 
 gloom-relieved only by the yellow sands that lie drifted, 
 like snow-wreaths, on the face of the western shore—if 
 that can be called relief which carries the imagination 
 beyond the narrow bounds of visible desolation to the 
 illimitable waste of the desert, where even Fancy’s 
 wing must sink exhausted. The sun, glowing in a 
 cloudless sky, reminded us of our approach to the 
 tropics, while Father Nile, flowing swifter and swifter 
 as we drew near each successive rapid, dashing and 
 foaming over the islets, and often there most turbulent 
 where we were to force our passage, seemed to bar all 
 further progress towards his undiscoverable source. 
 But his opposition, like that of the visionary waters of 
 fairy legends, vanished before the steady breeze of 
 resolution; he offered a more formidable barrier in 
 ancient times, if we may believe the fictions of the poets. 
 
 The Arabs, who met us by appointment at the first 
 rapid, were of little use; the breeze carried us up 
 steadily and beautifully, and we sailed on again for a 
 while in smooth water; but the river recovered its 
 
112 
 
 ASCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 velocity as we approached the second and more for¬ 
 midable rapid, winding our way between the little 
 glittering islets, constantly expecting to fall foul of 
 them, but escaping always by an inch or two, thanks to 
 the counter-eddies, shifting our broad lateen sail every 
 moment, as we changed our position in regard to the 
 wind—the white-bearded reis, meanwhile, conspicuous 
 from afar in his brilliant robes of red and blue, with 
 variegated turban and cane of office, gesticulating and 
 shouting from the rocks—the sons of Shem, Ham, and 
 Japhet, yelling the languages of Europe, Asia, and 
 Africa around us—our last detachment of Arabs and 
 Nubians watching us from the opposite shore, or, cling¬ 
 ing to a log of wood, flinging themselves fearlessly into 
 the very jaws of the cataracts, swept down like lightning, 
 soon to reappear at our vessel’s side, like mahogany 
 and ebony statues, with a request for “bagshish,” a 
 present, viz. in guerdon of their intrepidity,—altogether 
 it was a strange, a savage scene, worth coming all the 
 way from England to witness. 
 
 Here, at the second rapid, the Nile appears com¬ 
 pletely closed in by the rocks; it was at first sight 
 difficult to conceive the possibility of threading our way 
 between, or penetrating beyond them. After one fruit¬ 
 less attempt, we succeeded in crossing to the opposite 
 rocks, where the natives attaching a large and strong- 
 rope of twisted palm-fibres, we commenced our ascent, 
 with the chorused song of “ Haylee sa!” “ God help !” By 
 dint of pulling and poling, in wdiich we all lent a hand, 
 we got up famously—to our wonder, looking back—for 
 the rapid we had surmounted is by far the most difficult 
 of ascent, owing to the narrowness of the channel where 
 alone it is practicable. Then we had smooth sailing 
 for a while, the reis, in his ample robes, heading our 
 cortege on the eastern shore, at least seventy or eighty 
 
PHIL/E. 
 
 113 
 
 men and boys, efficient and inefficient, following in his 
 rear, laughing and skipping, pelting each other with 
 sand, and flourishing their long dirks, half in earnest, 
 half in play, till we arrived at the third and principal 
 rapid, where the Nile, collecting all his waters, rushes 
 down in one broad sheet, smooth as a mirror, and fleet 
 as an arrow; but we mounted it with little difficulty, 
 there being no rocks to defile through; pull, pull, pull, 
 steady and unrelaxing, and the cataracts were past. 
 We detached the rope, unfurled the sail, (it had been 
 useless since our arrival at the second rapid,) and glided 
 gently over the calm waters till, the rocks opening, the 
 sacred island of Philae and its noble temple stood forth 
 to greet us, like the castle of some ancient Dive among 
 the rocks of Ginnistan. High on the eastern bank 
 stands a beautiful columnar edifice, supposed by some 
 to have been once shown as the tomb of Osiris, but 
 styled, in the traditions of the country, the Bed of 
 Pharaoh ; there we moored, and, quitting the boat, pro¬ 
 ceeded to explore one of the most interesting spots in 
 the whole valley of the Nile. 
 
 Isis, her husband Osiris, and their son Horus, were 
 the triad worshipped at Philte. The sacred isle is only 
 three or four hundred yards in length, but it was covered 
 with shrines and colonnades; fringed with a few date- 
 trees, the interior is now a mass of ruins; Nubian huts 
 have succeeded Ethiopian temples, and both are de¬ 
 serted. 
 
 The Temple of Isis is the principal ruin. An irre¬ 
 gular colonnade, of which the western range, built up 
 perpendicularly from the river, is covered with hiero¬ 
 glyphics and sculptures, while the eastern seems never 
 to have been completed—irregular, inasmuch as sym¬ 
 metry, a charm to which the Egyptians seem to have 
 been little sensible, was here necessarily sacrificed to 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 PHIL.E. 
 
 the limited space the architect had to work upon— 
 leads from the southern along the western bank to the 
 propylon, or pyramidal towers of entrance, similar to 
 those at Edfou, but on a smaller scale, and covered 
 with colossal sculptures of the moon-crowned Isis, the 
 hawk-headed deity, and a gigantic warrior about to 
 inflict the fatal stroke on thirty wretches, whom he holds 
 by the hair of their head, back to back, reminding one 
 at first of the many-headed, many-handed monsters of 
 Indian mythology. These figures are repeated, as well 
 as the smaller row of deities above them, on the second 
 propylon, which you reach through an irregular dromos 
 or court, surrounded by columns covered with sculpture 
 and hieroglyphics; not only are all the capitals differ¬ 
 ent, but those on the left are surmounted by square 
 tablets with masks of Isis—the same sweet and mourn¬ 
 ful expression that characterizes all her portraits—per¬ 
 haps suggested by the beautiful planet with which she 
 was identified. The second propylon ushers you into 
 by far the finest part of the temple—a noble and truly 
 beautiful portico, supported on three sides by lofty 
 columns, sculptured with hieroglyphics, and painted 
 azure and yellow. The walls, ceiling, &c., are also 
 beautifully ornamented, the winged orb forming the 
 principal device; this is sculptured over the entrance of 
 almost every temple in Egypt and Nubia—how like our 
 idea of “ the Sun of Righteousness arising with healing 
 on his wings! ” 
 
 We explored all the cells with torches, but looked 
 in vain for the sculptured hawk that travellers men¬ 
 tion. I was particularly anxious to find it. Dr. Richard¬ 
 son supposes it was venerated at Philae before Osiris, 
 Isis, and Horus supplanted its worship. If so, I 
 cannot but suspect that the true God was worshipped 
 here before the rise, as He undoubtedly was after the 
 
PHILiE. 
 
 115 
 
 fall, of paganism, when the temples of Phil as, Edfou, 
 Thebes, and many others, were dedicated to the 
 Saviour. 
 
 “ The God,” says the patriarchal Zoroaster, in his 
 noble enumeration of the Almighty’s attributes, “ is 
 (represented as) having a hawk’s head; He is the 
 Best, Incorruptible, Eternal, Unmade, Indivisible, 
 most unlike everything, the Author of all good, the 
 Wisest of the wise,” &c. “Here,” observes Dr. Hales, 
 “ we have perhaps the first instance on record of sym¬ 
 bolical representation blended with pure spiritual 
 description, and in this respect it is highly curious, as 
 furnishing, perhaps, the earliest specimen of these 
 animal hieroglyphics attributed to the Deity so co¬ 
 piously in Egypt, still to be found on their ancient 
 monuments, and which, when the recondite or mystical 
 meaning came to be lost, in process of time produced 
 all that multifarious polytheism, which corrupted the 
 primitive theology of the Egyptians, Indians, Greeks, 
 and Romans.” 
 
 Egypt was first peopled from Ethiopia; to the 
 Ethiopians — who considered themselves, says the 
 Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, the most ancient of 
 mankind—the Egyptians looked as the parents of their 
 religion; and Philae was held equally sacred by both 
 nations. Here, then, probably, was the seat of the 
 primeval Egyptian worship, established by Misr and 
 his successors, the children of Ham—a race, with the 
 exception of the Canaanites, neither blessed nor 
 cursed by their patriarch Noah—who are mentioned 
 without approbation in the earliest scriptural records, 
 but who, doubtless, retained for some generations the 
 knowledge, and maintained the worship, of the true 
 God in Egypt and Ethiopia, as their kinsmen of the 
 line of Canaan did at Salem in Syria. Originally, I 
 
 i 2 
 
116 
 
 PHIL.E. 
 
 conceive, familiarized to Egyptian as well as Persian 
 imagination by the symbol of the hawk’s head, the 
 omnivision of the Deity was probably thus represented 
 by the Egyptians in hieroglyphical sculpture ; and its 
 spiritual meaning being, in lapse of time, forgotten, in 
 this case, as in so many others, “ the creature came to 
 be worshipped more than the Creator, who is above 
 all, God blessed for ever.” Philae, then, losing its 
 real sanctity as the Salem of the Land of Cush and 
 Ham, retained, I conceive, its celebrity as the seat of 
 idolatry; the hawk continuing the chief object of wor¬ 
 ship, till that of Osiris, Isis, and Homs supplanted 
 and, in part, became blended with it; the name of the 
 Almighty, in fact, supplanting his attribute: for Osiris, 
 as Dr. Hales elsewhere observes, is evidently a cor¬ 
 ruption of Iahoh Sihor, or Jehovah the Black, the 
 “black-clouded Jove” of Homer. Nor is the character 
 of Osiris, as the good principle and judge of the dead, 
 unlike that of the Deity; his identification, moreover, 
 with Bacchus, the giver of the vine, (Iswara in Lidia,) 
 is another proof of his identity in name with the giver 
 of all good things “ and fruitful seasons, filling our 
 hearts with food and gladness”—for Iacchus, the Greek 
 form of the name of Bacchus, is simply the guttural 
 pronunciation of Iahoh, with the Greek termination; 
 and the mystic fan of Bacchus, represented in the 
 Eleusinian mysteries of Ceres, (Isis,)—introduced 
 originally, says Herodotus, from Egypt, strikingly 
 resembles that in the hand of the Son of Man, with 
 which he is to purge his threshing-floor. 
 
 Here are theories for you, dear mother !—“ guesses 
 at truth” rather; I would not have troubled you with 
 them, only they will tend to explain a little poem 
 which I enclose you, begun while we were passing the 
 
PHIL.E. 
 
 117 
 
 cataracts, and finished afterwards in Nubia.* I should 
 premise, however, that I have no authority for making 
 St. Thomas visit Ethiopia on his way to India. 
 
 One guess more—was not the eagle of Zeus, the 
 Roman Ju-pater, or Father Jove—the same emblem, 
 
 * THE ASCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 The sky is clear, not a cloud in heaven, 
 
 And blithely swells the sail, 
 
 While myriad islet rocks between 
 We skim before the gale— 
 
 Like a black swan each on a still lake’s breast, 
 
 Peacefully cradled in noontide rest. 
 
 The Cataract’s roar! —around their chief, 
 
 Each to the God of Ishmael bending, 
 
 The turbaned crew approve his prayer, 
 
 Their lives to Allah’s will commending ; 
 
 A prayer of much simplicity— 
 
 And we too, Lord ! we trust in Thee ! 
 
 Syene’s rocks are far behind, 
 
 And thy green banks, sweet Isle of Flowers! 
 
 And thine, Shehayl! whose children’s laugh 
 Rings merrily through the date-tree bowers, 
 
 That erst, mysterious rites concealing, 
 
 O’ershadowed silent Pharaohs kneeling. 
 
 And yearly to the triple shrine— 
 
 For Kneph’s and Sati’s equal smile 
 With Anuki’s was courted there— 
 
 Dark-visaged queens from Meroe’s Isle, 
 
 And kings from farthest Hadramaut, 
 
 Bright gems and Indian incense brought. 
 
 The Nile ! the Nile! I hear the gathering roar— 
 
 (No vision now—no dream of ancient years!) 
 
 Throned on his rocks, amid the watery war, 
 
 The King of Floods, old Homer’s Nile appears! 
 
 With gentle smile, majestically sweet, 
 
 Curbing the billowy steeds that vex them at his feet. 
 
118 
 
 PHILyE. 
 
 borrowed from the same Egyptian or Persian souree ? 
 How unlike its eye, closing, as Pindar beautifully 
 describes it, under the lulling influence of the lyre, to 
 His who never slumbers or sleeps ! 
 
 Interesting as is the temple of Isis, and noble as 
 
 Not so when, bursting from the matron breast 
 Of central Afric, veiled from eye profane, 
 
 Ten thousand fertile streams, with foamy crest, 
 Rush down to waft their monarch to the main; 
 Then to those billowy steeds he gives the rein, 
 And, leaning on his car with simple grace, 
 
 Speeds, like the light, o’er Egypt’s thirsty plain; 
 The Hours, the Seasons, laugh before his face, 
 Fresh as the new-born sun, rejoicing in his race. 
 
 Thus, when the Sun of Righteousness, his wings 
 Of healing spread, shall rise upon our woe, 
 
 The River of Life, from heavenly Zion’s springs, 
 
 Like Nile o’er Egypt, o’er the earth shall flow :—■ 
 Desert no more, Zahara’s sands shall glow 
 With purple flowers—where’er the floods extend, 
 Knowledge shall bloom, and Love enthroned below 
 Dwell in all hearts ; and every bough shall bend 
 With sacramental pledge of blessings without end ! 
 
 Then, Philse ! —(lo ! the Rapids past, 
 
 Like wrath supplanted by a smile, 
 
 ’Tween opening rocks and waters clear 
 That murmur music to the ear, 
 
 Steals into view the lovely Isle)— 
 
 Then, Philae ! then shall hymns once more 
 Resound along thy templed shore! 
 
 Shrine of old Faith, though long defiled! 
 
 To God and man thou still art dear, 
 
 For Cushite kings of earliest time 
 
 And blameless creed have worshipp’d here, 
 Ere blinded man the all-seeing Eye 
 Degraded to idolatry. 
 
phil^;. 
 
 119 
 
 its general effect, the sculptures and hieroglyphics are 
 of a very inferior style. The lovely nondescript edifice 
 by the river-side pleased me much more; the eye 
 willingly turns from the heavy grandeur and rude 
 sculpture of the larger, to repose on the airy grace and 
 
 Christ’s agony! a second blight 
 That morn pale Egypt overspread ; 
 
 The hoary Pyramids, steeped in night, 
 Trembled upon their rocky bed, 
 
 Foreboding judgments from on high 
 Fiercer than those that shook their infancy. ( 3S ) 
 
 Isis that morn, moon-crested dame, 
 
 Sweet Philas’s bowers forsook for ever; 
 
 Her shrine thenceforth was dumb, kings came 
 To ask, but answer gat they never ! 
 
 The priests, too, fled—their time was o’er, 
 
 And votaries sought her Isle no more. 
 
 Years dawn’d and died till, bound for Ind, 
 With holy eye and snowy beard, 
 
 With scrip, and staff, and girdled robe, 
 
 One autumn eve a sire appeared ; 
 
 More to be loved seemed he than feared,— 
 The children rested from their play, 
 
 And craved his blessing as he went his way. 
 
 Well might they ask it! he was one 
 That He who little children loved 
 Had breathed his Holy Spirit upon; 
 
 And, by that Spirit inly moved, 
 
 He then sought out an humble pair 
 That dwelt in lonely virtue there. 
 
 The night in holy converse past, 
 
 The stranger went his way the morrow,— 
 Long, long remembered, uneffaced, 
 
 His words of mingled cheer and sorrow ! 
 
 For meek and mournful was his mien, 
 
 As one that of himself had much mistrustful been. 
 
120 
 
 philae. 
 
 unadorned simplicity of the smaller ruin. There is 
 not a hieroglyphic on it, nor any sculpture except the 
 winged globe over the portal by which it was entered 
 from the temple; open above and laterally, and seen 
 from below, it is beautiful indeed. No roof was ever 
 
 Me lists not to recount the tale 
 
 How, through that pair by truth enlighten’d, 
 
 To hundreds, o’er each Nubian vale, 
 
 The sun of Gospel gladness brighten’d, 
 
 And Philae heard once more delighted 
 Hymns to the God to whom her youth was plighted. 
 
 But Persecution, even here, 
 
 Sought out and slew them ; writ in heaven, 
 
 Their names, unread in human story, 
 
 Shine like the morning stars in glory; 
 
 In robes of whiteness, freely given, 
 
 Palms in their hands, the victor band 
 Before the Lamb, their Saviour, stand. 
 
 Uncouth inscriptions, rudely traced, 
 
 A sculptured cross—mute things alone 
 Reveal where erst Acceptance graced 
 The prayers through which their prize was won; 
 
 And Philae, with a mother’s moan, 
 
 Unmindful of their happier lot, 
 
 Weeps o’er her children that are not! 
 
 Rise, sweet one, rise ! and dry thy tears ; 
 
 A brighter day is dawning o’er 
 A world for twice three thousand years 
 
 Trodden down of man, and drenched in gore ; 
 
 Thy children thou shalt see once more, 
 
 Shalt hear their voices blend united 
 In hymns like those in which thy youth delighted ! 
 
 Soon, O soon ! may the day-star rise 
 O’er Egypt’s vale and Asshur’s bowers, 
 
 To warn the nations, unseal their eyes, 
 
 And guide their feet to Salem’s towers, 
 
 When every hand shall an offering bear, 
 
 And every heart be a House of Prayer! 
 
LAND OF CUSH. 
 
 121 
 
 added or intended, and the intercolumniations are 
 built up only a little more than a third of the height; 
 the capitals of the columns are leaves of the date-tree. 
 Several courses of stone, intervening between the 
 columns and the cornice, add to the singular effect, 
 without diminishing from the beauty of this dear little 
 temple—as our sweet Minnie would call it. This 
 cannot surely be the tomb of Osiris—the Egyptian 
 lowered his voice, and sunk his eye, 
 
 “ And pointed upwards as to God in heaven,” 
 
 when he swore the tremendous oath, “ By Him that 
 sleeps in Philse !” Neither edifice is older than the 
 day of the Ptolemies. ( 36 ) 
 
 The sullen roar of the cataracts was our music for 
 the night. 
 
 This rocky range above Syene I take to be the 
 Hemacuta or Golden Mountains of the Hindus, ( 37 ) 
 who, considering the course of the Nile, after issuing 
 from the Lake of the Gods under the Southern Meru, 
 exactly analogous to that of the Ganges, after issuing 
 from Lake Mansarowar under the Northern —assert 
 that each bursts through three ranges of mountains, 
 named alike in both countries Llimalaya, Nishada, 
 and Hemacuta, before reaching its last unfettered flow 
 towards the ocean. Each river is held equally sacred, 
 as well as the points of junction of each with its tribu¬ 
 taries. Few Indian pilgrims, how T ever, in these dege¬ 
 nerate days, visit Egypt. 
 
 The next morning, January the 12th, we started on 
 our voyage into the Land of Cush, gliding smoothly 
 along between rocky hills that confine the fertilizing 
 influence of the Nile to a very narrow strip of culti¬ 
 vable ground, often encroached upon by the sands of 
 
122 
 
 TEMPLES OF NUBIA. 
 
 the desert, which lie in broad sheets on the western 
 hank. The scattered clumps, however, of date and 
 doum trees (Theban palms) lend a pleasing variety to 
 scenery, otherwise of the gloomiest character. Once 
 this country was rich and beautiful and populous, till 
 Surya, the Regent of the Sun, being seized one morning 
 with a most unseasonable fit of devotion, descended on 
 it to say his prayers; the waters dried up immediately, 
 the mountains took fire, and the inhabitants were 
 roasted to death. Brahma and Vishnu descended to 
 expostulate with, and, indeed, console, the unlucky 
 Surya—for he was as concerned as they were at the 
 unfortunate issue of his zeal, and promised, with deep 
 contrition, to amend the mischief. “ It is I,” replied 
 Vishnu, “ who must repair it, and when I shall revisit 
 this country, in the character of Crishna, to destroy the 
 demon Sanch’asura, the land shall cool, and be re¬ 
 plenished with plants and animals. The race of Palis 
 shall then settle here, with the Cutilacesas, the Yavanas, 
 the Barbaras, and other mixed tribes.” All this has 
 come to pass—Crishna has been incarnated—the demon 
 Sanch’asura destroyed—the Palis have arrived and 
 departed,—the Yavanas, or Iaones, are forgotten even 
 in Greece, the “ ultima Thule” of their wanderings— 
 but Vishnu’s promise has been only partially performed, 
 and the effects of Surya’s descent are still visible in 
 the blackened and scorched aspect of the hills of 
 Nubia. 
 
 We now enter the region of the Berber language, but 
 the children were as familiar with the magical word 
 bagshish, as ours in England are with the kindred 
 phrase Christmas fox—which Bishop Heber thinks may 
 have been derived from it. 
 
 We visited a temple at Dabod—the first within the 
 tropic, and another at Kalabshe; those between the 
 
ROCK TEMPLE AT BEIT-WELLEE. 
 
 123 
 
 Cataracts were for the most part built by the Ptolemies 
 and Caesars ; many of them have been left unfinished ; 
 they can boast, generally speaking, of but few sculp¬ 
 tures, and those of a very inferior execution. The age 
 of Augustus in Egypt was that of the decadence of the 
 arts ; long, indeed, before the Ptolemies, they had fallen 
 from their high estate under Osirei, Sesostris, and their 
 immediate successors; there were Homers then in the 
 land, who celebrated the wars of those heroic princes 
 on imperishable stone; but you see few historical 
 sculptures later than Rameses the Fifth ; the national 
 spirit had died out—religion had sunk into a mere 
 caput mortuum—and the descendants of the artists who 
 sculptured the Memnonium had degenerated into mere 
 mythological copyists, constantly reiterating a Pantheon 
 of deities, whose every attitude was prescribed bylaw— 
 it is only wonderful that they copied so well, but the 
 life is wanting. The likenesses of the Pharaohs, as I 
 have observed already, whether painted in the tombs 
 or sculptured on the temples, were always exactly pre¬ 
 served—but once taken, they seem never to have sat a 
 second time for their portraits. The same likeness is 
 constantly reiterated; you cannot trace the gradual 
 change—step by step—year by year—from the full 
 cheek and brent brow of youth to the sunk and care¬ 
 worn lineaments of age—which lends so touching an 
 interest to the series of a Greek king’s medals. It 
 would be interesting to compare the Egyptian with the 
 medallic portraits of the Ptolemies and Cmsars, and 
 ascertain whether any pains were then taken to preserve 
 the resemblance.* 
 
 * Professor Rossellini has found, by comparison with existing 
 monuments, medals, &o., that the portraits of the Ptolemies are 
 correct, those of the Roman emperors imaginary.— Monumenti delV 
 Egitto, SfC., Mon. Storici, tom. ii, pp. 461 sqq. [1847.] 
 
124 ROCK TEMPLE AT BEIT-WELLEE. 
 
 The most spirited sculptures we have seen in the 
 valley of the Nile are those in the small rock-temple of 
 Beit-Wellee, half an hour’s walk from Kalabshe— 
 founded by Sesostris to commemorate his victories over 
 the Cushites or Ethiopians, and the Shorii, an eastern 
 nation, according to Mr. Wilkinson,* (1 quote his 
 words,) “ apparently of Arabia Petrsea, who, having 
 been previously reduced by the Egyptian monarchs 
 and made tributary to them, rebelled and were recon¬ 
 quered by Osirei and the Second Rameses.” Open and 
 exposed^for three thousand years to the air of heaven 
 and the hand of man, these sculptures are still as sharp 
 and fresh almost as when the artist exhibited them, in 
 his pride, to Rameses. 
 
 To the right, entering the open area excavated in 
 front of the temple, you have the conquest of the 
 Shorii,—to the left, the submission of the Cushites; 
 everything bespeaks the desperate resistance of the 
 former, the tame cowardice of the latter. On the right 
 wall, Rameses, alike victorious on foot and in his war- 
 chariot, attacks the Shorii, slays their chief in single 
 combat, and drives them to the fortifications of their 
 town ; his son, the heir of Egypt, storms the walls, and 
 presents his prisoners bound to his father, who, in the 
 last compartment of this sculptured history, is repre¬ 
 sented seated on his throne reposing after his toils, the 
 favourite lion that accompanied him in battle crouching 
 at his feet. On the left wall, the Prince of Cush, his 
 hand raised in supplication, his son and daughter at 
 his side, is introduced by the Prince of Egypt to the 
 mighty Rameses, throned in state ; rings of gold, bags 
 of precious stones, elephants’ teeth, apes, (but no pea¬ 
 cocks)—the wealth of Ethiopia, are borne after him, 
 
 * Now Sir Gardner Wilkinson. [1847.] 
 
ROCK TEMPLE AT BEIT-WELLEE. 
 
 125 . 
 
 offerings to the conqueror; the lion, the giraffe, the 
 bull, the gazelle, the ostrich, figure in the procession. 
 The contempt of the Egyptians for their unwarlike 
 neighbours may be traced here, as elsewhere, in the 
 caricatured features of one of the tribute-bearers, whose 
 countenance bears a ludicrous resemblance to that of 
 the monkey that precedes him in the procession. 
 
 And yet they did not yield absolutely without a blow. 
 There is one scene of most touching interest. The 
 Cushites have been defeated—they hurry confusedly 
 to the woods for refuge, stumbling over the dying and 
 the dead, but one of them has outstripped the fleetest, 
 in hopes of saving his friend’s wife from the pursuers 
 —he knew not that that friend was already at his own 
 door—but alas ! faint and bleeding, wearily dragging 
 on, his arms thrown round two of his comrades’ necks, 
 who grasp his wrists to strengthen him. He overtakes 
 them at the moment when his friend’s sister and his 
 children recognise him— she stands aghast; one boy 
 holds up his hands in horror,—another covers his face 
 ■with one hand, and runs to clasp his father’s knee with 
 the other,—the third runs to tell his mother, who, un¬ 
 conscious of what awaits her, is preparing her husband’s 
 meal. But the tumult approaches—the flying Cushites, 
 the chariot-wheels of Pharaoh and the Egyptians—fly ! 
 oh fly !—they see only, they hear only, the wounded 
 man !—a minute—and wife and husband, brother and 
 sister, children and friend, will all be overwhelmed by 
 the mighty torrent,—a monkey has climbed to the top 
 of a tree for refuge—there is yet time—but what are 
 they to do with the wounded man ? ’Tis too late now 
 —they come, they come, rushing, crushing through the 
 forest—and now .... let us drop the curtain. 
 
 The sculptures of the interior temple are highly 
 interesting, and evidently allusive to the scenes of 
 
126 
 
 GUERF HASSAN. 
 
 conquest sculptured without. A Shorian and an 
 Ethiopian, the representatives, I presume, of their re¬ 
 spective nations, lie at the feet of Rameses; with one 
 hand he grasps their hair, the uplifted battle-axe gleams 
 in the other. Forced on his knees, but those knees 
 clenched together, the muscles rigid, the joints un¬ 
 yielding, the brave Arab meets with unquailing eye the 
 glance of his conqueror, and raises his left arm firmly 
 to ward off the blow which the Ethiopian tamely sub¬ 
 mits to,—the contrast is that of courage with cowardice 
 —personified in the relaxed limbs, uplifted but shrink¬ 
 ing hands, and averted face of the negro; the lips of 
 both are moving, but you need not fancy to supply words 
 —every limb, every gesture speaks.* 
 
 The following morning we visited the gloomy and 
 awful temple of Guerf Hassan, ancient Talmis, com¬ 
 pletely excavated in the sandstone rock, and singularly 
 resembling, travellers say, the Cave of Elephanta in 
 
 * “ On each side of the portal is a group of a far more singular 
 description, evidently allegorical. A tall female, elegantly attired, 
 in the one instance with a veil thrown over her head, in the other 
 with a head-dress of feathers, like that of the American savages, 
 identifying her with the Goddess Anuki, or Yesta, who in similar 
 array is seated with the contemplar deities, Nef and Amunre, within 
 two corresponding niches in the cella, offers her breast to Raineses 
 with one hand, gracefully throwing her other arm round his neck, 
 while he draws sustenance from her bosom. Which of the European 
 Vestas does Anuki correspond to? the Goddess of Fire, or her of 
 Earth, worshipped by her children under so many various names as 
 the common mother of mankind, but always with grateful reference 
 to her productive fertility ?—If the latter, these groups may pos¬ 
 sibly be emblematical of the riches drawn by Rameses from the con¬ 
 quered countries. The land of Canaan was described by the 
 abundance of its milk and honey,—like this, too, the imagery of 
 Isaiah, ‘ Thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck 
 the breast of kings,’ prophetic of the future national prosperity of 
 Jerusalem. And compare chapter lxvi, vss. 11,12.”— Orig. Journal. 
 [1847.] 
 
TEMPLE OF PHTHAH. 
 
 127 
 
 India—I hope, my dear mother, I shall some day be 
 qualified to judge of the resemblance! But for the 
 name of Rameses graven on every wall and every pillar 
 throughout the temple, one would be inclined to assign 
 it to the earliest period of Egyptian, or, more strictly 
 speaking, Ethiopian architecture; it is almost impos¬ 
 sible not to believe it more ancient than any other 
 monument in Egypt except the Pyramids; there is not 
 a trace of the taste and beauty of Rameses’ time. A 
 ruined portico (square columns, faced with colossal 
 statues) leads to the first and largest of the excavated 
 chambers, a noble hall, supported by six enormous 
 square columns, faced, like those of the portico, with 
 statues of Osiris, above eighteen feet high, cut in full 
 relief,—mild, chubby, undignified countenances, the 
 arms crossed, holding the scourge of power and the 
 crosier of peace, ( 3S ) the legs naked and shapeless, 
 more like pillars than human stumps; the attitude 
 of the lower part of the body reminded me of the 
 Esquimaux, and their pendent sashes of Highland 
 sporrans, the head of some animal projecting in the 
 usual place, with seven tassels below it. Statues of 
 Phthah, or Vulcan, to whom this temple is dedicated, 
 of Athor the lion-headed, (Venus,) and of Anuki, 
 (Vesta,) are sculptured in recesses behind the columns 
 on each side of the hall. Beyond it are the cella, sup¬ 
 ported by two large columns, and the adytum, or inner¬ 
 most shrine, at the further end of which, on a high 
 platform, sit four most mysterious-looking colossal 
 figures,—a large hewn stone on the floor in front of 
 them, perhaps an altar. In the small lateral apart¬ 
 ments are benched recesses, probably for embalming. 
 All the chambers are sculptured, but they are so black 
 with smoke and dirt, and the rock has in many places 
 proved so faithless to its trust, that we could make 
 
128 
 
 TEMPLE OF PHTHAH. 
 
 nothing of them. Negro and Nubian boys ciceroned 
 us with burning ropes through this extraordinary exca¬ 
 vation. Mithras’ cave itself could scarcely have been 
 gloomier than the Rock-temple of Guerf Hassan! 
 
 The Persians, those Iconoclasts of antiquity, piqued 
 themselves on their spiritual worship of the Deity, and 
 certainly they never sank into such gross polytheism as 
 the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; yet their reve¬ 
 rence for fire, while it proves that both nations drew 
 their religion from one primeval source, was no less 
 idolatrous than that of the Egyptians for Phthah, the 
 Vulcan of Egypt, and all the rest of their “ divine 
 menagerie,” as William calls it. 
 
 The sacred fire of the Persians, like that of the 
 Jews, was originally emblematical only of Mithras, 
 the hidden god, but when the “ spiritual meaning of 
 the visible sign” had been forgotten, they worshipped 
 it as a deity; and if they regarded it, as we know they 
 did the element in general, as a living creature, Cam- 
 byses (unless, indeed, like his father, Cyrus, he acknow¬ 
 ledged “ the Lord for his God”) had no excuse for 
 sheathing his sword in the bull Apis. 
 
 Again:—In all ages the Egyptians revered Phthah 
 as their earliest king, assigning no duration to his 
 reign—in other words, ascribing dominion to him from 
 all eternity, till his resignation of the sceptre to his 
 son Helius, the orb of day, whose reign they limit to 
 30,000 years. 
 
 Surely we see the God of Light enshrined, the fire 
 by which he will try all things gleaming, in the adyta 
 of both caves, both creeds, at first sight so unconnected, 
 in their actual encounter so hostile ! 
 
 And whom can the pigmy Pataici—the diminutive 
 im iges placed by the Phoenicians on the prows of their 
 galleys, and to which Herodotus likens the statue of 
 
WELLEE KIASHEF. 
 
 129 
 
 Vulcan at Memphis—whom can they have represented, 
 and whence can they have derived their name but 
 from Phthah ? whatever was his origin, Egyptian* or 
 Chaldean, still the primeval, eternal Phthah; Vulcan 
 of Rome, Ilephaistos of Greece, Phthah of Egypt, 
 Mithras ofPersia—with reverence be it added, Jehovah 
 of Heaven!—the God of Light, dwelling in thick dark 
 ness as his pavilion, his cloudy cave—who, in the olden 
 time, “ looked unto the host of the Egyptians through 
 the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the host 
 of the Egyptians”—by fire, and wind, and water, his 
 ministering elements, “ executing judgment on all the 
 gods of Egypt,” while he “ led forth the people whom 
 he had redeemed” from an apostate land that, no longer 
 recognising him as a spirit, no longer worshipped him 
 in spirit and in truth. 
 
 Approaching Korosko, we sailed through a strange 
 country, black volcanic-looking mountains on either 
 side the river, and in many places a few yards only of 
 cultivation intervening between it and the desert. We 
 moored for the night at Korosko. Imagine our dismay 
 when Wellee Kiashef, the Turkish governor of the 
 country between the cataracts, resting there for the mo¬ 
 ment on one of his progresses through his little vice¬ 
 royalty, sent to offer us a visit! It could not be helped, 
 so we entertained him—an intelligent and very inqui¬ 
 sitive man, most anxious for information; he said it was 
 his great delight to make acquaintance with, and gain 
 knowledge from Englishmen, whenever he could meet 
 with them. The first compliments were scarcely paid, 
 when he produced a little Arabic treatise on geography, 
 printed by the missionaries at Malta, and asked how 
 many men formed the standing force of Russia? We 
 expected to be regularly catechised on the resources of 
 every state in Europe, but his subsequent questions 
 
130 
 
 WELLEE KIASHEF. 
 
 were chiefly geographical; he had evidently made the 
 most of his little book—his sole library, he told us— 
 and had treasured the information he had picked up 
 from travellers I gave him four or five Arabic books, 
 one on astronomy, the others chiefly religious, that I had 
 found lying at Alexandria along with some books I 
 bought there, and included them in my bargain, on the 
 chance of finding some opportunity of giving them 
 away. 
 
 All his geographical ideas, except those derived from 
 his text-book, were very vague. He discriminated the 
 Abyssinian branch of the Nile from the western river, 
 the more considerable of the two, by calling it emphati¬ 
 cally Bahr el Nil, or the Blue River; I believe it is 
 always painted blue in the sculptures—the word is San¬ 
 scrit too, and applied in the sacred books to the western 
 Nile, though the usual name for it is Cali or Chrishna— 
 the Black, which corresponds in meaning with the He¬ 
 brew name Silior ; and yet, oddly enough, the river is 
 neither black nor blue, but of a muddy colour. The 
 Kiashef, in reply to our question where the sources were, 
 said they were not very distant, but that the barbarous 
 tribes and fierce animals, with which the intermediate 
 country abounds, rendered them difficult of approach. 
 One of these tribes, he told us, is a nation of dogs with 
 women wives !—the okl tradition, then, of the Cynoce- 
 phali, or dog-headed men, is still current here. The 
 same belief prevailed in Tartary in the time of Zinghis 
 Khan, and Mr. Buckingham was asked at Assalt, east of 
 the Jordan, whether he had ever been to the Belled el 
 Kelb, where the men had dog’s heads. The Nile, added 
 the Kiashef, parts into three rivers—the Egyptian 
 stream, another that reaches the sea near Algiers, and 
 the third near Spain. 
 
 Naming our acquaintance Omar Effendi, (a young 
 
WELLEE KIASHEF. 
 
 131 
 
 Turk sent by Mohammed Ali to study in England, but 
 now returned and settled at Cairo,) he said he was from 
 the same village, and seemed interested in hearing we 
 had been at college with him. 
 
 Taking his departure, he sent us a couple of turkeys, 
 and a sort of firman or order to furnish us everything we 
 might need between the cataracts. Nothing could be 
 kinder than his offers of procuring us men, camels, and 
 assistance of every sort, wheresoever we might be dis¬ 
 posed to go. It was interesting, but painful, to see a 
 man, evidently of talent, born and bred in intellectual 
 darkness, and aware of his deficiencies, struggling and 
 catching at every ray of light. He entered at once 
 on his inquiries, never doubting our willingness to afford 
 him what aid w 7 e could; the conversation seldom flagged 
 a moment, and in his eagerness, the pipe was often 
 neglected. On paying us another visit on our return, 
 (to which I alluded at the commencement of this long 
 epistle,) he told us very feelingly that, since he had be¬ 
 come acquainted with Europeans about threeyears ago, 
 he had disrelished the society of ether Turks; all their 
 conversation ran on women or dress, never on subjects 
 of real interest. “ Now,” said he, “I like to know 7 how 
 the sun shines, how the world was created, who inhabit 
 it, &c., and because I do so, and seek the society of 
 those who can instruct me, my countrymen call me 
 proud, and I am quite alone among them—“ solo, 
 solo, solo !” as Abdallah translated it: it went to my 
 heart—poor fellow ! he must indeed be lonely, and so 
 must every one be who outstrips his fellows, while they 
 are still as unenlightened as the Turks, even by the 
 very insignificant distance that Wellee Kiashef has got 
 before them. 
 
 We reached Wady Haifa, the limit of our Ethiopian 
 voyage, on the 19th, passing Ebsambul, the magni- 
 
 k. 2 
 
132 
 
 BERBERS. 
 
 ficent rock-temple opened by Belzoni, without landing 
 —our large boat could ascend no higher. I ought to 
 have told you that, to our delight, we found we could 
 take her beyond Essouan ; we thought we should have 
 been obliged to hire a small one there, and anticipated 
 bugs, cock-roaches, spiders—all sorts of miseries. 
 
 Friday, the 20th January, we started for the second 
 and principal cataracts of the Nile, a few miles only be¬ 
 yond Wady Haifa, in a small boat manned with Nubian 
 sailors, or Berbers, as they are called in their native 
 tongue; and Barbaradesa is tbe name given to all this 
 district in the Hindoo records. They are a very handsome 
 race, far superior to the Arabs—at least of Egypt, almost 
 black, but with a polished skin, quite unlike the dirty 
 hue of the negro,— the eye rests far more complacently 
 on their naked limbs than on those of the whiter castes; 
 they are tall, for the most part, and beautifully propor¬ 
 tioned, sinewy and slender—the heel on a line with the 
 back of the leg, a noble expression of countenance, and 
 fine phrenological foreheads; their honesty is pro¬ 
 verbial. Cultivation, I think, might do wonders with 
 them.* So much for the race in general; the indivi- 
 
 * Mr. Ramsay's Observations on the races of Nubia. “ The people 
 here (Philse) are of the Berber race, or Nubians, a very fine nation. 
 No people have ever struck me so much ; they are almost invariably 
 handsome and elegant in their form and features, with an expression 
 of high intelligence and mind I never saw in other people of their 
 rank. Talking phrenologicallv, their heads are perfect , and I can¬ 
 not help thinking their capabilities for civilization very great. They 
 seem to have a great deal of ready wit and humour, to judge by the 
 constant repartees and roars of laughter; and their songs are beau¬ 
 tiful.”— Letter of Mr. Ramsay , Feb. 18. 
 
 “Jan. 12, Kalabshi. The natives are the most savage uncivilized 
 human beings one could wish to see. They grow darker at each 
 village, but have by no means the attributes of genuine Nubians ; 
 their hue is more like that of a very dirty collier in England, or a 
 sweep, than the pure, shining, polished skin of the true breed. The 
 
UPPER CATARACTS. 
 
 133 
 
 duals on this occasion—naked except the waist, and 
 full of fun and merriment, punted and rowed us up the 
 river, as far as the boat could ascend, and then, landing 
 on the western bank, we proceeded on foot, alternately 
 over sand and rock, to Abousir, a lofty cliff that over¬ 
 hangs the rapids, conspicuous from afar, and covered, 
 we found, with the names of former travellers. 
 
 Climbing the rock, the Nile lay before us like the 
 map of an Archipelago—so it seemed to me at first, till 
 the eye presently discovered the main stream of the 
 river winding between myriads of little black islets, 
 tufted with the Egyptian acacia, and glistening in the 
 sunbeams like those near Philas—themselves washed 
 
 little dingy, naked children, running away to hide themselves, or 
 staying to joke and laugh at us, which they do with all their heart 
 and soul, as different in appearance as in manners from their neigh¬ 
 bours south of Essouan, have a very savage look.” 
 
 “ Jan. 17, beyond Derr. The country grows wilder and more 
 picturesque. The varieties of inhabitants are remarkable ; each vil¬ 
 lage appears to have a different race—at one point, a group of tho¬ 
 rough-bred, woolly-headed, frightful negroes—at another, that race 
 we call (whether rightly or no) Nubians , a handsome interesting 
 people, not black, though nearly approaching to it—at another, the 
 Berbers (I suppose), a peculiarly fine set, with the free independent 
 air of the desert, and simple elegant dress. They are considered as 
 having the best character of any people in every respect. The Arabs 
 also here and there appear, the same as in Egypt. The women’s 
 dress in some places is peculiarly elegant, consisting of wide trousers, 
 drawn tight at the ankle, and apparently continued as a sort of boots 
 over the shoes. These reach to the waist; the upper robe is very 
 elegant, formed apparently of a doubled cloth, square, and with a 
 hole for the head, which is passed through it, and it then falls grace¬ 
 fully over the whole body. The hair is always in layers of curls, 
 with something black on the top. The whole dress is of coarse un¬ 
 bleached linen cloth, and has a thoroughly different appearance from 
 that of the Arab women, which is always deep blue or black. But 
 I have seen none of them near; they never show themselves, nor 
 ever appear in company with the men, who come in troops down to 
 the banks.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
134 
 
 UPPER CATARACTS. 
 
 by hundreds of collateral streamlets that glitter, foam, 
 and roar in emulation of their parent. Ten miles in 
 length, and two in breadth, are these rapids. It is the 
 lower cataract on an infinitely larger scale, but the im¬ 
 pressions excited are widely different; there you feel 
 an interest in every rock as you pass it, you admire 
 their savage grandeur individually, and the rapids the 
 while are dashing away under your feet—there you 
 thread a labyrinth—here you look down on one, quite 
 bewildered. 
 
 The prospect, miles to the eastward, is bounded by 
 the prolongation of Gebel Mokattam—to the south, by 
 the mountains of Dongola—it was something to have 
 seen them ! It was a sad thought, that I had reached 
 the limits of my southern excursion; sad—though now 
 every step I took would bring me nearer to my happy 
 homes in England and Scotland! From one of the 
 western crags I had a partial view over the Libyan 
 desert—a dreary sight. 
 
 While William carved our names on the rock, where 
 many a future traveller will read them in association 
 with those of Belzoni, Burckhardt, Irby and Mangles, 
 &c.,* I enjoyed half an hour’s delightful rumination, on 
 a most commodious natural seat that overhangs the 
 Nile beyond the rock Abousir, and on which, before 
 departure, I cut my cipher by way of claiming it as my 
 own; Coutts will perhaps one day find it there, and 
 add his own to it. Nowhere else have we attempted to 
 
 * “ There are many names carved on this bourn of travellers, 
 amongst others, those of Belzoni in 1816, Burckhardt, Irby and 
 Mangles, Lord Lindsay, and his lost friend, whose name I re-carved 
 with care, as one of the tew memorials that remain of one of the 
 most amiable of men .”—The Crescent and the Cross, vol. i, p. 315. 
 —These few words, and the tribute to the memory of the departed 
 recorded by them, gave soothing pleasure to the heart of Mr. Ram¬ 
 say’s mother, now, within the last few months, no more. [1847.] 
 
SONGS OF THE BERBERS 
 
 135 
 
 immortalize ourselves in this way. At Petra, if we ever 
 get there, we have a plot in petto—to carve our names, 
 “ Raines’ ” and “ Lindes’,” (they are actually written so 
 in many ancient charters,) on some conspicuous rock 
 or wall, in hieroglyphical characters within king’s 
 ovals; “what a splutter” (as Sir Walter Scott said) 
 will this make among the antiquaries! 
 
 Our Nubian sailors entertained us with some most 
 extraordinary Berber songs, as we returned to Wady 
 Haifa—there was much more melody in them than in 
 the Arab airs. One of them ended in the wildest and 
 shrillest single yell I ever heard—single in its effect, 
 though decomposable into a rapid reiteration of the 
 same high note, springing from the throat like stones 
 from the mouth of the Geisers, followed by a second 
 yell of one single note, every voice joining in it—two 
 or three heathenish laughs, liker the neighing of a score 
 of horses than aught human, finishing off the melody. 
 
 We started northward on regaining the “ Hippopo¬ 
 tamus,” rowing now to expedite our motions, floating 
 down stream between two and three miles an hour. 
 From Alexandria to Wady Haifa the distance is nine 
 hundred and sixty miles. 
 
 Words cannot express to you how much I have 
 enjoyed my trip hitherto, but this expedition within the 
 tropic I shall always remember with peculiar delight. 
 How you would both enjoy Nubia! The weather is 
 lovely, the mornings and evenings exquisitely beautiful, 
 fresh breezes tempering the heat; the sky, by day, 
 transparent as crystal—at sunset, a sea of molten gold, 
 rich beyond conception—and at night, lighted by a 
 moon and stars so brilliant and clear! I finished 
 Cowper’s Task one evening, lying on the divan in the 
 tent, with no lamp but the fair moon to read by; the 
 air was balm, and the musical dash of the oar shed 
 
136 
 
 DESCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 a thousand sparkles of broken light as we glided 
 along. 
 
 Thursday, however, the 26th of January, dawned on 
 us the gloomiest morning we had seen in Egypt,—now, 
 at last, for an adventure! Few travellers have been 
 shipwrecked in the cataracts of the Nile ! 
 
 The Reis made his appearance, and we started on 
 our descent to Essouan immediately after breakfast. 
 The first rapid we passed prosperously, with the excep¬ 
 tion of one bulge; but the rope attached to the vessel, 
 to retard the rapidity of her descent, breaking as we 
 approached the second and more difficult one, we were 
 hurried off by the torrent, and struck against a rock 
 under water, the same which Ibrahim Pasha ran against 
 some years ago, when his whole crew perished. "VVe, 
 most providentially, struck sideways, or we should pro¬ 
 bably have suffered the same fate. The force of the 
 blow drove us on a shoal near an isolated rock in the 
 middle of the river; the vessel grounded—our men 
 leaped on the rock, and secured her with ropes. Our 
 first idea was to lighten her by landing the heavy 
 boxes, &c., but the water (for we had sprung two or 
 three leaks) gained on us so fast, that all hands were 
 set to work to remove the luggage to the island—every¬ 
 thing was hurried out, pell-mell; I was in the cabin, 
 giving out the last handful of books, after pocketing 
 one or two that I valued, and a bag of gold pieces, on 
 the chance of being able to save nothing else, when the 
 cry rose that we were going down the stream again ! I 
 sprung out; the vessel was edging away from the rock 
 —I leaped and caught by my hands, my feet in the 
 water; the Arabs pulled me up, and I was safe, thank 
 God! Twice did the boat nearly escape us, the cur¬ 
 rent was so violent; at last we got her safely lashed to 
 the rock with all the ropes we had, and for an hour, or 
 
DESCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 137 
 
 more, the men were occupied in landing everything 
 portable, first our things, then the oars, planks, &c., of 
 the boat; lastly, their own stores of dates and biscuits, 
 which they would not touch, honest fellows! till ours 
 were safe. We expected every minute to see the ropes 
 break and the boat topple over, lying sideways as she 
 did, the deck half under water. 
 
 Here we were then, and a most extraordinary scene 
 it was to be in ! wild and picturesque at all times, 
 doubly so now, dark purple clouds lowering around us 
 rain pouring, (a wonder of itself in Upper Egypt,) 
 lightnings flashing, and thunder outroaring the rapids 
 that were dashing past on either side our islet, covered 
 as it was with boxes, books, pipes, pistols, guns, 
 crockery, pigeons, fowls, lambs, goats; and, last and 
 least, two chameleons,—we had bought them at Derr, 
 the capital of Nubia, and had had great fun with 
 them.* Our Arabs and Nubians—some were sitting 
 idle on the baggage, others unloading the vessel; a 
 
 * “ Jan. 22. Gave half a piastre for a couple of chameleons, which 
 we have been trying, unsuccessfully, to tame. Their natural colour 
 appears to be a tine green, which is changed into a deep brown or 
 black, and varies between the two. It is a very curious animal, like 
 a lizard in general appearance, but much slower in its motions, and 
 differently organized. The body is about four inches long, and the 
 tail, which is long and tapering, about double that length. It has a 
 large head and an enormous mouth ; the eyes are covered with a 
 skin the same as its body, with a small hole in the centre, which 
 they have the power of directing to any point they choose, so that 
 they can see in all possible directions, without moving the head; 
 each eye is moved quite independently of the other, so that one is 
 often pointed forward while the other looks backward. The feet are 
 divided into two parts, of the same size and form, with three sharp 
 claws on each part, and they have the power of grasping with the 
 two divisions, as well as hanging by the tail; the division and action 
 of the feet are on much the same principle as those of our hands and 
 thumb, only as if there were two hands thus united, with three 
 fingers each.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
138 
 
 DESCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 messenger every now and then catamaraning it from 
 the shore on a log of wood, or fearlessly dashing 
 through the rapids, calculating his distance, and the 
 necessary allowance for the force of the current, with 
 the most unerring precision. Our captain, meanwhile, 
 sitting on the edge of the rock, bareheaded and almost 
 naked, was raving like a madman, now rocking back¬ 
 wards and forwards, now stretching out his hands, apos¬ 
 trophizing his boat, and crying like a child; one of the 
 sailors covered his head, exposed as it was to the rain, 
 and robed him—he was quite unconscious of the atten¬ 
 tion ; I never saw a man so utterly unnerved. The 
 crew, too, were blubbering at first, but afterwards they 
 worked like men. Abdallah was active and useful; 
 Missirie, a host in himself, was packing up this, tying 
 up that, stowing away the books, and preparing every¬ 
 thing for the re-embarkation which we hoped to effect, 
 though we were not unprepared for the necessity of 
 making the rock our bed for the night; a situation, 
 altogether—what with the w T ar of elements, the wreck, 
 our uncertainty how w T e wrnre to get off, if at all—as 
 impossible to describe as to forget. 
 
 We had ample time, three hours or more, to reflect 
 on the kindness of Providence in directing us against 
 the rock we struck on; had we missed it, we should 
 have been hurried down the cataract, at the certainty, 
 almost, of being dashed to pieces, had we grounded 
 nearer the first rapid, we must have swum for our 
 lives—we should have had no islet to take refuge on, 
 such as proved our safety this morning. 
 
 Having sent to Pliilae and Essouan for help, both 
 messages took effect in due time, the former producing 
 a small boat, the latter our friend of Ivorosko, Wellee 
 Kiashef! who, we found afterwards, was just stepping 
 into his boat for Esneh, when he heard of our mis- 
 
DESCENT OF THE CATARACTS. 
 
 139 
 
 fortune, and came forthwith to our assistance, with his 
 Armenian secretary, and the dragoman, or interpreter, 
 of a German baron, hound on the Pasha’s service to 
 the gold mines in Sennaar. 
 
 The boat from Philre was beautifully manoeuvred; 
 it darted past us, and down the rapids, like an arrow, 
 and then veered round under the rocks, and was towed 
 up by the Nubians, swimming from rock to rock, till 
 they brought it alongside our islet. After getting all 
 our valuables on board, we embarked with Missirie, 
 Abdallah, Achmet, the captain of our boat, the portly 
 Reis of the Cataracts, and the surviving chameleon—for 
 the other, drooping for some days past, had died on the 
 island—altogether a tremendous freight. We started, 
 held back for a while by a rope till we reached the line 
 of the rapid; then they let go, and, without rope or 
 guidance except the helm, we rushed down between the 
 rocks, cleared them to a wish, and, in a few seconds, 
 reached still water, and rowed to the shore, where we 
 were kindly greeted by the Kiashef. The baggage 
 landed, Missirie arranged a mat and divan, and we sat 
 down and talked with him for an hour or so, waiting 
 for the camels which he had sent from Essouan to 
 carry our baggage. He had also brought donkeys for 
 us, and we accepted a most cordial invitation to dine 
 with him, and lodge in his apartments at the Govern¬ 
 ment-house. No camels appearing, and the day wear¬ 
 ing, we started for Essouan on the Kiashef’s own 
 donkeys, for this good Samaritan would not suffer us 
 to mount the hired beasts, or to pay for them on our 
 arrival. We had ridden but a few minutes, when we 
 met the camels towering along at their stately slow 
 pace.—I should have mentioned, by-the-bye, that, on 
 landing, we let the little chameleon go; Missirie took 
 it to a grassy spot, where I dare say it has been enjoy- 
 
140 
 
 ROAD TO ESSOUAN. 
 
 ing itself, after the fashion of chameleons, ever since. 
 Poor little thing! its adventures surpass even those of 
 the “ Travelled Ant,” in the Evenings at Home ! 
 
 Our road to Essouan lay just within the edge of the 
 eastern desert, through the wildest scenery:—a ravine, 
 which we could only thread our way through one at a 
 time, opening into a broad sandy plain, like the dry 
 bed of a river—both plain and ravine edged in by 
 rocks of the most extraordinary shapes, piled one on 
 another like the fragments of an earlier world—black 
 and massy—not a blade of vegetation, — contrasting 
 strangely with sheets of the finest white sand, spark¬ 
 ling as snow, and rippled all over by the wind, lying 
 here and there in broad wreaths between them,—and a 
 clear evening sky above us, for the day had brightened 
 after the storm. The sandy valley ends in the cemetery 
 of old Essouan, the Saracenic town, depopulated (as I 
 mentioned above) centuries ago by the plague, and 
 deserted ever since. Hundreds of tombstones, carved 
 with inscriptions in the old Cufic character, lie on 
 each side the road; ruined mosques, and the shattered 
 walls of the old town, crown the hills on the left, and 
 had a most singular appearance, relieved against the 
 sunset sky. I could scarcely have imagined anything 
 more dreary than the desert, that deathbed of nature; 
 but a cemetery in the desert, and that the forgotten one 
 of a deserted town, strikes cold to the heart. 
 
 It was dusk by the time we dismounted at the 
 Kiashef’s harem, the first house we came to; he 
 brought out a couple of arm-chairs, and gave us a most 
 acceptable cup of coffee, and then, leading the way to 
 the Government-house, ushered us into the presence- 
 chamber, as I suppose I must call it, where the Bey 
 gives audience during the summer. 
 
 Here we again smoked our pipes, and drank the 
 
ESSOUAN. 
 
 141 
 
 coffee of our hospitable friend. William and myself, 
 seated in arm-chairs of state—the Kiashef (as grave 
 and silent as a judge now he was among his country¬ 
 men) and a Turkish officer, on two plain chairs—and 
 the Armenian secretary cross-legged on his mat — 
 formed our party, and a very pleasant one it was, for 
 nothing could he more cordial than their attentions. 
 
 Dinner at last made its appearance. Napkins were 
 first given us; then raisins, and a fiery liqueur made of 
 aniseed, were placed on the table as a whet; then came 
 the dishes dressed a la Turque , which we partook of 
 a VAnglaise; the Turks ate after their fashion, dipping 
 in the dishes very neatly, with pieces of bread for 
 spoons,—little was said during the meal, for the Turks 
 don’t talk on such occasions; lastly, a servant brought 
 water to each of us, to wash our hands, pouring it over 
 them,—then coffee again. We had a good deal of con¬ 
 versation afterwards, through Abdallah and a Nubian 
 who had travelled with Lord Belmore some years ago, 
 and spoke a little Italian. The officer spoke highly of 
 his own achievements in the chase, of having killed 
 (and eaten ?) a lion, &c. &c. A lion, he told us, would 
 never attack a woman, even armed:— 
 
 “ ’Tis said that the lion will turn and flee 
 From a maid in the pride of her purity—” 
 
 I did not expect to hear a sentiment of chivalry in this 
 part of the world. 
 
 About nine we rose and wished the party good night. 
 Missirie, we found, had made our rooms comfortable in 
 the extreme, putting up the camp-bedsteads, making a 
 divan of the cushions of the boat, and getting the things 
 in order; everything almost had been saved. We were 
 much the better for our tea, as you may suppose, and 
 read and wrote afterwards till bedtime, by the light 
 
142 
 
 ESSOUAN. 
 
 of an immense Turkish candle stuck in the orange- 
 basket. 
 
 Next morning, before we were up, Wellee Kiashef 
 had been to see us, and had smoked three pipes; he 
 returned about ten, and breakfasted with us; he drank 
 his tea and ate his omelet with great apparent satis¬ 
 faction, and afterwards smoked his pipe again, seated 
 on the divan, and cherishing his foot. The Armenian 
 secretary also came to see us. An Abyssinian boy 
 attended, the Kiashef’s page, and apparently a great 
 favourite, respectful, but without servility; the Kiashef 
 spoke kindly to him, and the boy made his observations 
 freely, though modestly,—the henchman stood at the 
 door, like Evan MacCombich in Wavei’ley. William 
 gave the Kiashef a musical snuff-box, which he seemed 
 pleased with. After staying about an hour, he again 
 inquired whether he could do anything for us, and pro¬ 
 tested, on our repeating our gratitude for his past kind¬ 
 ness, that really it was “ nothing—nothing.” He then 
 rose to go, and, with kind wishes and salams, we 
 parted. 
 
 We then started, with Abdallah, for the Cataracts, to 
 see after the boat. It was a lovely day, but so hot that 
 we had almost resolved on giving up the walk, when 
 the appearance of some donkeys that we had counter¬ 
 manded determined us to proceed. I was glad to see 
 the Saracenic tombs again in broad daylight; the head¬ 
 stones are in perfect preservation, many of them lying 
 quite loose—dear Anne would have enjoyed a walk 
 among them,—she is e tout a fait Saracenique,’ as Ca- 
 viglia would say. 
 
 We followed nearly the same route as yesterday, and 
 were equally delighted with the extraordinary scenery. 
 Before descending to the river, we took a last look at 
 Philse in the distance, and its beautiful temple. The 
 
WALK TO THE CATARACTS. 
 
 143 
 
 boat, we found, had kept its place during the night; 
 the Reis of the Cataracts was there with his men, and 
 they were stopping up the leaks in order to bring her 
 to the bank, that they might get her ready for coming 
 down to Essouan the next morning. Swarms of Nubian 
 children clustered around us with curiosities for sale; 
 we bought some necklaces and bracelets of red and 
 white beads and straws, (they show beautifully on a 
 black skin,) and several fetiches, or amulets, which 
 they wear generally under the right arm —the dagger 
 under the left; the latter even the children cany. Wil¬ 
 liam dissected one of these fetiches afterwards, and 
 found a long roll of paper inside, covered with Arabic 
 writing and mystical diagrams, magical and astrological 
 apparently. 
 
 The fearlessness of the boatmen, their intimate ac¬ 
 quaintance with every eddy of the river, and their 
 dexterity in manoeuvring, struck us with admiration; 
 wdiile we were standing there, a vessel in full sail, 
 every oar plied, ascended half the rapid, landed some 
 of the crew on a projecting rock, and then floated back 
 again, the broadside to the stream; the most graceful, 
 lady-like retreat imaginable. 
 
 After sauntering about, identifying the scenes of our 
 first and second passage, we returned by a Nubian 
 village built on the shore in a grove of date trees,— 
 plenty of women and children — no reserve in the 
 former, though one of them, whenever we looked at 
 her, hid her face like the Arab women, for fear of the 
 evil eye probably; the boys w’ere naked, most of them; 
 the little girls wear belts of small leathern thongs. 
 One of the children danced before us, naked, and 
 brandishing a short spear, a thorough young cannibal. 
 
 Next morning we crossed to Elephantine, and had 
 another delightful stroll over the lovely island. It was 
 
144 
 
 ESSOUAN. 
 
 a heavenly day, still and thoughtful; the broad Nile 
 lay before us, sparkling as if with a thousand eyes; 
 the fishermen were paddling about on their catama¬ 
 rans—I have called them so, inadvisedly, perhaps, but 
 they much resemble those used at Madras, if the 
 descriptions I have read be correct; they consist of a 
 log of wood, fixed between two bundles of reeds tied 
 together at the two extremities; the fisher sits on it, 
 not astride, like the Indian, but as on a sledge, and 
 with his single paddle strikes twice or thrice on each 
 side alternately, zigzagging it like a water-fly. I 
 thought the Isle of Flowers lovelier than ever! 
 
 Sunday morning we had a delightful walk along 
 the heights beyond old Syene. A solitary forsaken 
 minaret, or watch-tower, crowns the brow of one of the 
 hills; we climbed up it, and read the service there— 
 some boys who had followed us the whole morning 
 with curiosities for sale, must have thought us magi¬ 
 cians. We extended our walk much further. Every 
 hill is crowned with a mosque, all now forsaken; in 
 one of them that we entered, the arches were all 
 pointed—it is among the tombs and mosques of Old 
 Essouan that Mr. Wilkinson thinks the earliest speci¬ 
 mens may be found of that style of architecture. The 
 oldest known at present is the mosque of Sultan Ahmed 
 e’-Tayloon at Cairo, erected a. d. 879. 
 
 I was reading, most comfortably disposed on the 
 divan, that afternoon, when William entered with a 
 gentleman from India, one of a party of three who 
 had started from Phike in the morning—his friends by 
 land, having heard of our disaster — himself, more 
 adventurous, by water. The Reis presumed to pilot 
 the boat without a rope; the consequence was, that 
 she was hurried by the current against the rocks, and 
 her bottom completely and irreparably stove in. The 
 
ESSOUAN. 
 
 145 
 
 captain went as frantic as ours did, forgot even his 
 child, which was left in the boat; Mr. Clarke, our 
 new acquaintance, caught it up and swam to land. 
 William met Mr. C. on the shore, and advised his 
 applying for rooms in the Government-house, which 
 were granted immediately. 
 
 Soon afterwards the other gentlemen arrived; we 
 asked them, of course, to dinner. Mr. Clarke, a very 
 pleasing, gentleman-like young officer, proved to he 
 the son of Dr. Edward Clarke, the celebrated traveller; 
 his companions were Dr. Mac Lennan, the distin¬ 
 guished physician, chef d’hopital, I believe, at Bom¬ 
 bay—so kindly mentioned by poor Victor Jacquemont 
 in his last letter to his brother,—and Mr. Southhouse, 
 also in the Indian service. We spent a very pleasant 
 evening, and at night sent them some cloaks and the 
 cushions of our divan to sleep on, none of their things 
 having arrived from the wreck. 
 
 Messrs. Mac Lennan and Southhouse breakfasted 
 with us next morning; Clarke, like a man of his word, 
 had gone betimes to the boat, having promised the 
 men to do so. He found them very hungry, and yet 
 they had not touched their master’s provisions, nor 
 attacked the fowls in the hencoop; one poor fellow 
 being quite naked, he arrayed him in a shooting-jacket 
 and knee-bi'eeches ; a strange figure he must have cut! 
 
 They all three dined with us, and, after another 
 agreeable evening, we parted on the stairhead—such a 
 night it was! I stood long there watching it,—bril¬ 
 liant, and yet inexpressibly soft and lovely, the stars, 
 varying in tint and apparent distance, twinkling 
 through the whispering date-trees, or crowning them 
 like diamonds on the forehead of beauty. 
 
 Finally, on Tuesday morning, the 31st of January, 
 a. d. 1837, we started for Thebes, after bidding our 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 ROCK TEMPLE OF EBSAMBUL. 
 
 Indian friends farewell. They felt most kindly on the 
 subject of the trifling attentions we had paid them, and 
 expressed it not only by words but deeds; think of 
 Clarke’s sending us half a dozen of Hodson’s ale, an 
 Indian luxury, and Dr. Mac Lennan a dozen of 
 Madeira, and four bottles of Constantia! What sun¬ 
 shiny days such are in human life ! 
 
 And so we bade adieu to Essouan—sorrowfully, at 
 least on my part; I had received kindness there, and 
 had shared with William in showing it to others. I 
 took more than one last look at the noble rocks, and 
 the minaret we visited on Sunday, conspicuous from 
 afar on the hill beyond them, and the lovely Isle of 
 Flowers—never, probably, to greet her again! They 
 had become “things familiar” to us, and it was painful 
 
 “Even from their lifelessness to part.” 
 
 Since that morning we have been leading our Nile 
 life again, the old routine; the vessel is all right, and 
 everything goes on as it did before our wreck. What 
 mercies all these are to be grateful for ! 
 
 P.S.—I find, on looking over “ fytte the second” of 
 this interminable epistle, (I hope you will not consider 
 it a romance,) that I have omitted all mention of our 
 visit to the magnificent temple of lie, ( 39 ) or the Sun, at 
 Ebsambul, near Wady Haifa, discovered by Burckhardt, 
 and opened by Belzoni, Irby, and Mangles:—two 
 words only—I must not pass over the most stupendous 
 excavation in the whole valley of the Nile. 
 
 You enter between four enormous statues of Raineses 
 the Great, about sixty feet in height, seated—the ex¬ 
 pression of countenance almost feminine in its mild 
 beauty; they are admirably sculptured, in full relief, 
 their backs scarcely resting against the rock ; looking 
 up at them from the southern and shadowy angle of the 
 
ROCK TEMPLE OF EBSAMBUL. 147 
 
 excavation, their sublimity is, indeed, almost over¬ 
 powering. 
 
 The doorway is surmounted by a beautiful sculpture 
 of the hawk-headed deity Osiris, and that by a frieze 
 of hieroglyphics, above which—strange finish for such 
 a work !—sit a row of monkeys,—but nothing, however 
 quaint or extraordinary, is out of character in Egyptian 
 architecture. 
 
 Descending between the colossal statues, you enter 
 the great hall, supported on each side by four columns, 
 faced with gigantic statues reaching to the ceiling, 
 similar in dress to those we saw at Guerf Hassan, but, 
 in proportions and execution, far finer ; nor are they so 
 awful—you have room to look at these—there you felt 
 the passage between such monsters too narrow. 
 
 The temple was excavated soon after the accession 
 of Rameses, and the sculptures seem to refer chiefly to 
 his earliest campaigns. On either side of the door, 
 inside, is a gigantic figure of the Conqueror, holding 
 by the hair a group of kneeling captives, back to back, 
 and about to slay them; they are of different nations 
 and colours—you distinguish blacks of various castes, 
 and the same Shorii, with the forked beards and aqui¬ 
 line noses, who die so nobly at Beit Wellee. The 
 sculptures on the south wall appear to record his 
 victories over this people. Standing on his chariot, 
 drawn by two horses, with the usual feathers on their 
 heads, the rein fastened to his girdle behind him, his 
 bow in his hand—a perfect arc—Rameses pours his 
 unerring arrows on the enemy, many of whom have 
 already fallen, and others vainly try to avoid them ; 
 farther on, dismounted and trampling on one of their 
 chiefs, he seizes another by the arm, and pierces him 
 with his lance. On the opposite or northern wall are 
 sculptured battles on a smaller scale, spirited, but in- 
 
148 
 
 HERMENT. 
 
 ferior to those of Thebes—the preparation for the 
 battle, the parting of a warrior and his wife, the clash of 
 chariots and riders, and horses falling under the arrows 
 of the Egyptians—all the tumult of war and bloodshed. 
 After all, these war-scenes are composed in the very 
 spirit of a Highland pibroch ; the gathering, the ad¬ 
 vance, the battle, the song of triumph, the welcome 
 home, and the coronach for the dead—you hear, and 
 you see them all. 
 
 Beyond this noble hall, there are a second, sup¬ 
 ported by square columns, a cella, and an adytum, with 
 four deities seated at the extremity, and an altar before 
 them, as at Guerf Hassan ; besides many lateral cham¬ 
 bers of inferior interest. 
 
 There are several other temples of much interest 
 between Wady Haifa and Essouan ; but I will only 
 mention one of them—that of Hermes Trismegistus at 
 Dakke—beautiful! beautiful! What fame such a visit 
 would have conferred on us in the good old days of 
 astrology, alchemy, and the Black Art !* 
 
 Section III. 
 
 “ Fytte the Second” has kept, upon the whole, so free 
 from antiquities, that I shall make no apology to my 
 dear mother for reverting to that seducing subject in 
 the present, after which it will be 
 
 “ Adew, ye get nae mair of me” 
 on the subject of Egypt. 
 
 * “ Dandour, Jan. 24. The temple is a small one, and hardly 
 mentioned in the books, but is very interesting. The turn of the 
 ornaments on the doors, &c., is elegant, and the hieroglyphics, 
 though not of the palmy days of Rameses II., are of that substan¬ 
 tially good style, which never offends the eye by any glaring 
 defects or false drawing and taste.”— Mr. Ramsay s Journal. 
 
HERMENT. 
 
 149 
 
 Thebes I have said more than enough about already; 
 but there is a little temple at Herment, old Hermonthis, 
 a few hours’ sail to the south of it, well worth mention¬ 
 ing as a rich mythological museum, and invested, 
 moreover, with peculiar interest as having been built 
 by the unblushing Cleopatra, to commemorate the 
 birth of Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar. I was 
 much struck at finding it a perfect Augean stable, dis¬ 
 gustingly filthy within, and plastered without with 
 cakes of dung, drying for fuel. The accouchement of 
 the goddess Ritho, symbolical of Cleopatra’s, is sculp¬ 
 tured in the adytum, and the scheme of young 
 Caesarion’s nativity on the ceiling.* ( ,0 ) 
 
 Nor must I wholly pass over the far-famed temple of 
 Dendera, a most extraordinary pile, unlike anything 
 we had seen in Egypt, at once grotesque in its details 
 and magnificent in its general effect, and in perfect 
 preservation. The ceiling of the portico is covered 
 with astronomical subjects, representing, for the most 
 part, the procession of the Sun and Moon, in their 
 
 * “Feb. 5. Rose off the temple of Hermonthis, which we 
 visited before breakfast. It is interesting, and differs from any we 
 have yet seen in style and appearance, which are such as to have 
 induced Dr. Richardson, and other travellers before the hierogly- 
 phical discoveries were made, to consider it as one of the oldest in 
 Egypt. It seems never to have been completed; at least the ovals 
 for the names have never been filled up in the interior of the 
 temple, and very few on the outside. The portico is composed of 
 tall pillars in the style of that age, but not very graceful, from 
 being too near each other. The interior is very simple, consisting 
 of two chambers, very lofty and very gloomy; the furthest and 
 smallest one seems merely a slice of the whole building, built off, 
 and, consequently, its length is the breadth of the temple, its width 
 not above three yards, and its height equal to the other. A window 
 at the top throws light on the roof, which has been called a zodiac, 
 and bears some appearance of being so. It is a strange device, in 
 all probability an astrological scheme of nativity of the young 
 
150 
 
 DENDERA. 
 
 barks of state, through the signs of the zodiac; each 
 zodiac is involved within the interminable body of that 
 celestial boa, Nith, the mother of the Sun, whose 
 beams are represented, at the moment of his birth, 
 illuminating the disk of the moon. Strange mytholo¬ 
 gical fancies are sculptured here—snakes, for instance, 
 with human arms or legs, or erect on their tails, pre¬ 
 senting offerings, &c. When the sepoys were here, 
 they recognised the gods of India in those sculptured 
 on the walls, and worshipped with the same ceremonies 
 they would have performed at Benares. This of itself 
 proves the brotherhood of the two religions.* ( 41 ) 
 
 A deadly feud raged whilom between the crocodile- 
 haters of Dendera, and the crocodile-worshippers of 
 Ombos; one of the latter having fallen into the clutches 
 of the Tentyrites, “ they eat him up, baith stoup and 
 roup,” as Satan and his crew are said to have served 
 the victor of Culloden. Near the temple of Ombos (a 
 noble relic) is a large wall of crude brick, on which, 
 Dr. Richardson supposes, the sacred crocodile took 
 
 Caesarion. On the walls are represented the birth, education, &c., 
 of the same child, or rather of the young God Haphre, his patron, 
 I suppose. Astronomical subjects cover the ends of the room. In 
 the larger apartment is a strange series of designs; the child is pre¬ 
 sented to all the different gods, and the whole show of the divine 
 menagerie is exhibited—cats, dogs, crocodiles, &c., as well as the 
 hideous figures of Typhon and his consort. A winged scarabaeus, 
 with the globe, also the winged hawk, are conspicuous objects over 
 the door, where the child is seated on the horns of the bull Apis. 
 The demon Typhon is the only one I have ever seen represented 
 with his face towards the spectator, and his body turned half so, 
 between front and profile—and this only in one other place, where 
 he is made of enormous size and hideous deformity. A house is 
 built on the top of this temple, and it stands in a dungyaxd.”— 
 Mr. Ramsay's Journat. 
 
 * “Dendera. However grand and stupendous this tempte may 
 be, it is not worthy of the lavish encomiums most travellers indulge 
 
TOMBS OF BENI HASSAN. 
 
 151 
 
 his daily airing, and, below it, the tank in which he 
 bathed—poor wretch, to be debarred his own imperial 
 Nile ! 
 
 The granite quarries at Hadjar Silsili are wondrous 
 indeed! What think you of squares a hundred feet 
 deep, and as spacious as those of London, cut out of 
 the mountain, and communicating with each other by 
 long winding streets or passages ? 
 
 At Beni Hassan we visited the oldest tombs we have 
 seen in Egypt, excavated in Osirtesen’s time, seventeen 
 centuries before our Saviour. The owner of one of 
 them seems to have been a regular sporting character; 
 his dogs stand by his side in the full-length portrait 
 drawn of him, as is usually the case, in one corner of 
 the tomb; hunting, fowling, and fishing scenes are 
 represented in other compartments; a mock fight, and 
 the successive rounds of a wrestling match, (or, pro¬ 
 bably, of several, for there are scores of groups, ex¬ 
 hibiting every attitude and vicissitude of the struggle,) 
 adorn the extremity of the tomb. These wrestling 
 matches are found in most of the tombs at Beni 
 
 in—perhaps because it is the first they see in Egypt, whether in 
 ascending the Nile, or coming overland from India. It bear, 
 extreme evidence of the great decadence of art at the period of its 
 erection. The spirit which animated the early ages in this country 
 had long passed away, the forms only remained—these were pre¬ 
 served scrupulously by the interested zeal of the priests, and under 
 the Romish rule, which considered all religions equally useful, were 
 dignified by such dedications as this. But the peculiar turn of 
 spirit which breathes from even the most insignificant remains of 
 the Pharaonic period, is quite wanting here; it is dead, formal, and 
 in details quite uninteresting—or, if one’s curiosity be excited by 
 the zodiacs and planispheres which are one of the peculiar features 
 of this temple, the fact again recurs to the mind, that they are, 
 after all, but priestly imitations of what we have already seen in 
 the tombs of the Pharaohs; made to be stared at, not felt and 
 understood.”— Mr. Ramsay's Journal. 
 
152 
 
 SITE OF MEMPHIS. 
 
 Hassan; it was evidently a science in Egypt at a very 
 early period. 
 
 The game of draughts, two seven-stringed harps, the 
 trick of tossing up and catching three balls successively, 
 the pirouette with extended arms, practised by figu¬ 
 rantes in the modern opera, and the attendance of 
 dwarfs on the Egyptian nobles, are among the note¬ 
 worthy objects depicted in these curious sepulchres. 
 The columns that support them are of two orders, both 
 extremely primitive ; polygonal, like those of Thebes, 
 slightly fluted, and very elegant; or, simply, four lotus- 
 stalks tied together by a broad band under the buds. 
 
 And now, my dear mother, I have almost done. You 
 must be sick of temples and tombs ; I fear many things 
 I have expatiated on, in the hope of their amusing 
 you, must have failed to do so ; but all I can say in 
 excuse is, that I have spared you much. I shall con¬ 
 tinue, however, to write lengthily, for I think you and 
 Anne will be pleased to follow me, step by step, 
 throughout my pilgrimage. Memphis is the only place 
 we have now to visit; in tv\o or three days we shall 
 arrive at Cairo, but shall be very sorry to bid adieu to 
 the little bark, that has been our home so long, and in 
 which we have become so thoroughly domesticated. 
 
 Port of Cairo, 23rd Feb. 
 
 We arrived here this evening, but do not intend 
 landing till to-morrow ; this is the last night we are to 
 spend on board the Hippopotamus ! 
 
 We have spent the whole day in visiting the site of 
 Memphis and the pyramids of Dashour and Saccara. 
 Mounds and embankments, a few broken stones, and 
 two colossal statues, disinterred a few years ago by our 
 friend Caviglia, are the solitary remains of the ancient 
 capital of Lower Egypt. We rode for miles through 
 
PYRAMIDS OF DASHOUR AND SACCARA. 153 
 
 groves of palm and acacia, cultivated fields, and wastes 
 of sand, over what we knew must be the site of 
 Memphis, but every other vestige of her ancient 
 grandeur has disappeared. Noph is, indeed, “ waste 
 and desolate.” 
 
 The colossus of Rameses the Great, forty feet in 
 height, lies on its face—the workmanship beautiful, the 
 features (mild and benignant) in perfect preservation. 
 This was, without doubt, one of the six statues (of him¬ 
 self, his wife, and four of his sons) erected by Rameses 
 in front of the great temple of Vulcan, which, from the 
 descriptions of the ancients, must have been a wonder 
 of the world. A short distance to the south lies a small 
 statue, about ten or twelve feet high, we thought, and 
 which, perhaps, belonged to the edifice where the bull 
 Apis was kept and exhibited, which lay in that direc¬ 
 tion according to Herodotus. This is all:—how truly 
 has the prophecy been fulfilled, “ I will destroy the 
 idols, and will cause their images to cease out of 
 Noph!” O 
 
 Near the temple of Vulcan, the site of which is now 
 completely overgrown with date-trees, lay the Lake 
 Acherusia—whence the fictions of Charon and his boat, 
 and the Elysian fields. We crossed the dry bed on 
 our way to Saccara. The Sheikh and his friends were 
 enjoying otiurn cum dignitate under an acacia, as we 
 rode past the village. The groves of acacia near 
 Saccara and Mitraheni are mentioned eighteen hun¬ 
 dred years ago. 
 
 The principal pyramid at Saccara is built in five 
 degrees, or steps, like the Tower of Babel; there is 
 another, some leagues to the south, similarly built, and 
 called the False Pyramid; magnificent at a distance, it 
 loses its grandeur in proportion to the nearness of your 
 approach. 
 
154 PYRAMIDS OF DASHOUR AND SACCARA. 
 
 The two great Pyramids of Dashour are very beauti¬ 
 ful, each about seven hundred feet square, but of much 
 lower elevation than those of Djizeh. We descended 
 into the northern one by a steep and sloping passage, 
 for two hundred feet, and crawling on our wrists and 
 feet some yards farther, on a level, found ourselves 
 in the first of two lofty chambers, connected by a low 
 passage, and leading to a third by another passage, the 
 entrance to which was too high for us to reach it without 
 a ladder. The sti’ucture of these apartments is very 
 remarkable, each successive course of stone, beginning 
 from about ten or eleven feet from the ground, project¬ 
 ing about six inches beyond the one below it, till the 
 two walls meet. It is said to resemble the inside of the 
 Cyclopean or Pelasgic building at Argos, popularly 
 called the Treasury of Atreus. 
 
 We rode between many other pyramids, some of them 
 still preserving their shape, though partially covered 
 with sand, others already sinking into tumuli, or enor¬ 
 mous barrows ; these latter are, perhaps, the oldest 
 of all. 
 
 A curious root, transparent and juicy as a white 
 radish, grows hei'e under the sand, betraying its exist¬ 
 ence by a tiny stalk, as thin as a blade of grass, shooting 
 above the surface. Southey, I think, alludes to it in 
 one of his poems. 
 
 The ride from Saccara to the point where we regained 
 the boat, about an hour north of a place called Sheikh 
 Etmin, was very beautiful—through extensive palm- 
 groves clustering round Arab villages and encampments 
 of the Bedouins—wandering Ishmaelites—the pyramids 
 of Djizeh, contemporary with then - father Abraham, 
 towering in the distance. 
 
COLONEL VYSE. 
 
 155 
 
 February 24. 
 
 Once more at Grand Cairo—soon, I hope, to leave 
 it for Mount Sinai, Petra, and Jerusalem—for such is 
 the route we intend attempting. We shall travel on 
 camels and dromedaries, and sleep in tents, like the 
 patriarchs. 
 
 Adieu, my dear mother! 
 
 P.S.—You will be glad to hear that I have sent our 
 friend the Kiashef a little Arabic library, consisting of 
 Robinson Crusoe, two or three books on history, the 
 Ai'abic atlas I mentioned in my last letter from Cairo, 
 a summary of the Old, and the whole of the New Tes¬ 
 tament. Adieu once more. 
 
 March 2. 
 
 P.S. (bis.)—We visited the Pyramids yesterday, and 
 were most kindly received by Colonel Vyse, who is car¬ 
 rying on his researches there in person, Caviglia having- 
 quitted the field. Pie has attacked the three Pyramids 
 and the Sphinx, all at once, with a troop of two hun¬ 
 dred Arabs. In Cheops’s—he is in hopes of discovering 
 the chamber above Davison’s, and an entrance on the 
 western side, corresponding to that on the northern in 
 its degree of distance from the centre, calculating that, 
 the one being so many feet to the left, the other will be 
 as many to the right of it. We saw an immense stone, 
 that his workmen had dislodged, roll down the side of 
 the pyramid; it was sad to see the sleep of four thou¬ 
 sand years so rudely broken ! 
 
 Colonel Vyse is cutting right into the heart of the 
 third pyramid, but as yet has found no chamber; when 
 he reaches the centre, he intends boring right up and 
 down. He has bored thirty feet into the Sphinx, in 
 expectation of finding the chamber said to exist inside 
 
156 
 
 COLONEL VYSE. 
 
 it—as yet without effect. He has many other ideas 
 experimenting, and I should not be surprised if he 
 make some curious discoveries.* 
 
 We dined with him, and returned to Cairo, much 
 gratified with his kind attentions, the same afternoon. 
 
 * Colonel Vyse’s success subsequent to our visit to him at the 
 Pyramids has indeed been most gratifying. For a full account of 
 his remarkable discoveries, and of those carried on subsequently by 
 his coadjutor, Mr. Perring, see the “Operations carried on at the 
 Pyramids of Gizeh in 1837, &c., by Colonel Howard Vyse,” Lond. 
 3 vols. 1840; and the large work by Mr. Perring. [1847.] 
 
 * 
 
LETTERS 
 
 ON 
 
 EDOM AND THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 “ Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wil¬ 
 derness, for their violence against the sons of Judah, because they 
 shed innocent blood in their land; 
 
 “ But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem shall remain 
 from generation to generation ; 
 
 “ And I will avenge their blood which I have not avenged: and 
 Jehovah will dwell in Sion.” 
 
 Joel , iii. 19, 20, 21.— Abp. Newcome's translation. 
 
 “ Those holy fields, 
 
 Over whose acres walk’d those blessed feet, 
 
 Which, fourteen hundred years ago, were nail’d, 
 
 For our advantage, on the bitter cross.” 
 
 1 King Henry IV. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
EDOM AND THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Journey to Mount Sinai. Desert of Suez—Mara—Route of the 
 Israelites—Wady Shellal—Wady Mokatteb—Wadi Feiran — 
 Ascent to the Sinaite Mountains—Ascent of Mount St. Catherine 
 —Of Gebel Mousa—Of Gebel Minnegia, possibly the real Sinai. 
 
 Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, 
 March 21, 1837. 
 
 My dear Anne, — Finding a Polish pilgrim here, 
 about to return to Cairo, I seize the opportunity of 
 letting you and my dear mother know, a month sooner 
 than otherwise 1 could, how well we have got on 
 hitherto, and under what peculiarly favourable au¬ 
 spices we are likely to continue our journey by Petra 
 to Jerusalem. 
 
 On Monday, the 6th of March, we started on our 
 voyage through the desert, (') a caravan of ten camels, 
 with two tents, one for our followers, Missirie and 
 Abdallah, the other (an Indian one, of bamboos) for 
 ourselves. We arrived at Suez on the fourth day. The 
 hot kamsin, or southerly wind, blew violently all Mon¬ 
 day, bringing clouds of sand, and pelting us with small 
 pebbles, which made our Arab gillie-comstrains skip, as 
 they rattled against their naked legs—never was I in a 
 heavier hail-storm; luckily, I had provided myself at 
 
160 
 
 DESERT OF SUEZ. 
 
 Cairo with a Turkish scarf, which protected my eyes ; 
 my lips were parched and chapped for several days 
 afterwards, and a book in my pocket was scorched as 
 if it had been held to the fire. But we were fairly in 
 the desert — delightful thought! pilgrims following the 
 steps of the Israelites to the Promised Land. 
 
 We halted a little before sunset, and pitched the 
 smaller of our two tents (the wind being too high for 
 the other) in a .hollow between two mounds, which 
 afforded a few thorns and tufts of arid grass for the 
 camels, and tolerable shelter for ourselves. I really 
 felt ashamed when we were fairly established in the 
 tent, seated on our iron bedsteads, with a table, our old 
 shipmate on the Nile, between us—it was far too com¬ 
 fortable. It blew quite a storm the first part of the 
 night, and we thought the tent would have flown away, 
 but it weathered it,—we were covered with sand when 
 we awoke on Tuesday morning; much rain succeeded, 
 but it cleared up before we started, and the day turned 
 out delightful; there was little sunshine, but the wind 
 had changed to the west, a fresh exhilarating breeze. 
 
 The weather, indeed, has been charming ever since. 
 I always commenced the day with a long walk; nothing 
 can be more enjoyable,—the desert, half gravel, half 
 sand, crunches under the feet like snow,—sometimes 
 bounded by low hills, sometimes it stretches out into 
 an interminable plain, but always of the same unvaried 
 hue. We passed skeletons of camels repeatedly, and 
 scattered bones bleached to the whiteness of snow; 
 and, one morning, prowling about near our encamp¬ 
 ment, I found an open grave and a skull grinning up 
 into my face within it—the relic, doubtless, of some 
 hapless pilgrim. Melancholy memorials these! but 
 all was not death there; a frog, a species of gray 
 lizard, some quails and vultures, were symptoms of 
 
DESERT OF SUEZ. 
 
 161 
 
 animal—and various thorny shrubs, a few wild flowers, 
 and a strongly scented plant, (a species of wild camo¬ 
 mile we thought it,) called by the Arabs behharran — 
 of vegetable life; nor should I forget a solitary tree, 
 long conspicuous on the horizon with the apparent 
 dignity of a palm, but which dwindled, long before we 
 reached it, into a stunted thorn, covered with rags 
 streaming in the wind, hung there by every pilgrim as 
 he passes en chemin for Mecca. The half-eaten carcass 
 of a camel lay beneath it, and the vultures that had 
 been garbaging on it flew heavily away at our ap¬ 
 proach. 
 
 I should have told you that the route we took was 
 that by Mataria, past the ancient Heliopolis, and so 
 north of Gebel Ataka, a long and picturesque ridge of 
 hills, which we coasted all the third day; of a clear 
 pinky gray in the morning, it assumed a deep iron 
 colour after sunset, as the rays died away ; it slants to 
 the southward, as you approach Suez. The Israelites 
 arriving at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness, from 
 the north-west, the land of Goshen, turned southwards, 
 a day’s journey, to Pihahiroth, “ the mouth of the 
 ridge,” i. e. of this very mountain Ataka; closed in by 
 the mountains on each side, with the sea in front and 
 Pharaoh behind, they could only have been saved by 
 such a miraculous interposition as that which is still 
 traditionally remembered in the Arabic name Ataka, or 
 Deliverance. 
 
 On Thursday we started, with the Arabian moun¬ 
 tains, and, as we conceived, the Red Sea, in front of 
 us; it was the mirage! A ship, too, was curiously 
 refracted in the clouds before we came in actual sight 
 of either ship or sea. 
 
 Kodsy Manueli, a Candiote Greek, the East India 
 Company’s agent at Suez, and a shrewd, intelligent 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 SHEIKH HUSSEIN. 
 
 man,* received us with great hospitality, and we found 
 there—and this is the news that I think will please you, 
 the celebrated Hussein, who accompanied Laborde to 
 Petra ten years ago. We struck a bargain with him 
 to convey us to Sinai, and have since engaged him to 
 accompany us during the rest of our travels in Arabia. 
 “ An excellent warrior and hunter,” says Laborde, 
 “ and renowned for his generous hospitality, he unites 
 in himself all the qualities which render a Bedouin 
 respectable, especially those of so much importance to 
 the traveller, unimpeachable integrity, discretion which 
 always deserves to be confided in, and, what is very 
 rare, genuine fidelity.” He is the principal of the three 
 guardians or protectors of the Convent of Mount Sinai, 
 and is known and respected wherever he goes. Laborde 
 made all his arrangements with the other tribes through 
 him, and so shall we.f 
 
 Hussein and I have become great friends; many a 
 kind pat on the back have I had from him. Our inti¬ 
 macy commenced with a long walk one moi’ning, when 
 he and I took one road while the caravan went the 
 other; we had a great deal of pleasant and most ani¬ 
 mated conversation; acting, gesticulating, drawing with 
 my stick on the sand, and the judicious use of the very 
 few Arabic words I have perforce picked up, were gene¬ 
 rally sufficient to make myself understood. We out¬ 
 walked the camels, and sat and chatted a quarter of an 
 hour or twenty minutes under the shadow of a project- 
 
 * Superseded shortly afterwards by an English Vice-Consul, 
 under whom he acted as dragoman when Dr. Robinson passed 
 through Suez. An English hotel has been established there for 
 several years, and stations at intervals on the route across the desert 
 from Cairo have deprived it of its ancient solitary charm. [1847.] 
 
 + Dr. Robinson, who met him a year afterwards at Mount Sinai, 
 describes him as “ now head Sheikh of his tribe, the Oulad Said.” 
 Biblical Researches, frc., vol. i, p. 138. [1847.] 
 
OUR BEDOUINS. 
 
 163 
 
 ing rock, before they came up. My recollection of the 
 names and “ countries” of certain of the Arab clans, 
 allusions to Antar, and such-like scraps of Arab tradi¬ 
 tion, have stood me in great stead. 1 have got much 
 information from Hussein, through Abdallah, for what¬ 
 ever interesting point I asked him about—(do not 
 mistake me—I don’t believe I am master of more than 
 a dozen words of Arabic)—I always repeated through 
 the interpreter. 
 
 Hussein provided us with eleven camels, those of 
 Arabia not being so strong as the Egyptian breed, 
 besides two dromedaries for riding; a dromedary is to 
 a camel what a race-horse is to a dray-horse—there is 
 no generic difference; the Bactrian camel only has the 
 two humps commonly attributed to the dromedary. 
 Most of the camels were accompanied by their owners, 
 all of whom, two excepted, were of Hussein’s tribe, 
 which, I should have told you, is the Waled Said, the 
 principal branch of the Zoalia, the first in consideration 
 of the Tora, or Sinaite, clans. The political constitution 
 of these Bedouin tribes strongly resembles that of our 
 own clans in Scotland; each is divided into several 
 septs, governed by subordinate Sheikhs or Chieftains, 
 under whom the clansmen rally without prejudice to 
 the patriarchal supremacy of the High Chief of the 
 whole race, to whom the chi eitains owe the same 
 deference that the clansmen in general pay themselves. 
 My heart warms to these Bedouin Highlanders, and 
 the Tora tribes are a peculiarly fine race; the whole 
 party, indeed, were good-humoured, hearty fellows.* 
 
 All of us, masters and men, were armed to the teeth, 
 
 * “ Hassan, Hussein’s younger brother, accompanied him — the 
 merry-hearted Hassan, ever smiling and full of fun—he was a great 
 favourite with us.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 BEDOUIN COSTUME. 
 
 William with rifle and gun, myself with holster pistols; 
 every Arab had his sikkeett, or short sword, and some 
 of them long matchlock guns, ornamented with pebbles, 
 shells, and Turkish coins, and they use them very 
 expertly. One of them, unpoetical villain! shot a young 
 gazelle one morning, and had the barbarity to press 
 me to eat it. 
 
 Their attire was very simple,—the frefia , or kerchief 
 of the desert, loosely and gracefully tied round the head 
 by a piece of rope, or a turban—a long white robe of 
 rather cumbrous drapery, though sometimes of lighter 
 material, secured by a girdle—a long blue cloak, 
 (peculiar, I believe, to the Arabs of this peninsula,) 
 and sandals of fish-skin, secured across the instep, and 
 by clasps at the ankles, exposing the foot as in scripture 
 paintings—a small kneading trough or bowl, a leathern 
 bottle for water, a pipe, tobacco-pouch, and sometimes 
 the short crook-headed stick, represented in the hand 
 of Osiris in the Egyptian sculptures, completed their 
 equipment. Throw away the pipe and tobacco, (many 
 of the Bedouins, however — our friend Hussein, for 
 instance—never smoke,)—substitute a lance or a sword 
 for that ignoble weapon the gun,and any one of them might 
 sit for a portrait of the Caliph Omar; you cannot but 
 remember the striking picture your favourite Ockley 
 draws of him, on his journey from Mecca to Jerusalem. 
 
 So much for our guides,—a word or two on our own 
 mode of travelling. I walked generally, for the first 
 three or four hours, in advance of the caravan, resting 
 every now and then under a shadowy rock or shrub, 
 where such was to be found, till it came up, and then off 
 again. Mounted—I read, mused, talked with William, 
 or the Bedouins, through Abdallah, and took notes, 
 till near halting-time, when I generally took another 
 walk. We soon got accustomed to the camels’ pace, 
 
EVENINGS IN THE DESERT. 
 
 165 
 
 which we were told was so fatiguing. ( 2 ) The caravan 
 advances at a regular and certain pace, about three 
 miles an hour; but the individual animals proceed very 
 irregularly, stopping every now and then to graze on 
 the thorny shrubs and scented plants with which the 
 Arabian desert (particularly) abounds; the drivers 
 humour them in this, and are constantly leaving the 
 road, and even scrambling up the rocks, for a handful 
 of any herb the animals are fond of. The first taib I 
 received from my friend Hussein was for feeding a 
 camel tied behind mine, which had not time to crop for 
 itself. 
 
 We generally halted about sunset, on some smooth 
 spot under the rocks or hills, made our camels kneel 
 down, unloaded, and then let them go free to browse a 
 discretion; in half an hour more the tents were pitched, 
 fires blazing around, and the stars above us, for in these 
 countries there is little or no twilight. The camels 
 were then tethered down, and the Bedouins, their frugal 
 meal and merry chat over, wrapped themselves up in 
 their abbas, and went to sleep. We also dozed from 
 dinner till tea-time, and then, after a cheerful cup or 
 two, followed their example. Evenings as peacefid, 
 and cups as cheering as those immortalized by Cowper, 
 yet how different in their accessaries!—no newspapers, 
 no politics, no prose of the present to mar our medita¬ 
 tions on the past. 
 
 We all lent a hand in the tent-pitching; this Bedouin 
 life is quite to my taste,—’tis the realization of one of my 
 childish day-dreams, when I used to pitch a tent on the 
 nursery floor at Muncaster, and call it my home. And 
 yet I have alingering touch of European prejudice; 
 there is something very melancholy in our morning 
 flittings; the tent-pins are plucked up, and, in a few 
 minutes, a dozen holes, a heap or two of ashes, and the 
 
166 
 
 HAS MOUSA. 
 
 marks of the camels’ knees in the sand, soon to be 
 obliterated, are the only traces left of what has been 
 for a while home. There are a thousand allusions to 
 this primitive mansion in Scripture, almost unintelligible, 
 till familiarity with the tent, the camel, and the desert, 
 explains them. I never drive in a tent-pin without 
 thinking of Jael and Sisera. 
 
 Now for our journey. M. Manuely accompanied us 
 to the shore of the Red Sea, and saw us embark for 
 Asia. We crossed in about half an hour. I read the 
 sublime description of the Passage of the Israelites, the 
 song of Moses, and the seventy-seventh Psalm, with 
 the scene before my eyes; for it was a little to the south 
 of Suez that they crossed the gulf. It was a strange 
 and thrilling pleasure to look down on those waters, 
 now so placid, and remember their division—to look 
 up at that azure and spotless sky, and figure to one¬ 
 self the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night 
 that guided the chosen race to the Land of Promised 3 ) 
 
 The view from the shore of Asia is very beautiful; 
 Gebel Ataka, and Gebel Deradje, each running into a 
 long promontory, stretch along the shore of Africa, and 
 nearly opposite the “ mouth of the ridge ” is Ras 
 Mousa, the promontory of Moses; ras and ros mean 
 the same in Arabic and Gaelic. We did not mount 
 till near four, two of the camels not having arrived. 
 The sun set superbly behind Ataka, and the crescent 
 moon was shining brilliantly when we encamped at 
 Ain Mousa, the Fountains of Moses. Thei’e are many 
 palm-trees scattered around them, neglected, and grown 
 thick and bushy from want of pruning. Frogs, shrill 
 and musical as the rings in Lady Minnatrost’s Castle, 
 serenaded us all night. 
 
 Next morning we proceeded for three hours over the 
 desert, sandy and stony alternately, the Red Sea, of 
 
WADY SEDER. 
 
 167 
 
 the deepest blue, on the right, and the chain of the 
 Gebel Tih, on the left; the country beyond it is called 
 El Tih, 4 the desert of the wandering ’—Israelites. ( 4 ) 
 Between the third and fourth hour, we entered on a, 
 boundless plain of desert, called El Ata, white and 
 painfully glaring to the eye; the wind, too, began to 
 blow from the south, and rendered the heat very 
 oppressive. El Ata is probably the Etham of Scripture, 
 though the desert so called extended, as we may gather 
 from the Mosaic account, round the head, and perhaps 
 for some distance along both sides, of the gulf. 
 
 After seven hours’ ride and a half—a short day’s 
 journey, we encamped for the night in Wady Seder,on 
 a bed of sand almost as smooth as a ball-room.— 
 Wady , you must remember, means a valley, and is 
 applied indifferently to a craggy mountain glen, and a 
 mere depression in the flat expanse of the desert, as in 
 this instance. The Spanish Guudi is the same word. 
 —Seder is supposed to be a comiption of Shur or 
 Sdur, the ancient name of the desert that separates 
 Egypt from Palestine; it was to this desert, you will 
 recollect, but to a more northerly district of it, that 
 Hagar fled with the ancestor of the Northern Arabs; 
 the shrub under which she cast him—the leathern 
 bottle (or zumzummia, as it would now be called) empty 
 —the spring, which in these wilds lies often deep in the 
 ground unseen, till you are close upon it—(unless we 
 are to believe that Hagar’s fountain was produced 
 miraculously)—I cannot express to you how vividly 
 that most beautiful scene paints itself to me now. The 
 ground hereabouts is covered with beds of the finest 
 chalk, caked by the sun into large flakes of pure white; 
 the whole of this low country is under water during the 
 rainy season. 
 
 Next day, starting at a quarter past seven, we reached 
 
168 
 
 BEER HOWARA. 
 
 the bitter well of Howara at half-past two, and watered 
 the camels there. The Arabs never drink of it them¬ 
 selves ; I tasted, and at first thought the water in¬ 
 sipid rather than bitter, but, held in the mouth a few 
 seconds, it becomes excessively nauseous. It rises 
 within an elevated mound, surrounded by sand-hills, 
 and two small date trees grow near it. The sky was 
 glowing with great heat as we approached, and a pale 
 hue diffused itself over the landscape, like the eclipse 
 one might fancy overshadowed it when the Israelites 
 murmured against the Almighty,—for there can be no 
 doubt, I think, of this well being the Mara of Scripture, 
 sweetened by Moses. The name Mara, implying 
 “bitter,” seems to be preserved in that of the Wady 
 Amara, which we crossed shortly before reaching it. 
 There is no other well, Hussein tells me, on the whole 
 coast, absolutely undrinkable. 
 
 I asked whether they had any means of sweetening 
 bad water, and he mentioned the munn , a gum that ex¬ 
 udes from the tamarisk tree, and the juice of the homr- 
 berry ; to this latter inquiry I was guided by Burck- 
 hardt’s expression of regret that he had not made it; 
 he, too, was informed that no other well, bitter enough 
 to be identifiable with that of Mara, exists, as far as 
 Ras Mohammed. 
 
 The homr -plant and tarfa , or tamarisk tree, grow in 
 great abundance in Wady Gharandel, two hours beyond 
 Beer Howara, where we halted for the night; the former 
 bears small, red, juicy berries, which they squeeze into 
 water; the munn has a strong aromatic taste like tur¬ 
 pentine,—one of our guides had a piece of it, which I 
 tasted; they keep it in casks, melt it when required, and 
 spread it on their bread like honey. Some have taken 
 it for the miraculous manna—but it does not fulfil the 
 
WADY GHARANDEL. 
 
 169 
 
 necessary conditions.*'—Are we to understand that the 
 effect produced on the bitter waters of Mara by casting 
 in the tree shown to Moses by the Almighty, (or “ some¬ 
 thing of a tree,” as the Arabic translation runs,) was 
 also miraculous ? ( 5 ) If not, it has been suggested that 
 the munn or the homr-juice may have been the specific 
 employed,—-the homr is, however, a mere shrub, and 
 had the whole valleys for miles round been full of tarfa 
 trees or homr-bushes, there would scarcely have been 
 enough to sweeten water sufficient for such a host as 
 that of Israel. Moreover, the Israelites were here 
 within a month after the institution of the Passover at 
 the vernal equinox, whereas the munn-harvest does not 
 take place till June; this alone, I think, must decide 
 the question in favour of the miracle. 
 
 Between Beer Howara and Wady Gharandel the 
 country becomes more mountainous, and assumes a 
 more picturesque character. Two divisions of the Waled 
 Said were encamped near the Wady; one of the 
 Bedouins quitted us, and disappeared, diving down a 
 small ravine that seemed to end in nothing. One could 
 scarcely fancy human inhabitants of such wilds. We 
 halted among the tarfa bushes under one of the hills of 
 Wady Gharandel, but at too great a distance from the 
 wells to admit of our visiting them. This, probably, 
 is the Elim of Scripture.f ( 6 ) 
 
 * See Mr. Conder’s observations in his volume on Arabia in that 
 most valuable, judicious, and—considered as the work of one man— 
 astonishing compilation, the Modern Traveller. 
 
 f Dr. Robinson agrees with Burckhardt in considering Beer 
 Howara as Marah, and the springs of Wady Gharandel as Elim. 
 B. Researches , vol. i, pp. 97, sqq.—Professor Lepsius,on the contrary, 
 fixes the first encampment of the Israelites at Wady el Ahta, a jour¬ 
 ney of about fifteen miles, their second at Wady Wardan, sixteen 
 miles further on, their third at the springs of Wady Gharandel, 
 
170 
 
 WADY SAL. 
 
 Soon after starting next morning, (at half-past seven,) 
 we met a man driving a flock of goats, the first human 
 being we had encountered since leaving Suez. Our 
 road lay through Wady Ussait, west of w hich, Hussein 
 told me, Mousaand the Beni Israel crossed, and Fara- 
 oun was drowned in the Bahr Souf, or Weedy Sea— 
 the name has little changed from the Yam Souf of 
 Moses! We came in sight of Gebel Serbal that morn¬ 
 ing, a magnificent mountain of granite, N.W. of Mount 
 Sinai. 
 
 At a quarter past one, half an hour after watering 
 our camels at the wells of Wady Sal,* we reached the 
 spot where the roads to Mount Sinai, by Wady Mokat- 
 teb, and Sarbout el Kadem, diverge ; we took the former, 
 by far the most interesting as the route of the Israelites. 
 Turning westwards therefore, at this point, we entered 
 Wady Taibi, the sea-breeze warning us of our direct 
 descent to the sea-shore. The scenery of this valley is 
 very striking. During the rainy season a torrent flows 
 down it, of the height of two men, i. e. ten or eleven 
 feet deep ; the bottom, as in most of these valleys, is 
 sheeted over with white mud, caked so hard as to re¬ 
 ceive no impression from the camels’ feet,—in fact, in 
 progress to stone. Rock-salt, of the purest white, and 
 perfectly clean, is dug up plentifully hereabouts; they 
 showed us some, fit for an emperor’s table. 
 
 After passing a little forest of tarfa and wild date 
 
 seventeen miles,—identifying these springs with Marah, and their 
 fourth at the wells of Wady Shebekah, on the coast, apparently the 
 valley named by me and others Wady Taibi, about sixteen miles 
 more. This latter spot the Professor identifies with Elim, and sug¬ 
 gests that the existing name of the harbour, Abu Zelime, may be a 
 corruption of Elim. See his ‘ Tour from Thebes to the Peninsula 
 of Sinai,’ translated by C. H. Cottrell, Esq., London, (J. Petheram.) 
 1846. [1847.] 
 
 • Wady Thai .—Robinson and Lepsius. [1847.] 
 
SEA-SHORE. 
 
 171 
 
 tress—winding round a black volcanic-looking mountain 
 —defiling through a narrow ravine, where we heard a 
 blackbird cheerily singing amidst the solitude, and 
 leaving another black mountain to the left, we turned 
 the angle formed by it with the valley, and the bright 
 sea suddenly burst on us, a sail in the distance, and the 
 blue mountains of Africa beyond it, a lovely vista,—but 
 when we had fairly issued into the plain on the sea¬ 
 shore, beautiful, indeed, most beautiful was the view— 
 the whole African coast, from Gebel Ataka to Gebel 
 Gharib, lay before us, washed by the Red Sea, a vast 
 amphitheatre of mountains, except the space whei’e the 
 waters were lost in distance between the Asiatic and 
 Libyan promontories. It was the stillest hour of day; 
 the sun shone brightly, descending to “his palace in the 
 Occident,”—the tide was coming in with its peaceful 
 pensive murmur, wave after wave;—it was in this plain, 
 broad and perfectly smooth from the mountains to the 
 sea, that the children of Israel encamped after leaving 
 Elim; what a glorious scene it must then have pre¬ 
 sented, and how nobly those rocks, now so silent, must 
 have re-echoed the song of Moses and its ever-returning 
 chorus, “ Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed 
 gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into 
 the sea!” 
 
 The plain narrows into nothing at the southern extre¬ 
 mity, where the hills end in a detached headland, 
 jutting into the sea, and concealing a deep bay. I ex¬ 
 pected something beautiful, but the reality far surpassed 
 my anticipations; we stopped half way through the 
 gap,—a large lake, so it seemed, of the deepest blue, 
 lay slumbering before us, hemmed in by mountains, 
 variously tinted by the evening sun, and of the most 
 singular appearance, worn away and crumbling, as if of 
 very old age—with the blue heights of Gebal Serbal 
 
172 
 
 SHORE OF THE RED SEA. 
 
 towering in the distance,—a scene and hour never to 
 forget; the warm tears rushed to my eyes as I gazed 
 there ; not a sound broke the silence,—the caravan was 
 far before us,—the waters lay all unruffled, scarce rippled 
 by the evening breeze. 
 
 Twenty steps more—and,the headland disappearing 
 behind us, the lake vanished, and the bay opened in full 
 beauty. The rocks, as we advanced, descended into 
 the sea so abruptly as to cut the path quite off; we 
 waded round them on our dromedaries,—at high tide 
 the passage would scarcely be practicable. As soon as 
 we reached the little plain beyond them, the sun set be¬ 
 hind the mountains of Africa, and night came on in her 
 calm loveliness; the “ sea of Edom” retained for a while 
 the roseate hue that it can only boast of at such an 
 hour, ( r ) but all ere long was gray, and by the time we 
 had pitched our tents, the moon and stars were brightly 
 gleaming over us. We rode ten hours and a half this day. 
 
 Starting at 10 m. p. 7, next morning, we continued 
 our route along the narrow track under the rocks, broad 
 enough only for one camel at a time. Winding round 
 another headland, we entered El Murgha, a large tri¬ 
 angular plain covered with shrubs, and affording a well 
 of very bad water; it is formed by the intersection of 
 two ranges of mountains, of which the most southerly, 
 black as if it had been only quenched yesterday, ends 
 in Gebel Zizezzat, the same promontory as that marked 
 Has Jehan in Laborde’s map, nearly opposite to Gebel 
 Zeait in Africa. A low range of limestone hills, crumb¬ 
 ling away with age, runs parallel -with them ; we pierced 
 it through a ravine called Wady Luggum, and then, turn¬ 
 ing to the right, ascended the valley formed by the two 
 ranges. 
 
 The lussof grows here abundantly—a beautiful green 
 plant, with large juicy pods; at the proper season it 
 
PLANTS OF THE DESERT. 
 
 173 
 
 produces a fruit as large as one’s finger, and good to 
 eat. We observed another fruit, of a very different 
 character, but equally useful, medicinally, the colocinth, 
 or, as the Arabs call it, hurnvul; might not this fruit, 
 golden as an orange externally, but bitterness itself 
 within, and retaining its fair exterior long after the in¬ 
 side has all dried up, have given rise to the story of 
 the apples of Sodom? It grows, they say, as large as 
 a small melon, and they use the rind, dried, for holding 
 water, butter, &c. Ostrich eggs are used for the same 
 purpose in Egypt.—Two other shrubs I will mention 
 here, though we chiefly noticed them more to the 
 south,—the one edible, the liemmar , a bunchy plant, the 
 leaf juicy, and bitter when chewed—William thoughtit 
 tasted like sorrel,—the other ornamental, the sekarran , 
 bearing a very pretty flower of blended purple and 
 white, on a thick leafy stem; its general appearance 
 reminded me of the lotus in Egyptian paintings.*—I 
 need not apologize to my dear Anne for this little floral 
 episode. 
 
 In this black chain of mountains is an extraordinary 
 ravine, called Wady Shellal, or the Valley of the Cata¬ 
 ract. Hussein took us through it, while the caravan 
 went on by the usual route ; the valley is not a stone’s 
 jerk wide, but the scenery is awfully grand ; not a sound 
 was heard except the sugh of the wind among the rocks, 
 and the solitary chirp of a bird. Hussein and I walked 
 on quicker than William, who was looking out for 
 partridges and quails; as we ascended the Wady, 
 enormous rocks, fallen from the heights, of every shape, 
 and in several instances inscribed with the same un¬ 
 known characters that I shall have to mention presently, 
 lay on either side of the way, becoming gradually more 
 
 * I may also mention the urrtah, a sort of broom, which the 
 camels eat greedily. [1847.] 
 
174 
 
 WADY BOODRA. 
 
 numerous, till, at last, they formed a little valley of 
 themselves within the large one, which, gradually dimi¬ 
 nishing into a narrow winding passage, brought us to a 
 perpendicular rock, beyond which there seemed to be 
 no passage. It is impossible to describe the extra¬ 
 ordinary appearance of this cul-de-sac. 
 
 Hussein and I sat down in the shadow, and talked 
 after our fashion, till William and his attendant Arab 
 overtook us; Hussein then started up, and, climbing 
 up the rocks, led the way to an upper valley, of which 
 I had not suspected the existence, broader than the 
 lower, but quite as extraordinary; the ground in some 
 places was as smooth as a gravel walk. In the rainy 
 season the torrents pouring down it, and over the rocks 
 into the lower valley, form the magnificent cascade 
 from which the Wady takes its name. We walked on 
 some distance to a well, which we found full of sand; 
 Hussein scooped it out with his hands, and the water 
 rose; all of us drank—I never tasted anything so 
 delicious, always excepted the water of the Nile, to 
 which no other beverage is comparable ; but then I was 
 very thirsty, for the day was by far the hottest we had 
 yet travelled on. Returning a few steps, we climbed 
 over the hills, and across two or three small ravines, till 
 we reached Wady Boodra, where we saw tracks of the 
 camels. It was well we had drunk at the spring, for 
 the ascent and descent of the hills was dreadfully hot 
 work; my tongue felt in my mouth like a parrot’s, the 
 sides of my throat clove together, and I could scarcely 
 articulate when we overtook the caravan. One of the 
 most delightful walks, however, I ever took ! What a 
 blessing water is! None can appreciate it, who has 
 not thirsted in the desert. It is bad policy to drink 
 during the march, if one can possibly avoid it. ( 8 ) 
 
 All the mountains of Wady Boodra are more or less 
 
WADY MOKATTEB. 
 
 175 
 
 volcanic-looking; some of them resemble the heaps of 
 cinders thrown out from an iron foundry—utter silence 
 and lifelessness. At half-past two, we passed, on the 
 left, the entrance of Wady Magara, one of the mining- 
 stations of the Pharaohs, whose hieroglyphics are to be 
 seen sculptured on the rocks,—and, nearly opposite, 
 on the right, a Bedouin burial-ground; soon afterwards, 
 the valley opening, we had a beautiful view of the 
 distant Gebel Serbal, standing nobly alone, a King 
 among the hills. 
 
 We now entered Wady Mokatteb, a spacious valley, 
 bounded on the east by a most picturesque range of 
 black mountains, but chiefly famous for the inscriptions 
 on the rocks that line it, and from which it derives its 
 name ; there are thousands of them,—inscriptions too 
 —and here is the mystery—in a character which no 
 one has yet deciphered.* William copied a few, and 
 
 * “ The Sinaite inscriptions . . . are found on all the routes which 
 lead from the West towards Sinai, as far South as Tur. They 
 extend to the very base of Sinai, above the convent el-Arba’in ; but 
 are found neither on Gebel Musa, nor on the present Horeb, nor on 
 St. Catherine, nor in the valley of the convent; while on Serbal they 
 are seen on its very summit. Not one has yet been found to the 
 Eastward of Sinai." Dr. Robinson, Bibl. Researches , vol. i, p. 188. 
 —The last assertion (printed here in Italics) is repeated thrice, and 
 with emphasis, in the note on the Sinaitic inscriptions, pp. 554-5. 
 It may be worth while anticipating my remark, infra, that I 
 observed a few in Wady Resale, between the district of Huddra 
 (Dr. Robinson’s el-Hudhera) and Wady Ruhabiyeh ( Wady er- 
 Ruweihibiyeh), in both instances East of Sinai, on the road to 
 Akaba.—The exception possibly may prove the rule.—A similar 
 inscription was found by Mr. Bankes at Wady Mousa, but has not 
 been published, and Dr. Robinson was informed that “ similar 
 inscriptions exist in the immense ancient quarries back ofTura, just 
 above Cairo; and also in the granite quarries of Aswan.” Ibid. 
 p. 556. 
 
 These inscriptions are first mentioned, in the sixth century, by 
 Cosmas Indicopleustes, in whose time the knowledge of the alphabet 
 
176 
 
 WADY FEIRAN. 
 
 afterwards sketched the valley, with our tents, camels, 
 &c., for we encamped here for the night after a nine 
 hours’ ride. 
 
 Our next day’s journey (starting at half-past six, 
 and quitting Wady Mokatteb at half-past eight) was 
 through the noble Wady Feiran: P and F being 
 cognate letters, always interchangeable, there can be 
 no doubt, I think, that Feiran is the ancient Paran; 
 the wilderness, however, so called, like those of Shur 
 and Etham, extended far and wide beyond the spot to 
 which the ancient name has since been limited.- 
 
 It was noon—past. For some hours we had been 
 anxiously looking out for the palm trees and gardens 
 which were said to render Wady Feiran the prettiest 
 spot in the peninsula, but nothing had hitherto ap¬ 
 peared, except the usual shrubs and plants of the 
 Arabian desert, and an occasional elluf tree. Not¬ 
 withstanding our guides’ repeated promises of nackel, 
 
 in which they are written was lost; he attributes them to the ancient 
 Hebrews. For an account of the labours of Professor Beer, of 
 Leipzig, who is said to have deciphered, and attributes them to the 
 ancient Nabatheans, subsequently to their conversion to Christianity, 
 but anterior to their adoption of the Arabic language, see Dr. 
 Robinson, loco citato. Professor Beer considers them the work of 
 pilgrims, and Dr. Robinson observes that “ there is no historical 
 evidence that any native Christian population existed in or around 
 the peninsula in the early centuries, but rather the contrary," refer¬ 
 ring to the text, p. 180 of the volume.—Professor Lepsius, on the 
 other hand, expresses his conviction, “ that they are the work of a 
 Christian Pastoral People , who had independent possession of the 
 peninsula, and knew how to write—not of pilgrims, nor in reference 
 to any particular place,”—a people whose “ principal city was the 
 early Christian Faran, at the foot of the Serbal, in the valley of the 
 same name." Tour , &c., p. 90.—The Rev. Charles Forster, author 
 of “Mahometanism Unveiled,” and of the “ Sacred Geography of 
 Arabia,” is understood to he occupied on a work on the subject of 
 these inscriptions, which will probably excite great interest in the 
 theological, antiquarian, and literary world. [1847.] 
 
WADY FEIRAN. 
 
 177 
 
 (date trees,) I began to doubt whether we should ever 
 come to them, when suddenly, at half-past one, turning 
 an angle of the valley, we found ourselves in a para¬ 
 dise,—date trees (like the fair ones they always remind 
 one of, so much more graceful by cultivation) rustling 
 in the breeze, sidr* and tarfa trees, gardeners’ huts and 
 dogs barking; I could not have conceived such a 
 transition. We dismounted, climbed over a garden 
 wall, let down our zumzummia into a well under a 
 palm tree, and drank copiously of the delicious water, 
 re-mounted, and in ten minutes, turning another angle 
 of the valley, were in the desert as before, with the 
 torrent-ploughed peaks of Gebel Serbal directly in 
 front of us. The change suggested a thousand com¬ 
 parisons ; it seemed as if we had been dreaming. 
 
 We now came to the ruins—overgrown with tarfa 
 trees, and crowning a lofty rock in the middle of the 
 valley—of the ancient town of Feiran, the seat of a 
 bishopric in the early days of Christianity—the Phara 
 of Ptolomy the geographer, in whose time it gave its 
 name to the Sinaite promontory, and to its inhabitants 
 the Pharanitae—and, as one learned traveller has 
 remarked, not improbably the El Paran in the wil¬ 
 derness, to which Chedarlaomer and his associate 
 kings chased the Horites of Mount Seir.—It has 
 now nothing of magnificence to boast of. On both 
 sides of the vale beyond it are seen deserted houses, 
 some perched at a great height,—and ancient tombs 
 cut in the rocks. 
 
 The gardens of Wady Feiran I fancied were past, 
 but the sight of a few date trees, and a stream of water 
 crossing the road, as we wound round the ruin-crowned 
 rock, showed I was mistaken ; indeed, it was now only 
 
 * Or nehbek, the Rhamnus Nabeca of Forskal. Dr. Robinson .— 
 The sidr is the tree, the nebbek the fruit, correctly speaking. [1847.] 
 
 N 
 
178 
 
 WADY FEIRAN. 
 
 we had fairly come to them. The large river, that 
 once flowed through the valley, indignantly sank into 
 the ground and disappeared, when a Frank presumed 
 to write a description of it; but one of the loveliest 
 little brooks I ever saw supplies its place, overrunning 
 the rocky path, the bed of the summer torrents, in tiny 
 crystal rivulets. I drank repeatedly as I walked along, 
 wherever the pebbles at the bottom gleamed clearest— 
 just deep enough to use one’s hand as a cup ; the 
 camels were constantly stopping to drink, and browse 
 on the tarfa trees. The stream became at last so 
 copious that I was obliged to mount my dromedary, to 
 avoid being wetfooted. 
 
 For two hours and a half, every winding of the valley 
 revealed new loveliness; it would be beautiful even 
 without a single tree. At the first turning, after passing 
 the ruined town, a most superb view of Gebel Serbal 
 opened on us,—every crag and pinnacle of his five 
 peaks relieved clearly against a sky of the most de¬ 
 licious blue, and perfectly cloudless,—the pale moon 
 about half full, sailing in the pure ether above us—the 
 eye could pierce far beyond her. Gebel Serbal was of 
 a bluish gray, but the jagged rocks of the valley, form¬ 
 ing the foreground of the picture, were black, the 
 bright lights and deep broad shadows rendering them 
 perfectly beautiful.—I sat on my dromedary under a 
 tarfa tree, enjoying the shade and a delightful breeze, 
 and talking with the Bedouins, while William sketched 
 this lovely scene. 
 
 And was not that Mount Paran ! 
 
 “ God came from Teman, 
 
 And the Holy One from Mount Paran. 
 
 His glory covered the heavens, 
 
 And the earth was full of his praise. 
 
MOUNT PARAN. 
 
 179 
 
 His brightness was as the light, 
 
 Kays streamed from his hand, 
 
 And there was the hiding-place of his power. 
 Before him went the pestilence, 
 
 And flashes of fire went forth after him. 
 
 He stood—and measured the earth, 
 
 He beheld—and drave asunder the nations, 
 
 And the everlasting mountains were scattered, 
 
 The perpetual hills did bow,— 
 
 The eternal paths were trodden by him. 
 
 Thou sawest the tents of Cushan in affliction, 
 
 The curtains of the land of Midian trembled! 
 
 Was the Lord displeased against the floods ? 
 
 Was thine anger against the rivers ? 
 
 Was thy wrath against the sea, 
 
 That thou didst ride upon thine horses, 
 
 And thy chariots of salvation ? 
 
 Thy bow was made bare, 
 
 According to the oath unto the tribes, even the promise. 
 
 Thou didst cleave the streams of the land, 
 
 The mountains saw thee and trembled, 
 
 The overflowing of waters passed away; 
 
 The deep uttered his voice, 
 
 And lifted up his hands on high. 
 
 —The sun and moon stood still in their habitation; 
 In their light thine arrows went abroad— 
 
 In their brightness the lightning of thy spear! 
 
 Thou didst march through the land in indignation, 
 
 Thou didst thresh the heathen in anger; 
 
 Thou wentest forth for the deliverance of thy people, 
 Even for the deliverance of thine anointed ones.” * 
 
 * “ The Serbal,” says Professor Lepsius, “ here rises at once 
 majestically several thousand feet. Its splendid peaks towered up to 
 heaven like flames of fire in the setting sun, and made upon me an 
 almost overpowering impression. It is impossible to describe the 
 sublimity and majesty of these black mountain masses—rising, as 
 they do, not in a wild and irregular form, but on a grand and im- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 MOUNT PARAN. 
 
 Following the windings of the valley, alternately 
 through sun and shade, under lofty rocks and um¬ 
 brageous date trees, whispering in the breeze, and 
 shedding the most delicious coolness, we heard from 
 time to time the chirping of birds, the barking of dogs, 
 and the merry voices of children—generally unseen, 
 though occasionally we caught a passing glimpse of 
 them, and of their dusky mothers and sisters, under 
 the thick foliage embowering their huts and tents. We 
 exchanged cordial salamnts and bissalams with some of 
 the natives that we met on the road, particularly with 
 one aged white-bearded patriarch. Our guides, too, 
 were constantly meeting their acquaintance, receiving 
 their welcome, and striking wrists with them; their 
 
 posing scale—at the foot of which I was standing, not separated 
 from it by any projecting promontory or ledge, so abruptly does the 
 whole body of the mountain start up from this point.”— Tour, &c., 
 p. 33. 
 
 I have in a previous note ( supra , p. 169) enumerated the stations 
 of the Israelites as far as Elim (Wady Shebekah), according to Pro¬ 
 fessor Lepsius. He considers them to have proceeded from Wady 
 Shebekah by Wady Shellal to the outlet of Wady Sittere—which 
 he identifies with Daphka—a distance of about six hours; and from 
 thence to the Sikke Tekruri at the entrance of Wady Feiran, pro¬ 
 bably the Alus of Deuteronomy, and nearly the same distance,— 
 and thereafter, to El Hessue, fourteen miles further, and only a mile 
 from the convent mountain of Feiran—identifying El Hessue with 
 Rephidim,*—they proceeded thence (he thinks) to the convent 
 mountain of Hererat, and established themselves in Wady Alegat, 
 “ at the iron gate of the garden of Wadi Firan,” which he conceives 
 to have belonged to the Amalekites, whom they fought with and 
 dispossessed in the memorable battle, Exod. xvii, 8, when Moses, 
 Aaron, and Hur stood on the top of the hill and prayed for victory— 
 
 * Comas Indicopleustes, in the sixth century, identifies Pharan with Rephi- 
 dim.— Robinson, B. Researches, vol. i, p. 186. [1847.] 
 
WADY FEIRAN. 181 
 
 greetings struck me as remarkably low-voiced, though 
 cordial as between brothers. ( 9 ) 
 
 The blending of greens in these gardens is exqui¬ 
 sitely beautiful,—a regular gradation from the pale 
 transparent foliage of the tarfa to the darker hue of the 
 date towering over it, and the still deeper green of the 
 sidr or nebbek, as dark as that of the orange and citron. 
 Our Bedouins brought down the fruit with stones, and 
 gave them to us as we rode along; it was delicious. In 
 twenty days the nebbek harvest will be quite ready; 
 they sell the greater part of it at Suez,—part they keep 
 and dry in the sun, press and reduce it to flour, which, 
 with water or milk, they make into small cakes. 
 
 that hill being “ the convent mountain, from whence the Israelites 
 rushed down into the valley of the Amalekites—while, if these 
 stations be correct, and Raphidim be the garden of Wady Feiran, 
 it follows, according to Professor Lepsius, from chapters 18th and 
 19th of Exodus, where the Mount of God and Rephidim are described 
 as in close contiguity, that Gebel Serbal is the Mount of God, the 
 true Sinai. For the Professor’s further able reasoning on this in¬ 
 teresting subject, both in favour of the claims of Gebel Serbal and 
 against those of Gebel Mousa and Gebel Katerin, see his “ Tour,” 
 &c., pp. 34, 35, 59, sqq.* There remains, however, one objection to 
 this conclusion—granting, for argument’s sake, the preceding cal¬ 
 culations—to wit, the name Feiran, apparently so identical with 
 Paran; this would make Mount Paran and Mount Sinai identical. 
 [1847.] 
 
 • Mr. Conder, however, has anticipated Professor Lepsius in his doubts (at 
 least) relative to Gebel Mousa and Gebel Katerin, and he distinctly points out 
 Gebel Serbal as possessing at least equal pretensions. See the Modem Traveller , 
 vol. iv, pp. 178 sqq.—Let me add, that I am not sure that Professor Lepsius 
 sufficiently recognises the immediate miraculous evocation (as it were) of the 
 spring that gushed from the rock at the stroke of Moses—any more than the 
 similarly miraculous gift of the manna, which, we are expressly told, putrified 
 and bred worms if it was kept beyond the prescribed time, but remained sweet 
 over the Sabbath, a fact (inter alia) irreconcilable with the theory that it was 
 the gum which exudes from the tarfa or tamarisk tree. [1817.] 
 
182 
 
 ASCENT TOWARDS SINAI. 
 
 At the proper season, the Zoalia Arabs, the owners 
 of these gardens, who entrust the cultivation to the 
 Tebenna, a branch of the Gebali tribe, (who receive 
 three out of every ten dates for their trouble,) hold a 
 sort of harvest-home in the valley,—and a merry scene 
 it is then, by all accounts. These Gebali are the de¬ 
 scendants of a Christian colony, transported by Jus¬ 
 tinian from the shores of the Black Sea, to act as 
 servants to his monastic establishment at Mount Sinai. 
 They have long since become Moslems and Bedouins, 
 though the pure tribes never intermarry with them, 
 and, as their daughters are the prettiest girls in the 
 peninsula, many a sad tale of the course of true love 
 thwarted is current in the glens. 
 
 About four o’clock we lost sight of the last palm, 
 and, after riding awhile through a wood of tarfa trees, 
 they too ceased—adieu for ever to the gardens of Wady 
 Feiran! I shall never probably see them again, but 
 often, often will they gleam in loveliness on my waking 
 and sleeping visions. We encamped at a quarter to 
 five, about ten minutes beyond El Boueb, “ the Mouth,” 
 a remarkable defde in the valley, not more than eight 
 paces broad in the narrowest part, and beyond which 
 the valley takes the name of Wady Sheikh. 
 
 The Waled Said encamp for the present about half 
 way between this spot and Mount Sinai. Notwith¬ 
 standing that the day after the morrow was the second 
 Bairam, a great feast among the Mahometans, Hussein 
 most hospitably invited us to visit his tribe in the hills 
 and share his tent the following evening, and proceed 
 the third day to the convent. We were anxious to 
 press on, and therefore declined his invitation; but, on 
 reflecting that our visit, so kindly urged, would have 
 excluded him, and all our other Bedouins, from par¬ 
 ticipating in the festivity of their tribe, we could not 
 
ASCENT TOWARDS SINAI. 
 
 183 
 
 but feel equally delighted at having received such an 
 invitation, and at having declined it. 
 
 Thursday morning, the 16th of March, we started at 
 half-past five, commencing a continual ascent towards 
 the elevated district of Sinai; the rising sun was just 
 lighting up the peaks of the mountains—it was very 
 cold at first till he had fairly risen—the birds were 
 singing their matins merrily; again and again did I 
 look back on the valley, closed directly behind us by 
 the noble peaks of Gebel Serbal, at this early hour of 
 a reddish brown, with deep blue shadows; there are 
 five peaks, or perhaps six; at least from this point 
 there appeared to be so many — each composed of 
 several pinnacles; the mountain is prolonged west¬ 
 wards, displaying another peak of lower elevation, but 
 very beautiful. William sketched it from this point, 
 the best, I think, that could be chosen—he is verily an 
 admirable draughtsman. 
 
 Soon afterwards, leaving to the left the usual circuitous 
 route to Mount Sinai by Wady Sheikh, we turned 
 up Wady Selaff, a long valley, broader but far less 
 picturesque than Wady Feiran, yet affording rich 
 pasturage for sheep and goats, which were feed¬ 
 ing there in considerable flocks, tended by Bedouin 
 shepherdesses. The rattam, a species of broom, 
 bearing a white flower, delicately streaked with purple, 
 afforded me frequent shelter from the sun, as I walked 
 on in advance of the caravan and two other shrubs, 
 the selleh f—thorny, with leaves of the lightest tint of 
 
 * The rattam is the ‘ genista rsetam’ of Forskal. Robinson, B. Re¬ 
 searches, vol. i, p. 124.-—This is the Hebrew rothem, the plant under 
 which Elijah rested in the wilderness of Horeb, wrongly translated 
 ‘juniper’ in our version. Ibid. p. 299. [1847.] 
 
 t “ Apparently the Zilla myagrioides of Forskal.” Robinson. 
 [1847.] 
 
184 
 
 GEBEL HOW. 
 
 green, bearing a very pretty flower of a light pink colour, 
 beautifully streaked inside—and the ooraga, deep green, 
 with hairy pods, ending each in a thorn, instead of 
 leaves, and bearing a small pink flower, five petals with 
 yellow stamina—delighted me with their simple beauty. 
 Hundreds of little lizards—the colour of the sand, and 
 called by the Bedouins serabani , were darting about, 
 and altogether I hardly felt myself in the desert. 
 
 We reached the foot of Gebel How about half-past 
 eleven. I mounted my dromedary there, having walked 
 ever since starting, but soon got down again, for it was 
 as much, w r e found, as the animals could do, to cross 
 the mountain. Two of them, indeed, knocked up, and 
 were left behind ; the Arabs took them back that even¬ 
 ing, returning to the camp of their tribe. This route 
 through the Wady How—one of the wildest and most ex¬ 
 traordinary defiles I ever saw, leads in a direct line to 
 Mount Sinai. The path, rudely paved in the steepest 
 part, winds amongst fallen rocks, many of them of enor¬ 
 mous size, and some bearing inscriptions in the same 
 unknown character as those in the Wady Mokatteb. 
 One rock, worn deep by the torrents of ages before it 
 thundered down from the heights, singularly resembled 
 a human skull. All the fallen rocks in these valleys— 
 eaten into by the winds and torrents, have a ghastly 
 look. A few shrubby date trees and occasional patches 
 of coarse grass refreshed the eye from time to time, and 
 two or three sparkling mountain streams the parched 
 throat—one of them I discovered myself. The groups 
 of camels slowly defiling along, at different heights of 
 the ravine, and sometimes in different directions, were 
 highly picturesque.* 
 
 * Dr. Robinson describes this defile, which he names ‘ Nukb 
 Hawy,’ ‘ Windy Pass,’ as “ between blackened cliffs of granite some 
 eight hundred feet high, and not more than two hundred and fifty 
 yards apart... Although I had crossed the most ragged passes of 
 
CONVENT OF ST. CATHERINE. 
 
 185 
 
 We reached the summit about two;* the Mountain 
 of Sinai, or rather its northern prolongation, called 
 Gebel Shereyk,f stood nobly out, as we descended the 
 broad plain El Raha, that slopes to its foot, the scene 
 of the encampment of the Israelites. On the left, after 
 about an hour and a half’s gradual descent, we passed 
 the opening of Wady Sheikh, (which, had we not crossed 
 Gebel How, we should have had to go round by, and to 
 retrace going to Akaba,)—and soon afterwards, on the 
 right, a stone on -which, according to the monks, Moses 
 broke the tables of the Law, on coming down from the 
 Mount and seeing the calf-worship. Hussein called it 
 Hadj Mousa, “ the stone of Moses.” Hassan, another 
 of our Bedouins, who had been praying as he walked, 
 saluted it with his hands. 
 
 In a few minutes more, advancing up a narrow ravine 
 at the extremity of the plain, and passing the garden 
 with its lofty cypresses, we arrived under the walls of 
 the Convent of St. Catherine, a regular monastic fortress 
 —it has exactly the appearance of one, and is indeed, 
 defended by guns against the Arabs. A window, under 
 
 the Alps,” he adds, “ and made from Chamouny the whole circuit of 
 Mont Blanc, I had never found a path so rude and difficult as that 
 we were now ascending.” B. Researches , vol. i, p. 129. [1847.] 
 
 * “ We were shown a remarkable isolated rock standing in the 
 valley south of Gebel How, and called by the Arabs the rock struck 
 by Moses—different therefore from the one pointed out as such by 
 the monks. It has been worn by torrents, and there is a deep cavity 
 on one side near the ground.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
 f The ‘ Mount Serich’ of Pococke. Dr. Robinson, who does not 
 give this name, thinks that the peak of es-Sussaf'eh, rather behind 
 the projection named Gebel Shereyk, is the true Sinai. See the B. 
 Researches , vol. i, p. 157.—“ The name,” says Lepsius, “of another 
 portion of the same ridge of mountains, called Gebel Charuf, ‘ the 
 sheep mountains,’ seems to be a corruption of Horeb, or more pro¬ 
 perly Choreb.” Tour , &c., p. 64. — I did not hear of Gebel 
 Charuf, and can hardly suppose the name I have written Shereyk 
 to be it, [1847.] 
 
186 CONVENT OF ST. CATHERINE. 
 
 a projecting shed, was presently opened, and a rope 
 (Sir Frederick Henniker calls it a halter) dropped, by 
 which first our luggage and letter of introduction from 
 the Greek Convent at Cairo, and then ourselves, were 
 hoisted up by a windlass; there once was a door, but 
 it has been walled up, for, whenever it was opened, 
 which only took place on the arrival of the Archbishop, 
 the Bedouins had the right of entrance. For this reason 
 the Archbishops always reside now at Cairo. 
 
 The monks are obliged to supply the Bedouins with 
 bread a discretion , and an ample provision in that kind 
 was lowered to them after our ascent. No Arabs are 
 ever allowed to enter, except the servants of the con¬ 
 vent. ( I0 ) The maxim “ quis custodiat ipsos custodes,” 
 is literally acted upon here ; our conference with Hus¬ 
 sein, the Sheikh or chief protector of the convent, about 
 conveyance to Akaba, was carried on through a hole in 
 the wall; we squatted on one side, and he stood at the 
 other; it was like talking through a keyhole. 
 
 We were received by the Superior and some of the 
 monks on the landing place, but could not answer their 
 greeting, nor make ourselves understood, till Missirie 
 came up, not one of them, apparently, speaking any 
 language that we were acquainted with. Modern Greek 
 and Arabic seem to be the only tongues in use here. 
 The Superior, a fine old man, with a mild benevolent 
 countenance, a long beard and immense mustachoes, 
 (sadly in need of Princess Parizade’s scissors,) showed 
 us to our apartment, carpeted and divanned in the 
 eastern style, and adorned by a print of the Virgin and 
 Child, with a lamp burning before it; we sat down with 
 him, and he welcomed us kindly to Mount Sinai. He 
 is a Greek from -Candia; I had the pleasure of inform¬ 
 ing him a day or two afterwards, when he told me of his 
 birth-place, that an ancestor of mine, Sir Alexander de 
 
CHURCH. 
 
 187 
 
 Lindesay of Glenesk, a brave and adventurous knight, 
 died there on his pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, in 
 1382. Dried fruit and rakie, a strong brandy made 
 from dates, were presented to us while dinner was in 
 preparation— maigre, it being Lent. 
 
 Father Dimitri ciceroned us over the convent two or 
 three days afterwards.* It resembles a little fortified 
 town, irregularly built on the steep side of the moun¬ 
 tain, and surrounded by lofty walls ; the passages and 
 courts are kept very neat and clean; balconies with 
 wooden balustrades run round each area, on which the 
 doors of the several apartments open; texts of Scrip¬ 
 ture are inscribed on the walls in every direction—in 
 inextricably contracted Greek. 
 
 The principal church, built by the Emperor Justi¬ 
 nian, the founder of the convent, is really beautiful; the 
 richly ornamented roof is supported by rows of granite 
 pillars barbarously whitewashed; the pavement is of 
 marble ;—the walls are covered with portraits of saints, 
 the Virgin and Child, and scenes from the Bible, in the 
 old Byzantine style of the middle ages; most of them 
 are modern, but some are very ancient and very inte¬ 
 resting for the history of the art; they are almost all in 
 good preservation. The concha of the tribune displays 
 in mosaic work, contemporary with Justinian, the 
 Transfiguration of our Saviour.f The chapels are also 
 full of paintings, some of them Russian, but in the same 
 style, the painting of Russia being a branch of that of 
 Byzantium. The nave is lighted by a superb silver 
 chandelier, presented by Elizabeth of Russia, and I saw 
 
 * Father Neophytus was Superior at the time of Dr. Robinson’s 
 visit, a year afterwards. He died a few months subsequently. 
 [1847.] 
 
 t The first example of the ancient traditional Byzantine composi¬ 
 tion, perfected, a thousand years afterwards, by Raphael. [1847.] 
 
188 
 
 MANUSCRIPT OF THE GOSPELS. 
 
 several candelabra of great beauty. The reading desks, 
 &c., are of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl inlaid. 
 In the choir is preserved the coffin in which Saint Cathe¬ 
 rine’s bones are said to repose, and the silver lid of a 
 sarcophagus, embossed with the portrait of Anne of 
 Russia, who intended being buried here. (“) 
 
 We put off our shoes from off our feet before ap¬ 
 proaching the most revered spot on Mount Sinai, or 
 rather Horeb, (as they call this part of the mountain,) 
 —where our Lord is said to have appeared to Moses in 
 the burning bush. This little chapel is gorgeously 
 ornamented; a New Testament in modern Greek, with 
 superbly embossed covers, lies on the altar,—behind it, 
 they show—not exactly the burning bush, but a shrub 
 which they say has flourished there ever since, its lineal 
 descendant. The kind, hospitable monks are not to 
 blame—they believe as the tale has been handed down 
 to them; but on what authority, we must again and 
 again ask, are these spots pointed out as the scenes 
 mentioned in the Bible ? 
 
 The monks are summoned to their different services 
 by striking with a mallet on a piece of wood suspended 
 in one of the upper galleries. Two small bells of 
 Russian manufacture, and very sweet tone, hang there 
 also. 
 
 Close to the church rises the minaret of a mosque! 
 built, for the nonce, three centuries ago, when the con¬ 
 vent was threatened by the Paynim Soldan of Egypt; 
 he spared the convent for its sake. It is plain and un¬ 
 ornamented—the contrast of a Scotch kirk to an Italian 
 cathedral—and is seldom used unless some Turkish 
 pilgrim of rank visit Mount Sinai. The refectory is a 
 spacious apartment, a world too wide for the shrunk 
 body corporate of Saint Catherine’s votaries. There 
 are only twenty-two monks now. ( I2 ) One of them 
 
ASCENT OF GEBEL KATERIN. 
 
 189 
 
 reads to his companions, while they dine ; I saw a large 
 folio “ Synagogue,” as it is called, of passages from the 
 Fathers, printed at Venice, lying on the desk, and seve¬ 
 ral other religious volumes in a small bookcase. 
 
 In the archbishop’s apartment, now used as the Trea¬ 
 sury, we were shown a most beautiful manuscript of 
 the Gospels in Greek, on vellum, in uncial, or capital, 
 letters of gold; I thought the good father would never 
 have done turning over the preliminary leaves of illu¬ 
 minations, and arranging the silk screens interposed 
 between them. Would that it were in the British 
 Museum ! I wonder whether it has ever been collated.* 
 
 I was disappointed in the library of the convent, find¬ 
 ing no very ancient Greek manuscripts, or valuable 
 printed books; a manuscript of Saint Chrysostom, in a 
 great number of folio volumes, all apparently in the 
 same handwriting, interested me most. There are many 
 MSS. of the Scriptures in Greek, and some in Sclavonic 
 of portions of the Bible,—many Arabic manuscripts 
 also, all of which were examined by Burckhardt. The 
 books are arranged alphabetically in large cases. 
 
 Wednesday, March 22. 
 
 Enough of the convent; now for the environs. Yes¬ 
 terday I ascended Gebel Mousa, commonly called 
 Mount Sinai, and the day before, Gebel Katerin, a 
 much loftier peak of the same mountain; neither of 
 them agrees with the Sinai described in the Bible. 
 
 With two exceptions, all the old travellers that I am 
 acquainted with, from Frameynsperg in 1346 to Belon 
 in 1548, call Gebel Mousa—Horeb, and Gebel Katerin 
 
 * The illuminations consist of full-length figures of the Apostles, 
 and are extremely well-executed, the colours as brilliant as if kid 
 on yesterday. It is at least twelve hundred years old. [1847.] 
 
190 
 
 CONVENT OF THE FORTY MARTYRS. 
 
 — Sinai. Since the middle of the sixteenth- century 
 that hallowed name has reverted to Gebel Mousa— 
 reverted, I say, because, from Justinian’s time till the 
 beginning of the fourteenth century, the tradition iden¬ 
 tifying it with Sinai appears to be uninterrupted. In 
 very early times, Gebel Serbal seems to have been the 
 chief place of pilgrimage, under the belief of its being 
 the Mount of God. Such uncertainty hath tradi¬ 
 tion !( 13 ) 
 
 Both days were clear and beautiful. Starting on 
 Monday morning, at 20 m. to 10—descending the valley 
 of the convent northwards into the great plain El Raha, 
 and then turning to the left, and winding round Gebel 
 Shereyk—the prolongation of Gebel Mousa that, as I 
 mentioned above, juts into it—I found myself ascend¬ 
 ing the El Ledja, a deep ravine, running southwards, 
 nearly parallel with the valley of the convent, and sepa¬ 
 rating Gebel Mousa from Gebel Katerin; it is filled 
 with fallen rocks, one of which, a large block of granite 
 to the left of the path, is pointed out as the stone from 
 which Moses struck water; there are above a dozen 
 holes like mouths, from which the stream is said to 
 have issued; it did not appear to me that they were 
 the work of art, chiselled, as some travellers have de¬ 
 scribed them, but certainly this El Ledja, abounding, 
 as it does, in springs of water, cannot be the Vale of 
 Rephidim. ( u ) 
 
 I reached the rock at a quarter to eleven, and, shortly 
 afterwards, climbing over a low wall, entered the garden of 
 the ConventElErbayn,or of the Forty Martyrs; I shoidd 
 have mentioned that, to the right, at the entrance of the 
 El Ledja, I passed another convent and garden called 
 El Bostan, and, before reaching the stone of Moses, a 
 beautiful orchard, with seventeen cypresses towering, 
 like obelisks, over apricot and other fruit trees in full 
 
GEBEL KATERIN. 191 
 
 blossom. Nothing can be more refreshing to the eye 
 than these little paradises in the wild. 
 
 I entered the Convent El Erbayn,—a rude building, 
 quite deserted. Pilgrims, for two centuries and more, 
 have scrawled their names there; the earliest I saw 
 was, if I recollect rightly, of 1598; the latest that of Pro¬ 
 fessor von Schubert, a German savant, who had been 
 here, with a large party, on his road to Petra, this very 
 month. I looked into the church; a picture of the 
 Virgin glittered through the gloom,—I saw nothing 
 else. The garden or rather orchard, attached to this 
 convent, is delightful. Olives seem to thrive there; it 
 was pleasant walking under their shade, enjoying at the 
 same time the full grandeur of the scenery, clearly dis¬ 
 cernible through the transparent foliage. The pome¬ 
 granate trees were quite bare. The white blossoms of 
 the apple and damascene trees presented a lovely con¬ 
 trast to the funeral gloom of three superb cypresses 
 that stand in advance of the convent. ( I5 ) Under its 
 walls grow two magnificent orange trees; would that a 
 wish could transport them to your greenhouse ! 
 
 Leaving the convent about 5 m. to 11, and turning 
 westward, I began the ascent of Gebel Katerin by a 
 steep ravine, between Gebel Djeraigni on the left, and 
 Gebel Lehummar on the right,—for every crag of the 
 mountains has its peculiar name among the Arabs. 
 About ten paces from the garden wall lies a large stone, 
 inscribed with the same unknown characters of which 
 we saw such numerous specimens in Wady Mokatteb. 
 I observed others here and there as I ascended. At 
 10 m. to 12, turning out of the path, and climbing over 
 the rocks, I reached a platform overshadowed by Gebel 
 Djeraigni, which is scooped out, as it were, above it, 
 like Mac Duff’s Cave at Earlsferry. At the very foot ol 
 the rock rises a small spring of the coldest water, called 
 
192 
 
 PEAK OF GEBEL KATERIN. 
 
 Beer El Shonnar, “ the well of the partridgewe drank 
 of it, filled our zuinzummia, and then recommenced the 
 ascent. 
 
 Nothing can surpass the rude and gloomy grandeur 
 of these valleys; utter silence reigned on all sides, 
 though, now and then, the report of a gun from the 
 neighbourhood of Mount Sinai murmured around us 
 like distant thunder. Odoriferous shrubs grow in great 
 abundance among the loose stones, as high as the peak 
 of St. Catherine’s—which is easier to climb than to 
 descend, the solid granite being split into thousands of 
 diminutive pinnacles and ledges, smooth and slippery, 
 and in some places so nearly perpendicular that a false 
 step would be broken bones, if not worse. 
 
 I reached the summit—stood, indeed, above it—on 
 the roof of the chapel (hut, rather) built on the spot 
 whither St. Catherine’s remains are said to have been 
 carried by angels, at 5 m. past 1, exactly two hours 
 after leaving El Erbayn; and well—well was I repaid 
 for my toil! The gulfs of Suez and Akaba, with the 
 mountains of Africa and Arabia Deserta bounding the 
 horizon behind them—the white and double chain of 
 the Rua and El Tih mountains running across the penin¬ 
 sula, like an isthmus separating the desert beyond 
 them from the sea of mountains at my feet—this is Sir 
 Frederick Henniker’s simile, and none could give ajuster 
 idea of their extraordinary appearance; “ it seems,” 
 he says, “ as if Arabia Petrsea had once been an ocean 
 of lava, and that, while its waves were running literally 
 mountains high, it was commanded suddenly to stand 
 still”— 
 
 (“ And who commanded—and the silence came— 
 
 Here let the billows stiffen and have rest?”) 
 
 —such are the principal features of this superb pano¬ 
 rama ; condescending to particulars, I recognised Gebel 
 
ASCENT OF MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 193 
 
 Mousa or Sinai considerably below me,—Gebel Shomar 
 to the south, higher than St. Catherine’s,—to the S. W. 
 the plain of El Kaa, intervening between the Sinaite 
 mountains and the low range called Gebel Hemam, 
 bordering on the Red Sea—(Tor is not visible)—and 
 to the N. W. Gebel Serbal, far less pictui’esque from 
 this elevation than from the Wady Feiran. The 
 direction of the principal valleys was clearly dis¬ 
 cernible from this great height. On an immense scale, 
 the view strongly reminded me of General Pfyffer’s 
 models of Switzerland. The Gulf of Akaba—if I am 
 right in believing I saw it—was of the deepest blue ; a 
 very few clouds, but high above the horizon, a bright 
 sunny sky, and breezes fresh and exhilarating as 
 spring, rendered this excursion one of the most delight¬ 
 ful I ever took. 
 
 The ascent of Mount Sinai is as fatiguing almost as 
 that of St. Catherine. Starting from the convent, the 
 walk commences by the ascent of what is now called 
 Mount Horeb, the general name in Scripture for the 
 district in which Sinai stood, but here considered as 
 the breast from which the peak of Sinai rises. Rude 
 steps have been made by the monks, very wearisome 
 to climb; the only relief is where they have been 
 broken, or where a sheet of granite occurs. Two arched 
 gateways, with a steep ascent between them, lead to a 
 small plain surrounded by rocks, the scene, according 
 to Mahometan tradition, of Moses’ interview with the 
 Almighty; a noble cypress tree towers in the centre, 
 with a well of excellent water at its foot. A rude build¬ 
 ing, called the Convent of St. Elias, or Elijah, com¬ 
 memorates his visit to Horeb. ( 16 ) From this plain 
 begins the still more fatiguing ascent of Sinai. On the 
 summit stand a chapel and a mosque. I climbed to 
 the top of the former, the more elevated of the two, and 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 GEBEL MINNEGIA, 
 
 from thence enjoyed a superb prospect, similar to that 
 from Mount St. Catherine, but inferior to it, the Gulf 
 of Ababa, being totally concealed. ( 17 ) The echo of a 
 pistol there is most extraordinary; mountain after 
 mountain takes up the tale, answering each other 
 across the deep valleys. I descended the other side of 
 the mountain direct to El Erbayn, by a precipitous 
 ravine, nearly opposite that by which I had ascended 
 Mount St. Catherine ; and, after resting in the garden, 
 while my cicerone and two or three Arab hangers-on 
 took some refreshment, (a delightfully fresh breeze 
 driving the white blossoms before it like snow-flakes,) 
 returned to the convent. The temperature of these 
 valleys is most delicious. 
 
 I have said that neither Gebel Mousa nor Gebel 
 Katerin answer the scriptural description of Mount 
 Sinai; William pointed out to me a hill this morning 
 —Gebel Minnegia, or Limnegia, as the Arabs called 
 it—which he had a strong impression was the real 
 mountain; and, on careful examination, I think he is 
 right. Your kind attention, if you please. 
 
 There can be no doubt, I think, that the Israelites 
 encamped on the plain El Raha; it is the largest, 
 indeed the only large plain in all this district,—a noble 
 expanse, covered with shrubs fit for pasturage, and a 
 gentle slope.* 
 
 The mountain in question rises directly in front of 
 you, as you descend El Raha, closing the vista formed 
 
 * “No traveller,” says Dr. Robinson, “has described this plain, 
 nor even mentioned it except in a slight and general manner,” and 
 he describes his feelings as “ strongly affected at finding here so 
 unexpectedly a spot so entirely adapted to the Scriptural account of 
 the giving of the Law.” The notices by Monconys in 1647, and 
 by Morison, in his “ Relation Ilistorique,” are, he says, “ though 
 exaggerated the most distinct mention of the plain that I have been 
 
PERHAPS MOUNT SINAI. 195 
 
 by the valley on the slope of which the convent of St. 
 Catherine stands. 
 
 The Israelites, encamping in El Raha, would camp 
 directly in front of Gebel Minnegia, as we are told they 
 did before Mount Sinai. 
 
 There is not space enough in the narrow precipitous 
 ravines from which alone the peaks of Gebel Mousa 
 and St. Catherine are visible, or in any other plain or 
 valley in the whole district, for the people to have 
 encamped with such regularity and comfort as it is 
 evident they did, (Exod. c. 32,) nor for their having 
 removed and stood afar off, as they had apparently 
 ample space to do, when trembling at the thunderings 
 and lightnings—nor, after the golden-calf idolatry, for 
 the tabernacle to have been pitched without the camp, 
 afar off from the camp,—when all the people rose and 
 stood, every man at his tent-door, and looked after 
 Moses, till he was gone into the tabernacle. 
 
 Moses w'ent up to the “ top of the mount”—and 
 God came down upon Mount Sinai “ on the top of the 
 mount,” and the glory of the Lord was “ like devour¬ 
 ing fire on the top of the mount,” “in the eyes of the 
 children of Israel,” “ in the sight of all the people.” 
 Neither Gebel Mousa nor Gebel Katerin are visible 
 from the plain, but the Israelites could have seen the 
 top of the mountain, and the cloud, and Moses’ en¬ 
 trance into it, from every part of the plain, supposing 
 that William’s conjecture be correct, and Gebel Min- 
 
 able to find.” B. Researches, vol. i, p. 132,—and see also pp. 175 
 sqq., where he recapitulates “ the grounds which led us to the con¬ 
 viction, that the plain of er-Rahah, above described, is the probable 
 spot where the congregation of Israel were assembled.” Dr. Robin¬ 
 son thus came to the same conviction as mvself a year subse¬ 
 quently—though his opinion as to the identity of Mount Sinai is 
 very different. [1847.] 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 GEBEL MINNEGIA, 
 
 negia be really Sinai. I climbed up it this* afternoon ; 
 the highest point is a sheet of dark sunburnt granite, 
 and from thence I looked over the convent, directly up 
 the El Raha; the mountain stands single, isolated by 
 deep ravines, on three sides very precipitous. 
 
 It would appear, moreover, from the account of 
 Moses, that he went and returned, communicating 
 between the people and their God, without much diffi¬ 
 culty of ascent; a hale old man, as he was till his 
 death, could easily ascend and descend this mountain 
 twice or thrice in a day—certainly not either Gebel 
 Mousa or Gebel Katerin. 
 
 There is nothing in the Bible to lead us to suppose 
 Mount Sinai a very lofty mountain; yet that it was 
 some distance from the camp, though visible from it, 
 we may gather from the account of Moses’ return with 
 the two tables; “ Moses turned and went down from the 
 mount, and as soon as he drew nigh unto the camp, he 
 saw the calf and the dancing,” &c. 
 
 The directions to Moses, before the audible utter¬ 
 ance of the commandments, were, that bounds should 
 be set unto the people round about, “ that they go not 
 up to the mountain, or touch the border of it,” on pain 
 of death. And, on the third day, Moses brought the 
 people out of the camp to meet with God—(probably 
 leading some of them up the valley of the convent, 
 and sending others by a more circuitous road to the 
 other side of the mountain)—and they stood at the 
 nether part of the mount, &c.—and when the people 
 heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, &c., 
 they removed, and stood afar off, retreating, I take it, 
 to the plain, from which they could see just as well; 
 indeed, the divine command was, “ Get ye into your 
 tents again.” 
 
 The inference from these considerations is what I 
 
PERHAPS MOUNT SINAI. 
 
 197 
 
 have already anticipated,—that neither Gebel Mousa 
 nor Mount St. Catherine is the real Sinai, the Mount 
 of God—but that Gebel Minnegia is—as it answers to 
 the conditions of Holy Writ better. It would surprise 
 you, however, to see what a hillock it is in comparison 
 with the heights around it. ( 18 ) 
 
 Y et what, after all, avails the inquiry, if we think merely 
 of the stage, and not of the action performed on it? 
 This is the wilderness of Sinai—there can be no doubt 
 of that; and, whichever the individual mount may have 
 been, every hill around heard the thunder and quaked 
 at the sound of the trumpet, waxing louder and louder 
 as God descended in the cloud,—and trembled at the 
 “ still small voice,” that, deeper than the thunder, and 
 high above the trumpet, spoke to every man’s ear and 
 heart that fiery law—holy, and just, and good—exist¬ 
 ing from all eternity, which requires of man that 
 spotless obedience which he cannot yield, and at the 
 first transgression, even in thought, of its purity, lays 
 him under the curse of eternal death —“ Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy 
 neighbour as thyself.” 
 
 One only of Adam’s seed, the man Christ Jesus, has 
 fulfilled that law; we must travel to Jerusalem—we 
 must look to the cross on Calvary, to obtain pardon for 
 having broken it. 
 
 Well, dear Anne! time is flying—’tis eleven at 
 night; Hussein arrived this evening with the camels, 
 and the sheikhs of the eastern tribes of the Peninsula 
 to whom they belong; the bargain is struck, and we 
 start betimes to-morrow morning. Adieu ! 
 
 Yours, my dear Anne! I have now a right to 
 subscribe myself 
 
 Hadji Lindsay. 
 
198 
 
 abdalt.ah’s wound. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Departure for Akana—Abdallah’s wound—return to the Convent— 
 joined bj Dr. Mac Lennan and Mr. Clarke. 
 
 Convent of St. Catherine, Mount Sinai, 
 April 15, 1837. 
 
 You will be surprised, my dear mother, to find that 
 we are still at Mount Sinai. We started for Petra on 
 Thursday morning, the 23rd of March, as we proposed 
 when I last wrote, and had advanced two days on the 
 road to Akaba, when an accident occurred to Abdallah, 
 which obliged us to return to the convent, and has de¬ 
 tained us here ever since. We had pitched the tents, 
 and were just lying down to rest ourselves, when a 
 pistol went off, and we heard him crying, “ Son morto l” 
 He had shot himself—not in the stomach, as we feared 
 at first, but in the thigh ; the strength of the muscle 
 turned the ball, and it had come out three or four 
 inches below. What was to be done ? We were two 
 days east of the convent—no doctor nearer than Cairo, 
 except a Pole, who had left Mount Sinai the morning 
 before in a contrary direction. I despatched an Arab 
 forthwith, on one of the dromedaries, to Cairo for a 
 surgeon, bidding him call at the convent to see whether 
 Dr. Mac Lennan, our Essouan friend, also bound for 
 Petra, had arrived there. Poor Abdallah was obliged 
 to interpret, and give all these directions himself. 
 
 Hussein, meanwhile, and the Arabs, dressed his 
 wound with rakie, a fiery brandy distilled from dates, 
 which they consider a sovereign specific,—we thought 
 it best to let them doctor him their own way; they 
 then gave him a soporific draught, made of a shrub 
 
ABDALLAH’S WOUND. 
 
 199 
 
 called shia, that grows wild in the desert,* and pre 
 sently he fell fast asleep—not so we. This was on 
 Friday night, Good Friday. 
 
 The next two days passed very heavily, as you may 
 well imagine. After much deliberation, we contrived a 
 bed for him, as comfortable as circumstances admitted 
 of, on the back of a camel. Hussein and Nuzzer, an 
 other of our Bedouins — kind attentive creatures— 
 walked by his side the whole of boih days, steadying 
 the bed and taking care of him, but he suffered much, 
 and groaned sadly ; the shia drink, however, procured 
 him some refreshing sleep. What with the wound, the 
 camels’ pace on uneven and rocky ground, and the 
 heat of the sun, an European wmuld have been in a 
 high fever, but he arrived at the Convent as cool almost 
 as he left it—most providentially, for no Dr. Mac Len- 
 nan had arrived, and no one knew how to bleed him, 
 had that operation been requisite. Then for his en¬ 
 trance—there was no possible way of effecting it ex¬ 
 cept by the rope and windlass; it was a ticklish busi¬ 
 ness. William stayed below, and I above, to direct 
 proceedings ; he was hoisted up, secured by cords, in 
 one of our iron bedsteads, William and Missirie steady¬ 
 ing it by two ropes below. The projecting window-* 
 ledge was too narrow to admit of the bed’s ascent to 
 the level of the window, and, consequently, to get at 
 him, it was necessarily so much depressed at one end, 
 that I dreaded his slipping through, a fall of thirty feet. 
 It was an anxious moment till we got hold of him, and 
 when we did, poor fellow, he was obliged to twist him¬ 
 self, and we to pull him, out of the bed and round the 
 cords it was suspended by, before we could land him. 
 
 “ The Shih, or Artemisia Judaica of Sprengel.” Robinson. 
 [1847.] 
 
200 
 
 DR. MAC LENNAN’S ARRIVAL 
 
 He bore it nobly, however; and never was I more 
 thankful than when we fairly laid him down in the 
 court of the convent. 
 
 This is the twenty-second day since his wound, and, 
 thank God ! he has been recovering, I may say, from 
 the very moment he received it. He has had no fever, 
 has suffered no pain for many days past, and Dr. Mac 
 Lennan, who arrived the day before yesterday, says he 
 will be well, and able to return to Cairo by the end of 
 the month. 
 
 Our Bedouin messenger rode night and day, and, 
 resting only three hours at the convent, arrived at 
 Cairo on the fourth day, and returned in five to Mount 
 Sinai; extraordinary speed, when we reflect that the 
 journey had taken us nine days and a half. Dr. Mac 
 Lennan was on the eve of starting for Mount Sinai, 
 and kindly undertook to prescribe for Abdallah ; he 
 w^.s detained, however, on the road, and when he made 
 his appearance, we had almost given up all hopes of 
 his arrival. 
 
 Hussein, by the bye, unlike most Orientals, did not 
 at all like our sending for a Frank hakim, or doctor, for 
 Abdallah. “ Let me take him to my tent,” said he, 
 “ and I will soon cure him.” 
 
 A hare having crossed the road when we were start¬ 
 ing that morning, Abdallah cocked the pistol to fire a.t 
 it; it was too quick for him, and he replaced the pistol 
 in his belt without uncocking it. At night, when he 
 was hanging it up, something caught the trigger, and 
 it went off. Missirie was close to him ; it was a mercy 
 neither he nor any of the Arabs were hurt. A hare’s 
 crossing the road on starting, is as bad an omen 
 among Mahometans, as among the Thugs of India, or 
 our own Highlanders. The Arabs attributed the acci¬ 
 dent, not to Abdallah’s carelessness, but to the unlucky 
 
AT THE CONVENT. 
 
 201 
 
 animal. The only way to counteract its evil influence 
 on such an encounter, is to shoot it. 
 
 This fortnight’s or rather three weeks’ residence in 
 the Convent has glided away, all things considered, 
 very agreeably; we have been reading most indus¬ 
 triously, the perfect stillness reigning for hours to¬ 
 gether, no Franks being here, and the monks seldom 
 leaving their cells, except to obey an occasional sum¬ 
 mons to prayer—perfect stillness, broken only, now 
 and then, by the report of an Arab’s gun, echoing 
 among the mountains, and an occasional symphony 
 from the Convent cats—wonderfully promoting our 
 disposition to study. The garden has been my fre¬ 
 quent resort, either walking under the shady olives, or 
 sitting in a tree, reading Shakespeare. The Superior 
 generally pays us a visit once a day, and a strange 
 jargon we talk—a medley of Arabic, Italian, ancient 
 and modern Greek. 
 
 He has given us two most extraordinary prints, 
 engraved, I believe, in Russia, above a century ago; 
 one representing the life and posthumous adventures 
 of St. Catherine, the other—I hardly know how to 
 describe it; Sinai and Gebel Katerin (Moses receiving 
 the Law on the one, and angels bearing the body of 
 the Saint to the other) occupy the centre of the design 
 —our Saviour’s Crucifixion is represented between 
 them—Alexandria and Cairo, the Pyramids, the Nile, 
 the Red Sea and Pharaoh and his host drowning, are 
 seen in the distance—the Tabernacle, the Golden Calf, 
 the Brazen Serpent, are disposed round the sacred 
 mountain, while the foreground is occupied by the 
 Convent and its garden, and a group of Arabs, aiming 
 with guns, and bows and arrows, at the monk who is 
 letting down their supply of bread.—Alas for the unities ! 
 
 Having lost so much time, we have determined on 
 
202 
 
 TOUALEB. 
 
 sending our heavy baggage, under Styrio’s care, (a 
 Greek we have procured from Cairo, in lieu of Ab¬ 
 dallah,) across the desert direct to Jerusalem, and 
 riding, ourselves, the whole way on dromedaries, taking 
 nothing with us but the necessary provender, consist¬ 
 ing chiefly of rice, biscuits, dried dates, coffee, a few 
 tongues, and water in skins, our small tent, and the 
 blankets and sheets of our beds, which will serve for 
 saddles. ( 19 ) Dr. Mac Lennan and Clarke join us, 
 sending on their baggage the same way. Toualeb, 
 another of Laborde’s companions on his journey to 
 Petra, accompanies them—a mild, pleasing-looking, 
 quiet man; he bears as high a character, I believe, as 
 his noble clansman Hussein.* With these gallant 
 duineuasals (for that seems to be their rank—private 
 Highland gentlemen) for our guides, we shall get on 
 famously. Monday morning die dromedaries will be 
 here, and then—heigho for Petra ! 
 
 Adieu, my dear mother. Abdallah will take this 
 letter with him to Cairo. 
 
 * Toualeb accompanied Dr. Robinson, who speaks of him repeat¬ 
 edly and with high praise, as “ uniformly kind, patient, accommo¬ 
 dating, trustworthy, and faithful. . . . He was now about sixty 
 
 years old, and obviously in the wane of his strength. . . . For 
 
 a great part of the time he was with us, he was labouring under ill 
 health. His wife had died not long before, leaving him two children, 
 a boy of some twelve years of age, and a girl about eight. These 
 children were now in our train. On inquiry of their father, how 
 he came to take them on such a journey, he said they were alone at 
 home, and he had intended to leave them so; but on his coming 
 away, they cried to go with him, and he said, ‘ No matter, get upon 
 the camels and come along.’ . . . The children were light and 
 
 active. The boy usually watched the camels when they were turned 
 loose to feed. The little girl had fine eyes and a pleasing face. She 
 usually wore only a long flowing shirt, but had a blanket for the 
 night and for cooler days; and commonly rode all day bare-headed 
 under a burning sun. She at first stood in great fear of the strangers, 
 nor did her shyness towards us ever finally wear off.” B. Researches, 
 vol. i, pp. 172, 220, 310. [1847.] 
 
THE MEZEINE. 
 
 203 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Route to Akaba—conference with the Alouins—Wady Araba— 
 —Sheikh Hussein's camp—Mount Seir—Petra—cross the desert 
 to Hebron—Bethlehem—approach to Jerusalem. 
 
 Jerusalem, 3rd May, 1837. 
 
 Monday morning, my dear mother, the 1st of May, we 
 arrived at Jerusalem, after a long, prosperous, and 
 most interesting journey through the wilderness, during 
 which, thank God ! I have enjoyed perfect health, and 
 suffered, upon the whole, very little fatigue. Through 
 the kindness of a French naval officer, a perfect 
 stranger to us, who leaves Jerusalem to-morrow, you 
 will receive this letter some -weeks sooner than if I 
 wrote either from Beyrout or Cairo. 
 
 My last from Mount Sinai informed you how well 
 Abdallah was doing, and that we hoped he would be 
 in Cairo by the end of April; he left the Convent, I 
 find, the day after we did. I thought it useless to say 
 anything to alarm you, but when we started on 
 Monday the 17th, we were in considerable doubt 
 whether or not we should be able to effect our pro¬ 
 posed journey. News came on Sunday morning that 
 war was proclaimed between the three Convent tribes 
 and the Mezeine, on account of a claim preferred by 
 the latter to convey travellers to Akaba as well as the 
 former, in whom the monopoly is at present vested. 
 Hussein arrived that evening in his holiday attire, and 
 confirmed the tale; he said, however, that he and 
 Toualeb would willingly take us to Akaba; they would 
 not fight in the Mezeine country, “ but if they attack 
 us in ours,” said he, “ we will:—you must look on, and 
 bear testimony at Cairo.” 
 
204 
 
 WADY SAHAL. 
 
 We started accordingly for Akaba on Monday, at 
 half-past two, and reached it about eleven on Thurs¬ 
 day morning, having performed five camel-days’ journey 
 in thirty hours and a half—less than three of the 
 dromedaries. The second night we encamped in the 
 enemy’s country, but our Bedouins, though they had 
 come well armed, seemed to entertain little apprehen¬ 
 sion of an attack. I fancy the tale must have been 
 exaggerated to enhance the price demanded for the 
 dromedaries, and that a certain Sheikh Islamaun, who 
 had been very troublesome at our departure from the 
 convent, was at the bottom of it. We resisted his 
 demands, and left him in a great fright, Clarke having 
 asked his name and written it down before his face, a 
 ceremony that has a wonderfully quieting effect upon 
 a noisy Arab. 
 
 But I must not run on quite so fast. Though we 
 quitted the convent walls at half-past two, on Monday, 
 we lost half an hour at the entrance to Wady Sheikh, 
 stopping to settle ourselves, and re-arrange the baggage; 
 the Arabs always like to do so on commencing a 
 journey. We got fairly off at three, and at four passed 
 the Sheikh’s or Saint’s tomb, which gives its name to 
 this noble valley—a great scene of Arab pilgrimage and 
 festivity at the date-harvest. Presently, leaving Wady 
 Sheikh to the left, we commenced the long ascent of 
 Wady Sahal*—strange whispering voices, without any 
 visible cause for them, echoing among the rocks, as I 
 walked on in advance, and out of sight, of the caravan; 
 it was easy, on reflection, to account for them, still it 
 was impossible not to think of Milton’s 
 
 “ aery tongues that syllable men’s names 
 On sands and shores, and desert wildernesses.” ( 20 ) 
 
 Wady Sal. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
DISTRICT OF HUDDRA. 
 
 205 
 
 We halted at half-past five, a little beyond the 
 spot where we encamped the first time we attempted 
 this road, and which commanded a most beautiful Dros- 
 pect of the Sinaite mountains. 
 
 The following morning, after hastily breakfasting on 
 a rock, we commenced the eastward descent of Wady 
 Sahal, which now narrowed into a long and picturesque 
 defile. We reached its termination in about two hours 
 and a half, and thence proceeded through Wady ul 
 Meran and Whtdy Legebi* (its curious sandstone rocks 
 resembling the ruins of enormous buildings),—about 
 one o’clock, we passed the spot where Abdallah shot 
 himself, seventeen camel, nine dromedary hours from 
 Mount Sinai; and then entered the district of Huddraf 
 —never did I see such a dismal wilderness; it is neither 
 mountain nor valley, though the Bedouins call it both 
 indifferently, but one vast mass of arid rock—sometimes 
 split into deep ravines, presenting perpendicular walls 
 on either side, smooth as if cut down like a hay-rick, 
 yet honey-combed in long, narrow, parallel lines, re¬ 
 sembling at a distance friezes of Egyptian hierogly¬ 
 phics — sometimes, a succession of isolated rocks, 
 crumbling, as it were, with decay, jagged as if an ocean 
 had torn its way between them, and generally shape¬ 
 less, though one, as we passed it, singularly resembled 
 a criosphinx. I have not a doubt that Burckhardt is 
 right in his conjecture that this is the Hazeroth of 
 Moses, where Miriam—nay, the very rocks look stricken 
 with leprosy.J 
 
 * Wady Hurrah? and Wady Ajeibah. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 f El-Hudhera. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 \ Dr. Robinson observes that “ the identity of the Arabic and 
 Hebrew names is apparent, each containing the corresponding radi¬ 
 cal letters; and the distance of eighteen hours from Sinai accords well 
 enough with the hypothesis. The determination of this point is perhaps 
 
206 
 
 WADY SEMRHT. 
 
 Beyond Huddra, we crossed the mountains on foot 
 into Wady Resale* (Rissah ?)—I saw a few inscriptions 
 there, in the unknown character of Wady Mokatteb ; 
 and then, passing through Wady Ruhabiyeh,f we en¬ 
 camped in Wady Semrhi,J after above eleven hours’ ride. 
 
 We had a long talk with Hussein and Toualeb that 
 night, partly about the tribes of the peninsula, partly 
 about our ow T n situation, for, as 1 said above, we were 
 in the heart of the enemies’ country here. Toualeb 
 told us, with a funny air of secrecy, that they had a 
 Gherashi man with them, one of a tribe in alliance with 
 the Mezeine, ( 2I ) and that, if they molested us, they 
 would kill him. “ Hussein and I,” said he, turning to 
 him with a gesture of affection, “ are brothers, and if 
 any man hurts me, Hussein will have his life.” “We 
 are all brothers,” said Hussein—and indeed I should 
 love him as a brother, were I to take to the tent and 
 turn Bedouin, as our friend Clarke often threatens he 
 will for a season.§ 
 
 of more importance in Biblical history than would at first appear; 
 for if this position be adopted for Hazeroth, it settles at once the 
 question as to the whole route of the Israelites between Sinai and 
 Kadesh. It shows, that they must have followed the route upon which 
 we now were to the sea, and so along the coast to Akabah; and 
 thence probably through the great Wady el-Arabah to Kadesh. In¬ 
 deed, such is the nature of the country, that having once arrived at 
 this fountain, they could not well have varied their course, so as to 
 have kept aloof from the sea and continued along the high pla¬ 
 teau of the western desert.” B. Researches, vol. i, p. 224. I need 
 onlj' add, that the identity of El Huddra and Hazeroth need not 
 (I think) be questioned, even on the supposition of Gebel Serbal 
 being the true Sinai. [1847.] 
 
 * Wady Ghuzaleh. Robinson. [1847.] 
 f Wady er-Ruweihibiyeh. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 J Wady es-Samghy. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 § The affair alluded to here and at the commencement of this let¬ 
 ter was a much more serious one than I was aware of at the time. 
 Dr. Robinson relates the story as follows, as he heard it from the 
 
WADY SEMRHI. 207 
 
 Wednesday morning, we descended through Wady 
 
 Arabs on the spot:—“ Only two of the divisions of the Sawaliheh, 
 viz., the Dhuheiry and Awarimeh, together with the tribe Aleikat, 
 stand in the relation of Ghafirs or protectors to the convent; while 
 the other division of the former tribe, the Kurrashy, as also the tribe 
 Muzeiny, do not enjoy this privilege. Hence the Kurrashy and 
 Muzeiny are often in league against the convent and its protectors; 
 and at all times cherish towards them an unfriendly spirit. An in¬ 
 stance of this kind occurred no longer ago than the preceding year, 
 in reference to Lord Lindsay and his party on their departure from 
 the convent. . . . The Kurrashy and Muzeiny, wishing to 
 
 break down the monopoly of the protectors, applied to carry the 
 party from the convent to Akabah. As soon as this became known, 
 the three tribes of protectors assembled in Wady Seheb (near Wady 
 esh-Sheikh) under their sheikhs Musa and Muteir; while the two 
 former tribes also collected in Wady el-Akhdar under their sheikhs 
 Salih and Khudeir. The decision of the travellers was waited for 
 with anxiety. If they concluded to take those who were not pro¬ 
 tectors, it was to be the signal for the protectors to fall upon the 
 others in deadly conflict. But they decided for the protectors ; and 
 then the other party declared that they would appeal to the Pasha. 
 Here, however, the convent in Cairo interfered, and the appeal was 
 never made.” B. Researches , vol. i, p. 205. 
 
 ’ have no doubt this is all strictly correct. The question, whether 
 we would adhere to long-established usage or no, was proposed and 
 answered in a breath, as might be expected from English Conserva¬ 
 tives—and thus, it seems, much bloodshed was prevented. We 
 attached little importance to it at the moment, but I remember as if 
 it were yesterday the arrival of Hussein, in his holiday dress, fresh 
 from the council described by Dr. Robinson, as the ambassador and 
 spokesman of the protector tribes, and our conference in the garden, 
 seated in a circle under the olive-trees—the grey-bearded superior 
 presiding, a few of the monks in their long robes grouped beside 
 him—ourselves opposite—Missirie standing a little without the circle 
 interpreting, and Hussein in the midst gesticulating as he spoke— 
 the bright sun-rays glancing the while through the olive-leaves, and 
 flickering on the ground beneath us.—“ Subsequently to this,” adds 
 Dr. Robinson, “ a French traveller took one of the Muzeiny as guide 
 to Akabah, against the counsel and influence of the convent, the 
 Arab having gained over the dragoman of the traveller by a present. 
 But by the advice of the convent, the protectors took no further 
 revenge than to procure for him a sound drubbing at Akabah. . . 
 
208 
 
 CONFERENCE WITH THE ALOUINS. 
 
 Saadi by a most romantic pass called El Boueb,* to 
 Nouebe,+ ( 22 ) on the gulf of Akaba, ( 23 ) a village of the 
 Mezeine, surrounded by superb date-trees. From this 
 place, the road follows the shore almost the whole way 
 to the Fort of Akaba, and the scenery is at once mag¬ 
 nificent and lovely. The weather was beautiful, the 
 breeze delicious, and I never enjoyed myself more. 
 Numbers of diminutive crabs were running about on the 
 sands, and little fish and small sharks in great numbers 
 sporting in the shallows. The shore was covered with 
 leaves and “ scattered sedge” washed in by the tide, 
 
 “ Thick as autumnal leaves that strew the brooks 
 In Vallombrosa”— 
 
 if I may unyoke a couple of Milton’s similes, and make 
 them tilt at each other, on the principle that things that 
 are equal to the same thing are equal to one another. 
 There too I tasted the red homr-berry—very sweet, but 
 it made me thirstier than our scanty provision of water 
 justified. 
 
 After eleven hours’ ride and a half, the camels being 
 quite knocked up, we halted in Wady Gheblee—five 
 hours more on Thursday morning took us to the fort 
 of Akaba. 
 
 The Turkish Governor here proved a most un- 
 courteous dog. When Clarke spoke to him, he neither 
 looked up nor took any notice of him, and when we 
 all sat down under a vei’andah of dried palm-leaves, he 
 offered us no pipes; on this Clarke and Ramsay asked 
 for theirs, and, after a few whiffs, offered them to 
 
 There seems, however, a strong probability, that this matter will not 
 be definitively settled without blood.” B. Researches , loc. cit. What 
 may have happened since in this struggle of Whig and Tory interests 
 in the peninsula I know not. [1847.] 
 
 * El Abweib. Robinson. [1847.] 
 f Ain el-Eaiweibia. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
THE ALOUINS. 
 
 209 
 
 Hussein and Toualeb, which much surprised the Turks; 
 and our coolness, taking no notice of them in return 
 for their incivility, and chatting and laughing just in 
 our usual way, as if they had not been present, seemed 
 quite to disconcert them. The consequence was, that the 
 next day the Governor was all smiles and complaisance. 
 We parted with our friends Hussein and Toualeb that 
 night; they offered to go on with us, if we wished it, 
 but said that the Alouins, (with whom we were to pro¬ 
 ceed to Petra and Hebron) were men with “ big bellies” 
 —they were nothing in comparison with them, and 
 could be of no use to us; they were evidently very 
 unwilling to proceed, and we also, on further considera¬ 
 tion, thought it would be better to make our own bar¬ 
 gain, and trust ourselves wholly to the Alouins, when 
 once it was struck. We kissed, therefore, and parted, 
 and they went back to their own country the same 
 night.* 
 
 Bed-time came; the travellers’ room absolutely 
 swarmed with bugs; my friends lay down to sleep,— 
 I had not courage to do so, but sat up reading all 
 night—the creatures absolutely covered me, crawling 
 down over the very page I was reading; my companions 
 on the floor fared still worse—grievous were the ex¬ 
 clamations. And sad to say, there was no escape— 
 the door had a spring-lock, and one of the party having 
 
 * “ We parted with our Towarah Arabs with regret, and with 
 the kindest feelings. For thirty days they had now been our com¬ 
 panions and guides through the desert, and not the slightest diffi¬ 
 culty had arisen between us. On the contrary, they had done all in 
 their power to lighten the toils of our journey, and protect us from 
 discomforts by the way. In all our subsequent journeyings we 
 found no guides so faithful and devoted.” Dr. Robinson, B. Re¬ 
 searches, vol. i, p. 311.—“A more honest, simple, kind-hearted set 
 of men,” says Mr. Kinnear, “ I never met with.” Cairo, Petra, SfC. t 
 p. 113. [1847.] 
 
 P 
 
210 
 
 THE ALOUINS. 
 
 shut it imprudently, we were fairly prisoners; there 
 was nothing for it but patience—it was certainly the 
 most wretched night I ever spent; however, I had a 
 refreshing plunge in the Red Sea next morning, which 
 set me quite to rights. The second night we slept 
 under the verandah of the court — a most happy 
 change. The fort, a very ordinary building, is em¬ 
 bowered in groves of beautiful palm-trees. 
 
 On Saturday morning, the twenty-second, Sheikh 
 Hussein, and Sheikh Salem, two chieftains of the 
 Alouins,* whom we had sent for on Thursday, arrived 
 at the fort. The prices paid by former travellers for 
 conveyance to Petra and Hebron had been most ex¬ 
 orbitant ; one gentleman, acting on a generous, but I 
 think, mistaken principle, threw away XT50, in order 
 to prepossess the Bedouins in favour of the English; 
 another allowed himself to be dictated to, and paid 
 whatever his guides demanded, gave them whatever 
 they asked for od the road, and his tent, dress, and all 
 his camp equipage, a double-barrelled gun, &c. on 
 arriving at Hebron ! We felt no inclination to imitate 
 their example, more especially as two gentlemen, 
 Messrs. Beke and Estridge, had passed a few weeks 
 before for four thousand two hundred piastres, equiva¬ 
 lent, including presents, &c. to about fifty pounds. 
 We wer q four, and the demands of the Bedouins had 
 generally been regulated by the number of travellers. 
 
 * Dr. Robinson seems to confound Sheikh Salem with Sheikh 
 Hussein, and observes, “ This is the same person whom Schubert 
 calls ‘ Emir Salem of Gaza, the great Sheikh of the Araba.’ We 
 heard nothing of any such name or attributes.” We understood 
 him to be Sheikh Hussein’s brother, which, in Arab phrase, may 
 imply kinsman. Great respect was shown him, even by Hussein 
 himself, when we were his guests afterwards at the camp. Mr. 
 Kinnear, I observe, also describes him as Sheikh Hussein’s brother. 
 [1847.] 
 
THE ALOUINS. 
 
 211 
 
 We determined, therefore, to bargain merely with 
 reference to the number of camels,—all of us agreeing 
 in the wish to clear the way for future travellers by 
 reducing to something reasonable the absurd price 
 hitherto paid for passage through a most interesting 
 country,—not that we did not also, as Britons, feel 
 considerable dislike at the idea of allowing ourselves 
 to be cheated, and travelling as servants instead of 
 masters. We took up our line therefore, persevered in 
 it, and were completely successful, having had our own 
 way from first to last. 
 
 Accordingly, after seating our guests on the divan 
 outside our apartment, and presenting them with 
 coffee, &c., we asked them with very little ceremony, 
 and as a mere every-day bargain, for what sum they ‘ 
 would convey us by Wady Mousa to Hebron ? Sheikh 
 Hussein’s first demand was fifteen thousand piastres, 
 that is one hundred and fifty pounds, for twenty-three 
 camels, alleging that number to be requisite for our¬ 
 selves and a guard. We told them that two acquaint¬ 
 ances of ours had gone through for four thousand four 
 hundred, and that we had no idea of paying more, as 
 we should not require more camels than they did. 
 They then came down to ten thousand, and eight 
 thousand. We left them, and retired into our den, 
 leaving them to talk it over. Presently they sent in 
 to say, they were going; had we any thing more to 
 say ? “ No ! ” was the answer. On this, they came in 
 themselves, and said the sum offered was too little,— 
 a long discussion ensued, but without the fury we ex¬ 
 pected,—perhaps the coffee we assiduously plied them 
 with smoothed matters. We told them we had already 
 sent our baggage direct to Hebron; if it suited their 
 convenience to take us for four thousand piastres, it 
 would suit ours to pay that sum, but no more; if you 
 
212 
 
 THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 will take us, taib ! if not , taib ! We would pay what 
 our countrymen had paid, though they had heavy 
 baggage, and we had scarcely any. It ended by their 
 proposing four thousand five hundred:—we wished to 
 have a hold over them, and caught at it. “ Well,” we 
 said, “ Englishmen have one word; four thousand 
 piastres is our word: if we are satisfied with your con¬ 
 duct on the journey, we will give you five hundred 
 more at El Halil (Hebron) as bagshish.” They agreed 
 to this, and the bargain was struck;—three thousand 
 (as our predecessors had also stipulated) to be paid 
 here, the rest at Hebron, and nothing whatever to be 
 paid or given, either to themselves or any other tribes 
 or individuals, on the road. 
 
 The camels were at the gate, ready to he let in, and 
 we should have started immediately, had not a new 
 difficulty arisen in a refusal on the part of the governor 
 to let them in, or us out, unless we paid the soldiers 
 two hundred piastres ; this we positively refused, telling 
 him that we had intended giving one hundred and 
 eight to himself for his apartments, which we offered 
 him; he would not take them, went off in a huff, and 
 we saw no more of him. 
 
 Matters looked rather serious now; the gates were 
 shut, the soldiers interested in keeping us in, our per¬ 
 sonal and national honour interested in getting out 
 without submitting to this extortion. We produced 
 the Pasha’s firman, and threatened to write to Habib 
 Effendi at Misr (Cairo) unless the gates were opened. 
 This did no good. The Sheikh, even Missirie, earn¬ 
 estly begged us to give in, but we were very unwilling 
 to do so, though, to all appearance, there was no other 
 chance of our getting out. At this moment, however, 
 the topgi, or head-gunner, the man next in authority to 
 the governor, and a nasty, sneaking rascal, imperti- 
 
THE GOVERNOR. 
 
 213 
 
 nently interfering in the conversation, Clarke told him, 
 in plain Arabic, to hold his tongue; which produced a 
 most unlooked-for effect; he ran away in a rage, and 
 saying it was no use keeping the Franks in to insult 
 him, ordered the gates to be opened, and the camels 
 admitted; and presently came fawning up to Clarke 
 like a beaten spaniel.* 
 
 The difficulty was over and the point given up, but, 
 at the Sheikh’s intercession, we gave a bagshish to the 
 porter, and two or three similar fees, which redeemed 
 our character from illiberality as effectually as our 
 previous opposition had established it for English in¬ 
 flexibility. We experienced the good effects of our 
 resistance all the rest of the journey. At its com¬ 
 mencement the Sheikh was constantly begging for this 
 and that in a most unchieftain-like manner, and so did 
 some of his people; but I must do them the justice to 
 say they were a far superior set to their Sheikh, a weak 
 man apparently, greedy and encroaching, but infirm of 
 purpose, so that, finding the English had one word 
 always, he made no attempt latterly either to control, 
 frighten, or flatter us.t 
 
 * We did write to Cairo after reaching Jerusalem, and the repre¬ 
 sentation seems to have been attended to, for Dr. Robinson, a year 
 afterwards, found the governor “ a young man, who had been here 
 only four or five months; his predecessor having been recalled, it 
 was said, on account of incivility to former travellers. There was 
 therefore, in his whole demeanor towards us, now, and afterwards, 
 an air of studied endeavour, not indeed to please and gratify us, but 
 so to conduct himself as to avoid complaint and future censure.”— 
 The Doctor, however, eventually, like ourselves, “ found the whole 
 establishment to be a nest of harpies, and was heartily glad to quit 
 the castle.” B. Researches , vol. i, pp. 242, 249.—Messrs. Kinnear, 
 Pell, and Roberts, taking warning by our entrapment, encamped 
 outside the walls. Cairo, Petra, Sfc., p. 99. [1847.] 
 
 f Mr. Kinnear, who travelled with Sheikh Hussein a year after¬ 
 wards, and had experience of his rapacity, observes, “ Notwithstand- 
 
214 
 
 BEDOUIN CHARACTER. 
 
 The Bedouins feel no shame in begging, and, unless 
 met firmly at first, will prove very troublesome to a 
 traveller. They are perfect children in their demands; 
 fancy their asking us for kohol, or antimony, for tinging 
 the eyelids, in the heart of the desert! Thus much 
 premised, they possess many fine and generous quali¬ 
 ties, in which the bellcideen, or town-Arabs, are very 
 deficient; they will cheat, lie, stoop to any meanness, 
 to win in a bargain, but, once struck, they will adhere 
 to it faithfully; they will plunder without mercy the 
 traveller they casually meet in the desert, but one 
 might trust one’s life to a Bedouin after having struck 
 hands and eaten with him. 
 
 So secure is property in the peninsula of Mount 
 Sinai, that, on a tree going to Akaba, we found a cloak 
 still hanging up untouched, which some traveller had 
 left there more than three weeks before, when we first 
 travelled that road. I have no doubt it is still hanging 
 there, unless the owner has reclaimed it.* The 
 Sheikhs, like the Forty Thieves, have much wealth in 
 rich dresses, &c. laid up in caves in different parts of 
 
 ing this, Sheikh Ilussein is rather a remarkable character. Although 
 one of the chiefs of a very powerful tribe, he is no warrior. Indeed 
 his own followers did not scruple to say, ‘ Hussein is a great coward;’ 
 hut they added, ‘ he can do more with his tongue than all the other 
 sheikhs with their swords.’ He is certainly the most unblushing 
 liar I ever met with. . . . lie is naturally of a very irascible 
 
 temper, over which, however, he has most perfect command.” Cairo, 
 Petra , Sfc., p. 174.—This character I should think correct. At the 
 same time I must do him the justice to say that we never found him 
 in speech or manner ungentlemanlike, and, so far as I could judge, 
 he bore no malice in return for our uniformly insisting on having 
 our own way. [1847.] 
 
 * “ In passing through Wady Sa’l, on our way to Akabah,” says 
 Dr. Robinson, “ we saw a black tent hanging on a tree: Taweileb 
 said it was there when he passed the year before, and would never 
 be stolen.” B. Researches , vol. i, p. 210.—I had mistaken it for a 
 cloak. [1847.J ♦ 
 
WADY ARABA. 
 
 215 
 
 the peninsula; the situation of these is well known, 
 and they are merely secured by wooden locks, but no 
 one, I believe, ever heard of their being violated. The 
 vices of towns are said to be almost unknown among 
 them. Like all mankind, they have much good and 
 much evil mixed up in their compositions, but their 
 vices seem to he of a less debasing character than those 
 of any other orientals. 
 
 Our guides were, for the most part, cheerful, good- 
 humoured fellows, handsome, with a wild and fierce 
 expression of countenance, quite in character with the 
 race whose hand is against every man, and every man’s 
 hand against theirs. We found them, however, by no 
 means the hardy set we expected. 
 
 We started for Petra at ten minutes past one. I 
 cannot express to you what a relief it was to feel our¬ 
 selves once more in the desert, free men; and how 
 strong the dislike of being cooped up within walls and 
 cities grows in the course of a continued journey 
 through it. Nothing could be more beautiful than the 
 Gulf of Akaba, gleaming through its fringe of palm- 
 trees, as we left the fort, like a placid lake—an eye, 
 rather, of the deepest blue, eye-lashed with palms, and 
 eye-lidded with the Arabian mountains. 
 
 Our course lay up the great Wady Araba—from the 
 days of Solomon to those of the Romans the grand 
 commercial route by which the riches of Ophir and the 
 Indies were conveyed from Eloth and Eziongeber, 
 (both situated near Akaba,) to Jerusalem. 
 
 But far deeper is its interest when we think of it 
 as the oft-retrodden path of the Israelites, the scene of 
 so many incidents in their history, w r hile “ compassing 
 Mount Seir many days,” between their first residence 
 at Kadesh Barnea and their final departure for the land 
 of Canaan. Then, as now, it must have presented the 
 
216 
 
 ENCAMPMENTS. 
 
 same dreary waste—sand hills beyond sand hills, tufted 
 with broom and other bushes, affording excellent pas¬ 
 turage, but still a dreary solitude—a howling wilder¬ 
 ness ; while the Edomites from their Black Mountains 
 looked down on them in scorn, as they slowly and 
 sadly retraced their steps to Hashmonah. 
 
 We rode on for four hours, and then halted to wait 
 for the Sheikh, who had remained behind in the fortress. 
 He came at last—the governor, when we were gone, 
 shut the gates, and extorted from him five hundred 
 piastres of those he had received from us! He sat 
 down with “ his children” round him in a circle, and 
 drank his coffee, and we presently remounted, and rode 
 on for two hours and a half by starlight. 
 
 The description of one night’s encampment will give 
 you an idea of all. We halted usually on some spot 
 where the camels could find shrubs for food, and we 
 dry bushes for fuel; three fires were then lighted, one 
 for Missirie and Hassan, Clarke’s servant, one for the 
 Sheikh and his children, and a third for the lower caste 
 of his clansmen. Nothing could be more picturesque 
 than the night-scenes these fires and the wild groups 
 gathered round them exhibited. The first night two 
 Arabs quarrelled and flew at each other with their 
 drawn swords, but were held back by their friends, and 
 with some (apparent) difficulty pacified. If a ruse to 
 try our nerves, which I hope we were not uncharitable 
 in believing it, it failed egregiously.—The Arabs, by 
 the way, when they do come to blows, always strike 
 with the palms of their hands, as the soldiers struck 
 our Saviour—never with the fist. Our tent was soon 
 pitched and struck ; our food was rice, bread, tongues, 
 coffee, and occasionally mutton; a blanket and the 
 sheets of our bedding took up little room, serving for 
 saddles during the day-time, and we made easy shift 
 
SHEIKH HUSSEIN’S CAMP. 
 
 217 
 
 with two or three changes of linen. And was not this 
 faring like princes? We were off almost always before 
 sunrise, and travelled about ten or eleven hours till 
 near sun-set, resting about half an hour, generally, at 
 mid-day. We enjoyed the most lovely weather during 
 the whole journey; excessive heat was what we ex¬ 
 pected, but it proved, on the contrary, delightfully cool 
 and temperate. 
 
 Starting at four in the morning, we reached Sheikh 
 Hussein’s camp about one, on Sunday afternoon. The 
 tents were ranged in a crescent, and very low, except 
 the Sheikh’s. We alighted before it, and were most 
 gracefully received by his eldest son, a boy about ten 
 or eleven, arrayed in his little kefia, or head-dress of 
 the desert, red boots, &c., a Bedouin Sheikh in minia¬ 
 ture ; in fact, he bears that rank, and wields a Sheikh’s 
 authority in the camp, during his father’s absence. 
 Sheikh Hussein, determined that we should be his 
 guests that evening, had ordered the camels that carried 
 our tent to be kept in the rear ; coming up presently, 
 he renewed our welcome, and invited us into his tent, 
 whither we followed, and sat down on the mat beside 
 him, our backs towards the ladies’ compartment, sepa¬ 
 rated from ours by a thin partition only. We heard 
 them chattering behind us at a great rate. 
 
 It was a bright, warm afternoon, and the fire in the 
 centre of the tent, and the clouds of tobacco-smoke, 
 were, at first, almost stifling. The wild Alouins gathered 
 round us, and presently our dejeune made its appear¬ 
 ance ; first leban was served —sour milk,—and then a 
 mixture of butter, bread, sugar—I really do not know 
 all its component parts, but it was excellent,— then 
 pipes,—and coffee was repeatedly served by a slave 
 who sat constantly grinding and supplying new comers 
 with that truly oriental luxury.( 21 ) Each guest, as he 
 
21 « 
 
 sheikh hussein’s camp. 
 
 entered, was kissed by the principal members of the 
 circle, except the Sheikh—hearty double kisses; the 
 Sheikh rose when Sheikh Salem made his appearance. 
 Little ceremony was observed, though much respect 
 was shown to the Sheikh, who spoke and gesticulated 
 with considerable dignity. It was a strange scene alto¬ 
 gether, but one group was really beautiful,—Sheikh 
 Hussein, in his robes of scarlet and red turban, widely 
 different, both in dress and features, from his clansmen 
 —with his young son, so fair and graceful, lying at his 
 feet, and looking fondly up in his face. Many other 
 children were admitted into the circle, or played out¬ 
 side the tent,—all of them, seemingly, much indulged. 
 Others, quite black and stark-naked, were running 
 about among the tents. 
 
 When we had had enough of it, we slipped out from 
 under the corner of the tent, and repaii’ed to our own, 
 where we found the little Sheikh Mohammed sitting at 
 the door, watching Missirie’s proceedings; we invited 
 him in ; he sat down very modestly, at first on the sand, 
 then on the bed. We gave him some preserved dates 
 and nebbeks for himself and his little brothers. While 
 dinner was in preparation, (for the Sheikh had killed a 
 sheep for us,) we squatted before the tent with the Be¬ 
 douins, playing with a young wolf, and watching the 
 evening occupations of the camp. Children were at 
 play,— women, in their long blue robes, bringing in dry 
 wood for the night fires—two others were grinding at 
 the mill at the door of one of the tents; an animated 
 talk was going on in the Sheikh’s—his horse was prowl¬ 
 ing about in its rich trappings,—goats (the little Be¬ 
 douin goat is a beautiful creature) smelling about our 
 tent, and at the slumbering Hassan, not knowing what 
 to make of him,— dogs barking, &c. &c., a happy, 
 cheerful, peaceful scene as ever I witnessed! 
 
SHEIKH HUSSEIN’S CAMP. 
 
 219 
 
 At last, Sheikh Hussein made his appearance with a 
 large wooden howl full of mutton, and we all gathered 
 round it, the Sheikh and his son, ourselves, Missirie, 
 and Hassan,—and commenced operations, dipping in 
 the dish, and eating with our fingers in the eastern 
 fashion. Large soft cakes of excellent bread, like 
 Scotch scones, disposed round the dish, served at once 
 for plates and food,—read this to Sir Robert Leigh, and 
 he will quote Virgil.—The Sheikh came again to coffee, 
 with Abdel-Hug’s (M. Linant’s) letter of introduction 
 for Clarke and Mac Lennan, stuck in his girdle; yes¬ 
 terday he carried it on his turban; I doubt whether he 
 could read it. 
 
 The camp at night was a beautiful spectacle, a cres¬ 
 cent of lights and fires flaming around us, the grinding 
 still continuing. A lively confab was still going on in 
 Sheikh Hussein’s tent; we were told afterwards that 
 the tribe were much dissatisfied at his having engaged 
 to conduct us for so little,—if so, it tells highly for him 
 that he never mentioned it to us.* 
 
 The grinding was still going on when we woke next 
 morning; and a man churning butter in a skin, see¬ 
 sawing it on his knee ; two children were plaguing the 
 poor little wretch of a wolf, pulling it about with a 
 string—but it will bite soon. The little Sheikh Mo¬ 
 hammed breakfasted with us on coffee, leban, and 
 bread, and, before starting, w r e presented him with a 
 pair of yellow morocco slippers and boots for his mo¬ 
 ther, who made her appearance in her finery at the 
 moment of our departure.—And so we bade farewell 
 to our friendly Bedouins. 
 
 After four hours’ continual, but very gentle, ascent, 
 
 * “ Nor did any one utter the word bagshish the whole time we 
 were there.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
220 
 
 MOUNT HOR. 
 
 we came in sight of Mount Hor, ntfw called Gebel 
 Haroun, or Aaron’s mountain, whose house Hassan 
 very gravely informed us he had seen at Bagdad—mis¬ 
 taking him for Haroun Alraschid. An hour and a half 
 farther, after passing the entrance to Wady Sabra, we 
 quitted Wady Araba, and ascended eastwards into the 
 dreary Gebel Shera, the Mount Seir of Scripture, ( 2S ) 
 through Wady Hower (which appears to be the ancient 
 name of the mountain transferred to the valley) and 
 Wady Abou-ghshebi.* 
 
 We had seen nothing hitherto but sand, stones, 
 rattam, and the usual thorny plants of the desert; it 
 was very hot too, that day—“ Shoof!” cried somebody 
 —and imagine my thrill of delight at seeing, close to 
 me, a large bush of oleander in full flower ! I longed 
 for you and Anne ! the Arabs call it defila .f We saw 
 plenty more of it as we advanced deeper into the 
 mountains ; we encamped that night, I may almost 
 say, in a little grove of it, at the point where the ravine 
 widens, and the most difficult part of the ascent to 
 Petra begins,—two hours and forty minutes from Wady 
 Araba. The groups of Alouins that night gathered round 
 their fires, their guns resting against the oleanders that 
 formed a flowery crescent round our tent, were studies 
 for a Salvator. I caught a young firefly—the first I 
 had seen since leaving Italy. 
 
 Next morning, the Sheikh and his people were un¬ 
 usually officious in packing up the baggage, as they 
 were the evening before in pitching the tent; this, we 
 knew, portended the birth of a difficulty, for we had 
 private information that the Sheikh did not intend 
 allowing us to remain more than an hour at Petra. We 
 said nothing, determining, when there, to stay as long 
 
 * Wady Abu Kusheibeh. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 f Nerium Oleander. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
PETRA. 
 
 221 
 
 as we chose. Accordingly, as soon as we reached it, 
 and had taken possession of a cave to sleep in, we 
 came to an explanation with the Sheikh, reminding 
 him of his own words at Akaba, that we should stay at 
 Petra two, three, four days, or as long as we liked. 
 We should have reminded him that our promise of the 
 five hundred piastres was only conditional,—but it was 
 enough; having learnt by this time that Englishmen 
 had but one word, he soon gave in. 
 
 I pass over the beauties and sublimities of the three 
 hours’ ascent and descent to Petra; the scenery is wild 
 and gloomy, but the ravines are full of those lovely 
 oleanders; vultures and hawks soared above us, but 
 the little birds were singing sweetly; the incessant 
 calling of partridges was delightful to my companions’ 
 ears as sportsmen, and to mine also, as a lover of 
 nature’s mirth—though hearing it here I thought par¬ 
 ticularly interesting, as the fulfilment of the prophecy 
 that that very bird, the cormorant of our version, should 
 possess Mount Seir. But most delightful of all to the 
 ear, as the first sight of the oleanders yesterday to the 
 eye, was the gushing of running waters as we descended 
 from the hills—the little brook which flows through 
 “ the valley of Moses,” almost concealed by luxuriant 
 oleanders and wild flowers. 
 
 We started immediately for the ravine El Syk, the 
 only regular approach to Petra, fearful lest we should 
 be prevented examining it by the Fellaheen or villagers 
 of Wady Mousa, who bear so bad a character both 
 among the Bedouins and travellers.—I am not going 
 to write you a description of Petra, its magnificent ex¬ 
 cavations, temples hewn out of the solid rock, and 
 tombs ; Irby and Mangles, in their charming volume, 
 and Laborde have done it already, and to them I refer 
 you. Two or three words only as to our own visit, 
 
222 
 
 PETRA. 
 
 and the impression it produced on me.—Entering the 
 ravine, and pushing our way through the beautiful trees 
 and shrubs that, fed by its waters, overhang the brook, 
 —sometimes jumping from stone to stone, and some¬ 
 times wading up to our knees, we passed in a few 
 minutes the theatre, and soon afterwards reached the 
 Khasne, or treasury of Pharaoh, the wonderful excava¬ 
 tion engraved by Laborde. Bestowing a hasty glance 
 only of admiration on it, we made the best of our way 
 up the ravine, our delight and wonder increasing at 
 eveiy step,—I never saw anything so wildly beautiful; 
 the brook in many places entirely covers the road, 
 oleanders, evergreens, fig-trees, and willows, over¬ 
 shadowing it in the richest luxuriance ; the rocks, 
 tinged with every colour of the rainbow,* tower to a 
 great height above you, and sometimes dovetail, as it 
 were, into each other, so as to involve the whole defile 
 in shade.f 
 
 * “ Not the least remarkable circumstance in the peculiarities of 
 this singular spot, is the colour of the rocks. They present, not 
 a dead mass of dull monotonous red; but an endless variety of 
 bright and living hues, from the deepest crimson to the softest pink, 
 verging also sometimes to orange and yellow. These varying shades 
 are often distinctly marked by waving lines, imparting to the surface 
 of the rock a succession of brilliant and changing tints, like the hues 
 of watered silk, and adding greatly to the imposing effect of the 
 sculptured monuments.”— B. Researches, vol. ii, p. 531. We ob¬ 
 served rocks similarly (though by no means so vividly) tinted, near 
 Gebel Huddra, on the road from Mount Sinai to Akaba. [1847.] 
 
 f “ The character of this wonderful spot, and the impression which 
 it makes, are utterly indescribable; and I know of nothing which 
 can present even a faint idea of them. I had visited the strange 
 sandstone lanes and streets of Adersbach, and wandered with delight 
 through the romantic dells of the Saxon Switzerland, both of which 
 scenes might be supposed to afford the nearest parallel; yet they 
 exhibit few points of comparison. All here is on a grander scale of 
 savage, yet magnificent sublimity.”— B. Researches , vol. ii, p. 518. 
 [1847.] 
 
PETRA. 
 
 223 
 
 We paused for awhile on reaching the triumphal 
 arch, where the ravine expands into the valley, believ¬ 
 ing the village of the fellahs to be very near, and un¬ 
 certain whether it would be prudent to proceed any 
 further. Our Alouin guides, however, asserting that it 
 was two hours distant, (in which they were certainly 
 mistaken,) we went on, and explored the valley beyond 
 the Pyramidal tomb, as far as a point from which we 
 could see its termination. We met only one wretched- 
 looking fellah. 
 
 The arch, thrown across the ravine, which disap¬ 
 pointed us at first sight, had a very different effect, on 
 approaching it on our return, seen, as it was intended 
 to be seen, by the stranger approaching the town by 
 the regular road. 
 
 The Khasne far surpassed my expectations ; it 
 would be impossible, indeed, to describe the effect of 
 such a monument suddenly revealing itself in the wil¬ 
 derness—so graceful in its style, so beautiful in its de¬ 
 tails, so fresh-looking, and in such perfect preservation. 
 The natural colour of the stone being that of the rose, 
 you may imagine its loveliness when it first gleamed 
 on our sight, bathed in the sun’s rays. 
 
 The theatre, too, is grander than one would expect 
 from Laborde’s sketch. The seats, still almost perfect, 
 are cut in the rock, winch has also been entirely cut 
 away, semi-circularly, above them. The stage, and its 
 accompaniments, were built of hewn stone, and have 
 been destroyed. 
 
 We did not visit the fort, as there are no remains of 
 consequence. It was a stronghold of the Christians 
 in the time of the Latin kings of Jerusalem, and the 
 first enterprise of the gallant young Baldwin the 
 Third, then a mere boy of thirteen, was to rescue it 
 from the hands of the Turks, who, abetted by the 
 
224 
 
 PETRA. 
 
 natives, bad massacred the Christian garrison. Hear¬ 
 ing of the king’s approach, the fellahs shut themselves 
 up in the citadel, with their wives and children, and 
 for several days the Christians exhausted every means 
 of attack without making the slightest impression, their 
 retreat was so impregnable; nor was it till they set fire 
 to the olive-trees, the only support and wealth of the 
 poor people, and which then, says William of Tyre, 
 formed a thick forest overshadowing the country, that 
 they surrendered. ( 26 ) 
 
 The grandest monument of the ancient magnificence 
 of Petra is the stupendous excavation, called by 
 Lahorde El Deir, or the Convent, a name often given 
 by the Arabs to ruins, in their ideas nondescript,—the 
 Alouins knew nothing of it, and we spent some time 
 and explored several ravines in a fruitless search for 
 it; the magnificent scenery, however, well repaid our 
 trouble. 
 
 We returned to our cave, and, after dinner and the 
 discussion of two bottles of champagne, reserved by 
 Clarke to be broached on this grand occasion, started 
 anew 'with two fellahs as guides, and in thirty-five 
 minutes reached the object of our quest, ascending a 
 magnificent ravine, which we had partially explored in 
 the morning—approach being facilitated by broad steps 
 cut in the rocks, wherever they presented a difficulty in 
 the ascent. 
 
 The rock has been cut away twenty-four paces on 
 each side, to give relief to this wonderful excavation, 
 at once stupendous and beautiful; the architecture 
 indeed, with its Byzantine-like capitals, broken pedi¬ 
 ments, &c., betrays the decadence of Grecian art, 
 resembling that of the Bernini and Borromini of the 
 seventeenth century; but the proportions are com¬ 
 mendable, and there is an air of grace and lightness 
 
PETRA. 
 
 225 
 
 about it, contrasting with the savage scenery around, 
 which involuntarily pleases.* A flight of steps, cut in 
 the rocks to the left, leads to the summit, from which 
 we enjoyed a splendid view, Mount Hor directly in 
 front, and the distant mountains towards the north 
 hazy in the glow of sunset. Returning to the valley, 
 William discovered a large altar, cut out of the top of 
 a rock, and unnoticed by previous travellers. 
 
 It was dark ere we recrossed the stream of Wady 
 Mousa.—I wish you could have stood with us that 
 night at the entrance of our dormitory, and looked 
 through the arch by which it communicated with the 
 adjacent cave, occupied by the Alouins. A large fire 
 blazed in the centre,—the Sheikh sat at the head of 
 the circle,—his horse stood at the entrance,—the in¬ 
 ferior clansmen watched by their fire at the foot of the 
 hill, with the camels crouching beside them. 
 
 It was a beautiful, cloudless, starry night, and 
 pleasant were our ruminations. In one day we had 
 seen the whole of Petra. Days and weeks might be 
 spent here if every excavation were visited, but we 
 were quite satisfied with what we had seen, and wil¬ 
 lingly promised the Sheikh that we would leave the 
 valley next morning.—We did so, after revisiting the 
 Khasne, and exploring several of the excavated dwel¬ 
 lings, for it is clear, I think, both from the language of 
 
 * “ The upper story is in excellent preservation, but the doorway, 
 pediments, and pillars of the lower are much injured. The steps of 
 approach to the door are destroyed. It contains only one chamber, 
 spacious, but quite unadorned and plain, with an arched recess at 
 the extremity, two paces and a half deep, by live wide, and a raised 
 platform, ascended on each side by four steps. Traces of (appa¬ 
 rently) a funeral cippe are visible in the centre of the wall. The 
 chamber is fourteen paces broad, by sixteen deep, (not counting the 
 recess), and we thought from thirty to thirty-five feet high.” Grig. 
 Journal. [1847.] 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 THE FELLAHS. 
 
 Scripture, and the appearance of the caves themselves, 
 that the majority, if not all of them, were the abodes 
 of the living, not of the dead. Some of the oldest are 
 almost filled with earth, decomposed from the frag¬ 
 ments that are constantly flaking off from the roof. I 
 was surprised to find the stone so crumbling; it must 
 have been as easy to cut it as chalk,—I could break it 
 easily with my fingers. 
 
 Such is Petra—the Sela of Scripture, the Hagiar of 
 the Arabs, each word implying the same.—“ Thy ter¬ 
 ribleness hath deceived thee and the pride of thine 
 heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, 
 that boldest the height of the hill; though thou make 
 thy nest as high as the eagle, though thou set thy nest 
 among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith 
 the Lord.” ( 27 ) 
 
 Sheikh Hussein, who was in great alarm all the 
 time we were at Petra, earnestly pressed our depar¬ 
 ture. Just before starting, some of the fellahs came to 
 complain of his coming there; it was not his country, 
 they said, and he had no business in it,—nothing could 
 he more true, and good reason had the poor men to 
 complain, for the camels, before we discovered it, had 
 destroyed a whole field of corn, turned loose, as they 
 were, the moment we arrived; it was none of our fault, 
 but we wished to reimburse the owner; the fellahs, 
 however, saying nothing about it, it was jdain the field 
 could not be their property, and what then could we 
 do ?—These fellahs, it seems to me, have been very 
 much maligned; they have fire-arms, and know how to 
 use them, but the only ground travellers have to speak 
 ill of them is the report of the Bedouins, who hate all 
 townsmen, and the resistance offered by them to Abou 
 Raschid when he wished to bring Irby and Mangles 
 and Mr. Bankes into Wady Mousa, without their con- 
 
THE FELLAHS, 
 
 227 
 
 sent,—their jealousy having been secretly inflamed, as 
 it now appears, by Abou-djazi, a rival chief of the 
 Alouins. Bedouins and Franks come into their ter¬ 
 ritory, tread down their corn, and pay nothing, do not 
 even apologize for their intrusion, and then go away 
 and call them savages and devils, when the wonder to 
 me is that they bear it so patiently.—They will not do 
 so always, or I am much mistaken.* 
 
 Sheikh Hussein, we had reason to suspect, was not 
 on good terms with the chief of the Abou Raschid 
 Bedouins, who lives about four hours north of Wady 
 Mousa; he was also at open feud with the Jehaleens 
 of Kerek el Shobek, a few hours beyond the Abou 
 Raschid camp,—he proposed, therefore, instead of con¬ 
 ducting us by the Kerek road, to take another, more 
 
 * Abou Zatoun, the crafty and avaricious chief, celebrated by Irby 
 and Mangles twenty years before, was still the Sheikh of Wady 
 Mousa when we and Dr. Robinson were there; we escaped, but he 
 gave Dr. Robinson much annoyance, and effectually prevented him 
 from ascending Mount Hor. Most recent travellers have suffered 
 from his exactions. M. Bertou, who visited Petra the same year as 
 ourselves, “ got off by giving the Sheikh all the money he had with 
 him, less than one hundred piastres, with a quantity of powder, soap, 
 tobacco and the like.” “ Mr. Roberts, the English artist, and his 
 party, who went to Wady Mousa in 1839, were met by the Sheikh 
 before they reached the spot; but got off with paying three hundred 
 piastres instead of one thousand.* In 1840, a large party of sixteen 
 individuals, English, Americans, and Germans, making up a cara¬ 
 van of some fifty camels, visited Wady Mousa together; and 
 paid to the Arabs of the place (as I am informed,” says 
 Dr. Robinson, “ by one of the party) not less than seventy-five 
 piastres for each, or twelve hundred piastres in all, for permission 
 to examine the ruins.” Dr. Robinson attributes the escape of such 
 as have - fared better to their having (like ourselves) “ taken Petra 
 
 * Kinnear’a Cairo, Petra, 8jC., p. 137. The account is very curious; they were 
 repeatedly attacked, and once robbed; and Sheikh Hussein, who accompanied 
 tnem, seems evidently to have connived at it. [1847.] 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 WADY SEEG. 
 
 westerly, through the country of the Tyaha Bedouins, 
 a route undescribed, so far as I am aware, by any 
 traveller.* 
 
 None of the places he mentioned as occurring on 
 the road being noticed in my large map, we had not 
 the slightest idea how we were to get to Hebron, when 
 we started for the desert on Wednesday morning, quit¬ 
 ting Wady Mousa by a steep ascent towards the north, 
 and proceeding for about three hours through a dis¬ 
 trict called Brayitha, a succession of barren and unin¬ 
 teresting hills., ' From these we suddenly passed into 
 Wady Seeg,f one of the most romantic defiles I ever 
 saw; lofty crags, almost perpendicular, tower on each 
 
 in their way from Akabah to Hebron ; their visits have been short; 
 and entering by way of Mount Hor, they have been able to leave 
 again before information of their arrival could reach the Sheikh." 
 Dr. Robinson also states that “ both the Alawin and Jehalin carry 
 travellers to Wady Mousa; but they endeavour to avoid the notice 
 of the neighbouring Arabs, and make their visits as short as possible; 
 feeling that they are doing that for which they may perhaps be 
 called in question,”—the rights of entrance into the district not 
 being exactly ascertained. This accounts for the anxiety of Sheikh 
 Hussein to restrict our stay at Wady Mousa to an hour. See the 
 B. Researches , vol. ii, pp. 542—548. Mr. Kinnear, I may remark, 
 repeatedly observes that we were hurried away from Petra by Sheikh 
 Hussein. My words may not have been sufficiently precise, but 
 this was not the case—we were a whole day there, and more, and had 
 amply satisfied our curiosity. Though apparently much afraid, the 
 Sheikh was not in the least importunate in urging our departure, 
 and in truth we were perhaps too self-confident. The sight of his 
 anxiety, and the thought of the continued injury we should be doing 
 to the corn of the fellaheen by prolonging our stay, were, I believe, 
 more lively in our minds than any fear of opposition on his part or 
 of aggression on that of the natives. [1847.] 
 
 * Neither the narrative of Mr. Stephens, who togk this road the 
 year before us, nor that of Dr. Robinson, who passed a year after¬ 
 wards, had then been published. [1847.] 
 
 ■f El Syk. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
WADY SEEG. 
 
 229 
 
 side, deep fissures yawning in their breasts, tufted with 
 evergreens,—and single isolated rocks guarding the 
 pass like sentinels; the road winds through a thick 
 wood of sedder, arrah,* oleander, and acacia-trees, 
 besides others of which I know not the names—every 
 shade of green; the sky cloudless, but the valley was 
 delightfully cool. We were twenty-two minutes in 
 passing through this singular pass. 
 
 We passed many ruins and excavations, both on this 
 and on the other side of Petra, all uninteresting, ex¬ 
 cept two small pyramids springing from the same base, 
 sculptured on one of the rocks of Wady Seeg, to the 
 left of the road; a Greek inscription is cut slantingly 
 on the base, but the party had ridden on, and Clarke 
 and I had not time to decipher it.f 
 
 All the scenery beyond Wady Seeg to the immediate 
 neighbourhood of Wady Araba, towards which we were 
 now steering westward, is very beautiful. The path, 
 after entering Wady Nummula,| runs between vast 
 broken rocks, and among trees of the most lovely ver¬ 
 dure ; the rocks are in many places tufted with shrubs 
 to their summits. Oleanders grow in some of the 
 ravines in great abundance; few of them, however, were 
 in flower. 
 
 * Arar , juniper—the aroer of Jer. xlviii. 6, incorrectly translated 
 “heath.” Dr. Robinson, B. Researches, tom. i., 306. [1847.] 
 f Dr. Robinson noticed this inscription, but describes it as “ now 
 illegible.” B. Researches , vol. ii, 510. I think, however, that with 
 time and better eyesight, I might have made it out. My rough 
 note, the glance of a second, gives the following unintelligible 
 letters:— 
 
 TAIIANTANMEMT4>OnOY 
 
 EPOYAH. 
 
 Possibly some Porson may extract a sunbeam of sense out of this. 
 [1847.] 
 
 £ Gebel Nemela. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
230 
 
 WADY ARABA. 
 
 After refreshing ourselves at a spring, an hour and 
 twenty-three minutes beyond Wady Seeg, we began 
 crossing the ridges of Gebel Nummula, (as this part of 
 Mount Seir is called,)— and in half an hour came in 
 sight of Wady Araba in the distance. Presently we 
 met two Alouins with donkeys, returning from Gaza, 
 who informed us, on asking what news from below, that 
 they had seen fresh tracks of a great number of horses 
 and camels—they believed of the Jehaleens, of Kerek, 
 bound for the south—they suspected , on an expedition 
 against Sheikh Hussein’s camp. The Sheikh and his 
 men were cruelly alarmed at this news; he shed tears 
 in the evening, Missirie told me. At his request, we 
 halted for that night at the foot of the last ridge which 
 we had to cross before the great descent to Wady 
 Araba. The Jehaleens, he said, would probably have 
 passed by, on their return to Kerek, before we reached 
 the plain in the morning. He seemed in great dread 
 of meeting them, lest they should take his camels, and, 
 perhaps, kill his people and himself. 
 
 We commenced the descent of Gebel Nummula about 
 six next morning, the noble expanse of Wady Araba 
 stretching out below us, vague and indistinct,—just 
 such a view as Turner would have stopped to sketch. 
 The Sheikh went on before, leading his horse, anxiously 
 watching the valley, and frequently entreating us to be 
 ready with our fire-arms ; our guides, indeed, seemed 
 to depend on us for the protection we had a right to 
 expect from them. The path, a very difficult one, 
 wound through deep ravines, intersecting the irregular 
 barren ridges that descend in rapid succession, like 
 giant steps, to Wady Araba. We halted about seven, 
 at the opening of the ravines, to get out our pistols, 
 load the guns with bullets, &c. The lower ridges of 
 Mount Seir became, from this point, less and less pre- 
 
WADY ARABA. 231 
 
 cipitous, till they ended in low hillocks on the edge of 
 the plain, like promontories jutting into the sea.* 
 
 It took us about five hours to cross Wady Araba, 
 during which we were continually on the look-out for 
 the enemy, winding between undulating hills of drifted 
 sand, and reconnoitring from hill to hill, as we advanced, 
 creeping up and lying on our breasts, so as not to be 
 visible from the other side. The reflected heat from 
 the sand was intense, and, that everything might be 
 in character, the tale they told us was a dismal one 
 about the burial of Antar. If in the neighbourhood, 
 the most likely place for the Jehaleens to be at was 
 the well of El Uebe, where we wanted to water our own 
 camels, and replenish our skins, already nearly ex¬ 
 hausted. Climbing up a hill that commanded a view 
 over the plain towards the well, (a green spot in the 
 desert,) we ensconced ourselves in a hollow between the 
 peak and a detached mass of rock, and reconnoitred it 
 through the telescope; no one seemed to be there, 
 and we remounted, disguising our Frank dresses as 
 much as possible by assuming the long Arab cloak or 
 abba, so as not to be recognised from a distance. In 
 a few minutes we came to the camels’ tracks which had 
 occasioned all this anxiety, and presently, drawing 
 nearer to the well, two or three figures made their ap¬ 
 pearance at it, which created a great stir among our 
 Bedouins. The Sheikh rode direct to the well, and 
 we charged up to the hills, to anticipate the enemy in 
 
 * “To the north, a low chain of black hills runs into the Wady 
 from Mount Seir apparently, forming a deep desert hay.” Orig. 
 Journal. These probably were the ridge subsequently ascertained 
 to mark the point of partition of the waters, the highest ground be¬ 
 tween the Dead Sea and Gulf of Akaba—disproving the idea recently 
 held, that the Jordan originally discharged itself through the chan¬ 
 nels of the Ghor and Wady Araba into the Red Sea. [1847.] 
 
232 
 
 WADY ARABA. 
 
 taking possession of a certain cave as a point of vantage, 
 from which, said our guides, “ you must fire and kill 
 them all, or they will kill us.” Presently, however, 
 the Sheikh made signs that all was well, and, wheeling 
 to the right, we rejoined him, and found that a few 
 harmless shepherds from Gaza had occasioned all this 
 commotion—which ended in our buying a sheep.*' 
 
 The shepherds, I am sorry to say, confirmed the ap¬ 
 prehensions of the Alouins. The day after we left the 
 Sheikh’s camp, the Jehaleens attacked it, and carried 
 off all his camels, seventy-five in number, and Sheikh 
 Salem’s mare, worth, we were told, ten thousand 
 piastres. Salem pursued and overtook them, but was 
 struck by a pistol-shot in the shoulder, and disabled. 
 How little we thought tfhat the scene of happiness and 
 peace we witnessed there would so soon be ruffled ! 
 
 On leaving El Uebe,f (the water, by the bye, stank, 
 and w T as full of worms,)—we entered the low barren 
 
 * “ The sheep was cooked at night. They made a rude oven of 
 stones—filled it with wood which they burnt to charcoal, and then 
 placed the meat on the embers, covered it with the paunch of the 
 sheep, and then covered the whole over with earth and sand, and left 
 it so till morning.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
 f This place is considered by Dr. Robinson, and apparently on 
 solid grounds, to be the Kadesh Barnea of the Israelites, that central 
 point in their history during the forty years of wandering in the 
 wilderness. “ We were much struck,” says he, “ with the entire 
 adaptedness of its position to the Scriptural account of the proceed¬ 
 ings of the Israelites, on their second arrival at Kadesh. (Hum. xx.) 
 There was at Kadesh a fountain, called also En-Mishpat, (Gen. xiv. 
 7 ); this was then either partially dried up, or exhausted by the mul¬ 
 titude ; so that 1 there was no water for the congregation.’ By a 
 miracle, water was brought forth abundantly out of the rock. 
 Moses now sent messengers to the king of Edom, informing him 
 that they were in ‘ Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of his border 
 and asking leave to pass through his country, so as to continue their 
 course around Moab and approach Palestine from the east. This 
 Edom refused; and the Israelites accordingly marched to Mount 
 
CROSS THE DESERT TO HEBRON. 
 
 233 
 
 ridges that skirt Wady Araba on the west, and, for 
 several hours during this and the following day, tra¬ 
 versed a country of the most utter desolation, hills 
 succeeding hills, without the slightest picturesque 
 beauty,* covered with loose flints, sand, and gravel; 
 sterility in its most repulsive garb;—it made the very 
 heart ache, and the spirits sink—and such is Edom 
 now, “ most desolate,” as prophecy foretold it should 
 be, at a time when literature and commerce, arts and 
 sciences, were still flourishing in the land of Job, and 
 the palm-trees of Idume were as proverbial in men’s 
 mouths as those of Palestine ; now, I believe, not one 
 survives—at least, I saw none. 
 
 At seven hours beyond El Uebe—four beyond our 
 sleeping-place—we left the Gaza road, which we had 
 hitherto followed, to the left, and, an hour afterwards, 
 passing Ulmedurra, a large, singular-looking, isolated 
 chalk hill—under which God crushed a village (so say 
 the Bedouins) for its vicesf—also to the left, we began 
 
 Hor, where Aaron died; and then along the Arahah to the Red 
 Sea. (Numb. xx. 14—29.) Here at el-Weibeh, ill these scenes 
 were before our eyes. Here was the fountain, even to this day the 
 most frequented watering place in all the Arabah. On the N.W. is 
 the mountain, by which the Israelites had formerly essayed to ascend 
 to the land of Palestine, and were driven back. (Numb. xiv. 40—45; 
 Deut. i. 41—46.) Over against us lay the land of Edom ; we were 
 in its uttermost border; and the great Wady el-Ghuweir, affording 
 a direct and easy passage through the mountains to the table-land 
 above, was directly before us; while further in the south, Mount 
 Hor formed a prominent and striking object, at the distance of two 
 good days’journey for such a host.” B. Researches , vol. ii, p. 582. 
 [1847 ] 
 
 * “ The only occasional tree is the sayan, or sayal, a sort of acacia 
 with most delicate diminutive leaves—the wood is excellent for char¬ 
 coal.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
 f “ Two men of God came to the village, were ill-treated by the 
 inhabitants, as at Sodom, and God crushed the village under this 
 rock.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
234 
 
 CROSS THE DESERT TO HEBRON. 
 
 ascending the dreary ridges of Gebel Asufar ;* the 
 akiha, or principal slope, is a precipitous sheet of hare 
 rock, alternately smooth and slippery, and covered 
 with loose stones; the ascent was very difficult, and 
 took up an hour and a half; from the top we had a very 
 extensive but most desolate view over the western 
 desert, to the left, and over Wady Araba, which here¬ 
 abouts exchanges that name for El Ghor,to the right— 
 with Mount Seir in the distance.t Beyond these hills, 
 after a slight descent, we entered on an elevated plain 
 called AtreibiJ—heavy sand, covered with the usual 
 plants of the desert,—a garden in comparison with the 
 waste we had recently traversed ; and, about three 
 hours from the summit of Gebel Asufar, encamped in 
 Wady Kournou, near the extensive ruins of an ancient 
 walled town bearing the same name. We saw frag¬ 
 ments of pillars lying about, but no inscriptions; the 
 town is, indeed, a mere heap of stones. We observed 
 a large vaulted subterranean chamber near one ruined 
 building, a small cell with a vaulted niche on the top of 
 the hill, and a strong dam in a ravine to the south of 
 
 * Es-Sufah. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 + “ The name of this pass, es-Sufah (a rock), is in form identical 
 with the Hebrew Zephath, called also Hormah; which we know 
 was the point where the Israelites attempted to ascend the mountain, 
 so as to enter Palestine from Kadesh, but were driven hack. (Judg. i. 
 17; Numb. xiv. 45, xxi. 3; Deut. i. 44.) A city stood there in 
 ancient times, one of the ‘ uttermost cities of Judah towards the 
 coast of Edom southwards,’ which was afterwards assigned to the 
 tribe of Simeon. There is therefore every reason to suppose, that 
 in the name of es-Sufah, we have a reminiscence of the ancient pass 
 which must have existed here, and bore the name of the adjacent 
 city Zephath. Of the name Hormah we could find no vestige.”— 
 JB. Researches, vol. ii, p. 592. [1847.] 
 
 } El Turaibeh. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
CROSS THE DESERT TO HEBRON. 235 
 
 the town. Doctor Mac Lennan thinks that a lake 
 existed to the north and west of it.* 
 
 We crossed a great many ancient walls, and saw 
 many vestiges of ruins the next morning ;f the country, 
 henceforward, assumed the appearance of a down 
 rather than a desert, being thickly covered with grass 
 and shrubs. 
 
 At a place called El Melek,J in the very extensive 
 plain El Foura—nearly six hours beyond the ruined 
 town of Kournou, and two beyond the dry bed of a 
 small stream called El Gerara—(the brook of Gerar ?)§ 
 —we were surprised at finding two large and deep wells, 
 beautifully built of hewn stone,—the uppermost course, 
 and about a dozen troughs for watering cattle disposed 
 round them, of a coarse white marble; they were evi- 
 
 * In the earlier editions of these “ Letters,” I represented this 
 place as Elusa, the first Roman town on the great road from Jeru¬ 
 salem to Aila. “ Elusa,” I said, “ is marked in the Tabula Peutin- 
 geriana as seventy-one miles distant from Jerusalem, and we found 
 the distance between Kournou and Jerusalem twenty-three hours 
 and a half—in other words, seventy miles and a half—a very close 
 approximation.” Dr. Robertson has, however, fixed Elusa at El 
 Khulaseh, more to the west, and the Thamara of Ptolemy, and Tha- 
 mar of the Old Testament, at Wady Kournou, or as he writes it, 
 doubtless correctly, Kournub. This latter place he saw from a dis¬ 
 tance with his telescope, but did not visit, having taken a more 
 northerly road. [1847.] 
 
 f “ In about an hour and twenty minutes from Kournou, pass 
 over the ruins of many ancient walls, running transversely across 
 the road, and vestiges of ruins on the left, perhaps of one of the 
 Roman stations. Saw no wells, and there is said to be no water 
 hereabouts—the place is called Gubbat el Bolani. . . . More 
 ruins to the right and left thirty-seven minutes afterwards.” Orig. 
 Journal. [1847.] 
 
 + The El Milh of Dr. Robinson, who identifies it with Moladah, 
 the Malatha of the Greeks and Romans. B. Researches , vol. ii, 621. 
 [1847.] 
 
 § Wady Ararah. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
236 
 
 CROSS THE DESERT TO HEBRON. 
 
 dently coeval with the Romans. Quite a patriarchal 
 scene presented itself as we drew near to the wells; 
 the Bedouins were watering their flocks,—two men at 
 each well letting down the skins, and pulling them up 
 again with almost ferocious haste, and with quick, savage 
 shouts,—and then emptying them into the troughs; the 
 shepherdesses stood aloof, and veiled their faces, seeing 
 the strange howagis. The several flocks, coming up 
 and retiring in the exactest order, were a beautiful sight. 
 
 Crossing Gebel ul Gheretain, a range of stony hills 
 beyond El Foura, numerous ruined garden-walls and 
 terraces warned us of our approach to, if not entry 
 into, Judea. As we proceeded, first here, then there, 
 we observed patches of ground reclaimed from the 
 desert, and carefully cultivated, and, ere long, the whole 
 valley below us was green with corn, field descending 
 below field, divided by regular terraces. 
 
 Five hours from El Melek we arrived at the village 
 of Simoa, or Simoo, to whose inhabitants these fields 
 belong; the hill above the village is crowned by a 
 ruined castle, which shows imposingly from a distance, 
 though poorly on a nearer inspection. We encamped 
 in the valley below it; and presently the Sheikh ul 
 belled, or head-man of the village, and a party of the 
 townsmen, made their appearance, and sat down with 
 us, contrasting most unfavourably with our Bedouins, 
 who seemed to hold them in utter contempt. An air of 
 oppression and slavery hangs indeed over all the vil¬ 
 lage Arabs. We found these people unacquainted with 
 any denomination of coin, except the nine-piastre piece 
 and the old currency. This place I take to be the 
 ancient Shema, enumerated in the book of Numbers 
 among the cities of the hill-country of Judah.* 
 
 * Dr. Robinson identifies it with Eshtemoa. B. Researches, 
 vol. ii, pp. 194, 627. [1847.] 
 
APPROACH TO HEBRON. 
 
 237 
 
 I asked one of the natives if there were many ancient 
 sites in the neighbourhood; he said Yes—and men¬ 
 tioned one, Daharieh,* to the west; but, on my writing 
 it down, refused to name any more. I could hear 
 nothing of Beer Sheba; but in the morning, crossing 
 the plain El Foura, they named a village, Asseeba, to 
 the left, which sounds like it. ( 28 )f 
 
 We were now fairly in the Land of Promise, de¬ 
 scribed by the spies (who must have entered it nearly 
 by the same road as ourselves) as a land flowing with 
 milk and honey,—we had cow’s milk, that night, to our 
 tea, the first we had tasted for many weeks; the cows 
 that yielded it, a very pretty but diminutive breed, 
 were the first we had seen since visiting Memphis. 
 
 We started next morning at 25 m. p. 5, Sunday the 
 30th of April, riding through fields of corn between the 
 rounded hills of Judea, covered to their tops with 
 bushes of the prickly oak, a most beautiful shrub; the 
 day was lovely, the birds were singing their matins 
 
 * Dhoheriyeh. Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 f It was Beersheba,—we strained our eyes, but were not worthy 
 enough to discern it. Dr. Robinson discovered it the year after¬ 
 wards, having taken a more westerly route to Hebron. There is no 
 village apparently, but “ two deep wells, still called Bir es-Seba . .. 
 These wells are some distance apart; they are circular, and stoned 
 up very neatly with solid masonry, apparently much more ancient 
 than that of the wells at Abdeb. The larger one is twelve and a 
 half feet in diameter, and forty-four and a half feet deep to the sur¬ 
 face of the water; sixteen feet of which at the bottom is excavated 
 in the solid rock. The other well lies fifty-five rods W.S.W., and 
 is five feet in diameter, and forty-two feet deep. The water in both 
 is pure and sweet, and in great abundance; the finest indeed we 
 had found since leaving Sinai. Both wells are surrounded with 
 drinking-troughs of stone for camels and flocks, such as were doubt¬ 
 less used of old for the flocks which then fed on the adjacent hills. 
 The curb-stones were deeply worn by the friction of the ropes in 
 drawing up water by hand.” B. Researches, i, p. 300.—There are 
 ruins of the ancient town on the hills hard by. [1847.] 
 
238 
 
 HEBRON. 
 
 most sweetly, no work was going on,—it was the still¬ 
 ness and repose of a Sabbath morning in England. 
 
 We saw the first olive-trees about an hour and 
 twenty minutes before arriving at Hebron, descending 
 into and following the course of a long and broad wind¬ 
 ing valley, (once, doubtless, the pasturage of Abra¬ 
 ham’s flocks and herds,) till, at a turn of the road, 
 Hebron stood before us, that Hebron so memorable in 
 sacred story as the home of Abraham, and the capital 
 of David before his conquest of Jerusalem. The Arabs 
 still call it after their patriarch, “ El Khalil Ibrahim”— 
 “ Abraham the Friend”—of God. ( 29 ) It is beautifully 
 situated at the foot, and on the slope, of a hill,—a city 
 after the mud-villages of Egypt. The large white 
 mosque, containing the tombs of the patriarchs, which 
 no Christian is allowed to enter, rises prominently to 
 the west of the town. To the left, as we entered, we 
 passed a large and well-built tank, with two flights of 
 steps descending into it at the opposite angles, possibly 
 the “ pool of Hebron ” (repaired) where David hanged 
 the murderers of Ishbosheth. 
 
 After establishing our baggage in two large recesses 
 under the gate of the Governor’s house, settling with 
 the Sheikh, (our caravan breaking up here,) and engag¬ 
 ing camels for Jerusalem, we visited the bazaars, which 
 are substantially built, like the rest of the town, of hewn 
 stone, and well stocked. Hebron is, apparently, an 
 improving place. The children called us pigs, as we 
 entered; otherwise, we received no incivility, — the 
 contrary rather; our arrival from the south seemed to 
 excite both interest and respect among the people, who 
 hailed us as Hadjis or pilgrims bound for “ the Holy 
 City,” as Jerusalem is still called in Arabic,—el Koddes 
 —the Hebrew Kadusliah,—it was from the Chaldaic 
 
APPROACH TO BETHLEHEM. 
 
 239 
 
 form of this word, Kadutha, that the Greek name of 
 Jerusalem was derived — Cadytis. We saw many 
 Jewish faces, Hebron being one of the four sacred cities 
 of the Talmud. 
 
 We started again at noon, following the ancient 
 road, along the brae-side, and between corn-fields, 
 olive-groves, and vineyards—each with its watch-tower, 
 the stones carefully gathered out, and fenced in with a 
 stone wall—as in the days of David, Isaiah, and our t 
 Saviour. At two, we stopped at a place called Derr- 
 wuh, evidently an ancient site, and continued for some 
 hours winding among hills, presenting the same mono¬ 
 tonous but pleasing scenery. It was a lovely evening, 
 the birds were singing sweetly, and numerous flocks of 
 sheep and goats were cropping their evening meal, as 
 we drew nigh to the city of David, who so often must 
 have fed his flocks on those very hills,—the scene, too, 
 just as probably, of that apparition of the heavenly 
 host who proclaimed to the humble shepherds of Beth¬ 
 lehem the birth of the good shepherd, David’s name¬ 
 sake, “ The Beloved” of God—in those blessed words, 
 
 “ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 good will towards men.” 
 
 About an hour and a quarter to the south of Bethle¬ 
 hem, coming to the brow of the hill, we saw the cele¬ 
 brated pools of Solomon below us, and a beautiful 
 crop of wheat covering the slopes of the valley where 
 probably once stood his palace and pleasure-gardens. 
 These reservoirs are really worthy of Solomon. I had 
 formed no conception of their magnificence; they are 
 three in number, the smallest near four hundred feet in 
 length; the waters were discharged from one into 
 another, and conveyed from the lowest, by an aqueduct 
 to Jerusalem. I descended into the third and largest; 
 
240 
 
 BETHLEHEM. 
 
 it is lined with plaster, like the Indian chunam, and 
 hanging terraces run all round it. I wonder if Solomon 
 ever walked there with the queen of Sheba. 
 
 At half-past seven, that evening, we reached Bethle¬ 
 hem. ( 30 ) It stands on the slope of a hill, of difficult 
 ascent, at least by night. The stars were out, but it 
 was still unusually light as we entered the town, and 
 proceeded to the Spanish Convent, a large fortress¬ 
 like building, where we were kindly welcomed, and 
 ushered into a very handsome apartment. The vener¬ 
 able Superior presently came to see us, and grew very 
 talkative. He honoured us with his company to break¬ 
 fast the next morning, and we afterwards visited the 
 church and the supposed Cave of the Nativity, all most 
 gorgeous,—but what most touched me was the simple 
 tribute of several little children, who, speaking in a 
 whisper, and with aw T e in their faces, lighted their little 
 bodkins of tapers at the large candles, and stuck them 
 at their side. The solemn chanting, the procession of 
 the dark-robed monks, the confessionals—with all the 
 pageantry I had been familiar with in Italy—so strangely 
 blending with the turbans and oriental costume of the 
 Armenian, Arab, and Greek Christians—one might have 
 fancied that the east and the west had met by common 
 consent, to worship the star of Israel at its rising; but, 
 alas! it was St. Mark’s worship they were celebrating 
 that morning, and the prostrations I witnessed on the 
 spot said to have been knelt upon by the Magi were to 
 the Virgin Mary,—not to her Saviour. 
 
 We mounted for Jerusalem about eight—a lovely 
 cloudless morning. As we were starting from the Con¬ 
 vent walls, a marriage party came past, or rather a 
 crowd of women and children, some of them very 
 pretty, all gaily dressed and unveiled, and singing a 
 most discordant epithalamium—to meet the bride at the 
 
MARRIAGE PARTY. 
 
 241 
 
 church door, and convey her home. While they awaited 
 her appearance, two parties detached themselves from 
 the throng, the one dancing round and round, hand in 
 hand—as in some unsophisticated nooks of merry Eng¬ 
 land they were probably doing at that very moment 
 round the Maypole, for it was May-morning—the other, 
 their arms linked, advancing towards them and retreat¬ 
 ing in regular measure, the song going on all the time. 
 Presently the bride came out, veiled from head to foot, 
 and mounted her horse; her companions closed round 
 her, and the procession moved on. We sat on our 
 camels enjoying the scene, and expended not a little 
 gunpowder in her honour; to her death she will re¬ 
 member the nuptial honours paid her by the English. 
 
 You can scarcely imagine what a cheerful aspect the 
 rich and varied costumes both of men and women, par¬ 
 ticularly the latter, impart to these towns of Palestine; 
 the contrast is delightful to us, so long accustomed to 
 the dull blue cloaks and veiled faces of the Egyptian 
 women. 
 
 Riding slowly on to Jerusalem, we met numbers of 
 most picturesque-looking white-bearded old men, and 
 many lovely children. One of them, particularly, a 
 Russian boy, taking off his fur cap, to return our salu¬ 
 tation, with his flowing ringlets and sweet face, re¬ 
 minded me of Raphael’s angels. We met many parties 
 too of Turks, Armenians, and Greeks, pilgrimizing— 
 the former to Rachel’s tomb, the latter to Bethlehem. 
 Some saluted us with ‘ Bon viaggio’ and ‘ Benvenuti, 
 Signori! ’ others with the emphatic ‘ Salam,’ ‘ Peace! ’ 
 or by simply laying the hand on the heart in the graceful 
 oriental fashion. It was delightful thus to be welcomed 
 to the City of Peace by men of all creeds and countries, 
 a sort of anticipation of the happy time when all nations 
 will go up to worship One God at Jerusalem, and all 
 
242 RACHEL’S TOMB. 
 
 will receive the welcome of the heart as well as the 
 lip. 
 
 The view looking back on Bethlehem, as you ascend 
 the Northern hills, is exceedingly beautiful; to the east 
 it is bounded by the long unbroken ridge of the moun¬ 
 tains of Moab, hemming in the Dead Sea, which seems 
 much nearer than it really is. The road winds, at first, 
 between olive and fig gardens, but they soon give way 
 to a succession of stony hills; in forty minutes, we 
 passed a dilapidated Turkish tomb, called Rachel’s,— 
 
 As for me,’” said dying Jacob, “‘Rachel died by 
 me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there 
 was but a little way to come unto Ephrath; and I 
 buried her there in the way to Ephrath’—the same is 
 Bethlehem,”—in all probability, it marks the spot of her 
 death; there are many Turkish graves around it. Soon 
 afterwards, we passed the Greek Convent of Mar Elias, 
 and came in sight of Jerusalem ! Approaching nearer, 
 and descending towards Mount Zion, the situation fully 
 answered my expectations; the view from this point, em¬ 
 bracing the Sacred Hill, the valley of Hinnom, the 
 Mount of Olives, and the Dead Sea, is at once magnifi¬ 
 cent and beautiful, independent of the associations that 
 render it the most interesting to be seen on earth, ex¬ 
 cept perhaps that from the Mount of Olives, where Our 
 Saviour wept over Jerusalem. 
 
 We proceeded along the western hills, and entering 
 by the gate of Bethlehem, presently alighted at the 
 Latin Convent, where we are now most comfortably 
 established. 
 
 Adieu, my dear mother. 
 
JERUSALEM. 
 
 243 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Sect. I.—Jerusalem. Excursion to Jericho and the Dead Sea.— 
 Journey to Tiberias by Nablous, Samaria, Acre, Nazareth, and 
 Mount Tabor. 
 
 Sect. II.—Journey, East of the Jordan, by El Hussn, Om Keis, 
 Jerash, Ammon, Bostra, and through the Hauran, to Damascus. 
 Sect. III.—Visit to Palmyra. 
 
 Sect. IV.—Journey into Mount Lebanon, and return to Damascus. 
 
 Section I. 
 
 Damascus, July, 1837. 
 
 My dear Mother, 
 
 I sit down to redeem my promise of giving you 
 some account of my journeyings since arriving at 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Of Jerusalem I have but little to say; we took no 
 cicerones. There is no mistaking the principal features 
 of the scenery ; Mount Zion, Mount Moriah, the Valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, down which the brook Kedron still flows 
 during the rainy season, and the Mount of Olives, are 
 recognised at once ; the Arab village Siloan represents 
 Siloam, and the waters of Siloa still flow “fast by the 
 oracle of God.” A grove of eight magnificent and very 
 ancient olive-trees at the foot of the Mount, and near 
 the bridge over the Kedron, is pointed out as the gar¬ 
 den of Gethsemane; occupying the very spot one’s eyes 
 would turn to, looking up from the page of Scripture.— 
 It was the only monkish tradition I listened to. Through¬ 
 out the Holy Land we tried every spot pointed out as 
 the scene of Scriptural events by the words of the Bible, 
 the only safe guide-book in this land of ignorance and 
 superstition, where a locality has been assigned to every 
 
 r2 
 
244 
 
 MOUNT OF OLIVES. 
 
 incident recorded in it—to the spot where the cock crew 
 at St. Peter’s denial of our Saviour, nay, to the house 
 of Dives in the parable. Yet, while I question the 
 truth, I would not impugn the poetry of some of these 
 traditions, or deny that they add a peculiar and most 
 thrilling interest to the scenes to which they are at¬ 
 tached —loca sancta indeed, when we think of them as 
 shrines hallowed by the pilgrimages and the prayers of 
 ages. 
 
 There is no spot (you will not now wonder at my 
 saying so) at, or near, Jerusalem, half so interesting 
 as the Mount of Olives, and, on the other hand, from 
 no other point is Jerusalem seen to such advantage. 
 Oh ! what a relief it was to quit its narrow, filthy, ill- 
 paved streets for that lovely hill, climbing it by the 
 same rocky path our Saviour and his faithful few so 
 often trod, and resting on its brow as they did, when 
 their divine instructor, looking down on Jerusalem in 
 her glory, uttered those memorable prophecies of her 
 fall, of his second Advent, and of the final Judgment, 
 which we should ever brood over in our hearts as a 
 warning voice, bidding us watch and be ready for his 
 coming! Viewed from the Mount of Olives, like Cairo 
 from the hills on the edge of the Eastern desert, Jeru¬ 
 salem is still a lovely, a majestic object; but her beauty 
 is external only, and, like the bitter apples of Sodom, 
 she is found full of rottenness within,— 
 
 “ In Earth’s dark circlet once the precious gem 
 Of Living Light—Oh, fallen Jerusalem!” 
 
 But her king, in his own good time, will raise her from 
 the dust. 
 
 Nor is there, thank God ! any doubt about Bethany, 
 the home of that happy family, so peculiarly our Lord’s 
 friends during his latter years, his own home, indeed. 
 
BETHANY. 
 
 245 
 
 during his last visit to Jerusalem. It is a sweet retired 
 spot, beautifully situated on the slope of a hill to the 
 south of Mount Olivet. The path to Jerusalem winds 
 round the Mount, and through the Vale of Jehoshaphat, 
 precisely, to all appearance, as it did when the Messiah 
 rode thither in regal but humble triumph, and the people 
 strewed their garments and branches in the way. They 
 show you the supposed tomb of Lazarus, an excavation 
 in the rock, to which you descend by many steps. It 
 lies to the west of the town, and cannot therefore, I 
 think, be the spot. When Mary rose up hastily and 
 went out to meet our Saviour coming from Jericho, the 
 Jews thought she was going to the grave to weep there; 
 the sepulchre must therefore have been to the east of 
 the city, and in fact I saw two or three ancient tombs 
 by the wayside in that direction, one of which may have 
 been Lazarus’s. 
 
 The road to Jericho, beyond Bethany, runs between 
 bleak stony mountains, dreariness itself, a fit scene 
 for our Lord’s parable of the good Samaritan. We 
 emerged from them into the valley of the Jordan, about 
 six hours from Jerusalem, and presently passed a sin¬ 
 gular-looking tumulus, and many remains of walls, a 
 fragment or two of a column, &c., the ruins, I presume, 
 taken by Mr. Buckingham for those of Jericho ; there 
 has certainly been a city there, and the position agrees 
 with Josephus’s description much more than that of 
 Biha, the miserable village commonly supposed to re¬ 
 present it, and which we reached soon after passing a 
 clear and sparkling stream that springs from the Dia¬ 
 mond of the Desert—the scene of Sir Kenneth’s ren¬ 
 contre with Saladin, and—thought of far deeper interest, 
 the fountain sweetened by Elisha. I saw one palm-tree 
 at Riha—one only; the balsanUplants have been extinct 
 for ages. 
 
246 
 
 JERICHO. 
 
 The guides led us to an old tower, the same, I take 
 it, as that called by the old pilgrims the House of Zac- 
 cheus—now the residence of a petty military Governor; 
 they wanted to make us sleep there, saying there were 
 so many thieves abroad that it was dangerous to pitch 
 at the river, and refusing to proceed further without a 
 guard.* Long used to Arab humbug, we laughed at 
 them, and rode on by ourselves across a broad, arid, 
 sloping plain—the plain of Gilgal! The heat, tempered 
 by pleasant breezes, was by no means so great as we 
 expected ; it is generally extremely oppressive through¬ 
 out the valley of the Jordan. 
 
 Nine hours after leaving Jerusalem, we reached the 
 banks of the river, concealed, till you are close upon it, 
 by dense thickets of trees, reeds and bushes, “ the pride 
 of Jordan,” growing luxuriantly to the very edge of the 
 water. The lions, hippopotami, &c., that formerly 
 haunted these thickets, are extinct; wild boars are still 
 found there. The Jordan flows very swiftly, indeed in 
 a perceptible rapid below the open space on which we 
 encamped; the water is sweet and good; the upper bed 
 was still moist from the floods. We had pitched the 
 tents, picketed the horses, &c., when the guides came 
 up, silent and crestfallen; we took no notice of them. 
 It was a sweet evening, and a most beautiful, cool, star¬ 
 light night, the river murmuring along, and the night¬ 
 ingales singing from the trees. I walked on the bank 
 till the crescent moon set; all was loveliness and 
 delight, f 
 
 * The district has a bad reputation at all times; but I believe 
 there was little hazard then. A year afterwards Dr. Robinson found 
 it expedient to make a bargain with a Sheikh of the Taamirah Be¬ 
 douins, a tribe living near the Dead Sea, for escort and protection. 
 [1847.] 
 
 f “ About nine o’clock a great fire was lighted on the hills on our 
 side the river, which, after blazing about ten minutes, went out. It 
 
DEAD SEA. 
 
 247 
 
 An hour’s ride, next morning, over a sandy barren 
 plain, intersected by slimy bogs, (a few gazelles bound¬ 
 ing over the sand-hills were the only living creatures 
 we saw there,) brought us to the silent shore of the 
 Dead Sea, a grand spectacle; the lake lay perfectly 
 still, save a gentle ripple; its waters tolerably transpa¬ 
 rent, but salt and bitter beyond bitterness. My compa¬ 
 nions bathed—I had not courage to do so; they found 
 the water as buoyant as travellers have asserted, float¬ 
 ing like corks, swimming with their hands only, &c.,— 
 no one dared to duck his head. Wood, all encrusted 
 with salt, lies in great quantities on the shore, and we 
 picked up many small pieces of bitumen. The Arabs 
 call the lake Bahr Lout, or the sea of Lot; and the city 
 of refuge, Zoar, at the south-western extremity, still re¬ 
 tains its ancient name. To an unscientific eye the 
 lake has not the slightest appearance of volcanic forma¬ 
 tion ; instead of displaying relics of a crater, the 
 mountains, between which it lies, run north and south, 
 in parallel lines, and at equal distances, to the Sea of 
 Galilee and the Gulf of Akaba. ( 3I ) Mr. Moore, a sci¬ 
 entific gentleman, who was very courteous to us at 
 Jerusalem, was then surveying the lake, but has since, 
 through the opposition, I believe, of the Government, 
 been obliged to relinquish his interesting undertaking. 
 
 Wishing to visit the convent of San Saba, we struck 
 in that direction into the barren and cavernous hills of 
 Judea, following nearly the route of Sir Kenneth and 
 Saladin in the Talisman; the scenery was dreary in 
 the extreme, but sometimes very grand, particularly 
 looking back on the Ghor, or Valley of the Jordan. 
 The guides loitering behind us, we at last lost our way, 
 
 occurred to us that it might possibly be a signal to the robbers spoken 
 of on the Eastern bank, from their confederates on ours—but no¬ 
 thing disturbed us during the night.”— Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
248 
 
 HILLS OF JUDAH. 
 
 and wandered among the hills for some hours, without 
 knowing whither we were going, and without seeing a 
 soul. The curse has indeed fallen on the land of 
 Judah; I never, except in the very desert, saw such 
 dreariness as during these two days. We thirsted for 
 water, but found none; once we came to a reservoir of 
 rain water, but it was absolutely undrinkable; we have 
 drunk water that stank so that we could not keep it in 
 the tent with us, so you may imagine how bad this was. 
 Another time we passed an ancient well, its mouth 
 sealed with a large stone, with a hole in the centre, 
 through which we threw a pebble in—but there was no 
 water, and we should have been sorry had there been 
 any, for our united strength could not have removed 
 the seal; I wonder how many centuries it has lain 
 there! * 
 
 At last we espied the guides and Clarke’s servant 
 Hassan on a distant hill, and, cutting across the 
 country in that direction, reached the beaten road; we 
 were momentarily in expectation of reaching San Saba, 
 when, coming to a fountain, (welcome object!) I reco¬ 
 gnised it as the one we had passed the day before, 
 within an hour after leaving Bethany,—the “ fountain 
 of the Apostles” it is called—and doubtless they often 
 quenched their thirst at it, and He too, who became 
 man, and hungered and thirsted for our sake! Why 
 might it not have been there, resting before the ascent 
 to Bethany, that “ Jesus said unto them plainly, Laza¬ 
 rus is dead ! ” Be this as it may, never were we more 
 agreeably surprised, for we had wished all along to 
 reach Jerusalem that night, and had been in doubts 
 whether we should find any water at all; of course we 
 
 * See Gen. xxix. 2,3, and Sol. Song, iv. 12.—“ Near this well are 
 the remains of an ancient town and a ruin in a valley.”— Orig. 
 Journal. [1847.] 
 
QUIT JERUSALEM. 
 
 249 
 
 thought no more of San Saba, but rode on and reached 
 Jerusalem shortly after sunset, after a good eleven 
 hours’ ride, which, notwithstanding our mishaps, we 
 enjoyed exceedingly .( 32 ) 
 
 Three days afterwards, Thursday the 11th of May, 
 we bade adieu to Jerusalem, still in company with 
 Dr. Mac Lennan and Clarke, the kind and agreeable 
 associates of our whole tour from Mount Sinai to Da¬ 
 mascus. It was our intention, after exploring Pales¬ 
 tine, (properly so called,) to cross the Jordan, and visit 
 Jerash; Mr. Moore, an enthusiast in architectural anti¬ 
 quities, confirmed us in this resolution by his praise of 
 the ruins, and strongly recommended us to extend our 
 tour to the Hauran, or ancient Auranitis, part of the 
 Idumea or Arabia Provincia of the Romans, (whither 
 St. Paul retired after his conversion,) and where we 
 should see more interesting specimens of Roman do¬ 
 mestic architectui'e than existed even at Pompeii. He 
 gave us a route through the country, to which I added 
 copious extracts from Burckhardt, the first traveller 
 who gave anything like a full account of that region. 
 He is indeed a model for travellers, so accurate and 
 precise—I wish only he were a little more enthusiastic. 
 But he is such a thorough gentleman—his feelings are 
 all so good and honourable—his conduct towards his 
 employers so conscientious,—he is so cheerful, so un¬ 
 complaining under hardship and privation, that one 
 cannot but love him—one cannot but regret that he 
 will never be so extensively known as he deserves to 
 be.( 33 ) 
 
 All things being ready, as aforesaid, we started,— 
 five horses for ourselves, ten mules for the servants and 
 baggage, three or four muleteers, and two black slaves 
 of theirs. We were most fortunate in our muleteers, 
 cheerful, active, willing fellows; we never had a mo- 
 
250 
 
 DEPARTURE. 
 
 ment’s trouble with them. One of them, distinguished 
 by his green turban, was a Said, or Shereef, that is, a 
 descendant of Mahomet; the head muleteer had much 
 of the appearance, and evidently aspired to the cha¬ 
 racter, of Punch, and soon answered to his name, as 
 the “ Snowballs” did to theirs, as if he had never been 
 called by any other. We took no guard—for Palestine 
 it is quite needless, and, from what Mr. Moore said, and 
 our own Arab experience, we judged it equally unne¬ 
 cessary for the regions east of the Jordan. Mr. Moore 
 had one when he travelled there, but intended dis¬ 
 pensing with it on his next visit. The terror of Ibra¬ 
 him Pasha is now the traveller’s safeguard throughout 
 these regions, so difficult of access till within the last 
 two or three years.* 
 
 Everything went to our satisfaction on this journey. 
 We rode generally about eight or nine hours, or from 
 thirty to forty miles a day, never exceeding a quick 
 walk, the usual travelling pace ; starting with the sun, 
 halting at mid-day for two or three hours during the 
 heat, and then proceeding till sunset. The weather 
 throughout was delightful, seldom excessively hot even 
 at noon, while the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, 
 were delicious indeed. We followed the harvest the 
 whole way; the corn was yellow at Nablous; we found 
 reapers at work the day afterwards, and camels were 
 bringing in the last crops, and gleaners busy in the 
 fields, as we drew nigh to Damascus. I preserved my 
 
 * The year 1837 was the last of these years of security. In 
 1838, disturbances were already so rife, that Dr. Robinson and his 
 friend were unable to visit even Mount Lebanon and Damascus—re¬ 
 served, we must hope, for their exploration and illustration, as well 
 as the district east of the Jordan, at some future day. They found 
 Palestine, in Dr. Robinson’s words, “ a land of wars and rumours of 
 wars.” [1847.] 
 
JOURNEY TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 251 
 
 health and spirits the whole time, thank God! One 
 night excepted, we slept invariably in our tent, and 
 never had a difference of opinion with the friends who 
 shared it; they were as anxious to see what was to be 
 seen as we were, and most pleasant companions we 
 found them. In short, we saw more than we proposed 
 at starting, yet arrived at Damascus a day sooner than 
 we calculated, on leaving Jerusalem. Alas! alas! 
 what a melancholy thread must henceforward be inter¬ 
 woven with these reminiscences ! 
 
 All Judea, except the hills of Hebron and the vales 
 immediately about Jerusalem, is desolate and barren, 
 but the prospect brightens as soon as you quit it, and 
 Samaria and Galilee still smile like the Land of 
 Promise.* The road from Jerusalem northward is, at 
 first, extremely ugly—hilly and stony. At some dis¬ 
 tance to the left, as you leave the city, rises the hill of 
 Samuele, supposed to be the ancient Rama; that 
 
 * Many, I believe, entertain the idea that an actual curse rests on 
 the soil of Palestine, and may be startled therefore at the testimony 
 I have borne to its actual richness. No other curse, I conceive, 
 rests upon it, than that induced by the removal of the ancient in¬ 
 habitants, and the will of the Almighty that the modern occupants 
 should never be so numerous as to invalidate the prophecy that the 
 land should enjoy her Sabbaths so long as the rightful heirs remain 
 in the land of their enemies. Let me not be misunderstood,— 
 richly as the valleys wave with corn, and beautiful as is the general 
 aspect of modern Palestine, vestiges of the far more extensive ancient 
 cultivation are everywhere visible—waste and unreclaimed districts 
 constantly intervene between the Oases of fertility—while, except 
 immediately round the villages, the hills, once terraced and crowned 
 with olive-trees and vines, are uniformly bare or overgrown with 
 wild shrubs and flowers; proofs far more than sufficient that the 
 land still enjoys her Sabbaths, and only waits the return of her 
 banished children, and the application of industry commensurate 
 with her agricultural capabilities, to burst once more into universal 
 luxuriance, and be all that she ever was in the days of Solomon. 
 
252 
 
 ANABROOT. 
 
 name, however, was given by Punch to some ruins on 
 a hill to the right, at two hours from Jerusalem. I can¬ 
 not express to you my delight and surprise when he 
 uttered the word with the full intonation of his Arab 
 lungs; it startled me like the firing of a pistol,—but 
 the Arabs have, in instances innumerable, retained the 
 Scriptural names of places,—and no wonder, for, both 
 by blood and language, they are Hebrews. At three 
 hours and a half from Jerusalem, we encamped at Beer, 
 or Beeri, as the Arabs pronounced it—supposed to be 
 Michmash, but is it not rather Beeroth ? * This is 
 generally, and I think with probability, considered to 
 be the place where the caravan halted, returning from 
 Jerusalem, and Joseph and Mary missed our Saviour. 
 Two hours beyond it, next morning, and near the vil¬ 
 lage Anabroot, we entered on some of the loveliest 
 scenery I ever beheld, olive and fig gardens, vineyards 
 and corn-fields, overspreading the valleys, and terraced 
 on the hills—alternating with waste ground overgrown 
 with the beautiful prickly oak, and lovely wild flowers. 
 One rocky vale struck us as particularly beautiful.— 
 We were in the neighbourhood of Bethel; I anxiously 
 inquired for it of the Arabs, but in vain ; I did not then 
 remember the prophecy, “ Seek not Bethel,—Bethel 
 shall come to naught! ” In fact, not a trace, not even 
 a tradition, remains of its existence.f 
 
 * Dr. Robinson thinks the same.— B. Researches , vol. ii, p. 132. 
 [1847.] 
 
 t Dr. Robinson, however, has discovered it at Beitin, three hours 
 and forty minutes from Jerusalem, passing through El Bireh. “ The 
 Arabic termination en for the Hebrew el is not an unusual change.” 
 — B. Researches , vol. ii, p. 128. The reader is probably aware that 
 Dr. Robinson’s researches into the popular topography of Palestine 
 have been rewarded by the discovery of numberless towns and places 
 mentioned in Scripture, the ancient names of which have been faith¬ 
 fully handed down by tradition. Mr. Eli Smith has been his able 
 coadjutor in these researches. [1847.] 
 
VALE OF LEBONAH. 
 
 253 
 
 I took notes of all tlie distances on this journey, and 
 of all the villages we passed; few figure on the maps 
 comparatively with the hundreds that exist in Palestine. 
 They are not, however, thickly inhabited, and the con¬ 
 dition of the peasants is most miserable; the country 
 was teeming with the richest crops when we passed 
 through it, but the enlightened government of Mahom- 
 med Ali precludes their profiting by the bounty of 
 nature, and the conscription, as in Egypt, has so 
 drained the villages of men, that more than once, and 
 in the most out-of-the-way parts of the country, none 
 of the peasants would act as guides, for fear of being 
 impressed for soldiers. 
 
 After following the beautiful valley of Leban, (old 
 Lebonah,) which we entered about eight hours and a 
 half from Jerusalem, for rather more than three hours, 
 it expanded into a magnificent plain waving with corn 
 —the parcel of ground, there can be no doubt, which 
 Jacob gave to his son Joseph, and the gathering-place, 
 in every age of their history, of the clans of Israel; we 
 saw camels and cattle winding their way through the 
 corn-fields far below us. Turning up a valley to the 
 west, between the hills of Gerizam and Ebal, (on which 
 the tribes stood in two divisions, when the book of the 
 law, the blessings and curses, and the astonishing pro¬ 
 phecies of Moses, were read to them by Joshua, “ and 
 all the people cried Amen!”)—we reached Nablous, 
 the ancient Sichem or Sychar, built at the foot and on 
 the lowest slope of Gerizim, and embowered in groves 
 of the richest verdure—figs, mulberries, olives—one 
 solitary palm-tree towering over them, and hedges of 
 the prickly pear, with its fantastic boughs and yellow 
 blossoms, guarding eveiy r plantation. It was a sweet 
 evening, the thrushes were singing merrily, and every¬ 
 thing smiled around us. Nablous was far too lovely— 
 
254 
 
 SAMARIA. 
 
 it would have been disenchantment to enter it—we 
 rode round the town, and encamped beyond it under 
 the olive-trees. A remnant of the Samaritans, about 
 one hundred, still live there, and, at certain seasons, 
 still go up and worship on Gerizim.* 
 
 Two hours’ ride, the following morning, through 
 mule tracks over the rocks, worn deep by the feet of 
 centuries, took us to Subusta, the ancient Samaria, 
 named by Herod Sebaste, in honour of Augustus ; this 
 and Nablous (Neapolis) are singular instances of the 
 Arabs’ having adopted the Greek, and forgotten the 
 original Hebrew names. Samaria stood on an oval 
 hill, stretching east and west, and separated from the 
 hills that encircle it by a very deep valley. The 
 miserable modern village is chiefly built of the remains 
 of the ancient city. Our guide, a regular village an¬ 
 tiquary, led us first along the southern side of the hill, 
 planted with olives and fig-trees, through and alongside 
 of the remains of a handsome colonnade, Herod’s work 
 probably, running east and west; near the town, the 
 pillars are mostly overthrown; some have rolled off 
 the terrace on which they stood—others are scarcely 
 perceptible above the ground; numbers, however, at 
 the west end, retain their upright position, though 
 without their capitals. The colonnade ends, at the ex¬ 
 tremity of the hill, in an open space between two mounds 
 
 * For much interesting information about the modem Samaritans, 
 see De Sacy’s “ Correspondance des Samaritains deNaplouse,pendant 
 les annees 1808 et suiv .,”—(Notices des MSS. de la Bibliotheque du 
 Hoi, Sfc. tom. 12), and Dr. Jowett’s “Christian Researches in Syria 
 and the Holy Land,” pp. 195, sqq.—I have unaccountably omitted 
 to mention Jacob’s well and Joseph’s tomb, which one passes before 
 arriving at Nablous, each probably the identical spot, pointed out 
 from father to son by unbroken tradition. The interview of our 
 Saviour with the woman of Samaria will recur to the mind of every 
 one. [1847.] 
 
ELLAR. 
 
 255 
 
 of ruins, overgrown with grass—the ancient gate, ac¬ 
 cording to our village oracle, of Samaria, and the two 
 forts that defended it.* We returned by the north 
 side of the hill, for the most part through fig, as on the 
 southern through olive-trees ; there are the remains of 
 many fine pillars in a grove of fig-trees on the highest 
 of the broad terraces into which the hill has been cut; 
 and in the plain below are several more, forming two 
 sides of a quadrangle. I have seldom been so forcibly 
 struck with the fulfilment of prophecy as when walking 
 over the hill of Samaria. An old ruined church, of 
 singular and richly ornamented architecture, (the choir 
 exhibiting round arches, supported by heavy Corinthian 
 columns—the arches near the entrance pointed,) hangs 
 picturesquely on the edge of the hill below the modern 
 village. 
 
 Beyond Samaria, we struck across country towards 
 Mount Carmel, by a route undescribed, so far as I am 
 aware, by any traveller. We soon lost our way, but 
 that was of little consequence, for the country is full 
 of villages, well cultivated, and quite beautiful. We 
 halted at noon in a grove of noble olive-trees, swarm¬ 
 ing with little green leaf-hoppers—if I may call them 
 so — shaped like frogs — the merriest little beings 
 imaginable. You will find the village Sili on the map 
 —not so Cufr Ai, nor Ellar, which crowns the highest 
 hill between Sili and Zeita—a village on the great 
 road between Acre and Ramla, and which we passed a 
 little to the south, the following morning. Six other 
 villages, one of them named Baca, saluted us from the 
 hills, as we descended from Ellar. We proceeded 
 along a beautiful and very extensive plain, the pro¬ 
 longation, I take it, of the Yale of Sharon ; the scenery 
 reminded Clarke of Kent. Nothing could exceed the 
 * 1 Kings xx. lo. 
 
256 
 
 MOUNT CARMEL. 
 
 richness of the soil or the beauty of its produce—even 
 of the thistles, with which every fallow and uncultivated 
 field was overgrown, of the deepest hue and most luxu¬ 
 riant growth, often overtopping my head on horseback; 
 dear old Scotland can boast of none so beautiful. 
 
 Presently, leaving the plain, we rode for two hours 
 through a range of sloping hills covered with beautiful 
 valonidis or evergreen oaks—regular English park- 
 scenery ; then, the trees ceasing, through a continued 
 expanse of sloping downs, till we reached the southern 
 prolongations of Carmel, and the banks of “ that an¬ 
 cient river, the river Kishon henceforward, the hills 
 on both sides were again covered with valonidis and 
 prickly oaks. The road ran close under Mount Carmel, 
 along the banks of the Kishon—a rocky path, winding 
 through oleanders in full bloom, reeds, and wild 
 flowers of every hue—the birds singing sweetly—wood- 
 pigeons cooing—and the temperature as fresh and 
 mild as May in England. 
 
 We had already caught a glimpse of the Great Plain 
 of Esdraelon to the east, and presently emerged into 
 that of Acre on the north, a magnificent expanse of the 
 richest land. We encamped that night in an olive- 
 grove near the village Yajour; a wolf came down to 
 reconnoitre us as we were resting under the hill, but 
 ran off when Clarke went after him with his gun. 
 
 Grand was the roar of the surf, as we rode up to the 
 gates of Caypha next morning—that miserable hole ! 
 We sent on our baggage to Acre, and turned west¬ 
 wards towards the Carmelite Convent, built about half¬ 
 way up the loftiest ridge of Mount Carmel—to which, 
 indeed, correctly speaking, the name ought to be re¬ 
 stricted ; it here descends in an almost perpendicular 
 slope to the sea. The top and sides are covered with 
 shrubs and flowers, but quite bare of trees; a few 
 
CARMELITE CONVENT. 
 
 257 
 
 olives flourish at its foot and on the lowest slope, as if 
 trying to get up and invalidate the prophecy. The 
 “ excellency of Carmel” is indeed departed. 
 
 Crossing the triangular plain formed by the moun¬ 
 tain and the south-west horn of the bay of Acre, we 
 ascended to the convent by a very steep path, partly 
 protected by a parapet. It is certainly the handsomest 
 convent I have seen in Palestine—three stories high— 
 nine windows towards Acre, and thirteen towards the 
 Mediterranean ; the fathers have been rebuilding it for 
 eleven years, and it is not yet finished, though quite 
 habitable. Two monks only were there, but nothing 
 could exceed the cordiality of our reception, and press¬ 
 ing were their entreaties that we should stay four, 
 three, two, or at least one day with them. After coffee, 
 they showed us their lions,—think what a pleasant sur¬ 
 prise it was, when, opening a side door, they ushered 
 us into a suite of no less than five small apartments, 
 fitted up for visitors in the European style, and with 
 European furniture, neatness itself,—window-curtains, 
 tables, reed-bottomed and arm-chairs, beds with cur¬ 
 tains, and gilt corner-tops, (one room with a double¬ 
 sized bed, for a gentleman and lady,) basons, looking- 
 glasses, &c., &c., and such a lovely sea-view from the 
 windows ; these were all at our service, they said, for 
 as long as we should like to stay there. Indeed I know 
 no place (except, theoretically, some of the convents 
 on Mount Lebanon) where I would sooner take up my 
 quarters for a month or two of repose and study. 
 
 The church, not yet finished, is built over the cave 
 in which Elijah is said to have dwelt, but again, I must 
 ask, where is the proof of this ? In a side-chapel they 
 showed us a beautiful wooden statue of Elijah killing 
 one of the prophets of Baal. The new of the Medi¬ 
 terranean from the roof of the Convent, a boundless 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 ACRE. 
 
 expanse but unrelieved by a single sail, was very grand, 
 though fatiguing from its uniformity; to the S. and 
 S.E. lie Acre and its noble bay; to the S. we saw 
 Castel Pellegrino, illustrious in the old crusading day, 
 and Tortosa; immediately below us, on the edge of the 
 bay, they pointed to a few ruined walls, the faint traces 
 of Porphyrion, so named from the ancient purple dye 
 of Tyre. 
 
 Acre is four hours distant from Carmel; we rode 
 thither along the beach, frequently over wrecks of 
 vessels of considerable size, almost buried in the sand. 
 We forded the Kishon in about half a dozen steps; 
 here it had lost all its beauty, and the Belus, of about 
 the same breadth, was equally uninteresting.—Acre 
 looks nobly from a distance, but within its walls is 
 most wretched—houses in ruins, and broken arches in 
 every direction—memorials of Ibrahim Pasha. We 
 could hardly believe we had arrived at the Convent, 
 when our guides led us into the court of a large ruin¬ 
 ous building like a Khan; the monks were as churlish 
 as those of Mount Carmel were courteous, and the 
 rooms they most ungraciously offered us swarmed so 
 with fleas, that we reloaded the mules, and, walking 
 back to the beach, encamped, in peace and freedom, 
 on a grassy plot, almost alive with grasshoppers, harm¬ 
 less little beings ! I never was so struck with the truth 
 of Pope’s beautiful line—“the green myriads of the 
 peopled grass.”—And such a sunset! we should have 
 lost it within the walls of the Convent. 
 
 —Ibrahim Pasha! Ibrahim Pasha!—Why not a sigh 
 for the olden day, when the Standard of England 
 streamed from St. George’s Mount, and the chivalry 
 of Richard encamped around it, and the young knights 
 stood and listened to Blondel’s lay; but he that was 
 to win on the morrow the honoured name of D’Acre 
 
NAZARETH. 
 
 259 
 
 sat apart from his companions, watching the sun setting 
 in the far west, where dwelt the lady of his love—his 
 casque lying on the grass, and his steed feeding beside 
 him! 
 
 Tuesday, the sixteenth of May, we passed from the 
 plain of Acre, through the beautiful vale of Beilina, or 
 Abilin,* into the rich and fertile plan of Zebulon, and 
 thence ascended, through a vale of olives, to Sep- 
 phoury, the representive of Sepphoris, the ancient 
 capital of Galilee. A few broken columns, sarcophagi, 
 and excavated tombs, are its only remains of Jewish, 
 and an old Gothic church with handsome arches, of 
 Christian magnificence. 
 
 In about an hour and a quarter beyond Sepphoury, 
 we reached the loftiest ridge between the plain of 
 Esdraelon and the sea; the view on every side was 
 superb—in front of us stretched the magnificent plain 
 of Esdraelon, or Jezreel, so interesting in the annals of 
 history past—and to come, for there, according to the 
 Apocalypse, will be fought the last great battle of 
 Megiddon; Mount Tabor was full in view; the snowy 
 peaks of Mount Hermon rose in the distance, and at 
 our feet lay Nazareth, embedded in its little vale like 
 the infant Saviour in his mother’s arms. 
 
 But the vale of Nazareth has no pretensions to the 
 beauty ascribed to it by travellers; its hills are barren 
 and uncultivated, and the grove of fig-trees we passed 
 through in descending to the village was very scanty. 
 We were hospitably received by the Superior of the 
 Spanish Convent, who gave us a very tolerable apart- 
 ment, with a portentous crack, however, across the 
 roof, the effect of the great earthquake of the first of 
 
 * “ Belonging to the village of that name, which we passed to the 
 right at three hours and ten minutes after leaving Acre.” Orig. 
 Journal. [1847.] 
 
 s 2 
 
260 
 
 NAZARETH. 
 
 January,—have you ever heard of it in England ? They 
 had excellent rooms for visitors, but the wing of the 
 house in which they were situated has been completely 
 ruined. Only six persons were killed in Nazareth, and 
 but few houses were injured. 
 
 The church is very handsome, but inferior to those at 
 Bethlehem and Jerusalem; it contains two organs, one 
 of them a very fine instrument. Expressing a wish to 
 hear it played, the Superior sent for the organist, who 
 surprised us by striking up a beautiful slow waltz, 
 (there was no one in the church but ourselves,) and 
 then the grand Constitutional March of Spain ; many 
 other airs followed, executed with much taste and 
 enthusiasm; it was quite a treat, and did me much 
 good. The church is built over a grotto, said to be 
 part of the Virgin Mary’s house, and the scene of the 
 Annunciation. In front of the altar (that is, where it 
 now stands) stood the Santa Casa of Loretto, said to 
 have been transported thither by angels from this 
 spot. 
 
 Clarke and I visited the steep rock near the Maronite 
 church, from which his father imagined the Jews wished 
 to cast our Saviour ; it may very possibly be the spot; 
 the rock is still twenty-five or thirty feet in height, and 
 so rpuch rubbish has accumulated at the bottom that it 
 may have been fifty or sixty—eighteen hundred years 
 ago. If I recollect right, one might now jump down the 
 Tarpeian rock at Rome without much risk of broken 
 limbs. 
 
 Every scene of our Saviour’s life at Nazareth is 
 marked by chapels and churches; there is a well, how¬ 
 ever, named after the Virgin, to the east of the city, 
 which we gazed at with extreme interest; it still sup¬ 
 plies Nazareth with water, and thither, without a doubt, 
 came the Virgin Mary and her Saviour Son, day after 
 
MOUNT TABOR. 261 
 
 day, to draw water—as we saw the daughters of Nazareth 
 coming while we stopped our horses to drink at it. 
 
 From Nazareth (sending on Missirie, with the bag¬ 
 gage, direct to Mount Tabor) we rode over the hills to 
 Kenna, the ancient Cana of Galilee, passing Reni, a 
 village on the left, utterly destroyed by the earthquake. 
 Cana rises on a gentle elevation, facing the south-west 
 We stopped at a fountain of excellent water, flowing 
 beneath the village through delicious groves of figs and 
 pomegranates—the source, doubtless, of the very water 
 that was made wine.* 
 
 From Cana we struck into a narrow but most lovely 
 vale, wooded chiefly with valonidis and prickly oaks, 
 and carpeted with the most luxuriant grass and wild 
 flowers, especially one resembling the hollyhock, which, 
 at this season, adorns every field in Palestine. The 
 vale ended in a small plain, nearly triangular, formed 
 by the meeting of several valleys, and covered with 
 corn—the only cultivated spot we saw during the whole 
 ride. Turning to the right, in the direction of Mount 
 Tabor, we presently caught a glimpse of the tent, and 
 the union-jack hoisted on a tree as a signal. Missirie 
 had selected a charming spot, about ten minutes up the 
 mountain, commanding a splendid view over Galilee 
 towards Nazareth and Saffet. Our guide from Naza¬ 
 reth, a benevolent-looking, grey-bearded Christian, 
 pointed out several spots sanctified by monkish tradi¬ 
 tion, visible from this elevation,—the mountain of the 
 Beatitudes, the place where the five thousand were 
 fed, &e. &c. 
 
 After resting awhile, we started for the top in time to 
 see the sun set beyond the Mediterranean, a most mag- 
 
 * Dr. Robinson fixes the true Cana at Kefr Kenna. B. Re¬ 
 searches, vol. iii, p. 204. [1847.] 
 
262 
 
 SEA OF GALILEE. 
 
 nificent spectacle. The mountain being entirely covered 
 with thick woods, and nearly level at the summit, we 
 had some difficulty in discovering its highest point; 
 once attained, the prospect north, south, east, and west, 
 was almost boundless. The summit is covered with 
 very extensive ruins of an ancient town and fortress 
 mentioned by Josephus. The wall too that he built there 
 in forty days is still traceable. Dr. Mac Lennan and I 
 discovered a very large and deep fosse at the west end 
 of the hill, with part of a wall of very considerable 
 height still standing. Clarke found his way there by 
 himself, but had much more difficulty in extricating 
 himself from the maze of ruins; he encountered four 
 deep fosses at four points where he attempted egress, 
 and almost thought himself bewitched. We met with 
 arches, vaults, and excavations in every direction, all 
 overgrown with thick grass and trees; the soil is exces¬ 
 sively rich. Of comparatively modern buildings, we 
 saw a rude chapel near the castle, dedicated to the 
 Transfiguration, with three altars, answering to the 
 proposed three tabernacles,—that the Transfiguration 
 took place on Mount Tabor, is, however, quite a gra¬ 
 tuitous supposition. 
 
 The next morning we rode to Tiberias, now Tabaria, 
 across the great plain, leaving the “ Hill of the Beati¬ 
 tudes,” on which our Saviour is said, to have preached 
 his sermon on the Mount, to the left,—I should rather 
 say, that, while the rest of the caravan went on to 
 Tiberias, Clarke and I rode to the top of it; the view 
 is lovely—the sea of Galilee lies before you, out¬ 
 stretched like a map—its northern extremity, broken 
 by creeks, but circular in the main, is quite distinct, 
 while the eye follows the eastern shore for many a mile, 
 till the mountains close in and conceal the southern 
 extremity. The snowy ridge of Gebel Sheikh, the 
 
SEA OF GALILEE. 
 
 263 
 
 ancient Hermon, is the principal ornament of every 
 view in this part of Galilee. Dr. Mac Lennan had 
 not seen snow for sixteen years. 
 
 We did not enter Tiberias, but pitched on the banks 
 of the lake; the earthquake had left the town in ruins, 
 its walls cast down to the ground, its towers split in 
 two, and their galleries and chambers laid open and 
 yawning in mid-air. We all bathed and found it most 
 refreshing. We spent a very pleasant afternoon and 
 evening on the shore of this lovely lake—not, I hope, 
 without thoughts of Him who dwelt on its banks and 
 walked on its waves, and stilled them at his word, 
 and whose will is still all-powerful to sustain us, when 
 the winds wage war and the waters rise against us, and 
 faith, like Peter, sinks in the heart, even while it 
 wishes to draw nigh to God, and we look around for 
 help, and finding none, cry aloud, “ Lord, save us, we 
 perish!” and then, and not till then, is the hand out¬ 
 stretched, and the voice heard, that says to the winds, 
 “ Peace!” and to the sea, “ Be still!” and there is a 
 great calm, and the heart, like its emblem, recomposed 
 to rest, Faith walks once more on the waters, hand in 
 hand, and in communion with her Saviour. 
 
 Thoughtfully and peacefully passed that evening. 
 A few hours’ repose was very welcome after so many 
 days’ incessant march. ( 34 ) 
 
 Section II. 
 
 Arrived at the sea of Galilee, I was very anxious to 
 discover, if possible, the sites of Capernaum, Chorazin, 
 Bethsaida, &c., and to visit the eastern shore of the 
 lake, of which I had never met with any description,— 
 with the exception of Burckhardt, who only visited 
 the south-eastern extremity, and a few other gentle- 
 
264 
 
 CAPERNAUM. 
 
 men who travelled as Arabs, dread of the inhabitants 
 had hitherto deterred Frank travellers from venturing 
 thither; but we were a numerous party, well armed— 
 times too were changed—and we determined therefore 
 on making the complete tour of the lake, en route 
 for Oom Keis and Jerash; some humbug was talked 
 to us, not about the inhabitants, but the roads, which 
 our guide declared absolutely impassable,—truth is a 
 rare bird in this country; there is as beautiful and 
 easy a footpath along the whole eastern shore of the 
 lake as across a meadow in England. 
 
 About an hour north of Tiberias, and at the bottom 
 of a deep bay, unnoticed in the map, we entered the 
 plain of Gennesareth, of which Josephus gives such a 
 glowing description, nor do I think it overcharged. 
 It is excessively fertile, but now for the most part un¬ 
 cultivated ; the waste parts are covered with the rank¬ 
 est vegetation, reeds, sidr-trees, oleanders, honey¬ 
 suckles, wild flowers, and splendid thistles in immense 
 crops; I saw a stunted palm or two, and there are fig- 
 trees, though I did not see them,—once they were 
 numerous. A broad clear stream and innumerable 
 rapid little rivulets cross the road. Medjdel, a wretched 
 village, probably represents Magdala, the birth-place 
 of Mary Magdalen, both names implying a “tower” in 
 Arabic and Hebrew,—but of Capernaum no traces re¬ 
 main, not even, so far as I could ascertain by repeated 
 inquiries, the memory of its name. Truly, indeed, 
 has Capernaum been cast down to Hades—the grave 
 of oblivion. I think it must have stood on the northern 
 extremity of the plain, close to the sea; its position on 
 the shore cannot be doubted,—it was also very near 
 the mountain on which our Saviour preached his ser¬ 
 mon, for, descending from it, he entered into Caper¬ 
 naum ; now the hills to the south of the plain are very 
 
CHORAZIN AND BETHSAIDA. 
 
 265 
 
 rugged and barren—no one would for a moment dream 
 of climbing them for such a purpose as our Saviour 
 had in view,—those that bound the plain to the west 
 are too distant from the lake to answer the conditions, 
 —while that to the north, which we crossed on our 
 road to the head of the lake, agrees with them in every 
 point, the summit, an easy walk from the town, sup¬ 
 posing it situated as I conceive it was, being perfectly 
 smooth and covered with fine grass, though the sides 
 are rocky.* 
 
 Beyond this hill, in another small plain, flow several 
 very copious streams of warm mineral waters, and 
 there are extensive ruins of Roman baths and aqueducts. 
 After traversing a succession of sloping meadows, and 
 some of the finest thickets of oleander I ever saw, in 
 full flower, we reached the head of the lake, four hours 
 after leaving Tiberias. 
 
 I could hear nothing of Chorazin and Bethsaida, 
 though I named them to almost every one we met. 
 Bethsaida, indeed, was discovered by Pococke in ruins, 
 and called by the same name, rather out of this im¬ 
 mediate district, but Chorazin ought to be somewhere 
 hereabouts. Dr. Richardson was informed that both 
 Chorazin and Capernaum were near, but in ruins—no 
 one, however, that we met seemed to know anything 
 about them. Some future traveller may be more for¬ 
 tunate in this interesting inquiry. ( M ) 
 
 After riding up the Ghor, or Valley of the Jordan, 
 about an hour, we halted for the noontide rest under 
 two large branching sidr-trees, laden with fruit—a thick 
 grove of oleanders overspreading the moist plain 
 below, wherever the Jordan flowed, or the little stream - 
 
 * This is the position fixed upon by Dr. Robinson as the site of 
 Capernaum. B. Researches, vol. iii, p. 251. [1847.] 
 
266 
 
 EL HUSSN, 
 
 lets, that branch off from and reunite with him, find 
 their way. The river was flowing very swiftly, and of 
 considerable breadth, but not deeper than the horses’ 
 knees, at the point where we forded it; it was a charm¬ 
 ing evening, and I do not think I exaggerate in saying 
 that thousands of birds were singing in the thickets as 
 we crossed the Ghor—but the noise they made was 
 horrible. 
 
 Reaching the foot of the eastern mountains in an 
 hour and forty minutes, and turning southwards, we 
 rode for nearly two hours and a half as far as the 
 mountain El Hussn, beyond Wady Sumuk, where we 
 pitched for the night near a Bedouin camp. So far 
 from finding the road rugged or difficult, it was far 
 easier than that on the western bank—in fact, by far 
 the best we had ever travelled on in Syria—lying 
 entirely through meadows, covered with corn, that 
 descend in a gentle declivity to the water’s edge,— 
 and this description applies to the whole eastern side 
 of the lake ; the western is much more rugged and pre¬ 
 cipitous. Nothing could exceed the beauty of the lake 
 and of the opposite mountains at sunset; the view 
 from Tibeiias is quite tame in comparison,—though, 
 ’tis true, you do see Mount Hermon. 
 
 Next morning we climbed up the mountain El Hussn, 
 which, at a distance, so strongly resembles the hump 
 of a camel, that I think there can be little doubt of its 
 being the ancient Gamala, described by Josephus as 
 resembling, and named after, the said protuberance. 
 It has been a place of tremendous strength, and no 
 slight importance. Valleys, deep and almost perpen¬ 
 dicular, surround it on the north, east, and south. 
 On the south side the rock is scarped angularly for de¬ 
 fence ; on the eastern, it is built up, so as to bar all 
 
PROBABLY GAMALA. 
 
 267 
 
 approach from below; to the south-east a neck of land, 
 of much lower elevation, and scarped on both sides, 
 connects it with the neighbouring mountains, and com¬ 
 municates by a steep descent with the southern valley; 
 travellers from the east and west appear to have met at 
 this neck of land, and thence ascended to the city; in 
 fact, the southern valley is still the high road between 
 the lake and the country east of it—but no one now, 
 save the curious Frank, turns out of his path to visit 
 El Hussn. 
 
 Ignorant of the shorter road, we ascended it in almost 
 a direct line from the lake. If, as I conclude, the 
 houses were built on the steep face of the mountain, 
 Josephus might well describe them as hanging as if 
 they would fall one on the other. All traces of them 
 have been swept away, and the mountain is now 
 covered with thick grass. The top is sprinkled with 
 trees; we found many ruins on it, apparently of the 
 citadel, but not very interesting. 
 
 Passing a ruined wall, and advancing eastward, we 
 came to the picturesque remains of a gate, built of mas¬ 
 sive stones; granite columns were lying about,—one, 
 at a little distance, partly erect — and quantities of 
 polished stone strewn in every direction. Further on, 
 we found a curious cone of basalt—then a well, and 
 the remains of a bath—and another gate on the eastern 
 brow of the hill, by which we descended to the above- 
 mentioned neck of land, and thence into the valley. 
 Many sarcophagi, part of a cornice, and the disunited 
 stones of a water-course, were lying on the isthmus; 
 and in the face of the mountain to the south, over¬ 
 hanging the valley, are many tombs—the only ones I 
 saw on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Descend¬ 
 ing the valley towards the lake, we met a party of 
 
268 
 
 EL HUSSN. 
 
 Arabs, bound for Feik, the town which gives its modem 
 name to all this district, the ancient Gadarene. 
 
 What the old name of El Hussn was—Gamala, or 
 Gadara—I do not pretend to decide, but I felt the 
 strong conviction, as I descended the valley, that this 
 was the city of the Gadarenes,* to which our Saviour 
 had crossed from Capernaum (just opposite) when, 
 “ immediately on coming out of the ship, there met 
 him out of the tombs a certain man possessed with 
 devils, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass that 
 way”—the high road of the country then, as now. Our 
 Saviour, on the people of the city entreating his de¬ 
 parture, returned to Capernaum, his object in crossing 
 having merely been to avoid the importunity of the 
 multitude, though doubtless he had foreknown from all 
 eternity the miracle of mercy there to be performed by 
 him on the wretched demoniac. Moreover, below the 
 hill, as you descend towards the lake, are certain steep 
 eminences, on which the swine may have been feeding 
 when the devils begged leave to enter into them; 
 “ running down a steep place into the sea” cannot 
 imply a precipice immediately overhanging the lake, 
 for there is none such on the whole eastern shore, and, 
 if one of these steep declivities be not the scene of that 
 stupendous miracle, I know of no place that answers 
 the description. I was glad to find in conversation 
 with my friend Mr. Farren, after arriving at Damascus, 
 that the conviction of this being the city of the Gada- 
 renes had struck him just as forcibly as myself, t 
 
 After reaching the southern extremity of the lake, 
 
 * Otherwise called, “of the Girgashites.” [1847.] 
 f “ Between El Hussn and the extremity of the lake, we passed 
 to the right Herbe Summera, a village of mud huts, built (Dr. 
 Mac Lennan observed) in the shape of tents, exactly like the small 
 tents called in India rowties.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
OOM KEIS. 
 
 269 
 
 and traversing for a short while the valley of the 
 Jordan, we reached the banks of the ancient Yermuck, 
 a fine swift-flowing river, about as wide as the Jordan, 
 but considerably deeper, four or five feet at least,—but 
 we forded it without difficulty, and then struck into the 
 hills to the east, which we ascended for about an hour 
 and a half, when, to our surprise, instead of having to 
 descend again, we found ourselves on an extensive 
 plain, on which stand the ruins of Oom Keis—in all 
 probability, Gadara. 
 
 These ruins are very considerable. Besides the 
 foundations of a whole line of houses, there are two 
 theatres, on the north and west sides of the town—the 
 former quite destroyed, but the latter in veiy tolerable 
 preservation, and very handsome; near it the ancient 
 pavement, with wheel-tracks of carriages, is still visible. 
 Broken columns and capitals lie in every direction, and 
 sarcophagi to the east of the town, where the tombs 
 are,—and these tombs are by far the most interesting 
 antiquities to be seen in Oom Keis. They are almost 
 all inhabited, and the massive stone doors, that origin¬ 
 ally closed them, still move on their hinges, and open 
 or shut at the option of the present owners. These 
 doors are usually about five or six inches thick. The 
 best specimen I saw was beautifully carved in four 
 deep pannels, with a false knocker ; a wreath between 
 two roses was sculptured on the lintel, and the sar¬ 
 cophagus still retained its place within. We saw 
 numbers of stone doors afterwards in the Hauran, all 
 the Roman houses there having originally been 
 furnished with them, but nowhere any so handsome 
 as those of the sepulchres at Oom Keis. Over one of 
 them I was shown a Greek inscription, claiming it as 
 the tomb of Gaius Annius Gaaniph, a curious mixture 
 of Hebrew and profane names. 
 
270 
 
 SHEIKH SULEYMAN. 
 
 These tombs have been supposed to be those haunted 
 by the demoniac of Scripture, but surely they should 
 not be looked for at an inland tcrwn, some miles to the 
 south-east of the sea of Galilee; besides, it is clear 
 that, as our Saviour did not enter the “ city of the 
 Gadarenes,” the tombs lay to the west of it; whereas 
 tnese are to the east of Oom Keis. 
 
 The guide we procured here, though after a great 
 deal of difficulty, led us quite astray to a village called 
 Melka, or Meltsha, where our arrival excited great 
 astonishment and many mashallahs at our maps, guns, 
 &c.; they probably had never seen Franks before. 
 Taking another guide from this place, the following 
 morning, we pursued our way through scenery, for the 
 most part extremely ugly and void of interest, (but 
 good soil, and not a little under cultivation,) to Erbad, 
 where we found the secretary and suite of an officer of 
 Ibrahim Pasha, absent in the neighbourhood on duty; 
 they pressed us most cordially to alight and drink their 
 master’s coffee, but we had not time, and declined 
 their kindness. The secretary, however, obliged us in 
 another way by procuring us a far more efficient guide 
 in Sheikh Suleyman, Sheikh of the Christians of El 
 Hussn, the next village we came to. 
 
 On arriving there, the Sheikh insisted on our resting 
 in his house, and there was no evading his hospitality. 
 It was the largest in the village, and everything about 
 it betokened him a man of consequence. A number of 
 women and children were ejected to make room for us. 
 Our carpet was spread on a raised dais, or platform, at 
 one end of the large arched apartment of which the 
 whole house consisted; he sat down with us, and the 
 Christian villagers sat below and on the edge of the 
 platform; some were old men, all wore the kefieh, or 
 
SHEIKH SULEIMAN. 271 
 
 Bedouin head-dress,—the turban is very seldom seen 
 east of the Jordan. 
 
 I asked after Mousa Hakim, M. Seetzen, the first 
 European who travelled in these regions, about thirty 
 years ago; an old man replied that he had carried his 
 saddle-bags; they inquired if I was his son, and another 
 added I was very like him. He was here, they said, 
 nineteen days, making El Hussn his head-quarters, 
 and visiting the different places in the neighbourhood, 
 —naming them in succession. Abdallah ul Ganem, 
 “ Seetzen’s hospitable old landlord,” as Burckhardt, 
 who was also his guest, calls him, is still living; they 
 talked in very high terms of Ibrahim Beg—evidently a 
 Frank traveller—can it have been Burckhardt? The 
 Arab nom de guerre he commonly assumed was Sheikh 
 Ibrahim. 
 
 Our host’s coffee was very good ; he had some diffi¬ 
 culty, however, at first, in procuring water, and, to our 
 surprise, we learnt that, except a spring which pro¬ 
 duced only two skins a-day, there was none drink¬ 
 able in the village, and they were obliged to bring 
 the surplus from a considerable distance. On our 
 return to El Hussn, several days afterwards, the 
 Sheikh’s son visited us, and inquired whether our 
 English books mentioned the existence of any spring 
 there,—such an opinion have these orientals of Frankish 
 learning. 
 
 In our ride that afternoon, the old Sheikh pointed 
 out many fine fields as his property; the land, he said, 
 was very rich, and, if the English would but come and 
 take possession of it, they would join heart and hand 
 with them, and drive out the Turks with the sword. 
 This feeling is almost universal among the villagers 
 east of the Jordan, and no wonder, for their state is 
 
272 
 
 NAIMI; 
 
 wretched, scorched as they are by that iron furnace— 
 Egypt* 
 
 Two hours beyond El Hussn, we encamped at the 
 large village of Naimi. The moment we arrived, the 
 Greek priest came down, and implored us to lodge 
 with him ; we excused ourselves with all civility, saying 
 we always slept in our tent in the fresh air. After we 
 had pitched and settled in it, he brought us a goat as a 
 present; we told him we had killed a sheep the night 
 before, and had plenty of meat; nothing would satisfy 
 him,—he had given us the goat, he said, and it was im¬ 
 possible for him to take it back. Punch accordingly 
 took possession. Nothing could exceed the hospitality 
 of this good man; hospitality, east of the Jordan, is 
 dreadfully embarrassing, and one is obliged sometimes 
 to be almost rude in evading it, but the horrors accept¬ 
 ance would involve one in are too awful to contemplate 
 with equanimity. We did not forget next day to recom¬ 
 pense the priest for his goat through the medium of his 
 child; he convoyed us some distance out of the town, 
 and we parted. 
 
 The wood-scenery spoken of in such high terms by 
 Buckingham, Irby and Mangles, &c., began to appear 
 about a quarter of an hour after leaving Naimi—trees, 
 thinly scattered at first, but which soon became nume¬ 
 rous ; and the road henceforward was extremely pretty, 
 winding over hills and through vales and narrow rocky 
 ravines, overhung with the valonidi oak and other beau¬ 
 tiful trees of which I knew not the names. Approach¬ 
 ing Jerash, (Souf lying considerably to the west,) the 
 woods had suffered much from fire; the whole moun¬ 
 tain-side had been burnt; the herbage was quite con- 
 
 * The insurrection, in fact, broke out the year afterwards, 1839, 
 rendering the whole of the country east of the Jordan inaccessible 
 [1847.] 
 
JERASH. 
 
 273 
 
 sumed, many trees had perished in the conflagration, 
 some were standing, half alive, half dead, while others, 
 in the midst of the desolation, had quite escaped.* 
 Jerash lay before us,—after a steep and rocky descent, 
 we reached the bank of a beautiful little stream, thickly 
 shaded by tall oleanders, and, passing through hun¬ 
 dreds of sheep and goats watering at it, ascended to 
 the summit of a hill in the midst of the ruins, near a 
 spacious oval colonnade, which forms the termination 
 of the principal street, and was once, probably, the 
 forum of Jerash. We pitched on the top of the hill, 
 and, re-descending, forthwith commenced our examina¬ 
 tion of the ruins. 
 
 We visited the south-western section first, and, pass¬ 
 ing through the oval colonnade, ascended to the remains 
 of a fine temple, once surrounded by a peristyle of 
 Corinthian columns, of which one broken one only 
 remains erect; capitals, of good execution, and frag¬ 
 ments of the frieze, are lying about. I may as well 
 remark here, once for all, that almost all the finest 
 works of architecture in Syria are of the Corinthian 
 order. Close to the temple stands a theatre in excel¬ 
 lent preservation, the seats often quite perfect for many 
 rows together; there are thirty rows. The galleries 
 are now the private dwelling-houses of the Arabs, and 
 we did not enter them from the blended fear of intru¬ 
 sion and fleas. The buildings behind the stage, with 
 the three front doors, (filled up with rubbish,) and the 
 
 * I remarked the same phenomenon at Hamburgh, after the fire 
 —the number of black withered trees which remained, not mere 
 stumps, but skeletons calcined as they grew—every branch and 
 twig perfect, and cutting distinct and sharp against the sky as in 
 winter, but with a blackness that told the tale of their destruction, 
 even had there not been almost always others of bright green in the 
 same line of prospect, affording a most extraordinary contrast. 
 [1847.] 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 JERASH. 
 
 side-entrances, remain unusually perfect, and many of 
 the pillars are still standing. A large circus without 
 the south-western gate, and, beyond it, the remains of 
 a large heavy triumphal arch, are the only other objects 
 worth notice in this direction. 
 
 Returning through the remains of the south-western 
 gate, to the oval colonnade, (of the Ionic order and in 
 very good preservation,) we proceeded along the prin¬ 
 cipal street, running N.E. and S.W. along the side of 
 the hill on which Jerash is built, and lined with Corin¬ 
 thian columns; at its point of intersection with another 
 street running down to the river, (on the right, east of 
 the town,) stand four square pedestals, ornamented 
 with niches for busts on each side, and once probably 
 surmounted by pillars or statues,—they are much hand¬ 
 somer though smaller, than those we afterwards saw at 
 Palmyra, and at Shoaba in the Hauran. The cross¬ 
 street leads to a bridge, and on the other side of the 
 river (where a suburb appears to have been built) stand 
 a large Christian church and the ruins of a temple. 
 Proceeding along the principal street, we came to a 
 semicircular recess, on the left, of very rich archi¬ 
 tecture, but much injured,—probably an ancient temple, 
 as four fine columns, much loftier than their neigh¬ 
 bours, stand in front of it. An inscription records the 
 name of M. Aurelius Antoninus. 
 
 Farther on, still to the left of the street, stands the 
 propylon or gateway to the temple of Baal, or the Sun, 
 the principal edifice of Jerash. It is a very handsome 
 building; the pediments and friezes are particularly 
 rioh. A long inscription is lying on the ground in 
 fragments; I could make enough of it out to conclude 
 that the temple was built by or under the reign of one 
 of the Antonines. A flight of steps led originally from 
 the propylon to the brow of the hill, and a central 
 
JERASH. 
 
 275 
 
 colonnade from thence to the temple. It stood in the 
 centre of a large court surrounded by columns, of which 
 two only, on the north side, remain perfect. The 
 columns of the portico are in very good preservation, 
 but not of the best execution; one of them, the second 
 from the south, rocks in the breeze,—we saw it dis¬ 
 tinctly. The inside of the temple is quite plain. Baal’s 
 worship was universal over this country; the finest 
 temples existing in Syria, those of Baalbec, Palmyra, 
 and Jerash, were all dedicated to him. 
 
 Opposite to the propylon, another cross-street runs 
 down towards the river, bordered by columns, erect 
 only on the south side; traces are discernible of the 
 ancient pavement, which was raised in the middle of 
 the street, with a trottoir on a lower level. It ends in a 
 semicircular platform, built up over the river. 
 
 Beyond the propylon, following the course of the 
 main street, and to the left of it, stands another theatre 
 (for the combats of wild beasts) with a colonnade in 
 front of it, from which a third cross-street runs down 
 to the river, meeting the High Street at a rotunda, 
 (which has suffered much from the recent earthquake,) 
 and ending in an immense accumulation of vaults and 
 arches overhanging the stream—probably baths. The 
 High Street runs on in a north-easterly direction, till it 
 ends at the gate of the town. The ancient pavement 
 is in singular preservation beyond the baths. 
 
 Here ended our explorations, and now for the result. 
 I am glad I have seen Jerash, and think it well worth 
 visiting, but I confess it fell far short of my expecta¬ 
 tions. No one building gave me the impression of per¬ 
 fect grandeur or perfect beauty,—there is none that 
 stamps itself on the memory and the affections; the 
 conception and execution of the ruins are in general 
 poor, without dignity or grace; the eye is perpetually 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 JERASH. 
 
 offended by the want of harmony and proportion— 
 capitals too large or too small for their shafts, shafts 
 sloping too suddenly to their capitals, and others, next 
 to them, in the same building, maintaining the same 
 stumpy thickness throughout; while, in the colonnade 
 of the principal street, columns of different sizes are 
 united in the same row, and those on the opposite 
 sides of the street do not face each other. The Ionic 
 oval colonnade is pretty enough as a whole, but the 
 pillars, in themselves, are very poor and diminutive. 
 The sculptures of the recess or temple in the High 
 Street, and the frieze of the propylon of the great tem¬ 
 ple, are certainly very rich, but neither gave me the 
 delight I expected. The theatre, indeed, pleased me 
 most of all the monuments of Jerash. I cannot con¬ 
 ceive how any one could have named it on the same 
 day with Palmyra. I should call Jerash a very fair 
 specimen of a second-rate provincial Roman town, and 
 such Pella was, the town the Christians fled to on the 
 approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and with which 
 Jerash seems much more identifiable than with Gerasa, 
 similar as are the names; for Gerasa lay to the east of 
 the sea of Galilee. And if Jerash be Pella, what an 
 interesting place would it be to the Christian pilgrim, 
 even were the site as bare as that of Jerusalem herself, 
 after die plough-share of Terentius Rufus had torn up 
 her very foundations! 
 
 Now, though I have said all this, I would not for the 
 world dissuade any traveller from visiting these ruins. 
 I was disappointed, I allow, but my expectations had 
 been too much excited. Coutts, some day, remember¬ 
 ing my disappointment, yet following my advice, or 
 rather the dictates of his own good sense, in seeing and 
 judging for himself, may probably be as agreeably sur¬ 
 prised with Jerash as I was with Palmyra, after all I 
 had heard to its disparagement. 
 
COUNTRY OF AMMON. 
 
 277 ' 
 
 Jerash has suffered much from the late earthquake ; 
 we saw many recent ruins; Mr. Moore was here at the 
 time, and he described the columns as chattering on 
 their bases. But many a previous earth-throb has 
 aided the scythe of Time in the work of destruction; 
 the pillars consist, for the most part, of several courses 
 of stone, and in repeated instances every course has 
 been shaken out of its place,—and that many a year 
 ago. 
 
 With what different views do Franks now visit these 
 Syrian wilds! I dare say Baldwin and his chivalry 
 thought little of the temples and theatres of Jerash 
 when they tore down the fortress that the Soldan of 
 Damascus had had the impudence to build so near their 
 territory. It was built, we are told, of large squared 
 stones; many a Roman edifice, I fear, suffered to 
 supply the materials. (*) 
 
 The heat was very great at Jerash. By day, the 
 ruins were absolutely alive with lizards, and at night 
 the tent swarmed with insects—harmless, however, and 
 old acquaintances, except a large creature like a spider, 
 armed with four powerful nippers which drew blood; 
 there were scorpions too, but none of them visited us,— 
 and land tortoises, rustling through the long grass, as 
 we rambled among the ruins. 
 
 It was our original idea, after determining on the 
 tour of the Hauran, to cross the desert from Jerash to 
 Bozrah, a journey of about ten hours, but we found that 
 route impracticable for horses, there being no water 
 the whole way. We were therefore under the neces¬ 
 sity of returning to El Hussn, and following the usual 
 road of the country people. We quitted Jerash how¬ 
 ever in a southerly direction, unable to resist the tempt¬ 
 ation of visiting Ammon and Assalt. 
 
 Rabbath-Ammon, the capital of the children of 
 Ammon, the city Joab was besieging when Uriah was 
 
278 
 
 AMMON. 
 
 sacrificed at tlie command of David, and subsequently 
 named Philadelphia by the Greeks, still retains among 
 the Arabs its original name, pronounced Amman, with 
 the broad Italian a. 
 
 In less than an hour after leaving Jerash, we crossed 
 the Nahr el Zerka, the ancient Jabbok, a very shallow 
 river, into which the stream of Jerash flows; its posi¬ 
 tion in the map (in mine, at least) is quite wrong. The 
 trees became fewer and fewer as we receded from 
 Jerash, and disappeared altogether about two hours 
 north of Ammon. We passed many ruined sites, and 
 the country has once been very populous, but, during 
 the whole day’s ride, thirty-five miles at least, we did 
 not see a single village; the whole country is one vast 
 pasturage, overspread by the flocks and herds of the 
 Anezee and Beni-Hassan Bedouins. In the fine large 
 valley El Bega, six hours from Jerash, we passed three 
 large camps of the latter, and near Ammon a still larger 
 one of the former tribe. Their camels were indeed 
 without number, grazing by hundreds, and nothing 
 could be more picturesque than the chivalry of the Clan 
 Anezee riding about, the little banderoles attached to 
 the heads of their long lances streaming in the wind,— 
 the Beni Ilassan tribe carry guns only. None of the 
 women were veiled. The Sheikh’s tent was always dis¬ 
 tinguished by a spear reared in front of it, reminding 
 us of an interesting incident in the early history of 
 David. 
 
 The scenery waxed drearier and drearier as, at ten 
 hours and a half from Jerash, we descended an akiba, 
 or precipitous stony slope, into the Valley of Ammon, 
 and crossed a beautiful stream, bordered at intervals by 
 strips of stunted grass; no oleanders cheered the eye 
 with their rich blossoms; the hills on both sides were 
 rocky and bare, and pierced with excavations and na¬ 
 tural caves. Here, at a turning in the narrow valley, 
 
AMMON. 
 
 279 
 
 commence the antiquities of Ammon. It was situated 
 on both sides of the stream; the dreariness of its pre¬ 
 sent aspect is quite indescribable,—it looks like the 
 abode of death; the valley stinks with dead camels— 
 one of them was rotting in the stream, and, though we 
 saw none among the ruins, they were absolutely covered 
 in every direction with their dung. That morning’s 
 ride would have convinced a sceptic; how runs the 
 prophecy? “ I will make Rabbah a stable for camels, 
 and the Ammonites a couching-place for flocks; and ye 
 shall know that I am the Lord!” 
 
 Nothing but the croaking of frogs, and screams of 
 wild birds, broke the silence as we advanced up this 
 valley of desolation. Passing on the left an unopened 
 tomb, (for the singularity in these regions is, when the 
 tombs have not been violated,) several broken sarco¬ 
 phagi, and an aqueduct—in one spot full of human 
 skulls, a bridge on the right, a ruin on the left—appa¬ 
 rently the southern gate of the town, and a high wall 
 and lofty terrace, with one pillar still standing, the re¬ 
 mains probably of a portico—we halted under the 
 square building, supposed by Seetzen to have been a 
 mausoleum, and, after a hasty glance at it, hurried up 
 the glen in search of the principal ruins, which we found 
 much more extensive and interesting than we expected, 
 —not, certainly, in such good preservation as those of 
 Jerasli, but designed on a much grander scale. Storks 
 were perched in every direction on the tops of the 
 different buildings ; others soared at an immense height 
 above us. 
 
 We examined the ruins more in detail the following 
 morning. The Mausoleum, externally, is a very hand¬ 
 some square edifice, ornamented with Corinthian pilas¬ 
 ters and an elegant cornice, the greater part of which 
 is lying broken on the ground; the interior is circular, 
 an arched window, elegantly carved with roses and 
 
280 
 
 AMMON. 
 
 fretwork on the suflit, opening on the river, under an 
 ornamented frieze, — and a smaller, in the adjacent 
 wall of the building, surmounted by a sculptured shell. 
 The corresponding windows and walls of the edifice are 
 quite destroyed. The first ruin we came to beyond it, 
 (the valley bending eastwards,) was a large well-built 
 Christian Church, with a steeple, which we ascended 
 by thirty-three steps, in excellent preservation.* Be¬ 
 yond it, alongside the river, are the remains of a lofty 
 portico, consisting of a central arched recess, from 
 which wings, with smaller recesses, seem originally to 
 have branched, curving irregularly according to the 
 bend of the river, and ornamented in front with lofty 
 Corinthian columns, of which four, much injured, and 
 without their capitals, are still standing. Viewed from 
 the other side of the water, the back of this portico (if 
 it really was one) has the appearance of a fortress, be¬ 
 ing supported by two lofty round towers, united by a 
 bastion, projecting angularly. At the time of the floods, 
 the water of the river was conveyed by an arch under 
 this building through the town. 
 
 The river, throughout the valley, has been confined, 
 and, in many places, still flows within a channel of 
 masonry, as a safeguard against inundation. From this 
 artificial bank a handsome bridge, of one broad arch, 
 still quite entire, is thrown across the stream beyond the 
 portico. We crossed it to the southern bank, there 
 being nothing more on the northern worth seeing, ex¬ 
 cept the remains of a temple of florid Corinthian archi¬ 
 tecture and sculpture, sadly injured by time and wind. 
 A few moments, and we reached the noblest ruin at 
 
 * “They end in a broad step, admitting of a view through four 
 windows to the four points of the compass. The steeple, to above the 
 windows,is built square, above as an octagon.” Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
AMMON. 
 
 281 
 
 Ammon, a most magnificent theatre, huilt in the hollow 
 of the southern hill. A quadrangular colonnade, of the 
 Corinthian order, extended in front of it,—twelve of 
 the pillars, forming the south-western angle, are still 
 standing; eight perfect, with their entablature, in front 
 of the theatre, and four, without capitals, running to¬ 
 wards the river. Between the colonnade and the south¬ 
 west horn of the theatre, the qncient pavement remains 
 very perfect; the raised pavement of the proscenium, 
 or platform behind the stage, is also in good preserva¬ 
 tion, but this part of the building is much ruined. Many 
 Corinthian capitals are lying on the ground, and traces 
 of modern Arab houses are discernible in the area. 
 Bones and skulls of camels were mouldering there, and 
 in the vaulted galleries of this immense structure. We 
 counted forty-three tiers of very high seats, divided by 
 three galleries; but several more, probably, are covered 
 by the accumulated earth. Behind the highest gallery, 
 a wall is built up against the rock, in the centre of which 
 a doorway, receding rather more than three feet, with 
 a semicircular recess on each side, gives access to a 
 square vaulted apartment,—the whole, inside and out¬ 
 side, overgrown with creepers, and the architectural de¬ 
 corations very chaste; it produces a beautiful effect 
 from below, the mountain crags towering over it. This, 
 according to Arab tradition, was the summer seat of the 
 Prince of Ammon in Solomon’s time—the theatre was 
 his palace.* 
 
 Beyond the theatre—and the last building in that 
 direction, is a curious nondescript pile ; vaulted gal¬ 
 leries and arched entrances from without, and a mass 
 of ruins within; I could not tell what to make of it. 
 Nearly opposite the theatre, on the northern hill, stands 
 
 * See Buckingham’s Travels among the Arab Tribes East of the 
 Jordan, p. 95. 
 
282 
 
 AMMON. 
 
 the large building, called by Burckhardt the Castle ; I 
 did not visit it,—Dr. Mac Lennan did, and discovered 
 moreover very extensive ruins on a table-land at the 
 summit. 
 
 There are many other ruins in the valley of Ammon, 
 but in such utter decay, that it is difficult to say what 
 they have been. Near the Corinthian temple, on the 
 north side of the river, stands the broken shaft of a very 
 noble column, larger in its diameter than any at Jerash 
 ■—as are also the columns in front of the supposed 
 Portico. 
 
 Such are the relics of ancient Ammon, or, rather, of 
 Philadelphia, for no building there can boast of a prior 
 date to that of the change of name. It was a bright 
 cheerful morning, but still the valley is a very dreary 
 spot, even when the sun shines brightest. Vultures 
 were garbaging on a camel, as we slowly rode back 
 through the glen, and re-ascended the akiba by which 
 we approached it. Ammon is now quite deserted, ex¬ 
 cept by the Bedouins, who water their flocks at its little 
 river, descending to it by a wady , nearly opposite the 
 theatre, (in which Dr. Mac Lennan saw great herds and 
 flocks, and, if I recollect right, considerable ruins,) and 
 by the akiba. Re-ascending it, we met sheep and goats 
 by thousands, and camels by hundreds, coming down 
 to drink,—all in beautiful condition. How—let me 
 again cite the prophecy—how runs it ?—“ Ammon shall 
 be a desolation!—Rabbah of the Ammonites... shall be 
 a desolate heap !—I will make Rabbah a stable for 
 camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place for flocks, 
 and ye shall know that I am the Lord !” ( 37 ) 
 
 Godfrey of Boulogne’s last expedition was a raid 
 into this country of the Ammonites; he was driving 
 home an immense booty, when a Saracen Emir, bold in 
 war, good knight and true, and one that would have wept 
 
GODFREY OF BOULOGNE. 
 
 283 
 
 over a gallant enemy as over a friend, overtook him 
 with a noble train of followers. He had heard much 
 of Godfrey’s personal strength, and had now come from 
 a great distance with the sole view—not of trying it by 
 a personal encounter, as a knight of Frangistan would 
 have done, but of begging him to kill a large camel he 
 had brought with him, in order that he might be able 
 to speak as an eye-witness of the strength he had heard 
 so highly vaunted. The courteous Godfrey drew his 
 sword— struck—and the camel’s head fell to the ground. 
 The astonished Arab, attributing the facility with which 
 the deed was done to the temper of the blade, asked 
 whether he could do the same thing with another man’s 
 weapon ? Smiling at the question, and taking the Sara¬ 
 cen’s own scymetar, he struck off another camel’s head 
 with the same ease. The grateful Emir, convinced that 
 all thathe had heard of the Frank leader was true, thanked 
 him, offered him presents of gold, silver, and horses, 
 and then returned to his own country, while Godfrey 
 went on to Jerusalem, where he died almost imme¬ 
 diately afterwards. 
 
 The year after this singular interview, Baldwin of 
 Edessa, Godfrey’s brother, and the second Latin king 
 of Jerusalem, made another successful foray on the 
 Arabs beyond the Jordan, surprised their tents in the 
 middle of the night, and carried off their women and 
 children prisoners, besides an innumerable multitude of 
 asses and camels. The men, seeing their approach, 
 had all leaped on their horses, and plunged into the desert. 
 —The Franks immediately commenced their retreat, 
 the captives and cattle marching in the van. Among 
 the former they presently recognised an illustrious lady, 
 the wife of a powerful prince of the country, and who 
 was in hourly expectation of making him a father. 
 The moment he heard of her situation, King Baldwin 
 
284 
 
 BALDWIN OF EDESSA. 
 
 stopped, had her taken off the camel on which she rode, 
 prepared a comfortable bed for her of part of the spoils, 
 and gave her a supply of provisions and two skinfuls of 
 water,—picked out a maiden to attend her, and two 
 slie-camels to give her milk ; and, lastly, wrapped her 
 carefully up in his own cloak—sprang on his horse, 
 and departed.—That very evening the Arab Prince, fol¬ 
 lowing the track of the Christians, his heart bleeding 
 for the loss of his dear wife, and under such pecu¬ 
 liarly painful circumstances, came unexpectedly to 
 the very spot where she lay—with her new-born child! 
 —We may imagine the rapture of such a meeting. 
 
 Few months elapsed before he had an opportunity of 
 manifesting his gratitude. Baldwin, who, with a train 
 of two hundred horse, had imprudently attacked an 
 army of several thousand Egyptian invaders, had been 
 forced to take refuge with the remnant of his little band 
 in the Castle of Ramla, the fortifications of which were 
 too weak to allow of even a hope of their making good 
 their defence on the morrow. The Arab prince, how¬ 
 ever, who acted with the Egyptian army as an auxiliary, 
 remembering Baldwin’s kindness, stole out of the camp 
 by night, and approaching the Castle walls, and speak¬ 
 ing in a stifled tone, besought instant access to the King 
 as the bearer of a most important secret. Admitted, he 
 told him who he was, reminded him of the act which he 
 now rejoiced in the prospect of requiting, and, premis¬ 
 ing that the Egyptians had determined that evening to 
 put every soul within the Castle to death, offered to 
 conduct him himself to a place of safety. The offer 
 was accepted—the Saracen guided the king (with as 
 many of his followers as he judged he could save with¬ 
 out risk of discovery) to the mountains, and quitting him 
 there, with renewed professions of his gratitude and per¬ 
 sonal good wishes, returned to his camp, while Bald- 
 
ASSALT. 
 
 285 
 
 win, with the utmost difficulty, and after much suffering, 
 from thirst and hunger, found his way to his friends at 
 Arsur.* 
 
 We were now cutting right across country, in the 
 direction of Szalt, or, as it is commonly pronounced, 
 Assalt, supposed to be Machaeras, the scene of John the 
 Baptist’s execution, and six hours and a half distant from 
 Ammon. In two hours and a half, we re-entered the 
 woody region, which continued at intervals all the rest 
 of our morning’s ride. An hour afterwards, we observed 
 traces of an ancient paved road, running nearly in the 
 same direction as our own. We saw no village between 
 Ammon and Assalt; but several fine and very extensive 
 crops of corn, which we were nearly half an hour riding 
 through, made us suspect we were in the neighbour¬ 
 hood of one. We descended to Assalt by a steep 
 craggy ravine, expanding, as we advanced, into a rich 
 valley, terraced with vineyards ; gardens of figs, olives, 
 and pomegranates, of the most refreshing green, suc¬ 
 ceeded them; and presently, a turn in the road intro¬ 
 duced us to Assalt,—a very pretty place, excellently 
 built for an Arab town, and looking extremely well, as 
 it rose, tier above tier, on the side of a steep hill, crowned 
 with a large Saracenic castle. We halted in front of it, 
 under the olive-trees, for two or three hours.( 38 ) 
 
 Between Assalt and El Hussn, the scenery is most 
 lovely. We crossed Gebel Gilad, the ancient Mount 
 Gilead, at its western extremity, where it takes the 
 name of Gebel Osha, from the prophet (as they con¬ 
 sider him) Joshua, whose tomb we saw in a mosque on 
 the summit of the mountain where we encamped that 
 night. The tomb is along narrow trough, about twenty- 
 five or thirty feet long, (the prophet’s traditional stature,) 
 
 * For the first of these anecdotes, see the ninth—for the second, 
 the tenth—book of William of Tyre’s History of the Crusades. 
 
286 
 
 GEBEL OSHA. 
 
 but not more than three broad,—screened by a rail, co¬ 
 vered with a dirty cloth, and filled near the aperture 
 with votive offerings. The view from Gebel Osha was 
 by far the grandest we had seen in the Holy Land; it 
 burst upon us unexpectedly, after about an hour and 
 twenty minutes’ ascent from Assalt,—we had no idea 
 we were on such elevated ground; the whole country 
 lay below us, as far as the Jordan and the lofty moun¬ 
 tains beyond it, the Jordan winding his way through the 
 Ghor at the distance of about fifteen miles as the crow 
 flies; at least thirty miles of his course must have been 
 within our view. Our guide pointed out the bearings 
 of different places from Riha near Jericho, as far north 
 as Besan, the Bethshan of Scripture. Nablis, he said, 
 (retaining the Greek final vowel,) was directly in the 
 eye of the (setting) sun. He talked much of Tsiferuda,* 
 a ruined town in this neighbourhood, the “ shops” of 
 which, probably excavations, ran along the hills. This 
 guide of ours, who accompanied us from Assalt to El 
 Hussn, was a very intelligent man, full of anecdote, 
 and with a hunter’s eye,—almost indeed a Bedouin. 
 
 It is almost a continuous descent from the tomb of 
 Osha to the foot of Gebel Ajeloon, and every minute 
 introduces you to some new scene of loveliness. I 
 fancied I distinguished three stages in Mount Gilead, 
 —the upper, chiefly productive of the prickly oak and 
 arbutus,—the central, of prickly oak, arbutus, and fir, 
 —the lower, gently sloping northwards, of prickly oak 
 and valonidis. The path wound through thickets of the 
 most luxuriant growth, and of every shade of verdure, 
 freouently overshadowing the road, and diffusing a de¬ 
 licious coolness, though a delightful fresh breeze so 
 allayed the heat that it was never oppressive; while the 
 cooing of wood-pigeons, the calling of partridges, 
 * Probably Cafr Iuda, i. e. a “ city of the Jews.” [1847.] 
 
THE ZERKA. 
 
 287 
 
 (magnificent birds, as large as pheasants,)—the in¬ 
 cessant hum of insects, and hiss of grasshoppers singing 
 in the trees as happy as kings, after breakfasting on the 
 dews of Mount Gilead—and the thought that gave a 
 zest to it all, that this was Mount Gilead—made up a 
 full cup of enjoyment, which I did quaff with my very 
 soul.* 
 
 A gentle slope, about an hour in length, intervenes 
 between the foot of Mount Gilead and the last steep 
 descent to the Zerka, or ancient Jabbok,—there the 
 valonidis, the last tree that forsook us as we descended, 
 cease almost entirely. Gebel Ajeloon w r as a very grand 
 object, as we began the descent to the river—its lower 
 ridges thickly dotted with trees—the upper and more 
 northerly, which we soon lost sight of, quite black with 
 them. 
 
 The Zerka, as laid down in the maps, does not exist. 
 It is the river named, I know not on what authority, 
 Nahr el Zebeen and Kerouan, which we crossed within 
 an hour after leaving Jerash. It flows here in a deep 
 ravine, formed between the lower ridges of Gebel Aje- 
 loon on the north, and Gebel Gilad on the south. It is 
 a rapid stream, but not clear, nor deeper than the 
 horses’ knees—shaded with tall reeds, willows, and 
 oleanders. This was the ancient boundary between 
 Ammon, the country of Sihor, King of the Ammonites, 
 and that of Og, King of Bashan—which we now re¬ 
 entered. It was on the banks too of this river that, 
 
 * “ At two hours and forty-five minutes from Gebel Osha, passed 
 the ruined village Ullan; while the mules went on to water at an 
 excellent spring, our guide led us to the right of the road, and lead¬ 
 ing the way on horseback through a pointed archway, we found 
 ourselves in an old church, its groined roof supported by two rude 
 pillars, one square, the other round—with two pointed arch win¬ 
 dows.”— Orig. Journal. [1847.] 
 
288 
 
 GEBEL AJELOON. 
 
 previous to his affecting interview with Esau, Jacob 
 wrestled with the Angel of the Covenant until the 
 ascent of the morning, and received his new name of 
 Israel. 
 
 We rested here, immediately after crossing the river, 
 for two hours and a half, in a large cave formed by 
 overhanging rocks, with the river in front of us, and a 
 wild almond tree near its mouth, which supplied us 
 with a welcome addition to some raisins, the best we 
 ever tasted, that we had procured at Assalt. It was 
 oppressively hot in this ravine, but delightfully cool 
 again as we ascended Gebel Ajeloon, through scenery 
 of more grandeur than that of Mount Gilead, and to the 
 full as beautiful. After three quarters of an hour of 
 steep ascent, the valonidis re-appeared on both sides of 
 a very beautiful ravine, running up into the mountains, 
 —not valonidis only, but it was clothed to the very 
 summit with prickly oaks and olive trees, tufted among 
 the crags,—superb oleanders blossoming in the dry 
 bed of a torrent, alongside of the road. Views more 
 and more magnificent, towards Mount Gilead, opened 
 upon us the higher we ascended; corn-fields, ready for 
 the sickle, revealed the vicinity of a town, to wit, 
 Bourma,—which we reached after an hour and twenty 
 minutes’ ascent; the olives ceased a little beyond it, 
 but arbutuses, firs, ashes, prickly oaks, and a species of 
 the valonidi with a larger leaf than the usual sort, per¬ 
 haps the oak of Bashan, succeeded. After two hours 
 and a half, we reached a beautiful broad terrace of 
 about twenty minutes in length, and completely covered 
 with corn, just below the highest point of Gebel Aje¬ 
 loon, which towered up most majestically on the left, 
 its noble crags almost hidden among beautiful trees. 
 From the termination of this plain, or terrace, we 
 descended, in half an hour, to Zebeen, through noble 
 
ZEBEEN. 
 
 289 
 
 fir trees, far finer than those of Mount Gilead,—many 
 of them blasted, and in ruins; the sugh of the wind 
 among their lofty houghs was quite Scottish. The 
 beauty of the descent surpassed, if possible, that of the 
 ascent, and the northward view was most splendid. 
 But a painter only could give you an idea of these 
 scenes of beauty and grandeur. 
 
 Maps we found of little use in this country; we 
 wished to have seen Ajeloon, where there is a fine old 
 Saracenic castle, ( M ) but it lay on the west side of the 
 mountain, and we found it our best plan to bid our 
 guides go dogri, straightforwards, to the places we were 
 most anxious to reach, or we might have missed them 
 altogether. 
 
 It was a sweet evening.—We encamped on a grassy 
 spot surrounded by trees, on the hill-side, near a de¬ 
 licious spring, and, as usual, at some little distance from 
 the village. The Sheikh ul Belled, however, soon 
 made his appearance, with most pressing entreaties, as 
 we had already pitched our tent, that we should dine 
 and breakfast with him : on our declining his hospitality, 
 he sent a large bowl of meat for the muleteers. The 
 village, he told us, consisted of about thirty houses, or 
 families, all Nuzzera, or Nazarenes,—no Mahometans 
 residing there. These Oriental Christians seem always 
 pleased at meeting European professors of the same 
 faith; an oppressed race themselves, they feel the high 
 account in which the Christians of Europe, the English 
 especially, are held, as reflecting dignity on themselves. 
 
 Our next day’s route was through very lovely but 
 quieter scenery,—valleys full of olives, corn-fields re¬ 
 claimed from the forest, and villages. At the bottom 
 of the hill below Zebeen, we crossed the brook Nahalin, 
 shaded by magnificent oleanders; there is a ruined 
 village of the same name near it. You will find Chetti, 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 FOREST SCENERY OF BASH AN. 
 
 or Katti, in the maps, two hours and ten minutes 
 beyond Zebeen, and Souf, a place of considerable im¬ 
 portance, which we passed on the right, an hour and 
 ten minutes beyond Chetti,—in sight of the hill we had 
 crossed some days before, descending to Jerash. Mr. 
 Farren tells me there are some Phoenician monuments 
 near Souf, one of which he showed me a drawing of— 
 as decidedly Druidical as Stonehenge. It is an in¬ 
 teresting but not surprising fact, for the God of the 
 Druids was the Baal of the Phoenicians—sun-worship, 
 that earliest of idolatries. 
 
 A quarter of an hour further, we filled our zumzum- 
 mias at the last spring we were to find till we reached 
 El Hussn. Half an hour afterwards, a beautiful narrow 
 glen ushered us into a bi’oad valley, richly wooded to 
 the summits of the hills with noble prickly oaks, a few 
 pine trees towering over them; I never should have 
 thought that the shrub I had seen covering the hills at 
 Hebron could have attained such size and beauty; yet 
 the leaf of the largest tree is not larger than the shrub’s. 
 I saw an occasional degub tree, or arbutus, but the pre¬ 
 vailing trees were oaks, prickly and broad-leaved,—it 
 was forest scenery of the noblest character—next to that 
 of Old England, with which none that I ever saw can 
 stand comparison. On our journey to Jerash, by a 
 different route from that of Irby and Mangles, Bankes, 
 and Buckingham, we wondered at the encomiums 
 lavished by those gentlemen on the woodland scenery 
 of these regions; we now thought that enough had 
 scarcely been said in their praise. 
 
 After about four hours’ ride, the forest died gradually 
 away, and, beyond Summut, a village we passed on the 
 left, an hour and twenty minutes before arriving at El 
 Hussn, entirely ceased. We had a fine desert view 
 eastward, towards the Hauran, as we descended, be- 
 
THE HAURAN. 
 
 291 
 
 tween bleak stony hills, to El Hussn. Harvest was 
 going on, and here we first met with a rural custom, 
 which, I think I have heard, prevails also in some 
 parts of England; a reaper, detached from the band 
 with a few ears of corn, presented them to us, in ex¬ 
 pectation of a bagshish, or present,—which was seldom 
 infused, unless the piastre-purse chanced to be empty. 
 We were repeatedly afterwards subjected to this petty 
 rural tax, which it always gave me pleasure to pay. 
 
 There was no water to be had, next morning, so we 
 were obliged to start without breakfast; the country 
 was covered with locusts,—the stream we reached, after 
 three hours’ ride, was full of their dead bodies, and the 
 breeze that passed over it absolutely putrid; we got 
 some excellent water, however, from the source, but 
 stayed only long enough to eat a little bread with it, and 
 water the animals. The map will give you no idea of 
 our route; we passed Tura on the left, Rumtha and 
 Uxerr on the right, proceeding over a rich undulating 
 plain, in an almost easterly direction from El Hussn, 
 till, after six hours’ ride and a quarter, we reached 
 Daara, the first Hauran town we saw, and, of course, 
 an object of great curiosity to us. 
 
 The Hauran is an immense plain, very rich and 
 fertile, sometimes slightly undulating, sometimes flat 
 as a pancake,—with, here and there, (if you will ex¬ 
 cuse another culinary simile,) low rounded hills, like 
 dumplings, conspicuous from a great distance, and ex¬ 
 cellent landmarks. The plain is covered in every 
 direction with Roman towns, built of black basalt, some 
 of them mere heaps of rubbish, others still almost per¬ 
 fect, the Arab villagers dwelling under the same stone 
 roofs, and entering by the same stone doors, as the old 
 Romans ,—stone doors, and stone roofs, owing to the 
 want of timber in the Hauran, which obliged the colo- 
 
 U 2 
 
292 
 
 THE HAURAN. 
 
 nists to employ the more durable material. The doors 
 are generally plain thick slabs, fixed into their sockets 
 at the time the houses were built; the roofs are con¬ 
 structed on a very curious principle,— a handsome 
 arch, springing at once from the ground, is thrown across 
 every large room ; small slabs of stone are laid on the 
 wall above it, projecting a short distance on both sides, 
 and on these again are laid other slabs, much longer, 
 well cut, and closely united, which form the ceiling, 
 while the smaller on which they rest, resemble plain 
 cornices, the lower angles being smoothed away. 
 
 Most of the chief towns of Auranitis exhibit traces 
 of the architectural magnificence of Rome, so freely 
 lavished on her remotest colonies, but what most struck 
 me here was the consideration evinced and pains taken, 
 even during the last ages of her decay, to promote the 
 real welfare and comfort of her people. There is 
 scarce a village without its tank—its bridge; plain, 
 solid structures, so substantially built, that they are still 
 almost invariably as good as new. 
 
 The view over the Hauran is at all times striking,— 
 at sunset, especially from an elevation, extremely beau¬ 
 tiful. Gebel Sheikh, or Mount Hermon, the last 
 mountain of the chain of Antilibanus, is always visible 
 to the N.W.; Gebel Hauran, a range of hills, of which 
 the Kelb Hauran is the most prominent, running N.W. 
 and S.E., limits the view to the east; but to the south¬ 
 east it is boundless. The soil, I said, was excellent; 
 numerous corn-fields surround every village, while other 
 districts serve merely for pasturage, and are grazed 
 by the flocks of the Anezee and Reni Hassan Bedouins. 
 
 The majority of the villagers are, I believe, Arabs, 
 but we visited many towns exclusively inhabited by 
 Druses, akin to those of Mount Lebanon; they seemed 
 by far the most superior race in the country; their 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 293 
 
 sheikhs and elderly men were always well—often hand¬ 
 somely—drest, and their women neatness itself, in 
 their veils of white, pendent from a silver horn project¬ 
 ing from the forehead, reminding one of the “ coiffure 
 en pain de sucre,” fashionable in France, and in 
 England too, during the 14th and 15th centuries, and 
 still more interestingly, of many Scriptural images 
 derived, it would appear, from the prevalence of this 
 costume, four thousand years ago, in Edom and the 
 Holy Land. It is still the principal ornament of the 
 fair sex, Christian as well as Druse, in Mount Le¬ 
 banon. ( 40 ) The Arabs, almost invariably, wear the 
 Bedouin kefieh,—the Druses adhere to the turban; the 
 women of the former seldom veil their faces,—those of 
 the latter always,—some of them, however, we could 
 see were very handsome ; their complexion is remark¬ 
 ably fair, and their children are uncommonly pretty. 
 Thus much premised, and that the present inhabitants 
 are a mere handful in comparison with the immense 
 population the country once maintained, I will travel 
 on in as few words as possible. 
 
 At Daara, where we have been resting all this time, 
 there is a very large ruined tank, and a handsome five- 
 arched Roman bridge, in perfect preservation, thrown 
 across the valley; it has been a very large town, but 
 the houses are now almost entirely ruined. An hour and 
 ten minutes farther, we passed Naimi, in much more 
 perfect condition, and halted at nightfall in the plain, 
 having missed the village Kerek, which we were in 
 search of, and failed in an attempt to reach another, 
 which we fancied we saw at a distance. 
 
 Next morning, passing numerous villages en route, 
 though the whole country looks like a desert in the 
 map, we encamped, after six hours’ ride, among the 
 ruins of Bozrah.—“ Who is this that cometh from 
 
294 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ?—this that is 
 glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of 
 his strength ?” “ I, that publish righteousness, mighty 
 
 to save !”—At no place, during my tour, did I feel more 
 vivid pleasure from the mere consciousness of being at 
 it; ignorant of Arabic, and unaware of the great, though 
 perhaps only temporary, political change, that, for the 
 present, enables a Frank to visit these countries openly 
 and without disguise, I had never supposed the possi¬ 
 bility of visiting it,—yet there are few places so inter¬ 
 esting, both to the admirer of sacred literature, and the 
 student of history ; for Bozrah, the northern capital of 
 Arabia Provincia under the Romans, and the birth¬ 
 place of the Emperor Philip, is yet more memorable, 
 as dear Anne will recollect, in the early annals of the 
 Saracens, as the first town the arms of the Caliphs sub¬ 
 dued in Syria; while every one must remember the 
 sublime passage in which the name is introduced in 
 Scripture, in prophetic reference to a period, now, per¬ 
 haps, not very far distant. 
 
 Our first visit was paid to the castle of Bozrah, to the 
 south of the town, outside of the walls,—an immense 
 Saracenic pile, of the time of Saladin, built round a 
 magnificent Roman Theatre, by far the most interesting 
 ruin in Bozrah—and not only round , but in it, for the 
 area, or pit, is completely filled with buildings, which 
 communicate with the exterior fortress by the ancient 
 galleries of the theatre. The diameter of the theatre is 
 said to be two hundred and eighty feet; the plan is 
 noble, the decorations are chaste in design, and beau¬ 
 tifully executed, and it is, upon the whole, in excellent 
 preservation. The seats were very commodious, flights 
 of steps leading to them on each side of the vomitories; 
 the uppermost row was surmounted by a beautiful 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 295 
 
 colonnade of Doric pillars, many of which are still 
 standing. Six Doric semi-columns, continued in a 
 line from the colonnade, ornament the upper stories of 
 the parascenia, or side-scenes, which remain quite per¬ 
 fect, though the lower stories are concealed by the 
 accumulation of more modern building. The space 
 between the parascenia has been filled up by the 
 Saracen architect with a rude facade, miserably con¬ 
 trasting with the masterly masonry of his Roman pre¬ 
 decessor. Yet there is much beauty in many parts 
 of the Saracenic additions; one of the apartments 
 within the area is of very large dimensions, thirty-two 
 paces by twenty-three, trebly vaulted, the arches 
 springing from two rows, of three massy pillars each,— 
 the galleries also of the fortress outside the theatre are 
 very noble. 
 
 From the theatre we proceeded to four lofty Corin¬ 
 thian pillars, standing N.E. and S.W., with a consi¬ 
 derable space between the second and third, as if for a 
 doorway, but no traces remain of any edifice to which 
 it could have belonged. Near these stand two other 
 columns, supporting a rich entablature, their shafts out 
 of all proportion,—and a third column, a little further 
 on, deserves the same censure. 
 
 From thence we proceeded, in the direction of the 
 mosque of Omar, down a narrow street, between ruined 
 Roman houses. The mosque stands on the left of the 
 street; three or four feet only are visible above ground 
 of a mean Ionic colonnade that runs beneath it. The 
 interior is a heap of ruins, though on the S. and E. 
 sides the colonnade is still standing; the pillars are of 
 miserable execution, all orders and none, but several 
 of them are of beautiful variegated marble, and, from 
 inscriptions on the shafts, have evidently been pil- 
 
296 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 laged from some Christian church. The view from the 
 minaret is very fine; you enter the staircase by an 
 ancient stone door, adopted from some Roman house. 
 
 There are two or three ancient churches and other 
 ruins beyond the mosque*—never mind them, and 
 turn with me eastward from Omar’s mosque to that 
 called El Mebrak, outside the town, built by order of 
 Othman, at his return from the Hedjaz, on the spot 
 where the camel that carried the Koran lay down. 
 This celebrated building is now quite in rains. We 
 entered through a plain stone door; it was spanned by 
 two handsome arches, from which sprang a dome with 
 windows and recesses, now fallen in. Few or none of 
 the faithful seem to visit it now. 
 
 Farther eastward of the city are two immense birkets, 
 or reservoirs for water, the work, it is said, of the Sara¬ 
 cens, and worthy of any nation. I found the length 
 of the most northerly, within its walls, 130 of my long 
 paces, and it looked about the same breadth ; the other 
 I made 173 by 129. 
 
 * “ Opposite to the mosque, on the opposite side of the street, is a 
 large vaulted building with niches, built with white and black 
 stone intermixed, probably a bath. East of the mosque stands an 
 ancient Christian church—the span of the great arch, inside, is beau¬ 
 tiful. The Greek cross is sculptured over the door, and to the left 
 of it is inserted a tablet with an inscription. Proceeding north, we 
 came to a building square without and circular within, with some 
 small dependent chapels—the plan tolerably regular, and crowded 
 with windows, of all shapes and sizes—enclosing within its area a 
 Christian church, once fronted by columns, and still surmounted by 
 a beautiful arch; this inner church is approached in front by a 
 wretched colonnade of four Corinthian columns, and has two Ionic 
 on each side, with door-ways opening between them; the back of 
 the choir, or ahsis, (the roof or dome of which has fallen in) is a 
 semi-hexagon. We climbed to the top of this inner church, and 
 enjoyed a superb sunset view over the Hauran.” Orig. Journal. 
 [1847.] 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 297 
 
 Between these reservoirs, our guide showed us a 
 noble old Roman road, thirty-three of my paces broad, 
 and which ran, he told us, straight as a gun, as far as 
 Bagdad; no caravans, he said, go by it now, though 
 you come to water every day; there are no towns on 
 the road, except an old one deserted, and there is no 
 peace.—This must he the strata , or paved road, men¬ 
 tioned by Gibbon as extending for ten days’ journey 
 from Auranitis to Babylonia, and which was appealed 
 to, “as an unquestionable evidence of the labours of 
 the Romans,” in that memorable dispute between the 
 Saracen King Almonzar and Aretas, the chief of the 
 tribe of Gassan, which precipitated the war between 
 Rome and Persia, Justinian and Nushirvan,—a dispute 
 about a sheep-walk in the desert south of Palmyra, 
 grazed by the Gassanites. ( 41 )—Mr. Moore told us of 
 this “ queen of roads,” as running from Bozrah to 
 Salkhat, and thence, straight as an arrow, (so he 
 was informed there,) to Bagdad. It probably ran to 
 Seleucia or Ctesiphon, for Bagdad is quite a modern 
 town comparatively. What a genius these Romans 
 and Saracens had for utility ! 
 
 There is something very sad in the fate of Bozrah. 
 The town was strong, garrisoned with tw T elve thou¬ 
 sand horse—the citizens were brave, and, but for the 
 treachery of the Roman governor, might have long 
 held out against the Saracens. Suspicious of his loyalty 
 from his advice to yield to the enemy, the high-spirited 
 citizens deposed him, and chose in his stead the general 
 of the garrison, desiring him to challenge Caled, the 
 Saracen general, to single combat, which he did. 
 
 AVhen Caled was preparing to go, (I quote poor 
 Ockley’s narrative,) “ Abd’orrahman, the Caliph’s son, 
 a very young man, but of extraordinary hopes, begged 
 of him to let him answer the challenge. Having ob- 
 
298 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 tained leave, he mounted his horse, and took his lance, 
 which he handled with admirable dexterity, and when 
 he came near the governor, he said, ‘ Come, thou 
 Christian dog, come on! ’ Then the combat began, 
 and, after awhile, the governor, finding himself worsted, 
 having a better horse than the Saracen, ran away and 
 made his escape to the anny. Abd’orrahman, heartily 
 vexed that his enemy had escaped, fell upon the rest, 
 sometimes charging upon the right hand, sometimes 
 upon the left, making way wherever he went. Caled 
 and the rest of the officers followed him, and the battle 
 grew hot between the Saracens and the miserable 
 inhabitants of Bostra, who were at their last struggle 
 for their fortunes, their liberty, their religion, and 
 whatsoever was dear to them, and had now seen the 
 last day dawn in which they were ever to call anything 
 their own, without renouncing their baptism. The 
 Saracens fought like lions, and Caled, their general, 
 still cried out, ‘Alhamlah! Alhamlah ! Aljannah ! Al- 
 jannah !’ that is, 4 Fight! Fight! Paradise! Paradise!’ 
 The town was all in an uproar, the bells rung, and the 
 priests and monks ran about the streets, making excla¬ 
 mations, and calling upon God; but all was too late, 
 for his afflicting Providence had determined to deliver 
 them into the hands of their enemies. 
 
 “ Caled and Serjabil (for the Saracens could pray as 
 well as fight, and England, as well as Arabia, has had 
 some that could do so too) said, ‘ O God ! these vile 
 wretches pray with idolatrous expressions, and take to 
 themselves another God besides thee; but we acknow¬ 
 ledge thy unity, and affirm that there is no other God 
 but thee alone ; help us, we beseech thee, for the sake 
 of thy Prophet, Mahomet, against these Idolaters ! ’ 
 
 “ The battle continued for some time; at last the 
 poor Christians were forced to give way, and leave the 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 299 
 
 field to the victorious Saracens, who lost only two hun¬ 
 dred and thirty men. The besieged retired as fast as 
 they could, and shut up the gates, and set up their 
 banners and standards with the sign of the cross upon 
 the walls, intending to write speedily to the Grecian 
 Emperor for more assistance.” 
 
 That night, however, as Abd’orrahman, who was the 
 officer on guard, went his rounds, he saw a man come 
 out of the city, “ with a camlet coat on, wrought with 
 gold.” He instantly levelled his lance —“ Hold !” cried 
 the man, “ I am Romanus, the ex-governor—bring me 
 before Caled the general.”—He came to say (treacherous 
 dog!) that he had ordered his sons and servants to dig 
 a hole in the wall, (for his house stood upon the town- 
 wall,) and that he was ready to introduce any number 
 of trusty men into the city. Caled forthwith despatched 
 Abd’orrahman with a hundred Saracens ; Romanus in¬ 
 troduced them through the breach, entertained them 
 in his house, and disguised them in the Christian 
 uniform. 
 
 “ Then Abd’orrahman divided them into four parts, 
 five-and-twenty in a company, and ordered them to go 
 into different streets of the city, and commanded them, 
 that as soon as they heard him and those that were 
 with him cry out, ‘ Allah Akbar!’ they should do so 
 too. Then Abd’orrahman asked Romanus where the 
 governor was which fought with him and ran aw T ay 
 from him ? Romanus proffered his services to show 
 him, and away they marched together to the castle, 
 attended with five-and-twenty Musselmans. When 
 they came there, the governor asked Romanus, what 
 he came for ? Who answered, that he had no business 
 of his own, but only came to wait upon a friend of his, 
 that had a great desire to see him. ‘ Friend of mine !’ 
 says the governor—‘ What friend ?’ ‘ Only your friend 
 
300 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 Abd’orrahman,’ said Romanus, 4 is come to send you to 
 hell !’ The unhappy governor, finding himself be¬ 
 trayed, endeavoured to make his escape. ‘ Nay, hold !’ 
 says Abd’orrahman, 4 though you ran away from me 
 once in the daytime, you must not serve me so again,’ 
 and struck him with his sword and killed him. As he 
 fell, Abd’orrahman cried out, ‘ Allah Akbar !’ the Sara¬ 
 cens, which were below, hearing it, did so too ; so did 
 those who were dispersed about the streets, that there 
 was nothing but 4 Allah Akbar !’ heard round about 
 the city. Then those Saracens which were disguised 
 killed the guards, opened the gates, and let in Caled 
 with his whole army. The town being now entirely 
 lost, the conquering Saracens fell upon the inhabitants, 
 and killed and made prisoners all they met with ; till, 
 at last, the chief men of the city came out of their 
 houses and churches, and cried, 4 Quarter ! quarter !’ 
 The general, Caled, immediately commanded them to 
 kill no more, 4 for,’ said he, 4 the Apostle of God used 
 to say, If any one be killed after he has cried out, 
 quarter ! ’tis none of my fault.’ 
 
 44 Thus was the condition of Bostra altered on a 
 sudden, and they, which had been before a wealthy 
 and flourishing people, were now brought under the 
 Saracenical yoke, and could enjoy the Christian pro¬ 
 fession upon no other terms than paying tribute.”* 
 
 Bozrah was very nearly retaken by the Christians, and 
 in precisely the same manner, five hundred and thirteen 
 years afterwards, when the Turks were in occupation 
 of Syria. As the expedition to Wady Mousa was the 
 first, so this to Bostra was the second enterprise of 
 Baldwin the Third of Jerusalem, then in his fifteenth 
 year,—the graceful, affable, wise, generous, gallant 
 
 History of the Saracens, vol. i, p. 27, sqq. edit. 1757. 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 301 
 
 young prince, whom William of Tyre speaks of with 
 such affectionate enthusiasm (and with such candour 
 too) in his charming history. Imagine him seated be¬ 
 side his mother Melisenda, in his palace-hall at Jeru¬ 
 salem, giving audience to a noble Armenian, the 
 Governor of Bozrah, who, having fallen under the dis¬ 
 pleasure of Ainard, Regent of Damascus, and appre¬ 
 hending punishment, had come to offer to deliver up 
 that city and the dependent town of Salkhud to the 
 Christians. 
 
 The Council assembled to debate on this proposition. 
 That the recapture of a town so important to the 
 Christian cause as Bozrah could not but be agreeable 
 to God, was assumed at once as unquestionable. But 
 then, most unfortunately, a truce subsisted between the 
 King and the Soldan—how could they break it with¬ 
 out dishonour ? They struck a medium by accepting 
 the offer of the Governor and summoning the lieges to 
 attend the royal banner to Bozrah, and by sending the 
 Regent word of their intentions, that he might prepare 
 for his defence. Within a few days, the chivalry of 
 Palestine were assembled at the bridge over the Jordan 
 above the Lake of Tiberias, and, at the expiration of a 
 month, they started for Bozrah, the venerable Arch¬ 
 bishop of Nazareth, with a fragment of the true Cross, 
 attending them, to ensure a blessing on the enterprise. 
 
 Ainard, meanwhile, an excellent man, who had 
 always shown himself friendly to the Christians, and 
 sincerely desired peace, had offered to pay all their 
 expenses, if they would abandon their unjust enter¬ 
 prise — for unjust it was; many—the wisest of the 
 Franks—disapproved of it, and urged the acceptance 
 of these terms, but all in vain—the voice of the multi¬ 
 tude carried the day. They little knew what a force 
 Ainard had assembled to oppose them. 
 
302 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 Traversing the deep valley of Roob, the Christian 
 army entered the plain Medan, ( K ) and were instantly 
 surrounded by swarms of Turks and Arabs, far more 
 numerous than they had expected, and who kept up 
 such an incessant shower of darts and arrows, that 
 those who had been most ardent for the expedition 
 would now willingly have given it up, and retraced their 
 steps. They determined, notwithstanding, to proceed 
 boldly towards Bozrah, deeming it shameful to retreat, 
 and impossible, even were they willing to incur such a 
 disgrace. 
 
 Slowly and painfully they toiled on all the next day, 
 yet still in good courage, the enemy hovering around 
 and harassing them, but finding no opportunity of 
 breaking their close columns, the knights kept guard 
 over them so carefully. Indeed, says the Chronicler, 
 high and low, knights and men-at-arms, they were 
 united in love as if but one man. The knights took 
 the tenderest care of their comrades on foot, often leap¬ 
 ing from their horses to assist them in their duty, or 
 relieve them by a ride when faint and fatigued. The 
 heat of the weather, the weight of their armour, the 
 blinding, choking dust, burning thirst, and the scanty 
 supplies in the water-tanks—all poisoned too by the 
 putrified bodies of locusts—completed their hardships. 
 
 They arrived that evening, about sunset, at Adrate, 
 the Edrei of Og King of Bashan—the ‘ city of Bernard 
 d’Etampes’ of the Crusaders—and after two days more 
 of unparalleled sufferings, marching under a constant 
 hail of arrows and missiles of every description, the 
 enemy seemingly multiplying every hour, and every 
 hour their own strength failing—they reached Bozrah, 
 and after chasing the enemy from the springs near the 
 Bab el Howa, as it is now called, or the western gate 
 
BOZRATI. 
 
 303 
 
 of the city, pitched their tents there and lay down, 
 anxiously hoping for the morrow. 
 
 But, alas! in the middle of the deep silence of the 
 night, a man came out from the city, traversed the 
 enemy’s camp, and came to the Christian army, desir¬ 
 ing to speak with the king. The princes assembled, 
 and the Armenian noble, who had conducted the Franks 
 through so many dangers, was also called in; when 
 the messenger announced that the city was already in 
 the hands of the enemy, having been given up to Nou- 
 reddin, the illustrious son-in-law of the Regent Ainard, 
 by the wife of the very man who had offered to betray 
 it!—Thus ended their hopes of Bozrah! 
 
 Sad and disappointed, and in despair of making good 
 their retreat, their first anxiety was to ensure their 
 young king’s safety, and, drawing him aside, the prin¬ 
 cipal nobles implored him to take the fragment of the 
 true Cross, and a horse belonging to Sire Jean Gomain, 
 the fleetest and strongest in the army, and save himself 
 by flight. “ No,” cried the gallant boy, with the spirit 
 of Saint Louis,—“ never will I save myself, and leave 
 the people of God to perish so miserably!” 
 
 Nerved by despair, and animated by the very diffi¬ 
 culties that surrounded them, these brave men com¬ 
 menced their retreat at daybreak, cutting irresistibly 
 through every battalion that attempted to impede them, 
 and carrying their weak and wounded men on camels, 
 that the Turks, seeing no proofs of their arrows having 
 taken effect, might believe them the men of iron they 
 really wei’e, and thus be discouraged. This expedient, 
 however, suggested a worse annoyance—setting fire to 
 the thorns and dry stubble of the country; the w 7 ind 
 blew towards the Christians,— scorched by the flames, 
 blinded and choked by the smoke, hope sunk in 
 
304 
 
 BOZRAH. 
 
 tlieir hearts. “ Pray for us,” cried they, turning 
 with streaming eyes to the grey-haired Archbishop— 
 “ pray for us ! ” He did so, extending the cross towards 
 the enemy, and, lo! the wind changed in a moment, 
 and blew back the flames and smoke on the enemy! 
 
 Another incident much encouraged them at this 
 juncture. Four illustrious Arab brothers, with their 
 followers, had joined the Turks, and, hovering on the 
 flank of the Christian army, terribly harassed them by 
 their repeated flying attacks, which they endured with¬ 
 out resenting, as everything depended on their keeping 
 their ranks and maintaining the strictest discipline. 
 At last, however, one of the followers of the ex¬ 
 governor, losing his patience, broke from the ranks, 
 and, spurring his horse, fell sword in hand on one of 
 the Arab brothers, struck him down on the spot, and 
 retired in perfect safety among his companions. Amidst 
 the groans of the Turks, and the involuntary applause 
 of the Christians, he must have died the death of young 
 Manlius, had not his being a foreigner, and ignorant of 
 the language in which the order not to quit the ranks 
 had been issued, pleaded his excuse and secured his 
 pardon. 
 
 They had now, after five days’ march, arrived once 
 more at the Valley of Roob, but, fearful of ambuscades, 
 hesitated on entering so dangerous a pass. 'That there 
 was another and a safer road over the mountains they 
 knew, but were lamenting their ignorance of the country 
 and want of a guide, when suddenly an unknown 
 knight, mounted on a white steed, and carrying a red 
 banner, became visible at the head of the army,— 
 whence he came they knew not—whither he led they 
 followed. Taking the shortest roads, halting always 
 at fountains till then unheard of, and pointing out with 
 unerring sagacity the fittest places for encampment, he 
 
BOZRAH. 
 
 305 
 
 conducted them, says the historian, like the Angel of 
 the God of Hosts, for three days, as far as Gadara— 
 the Oom Keis evidently, from his description, of the 
 present day; and on the morrow, weary and worn out, 
 they arrived at Tiberias.—No one, adds William of 
 Tyre, knew their guide ; as soon as they arrived at the 
 place where they were to encamp, he suddenly 
 vanished—“ like a blink of the sun or a whip of the 
 whirlwind,” as Lindsay of Pitscottie would have added 
 —and no one saw him again till he re-appeared on the 
 morrow at the head of the army. 
 
 No man living, concludes the chronicler, remembers 
 an expedition of such peril to the Christians, and yet 
 of such little positive advantage to the Infidels, since 
 the Latins established themselves in the East.* 
 
 Two curious pages these in the history of Bozrah ! 
 A few years afterwards, the citizens, of their own ac¬ 
 cord, submitted to Saladin, and little or nothing is 
 known of her history—at least, from Frank authorities 
 —intermediate between that event, and Burckhardt’s 
 visit in 1812. 
 
 Bozrah is now for the most part a heap of ruins, a 
 most dreary spectacle ; here and there the direction of 
 a street or alley is discernible, but that is all; the 
 modern inhabitants—a mere handful—are almost lost 
 in the maze of ruins. Olive-trees grew here within a 
 few years, they told us—they are extinct now, like the 
 vines for which the Bostra of the Romans was famous.— 
 And such, in the nineteenth century, and under Moslem 
 rule, is the condition of a city w T hicb, even in the seventh 
 century, at the time of its capture by the Saracens, was 
 called by Caled “ the market-place of Syria, Irak,+ and 
 the Hedjaz.”—“ For I have sworn by myself, saith the 
 
 * History of the Crusades, book 16. 
 f Mesopotamia. 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 SUEDA. 
 
 Lord of Hosts, that Bozrah shall become a desolation, 
 a reproach, a waste, and a curse ; and all the cities 
 thereof shall be perpetual wastes !” And it is so.* ( 4S ) 
 
 From Bozrah,—passing the remains of fifteen towns 
 on the right and left—(on the eastern declivity of 
 Gebel Hauran there are above two hundred in ruins, 
 at a quarter or half an hour’s distance from each other) f 
 —we rode to Ere, or Aere, and thence to Sueda, the 
 capital of the Druses of the Hauran, in rather more 
 than five hours. J We halted under a Doi'ic tomb, the 
 chief curiosity of the place ; a solid heavy mass of 
 building, ornamented with six semi-columns on each 
 side,—the intercolumniations sculptured with coats of 
 
 * Dr. Robinson thinks that the village el-Busaireh, a diminutive 
 of Bozrah, between Tufileh and Kerek esh Shobek, N. of Petra, was 
 probably the ancient capital of Edom,* spoken of by the prophets 
 Isaiah and Amoz, and elsewhere in the Old Testament. JB. Re¬ 
 searches , vol. ii, p. 570.—Granting this, the prophecy in the text 
 would equally have received its fulfilment. [1847.] 
 f Burckhardt. 
 
 J An extract from my original journal, descriptive of the ride 
 from Bozrah to Aere and Sueda, will give a better idea of the rapid 
 succession of objects in this singular region than aught else can do, 
 short of an actual visit:—“ Started at 17 min. p. 7, with a guide, 
 for Aera or Ere—passed successively the Bab el Howa, or western 
 gate, the springs, the spot where Ibrahim Pasha’s troops encamped, 
 and the dry bed of the Djedeir,—fine view of Bozrah, looking back— 
 you see all the public buildings in succession, the castle, the four 
 tall pillars, the similar group of two, the mosque of Omar, the upper 
 window's of the church, and the mosque El Mebrak. At 5 m. p. 8, 
 reach Gummarin, Ghimari, Murre, as the town was indifferently 
 named to us—a brook runs W. and N. of it—on the right, entering, 
 a house two or three stories high, with windows just like a ruined 
 English one—stopped to examine the last house in the town, three 
 stories above an entrance hall, marked externally by a cornice, the 
 hall entered by an archway, ornamented with a slab (bearing an 
 
 * As distinguished from the Bostra, joint capital with Petra of Arabia Pro- 
 vincui, under the Romans. [1847.] 
 
SUEDA. 
 
 307 
 
 mail, shields, (round, and oval—with a boss in the 
 centre, like the hippopotamus-hide bucklers of Nubia,) 
 and helmets. On the east of the town ai'e the ruins of 
 a fine temple, surrounded by a peristyle, of which ten 
 columns are still erect; the capitals, singularly enough, 
 are of overlapping palm-leaves. The temple itself is 
 quite ruined; two fine doorways, in a line with each 
 other, are buried almost to the lintels,— and fragments 
 of a beautiful frieze of grapes and vine-leaves lie near 
 them. The principal street of the town descends in a 
 south-westerly direction; near its commencement stands 
 a very neat semicircular building, facing the south,—a 
 semi-dome, with a large and two smaller niches under 
 
 Arabic inscription, probably of more recent date) of white stone 
 surmounted by a graceful scroll, with two other friezes on either 
 side, all taken from some older building. Crossed the brook by the 
 ancient bridge of three arches, beyond which we crossed an ancient 
 paved road. At 5 m. to 9, past Deir Zebeir, close to the right. At 
 10 m. p. 9, Wate, a ruined site, at some distance to the right, and 
 Karaba, Ghobte, and Alii, to the left,—and subsequently, Ghuzzan to 
 the right.—At £ p. 9, pass Mujaimi to the right, situated on a round 
 hill; and some time afterwards pass through the eastern extremity 
 of Ere, built on the slope of a hill, and commanding a beautiful view 
 of the Hauran, bounded by the snowy Gebel Sheikh,—cross the 
 brook of Ere, and at 15 m. to 10, pass Shakeh, a ruined site, to the 
 left, close to the road. At 11, have Zehhow, Kherebet Risheh, Res as, 
 and Erraliha to the right, all situated between the road and the Gebel 
 Hauran—Sueda in front, rising on (apparently) the farthest project¬ 
 ing point of the Gebel Hauran. At 20 m.p. 11, cross the dry Wady 
 Thaleth,—at 17 m. to 12, through the village Omjeda, where we 
 saw r some Druse women,—at 6 m. p. 12, cross the dry bed of a brook, 
 and begin ascending the lower part of the town of Sueda. At 15 m. 
 p. 12, turning out of the road to the left, visited remains of a large 
 church to the S. of Sueda,—going down a few steps, a sort of altar 
 or font, covered with votive offerings—some pomegranate-trees in 
 flower growing round the walls. At | p. 12, cross the town wall, 
 and proceeding through the town, crossing a dry rivulet, reach and 
 halt, exactly at 1, under a Doric tomb, the chief curiosity of Sueda,” 
 &c. [1847.] 
 
308 
 
 ATEEL. 
 
 it, separated by Corinthian pilasters. From this build¬ 
 ing we followed the course of the ancient street to its 
 termination—between rows of Roman houses in ruins, 
 opening by arches on the street, the ancient pavement 
 remaining in excellent preservation wherever visible, 
 but the street is in many places choked up with rub¬ 
 bish, and we then clambered over the roofs, and through 
 the apartments of the old houses; fig-trees grow wild 
 among them. 
 
 We started about a quarter past four—a lovely 
 evening—for Ateel; nothing could be more delightful 
 than the weather all the time we were in the Hauran, 
 —sunny, but not too hot,—with fresh westerly breezes. 
 The ascent to Ateel, through prickly-oak bushes, is 
 very pretty; the young Druse Sheikh, who was superin¬ 
 tending the harvest, came up, and, saluting us, led the 
 way to the village, never questioning our intention of 
 staying with him all night; we explained our wish of 
 proceeding to Kennawat, and he acquiesced with the 
 civil regret of a finished gentleman. We reached El 
 Kasr, as he called the little temple south of the town, 
 at half-past five ; it is the most beautiful little building 
 I saw in the Hauran ; the portico is supported by two 
 Corinthian pillars, the portal adorned with beautifully 
 sculptured friezes of vine-leaves, and the cornice is very 
 handsome. Niches, with semi-domes sculptured like 
 shells, relieve the deadness of the wall on each side of 
 the door. A Druse family live in the temple. The other 
 El Kasr, or temple, to the north of the town, is neat, 
 but far inferior to this. The Druses here struck us as 
 particularly respectable and gentlemanlike. 
 
 We reached Kennawat in three quarters of an hour, 
 by a stony ascent overgrown with prickly-oak bushes— 
 (ever since leaving Sueda we had been advancing into 
 
KF.NNAWAT. 
 
 309 
 
 the Gebel Hauran)—and encamped on a smooth green¬ 
 sward, close to the ruins of a beautiful Corinthian 
 edifice, raised on a platform supported by arches,— 
 standing east and west, and commanding a most mag¬ 
 nificent view over the plain of the Hauran ; Mount 
 Hermon, with his crown of snow, towering, as usual, in 
 the distance. The sun went down a few minutes after we 
 arrived—a ball of fire, gorgeous indeed—and such were 
 all the sunsets we saw in this country. Of the temple, 
 tomb, or whatever it was, seven columns are still stand¬ 
 ing round a central platform, which perhaps supported 
 an altar open to the sky; the capitals and bases are 
 well sculptured, but neither capitals nor diameters ai'e 
 uniform,—none, I think, in the Hauran ai'e so. 
 
 Next morning the venerable Druse Sheikh ciceroned 
 us over the ruins of Kennawat,—it is entirely a Druse 
 population. Ascending to the village, we proceeded 
 in a southerly direction along an ancient paved street, 
 commanding a very pleasing view of the valley, on the 
 western bank of which Kennawat is built. Passing a 
 plain ancient temple, we crossed a beautiful paved area, 
 in singular jireservation, to an extraordinary building, 
 called Deir Eyonb, where we were shown a dark semi- 
 vaulted chapel, or rather hole in the wall, as the tomb 
 of Neby Eyoub—the prophet Job. 
 
 A low door, to the east, ushered us into a wretched 
 colonnade, of no order at all, and this into another 
 pillared piazza, (equally execrable,) by one of the 
 most beautiful doorways I ever saw,—a piece of patch- 
 work, indeed, the door-case being composed of a 
 superb frieze, broken up, and adapted to the spoiler’s 
 purpose by the interposition of two wretched Corinthian 
 pilaster capitals. Mr. Moore showed us a beautiful 
 drawing of it at Jerusalem. It was probably stolen 
 
310 
 
 SHOABA. 
 
 from a fine temple to the south of the Deir—hut you 
 ■will be sick of temples; I will spare you as many 
 as in conscience I can. 
 
 We returned by the way we came—traces of the 
 ancient pavement are to be seen in every direction, 
 often as perfect as when first laid down. 
 
 We reached Shoaba, another Druse town, in about 
 three hours, and, entering by the southern gate, rode 
 for ten minutes up a broad handsome street, better 
 paved, and the pavement in better preservation, than 
 any in London — as far as four oblong masses of 
 masonry, quite plain and solid, and probably sur¬ 
 mounted, like those of Jerash and Palmyra, by statues 
 or columns. Here, at the intersection of the streets, 
 we turned westwards, up the principal street of the 
 city ; the public buildings lie on each side of it. We 
 first came to five fine Corinthian pillars, the survivors 
 of the colonnade of a temple, of which part of the 
 back-wall is the only remnant,—then to a square build¬ 
 ing in ruins, now a mosque, with a beautiful pavement 
 in front of it; not only the streets, but all the open 
 spaces, or piazzas, in these towns were paved. Ap¬ 
 proaching an arcade, thrown across the street, we 
 turned, through a door in the w r all, southwards, and 
 had, immediately on our right, an extraordinary octagon 
 building, and, in front of us, a plain square edifice, its 
 entrance blocked up with very large stones. Imme¬ 
 diately behind it stands the theatre, small and quite 
 plain, but solidly built, and the buildings behind the 
 stage almost perfect. 
 
 Returning to the main street, -we found the Druse 
 Sheikh under the arcade, and got some useful informa¬ 
 tion from him about the roads. This arcade runs some 
 distance westwards, with recesses in its walls, but not 
 deep or wide enough for burial places, as Burckhardt 
 
NEDJRAUN. 
 
 311 
 
 thought, nor, if they were so, could they have been in¬ 
 tended for such—in the middle of the town as these 
 are. The pavement of the street, above and below the 
 arcade, is beautiful. There is nothing of interest be¬ 
 yond it. The streets are regularly laid out and dis¬ 
 tinctly traceable, and many of the houses are in very 
 good preservation. 
 
 Nedjraun, which we reached in the evening, is sur¬ 
 rounded by a perfect labyrinth of rocks,—broad sheets 
 and rugged masses, like the bottom of the crater of 
 Vesuvius, inside, as I found it in 1830, than anything 
 else to which I could compare them. Iiocks of the 
 same description extend all over that part of the 
 country, skirting the Ledja, or stony district of the 
 Hauran, ancient Trachonitis. 
 
 Next morning, Dr. Mac Lennan and I walked up to 
 the town, in search of the Roman mansion mentioned 
 by Mr. Bankes in his interesting letter to Mr. Bucking¬ 
 ham, published in the appendix to that gentleman’s 
 travels. It proved highly interesting, having evidently 
 belonged to one of the chief men of the place. The 
 plan is seen at a glance, though modern buildings 
 have intruded themselves into its spacious court, and 
 the front-gate, by which that court was entered, has dis¬ 
 appeared. 
 
 The court was probably nearly square ; the house- 
 door, nearly buried, occupies the centre of the front; 
 there is a square window above it, with a slit between 
 it and the door, and two other windows, one on each 
 side. To the right and left of the principal door are 
 two other doors, each of which opens on a moderately 
 sized apartment, each lighted by one of the side 
 windows above-mentioned. The entrance-hall, eleven 
 paces wide by about eight and a half deep, and spanned 
 by a beautiful arch, communicated, till the door was 
 
312 
 
 ROMAN MANSION. 
 
 walled up, with the chamber to the left of the hall, 
 which I entered from the court. From the chamber to 
 the right of the hall, a stone staircase ascended to the 
 upper story of the mansion. Externally, a plain 
 moulding marks the separation of the stories. The 
 upper rooms are small, very numerous, and still in¬ 
 habited. Nothing could exceed the courtesy of the 
 owners in showing us their dwellings, and allowing us 
 to pry wherever we liked. The upper story recedes 
 the depth of the hall, leaving a small terrace, on which 
 the doors of the several apartments open. The wings 
 are also full of rooms; the ground-floor of that to the 
 right is, in great part, occupied by a beautiful stable, 
 with mangers of stone, ten paces long by nine deep, 
 and spanned from right to left by a beautiful arch 
 The Arabs stable their steeds this very day where the 
 old Romans did. The whole mansion is extremely 
 well built, of hewn stone, plain and substantial,—and 
 all the rooms are entire. On the road to this house I 
 hastily copied—(too hastily, for in this and many 
 other instances I depended on Burckhardt’s having pre¬ 
 ceded me, whereas he seems never to have been at 
 Nedjraun) an inscription in Greek hexameters, com¬ 
 memorative, so far as I can make it out, of Tironus, 
 “ the eloquent and the happy,” having built a new 
 tomb for himself, in order that when, obedient to the 
 common necessity of death, his soul should join the 
 company of immortals, his dead body might sleep 
 alone and apart from others under the palm-trees in 
 front of his hall. His wish belies him,—he cannot 
 surely have been a happy man. ( 44 ) 
 
 Starting from Nedjraun at twenty-three minutes to 
 seven, we reached Ezra at eleven,—one of the most 
 interesting towns of Auranitis, and one of the very 
 few of which we know the ancient name, Zarava. We 
 
EZRA. 
 
 313 
 
 took up our quarters in an old Roman house, one of 
 the ordinary sort, quite perfect except two fractures in 
 the roof, and unoccupied. The town is of great ex¬ 
 tent, and the houses were in much better preservation 
 than any we had yet seen ; we walked between whole 
 streets of them, seemingly in good repair, and almost 
 all untenanted. But there is no pavement, and the 
 masonry, generally speaking, is of a very inferior de¬ 
 scription. 
 
 To the south-east of the town, is a row of houses 
 which have evidently belonged to the grandees of the 
 place; they are now called the Palace of the Yellow 
 King, i. e. the Emperor of Russia,—and our guide 
 pretended to point out the harem, &c., &c. They are 
 all in ruins; the plan, however, of the most perfect is 
 still traceable. Entering a large courtyard, you pass 
 to the house door, and, through it, into a large arched 
 hall, with five recesses at the further end—taking up, 
 with two smaller rooms on the right and left, and the 
 upper story, the whole front facade; the room to the 
 left of the hall, which has no direct communication 
 with it, is furnished with a double row of square cup¬ 
 boards all round like cellars; indeed there are recesses 
 (cupboards, surely) innumerable in most of the rooms 
 of this and other houses of the country. The wing to 
 the left is all in ruins, but probably corresponded to that 
 on the right, which is perfect (externally) and built 
 with exact symmetry—two doors of entrance, (pre¬ 
 cisely corresponding, in height and width, to those of 
 England,) between two vaulted niches, or rather false 
 doors, with three windows ranging over each door,— 
 and a smaller door at each extremity of the wing, over 
 which a staircase was carried outside the building to 
 the roof—always flat in the East. The rooms in this 
 wing resemble those in the front,—most of them about 
 
314 
 
 EZRA. 
 
 eight paces square; staircases, projecting from the 
 walls of many of the apartments, led to the upper 
 story. 
 
 Dr. Mac Lennan, my companion in this exploration, 
 leaving me here, I went on, with Hassan and an Arab 
 guide, in search of a mansion which he said he could 
 show me, hebeer, kebcer !! large, large—and quite per¬ 
 fect. He led the way down alleys, up streets, through 
 ruined arches, and over the roofs of houses, now in 
 this direction, now that, till in about ten minutes or a 
 quarter of an hour, after I had lost all idea where¬ 
 abouts I was, I found myself in the courtyard of a 
 large house, which well repaid me for the trouble of 
 my walk, being all but perfect and quite unoccupied. 
 The plan is very irregular,—the court five sided, arched 
 chambers, generally about eight paces square, opening 
 into it; the second, on the right, appears to have been 
 the stable,—there is a manger for three or four horses, 
 and the corner of the room, built round in the seg¬ 
 ment of a circle, served for a water-trough. The 
 rooms in the upper story are small, with plenty of 
 cupboards. Two staircases were carried outside the 
 building, from the farthest angles of the court, to the 
 roof, which on four sides is quite perfect, and carpeted 
 with grass. From this elevation I saw the roofs of 
 numberless smaller houses, quite entire and just as 
 green. The house is well and solidly built, though 
 not with the elegance and symmetry of that at Nedj- 
 raun. It stands to the right of a ruined church called 
 Deir Wali. I think, as architects, you and my father 
 will be interested with these descriptions, if I have 
 made them intelligible. 
 
 We slept at Tebne that night, and visited Sun- 
 amein the following morning, to see a temple which 
 Mr. Bankes considered the prettiest in the Hauran. 
 
EXPEDITION TO PALMYRA. 315 
 
 It is pretty, but he could not, I think, have been at 
 Ateel. 
 
 We pushed on to Kessoue that evening, nine hours 
 from Tebne, having nothing to eat, our rice having 
 failed us,—the latter part of the journey was across a 
 dreary wilderness of large black stones ; and reached 
 Damascus in three hours the next morning, Saturday 
 the 3rd of June,—the twenty-third day from Jerusalem. 
 
 Section III. 
 
 We called on Mr. Farren in the evening, to inquire 
 whether we could start for Palmyra on Monday,—not 
 before Tuesday, he said, for it would be advisable to 
 take a guard of five or six soldiers, that we might be 
 ostensibly under the protection of Government. Till 
 Ibrahim Pasha’s recent conquest of Syria, the Bedouin 
 chiefs were in the custom of receiving large sums from 
 travellers for permission to visit the ruins, and for 
 escort during the journey. Two or three recent visi¬ 
 tants had b;en robbed, though not otherwise ill-treated, 
 and it appeared to me not unlikely that the Arabs 
 wished to frighten travellers back again into the old 
 system of purchasing their protection. But we had no 
 idea either of playing false to the Pasha or giving up 
 Tadmor; Mr. Farren declared the route perfectly safe, 
 and we found it so. 
 
 Mr. Pell, of Devonshire—Mr. Alewyn, a Dutch gen¬ 
 tleman—and Mr. Schranz, a German artist travelling 
 with them, had just arrived at Damascus from Greece 
 and Asia Minor. I met them on Sunday morning, and, 
 finding they had entertained the intention of visiting 
 Palmyra, but given up all hope of it, in consequence 
 of the smallness of their number, I proposed their 
 joining us,—and we found them most agreeable, en- 
 
316 
 
 EXPEDITION TO PALMYRA. 
 
 lightened companions. Pell is an Oxford man, of a 
 generous inquiring spirit, fond of the fine arts and an¬ 
 tiquity; Alewyn, thoroughly our countryman in feeling, 
 and very amiable, speaks English perfectly, and enjoys 
 -Shakespeare ; Scliranz was horn at Majorca, of German 
 parents, and brought up at Malta,—speaks German, 
 Spanish, Italian, and Maltese, (a dialect of Arabic, by 
 which he can make himself easily understood by the 
 natives here,) as his mother-tongues,— Greek, and un¬ 
 commonly good English,—besides being a most accom¬ 
 plished draughtsman. Mr. Davey, an English gentle¬ 
 man residing at Damascus, also joined us. 
 
 We formed, therefore, a very numerous caravan, 
 mustering, when fairly embarked on the desert, seven 
 gentlemen, four servants, two muleteers, four camel- 
 drivers, five Turkish soldiers,-—bestriding twenty-one 
 horses and mules, two donkeys, and five camels. But 
 numbers are little thought of among the Bedouins ; 
 they reckon by the number of guns, and ours were 
 well eyed and accurately counted in the course of the 
 journey. I should not be surprised if the absence of 
 the greater part of the Bedouins in the Hauran at this 
 season, and our being so numerous and well-armed a 
 party, contributed more than we are aware of to our 
 success in this expedition. The soldiers we found a 
 great incumbrance, but their five guns were valuable 
 for show,—on leaving Karietein, the last inhabited 
 place till you get to Palmyra, two days beyond it, they 
 desired us to take a guard of twelve Bedouins—-and, 
 on our absolute la, no! refused to proceed any further, 
 so we went off without them; they followed soon after¬ 
 wards, but were in great alarm, cowardly dogs—bullies, 
 too, as they were, like all cowards ; Clarke gave one of 
 them a good licking for flinging a stone at the leg of a 
 
KARIETEIN. 317 
 
 poor Bedouin who was guiding us,—the slave fawned 
 like a spaniel afterwards. 
 
 At Karietein we hired the five camels enumerated in 
 the above list, with their drivers, and loaded them with 
 twenty skins of water, there being none on the road 
 between that place and Tadmor. Were I to go again, 
 I would ride dromedaries the whole way ; one would 
 reach the goal in half the time, and avoid a great deal 
 of trouble in hiring skins, serving out water to the 
 horses, and most disagreeable of all—restricting the 
 men from drinking too much; they have no providence, 
 the present moment is all they think of, and their lips 
 are generally glued to the zumzummias. We slept in 
 a deserted garden at Karietein.* The belladeen here¬ 
 abouts have much of the look and spirit of Bedouins, 
 but the bitterest enmity and constant warfare exist be¬ 
 tween the two races. 
 
 Beyond Karietein,f the track lies through a desert 
 
 * Kirjathaim, Heb. 
 
 t The preceding account being very brief and unmethodical, 
 I subjoin an extract from my journal, describing the journey thus 
 far to Palmyra: — 
 
 “ Tuesday , 6th June. —Our guards not having returned to the 
 convent, we started without them at 3, riding for a considerable time 
 through the beautiful plantations that engirdle Damascus. We 
 then followed a line of barren hills, of no very great elevation, de¬ 
 scending from Antilibanus, behind which the sun set in great beauty. 
 Halted nearly an hour afterwards near the village Adra, where we 
 found excellent water, but the ground was damp, marshy, and foggy 
 —we were quite wet in the tent at night, the dew was so heavy— 
 malaria is very prevalent here. 
 
 “ Wednesday , 7th June. —William, having passed a bad night, and 
 not feeling well this morning, returned to Damascus with a guide. 
 The road here turns up into the mountains—very bleak and desert¬ 
 like. About an hour beyond the village Katlii, reached another 
 named U1 Haibi, where we lunched in a public building—unlike an 
 ordinary khan, but which could only be intended for strangers, con- 
 
318 
 
 PALMYRA. 
 
 valley, perhaps ten miles broad, called Wady Kebeer, 
 or the Great Wady,—sand and stone mixed, and very 
 scantily clothed with shrubs of a dirty clay colour—no 
 variety. We marched eleven hours till six o’clock 
 p.M.; slept, dined, drank tea, and slept again till mid¬ 
 night, and then rode on by starlight till sunrise, when 
 we rested again for two hours, and breakfasted,—five 
 hours more, and then Palmyra ! The long range of 
 hills became more irregular and picturesque, and, as 
 we ascended the Wady, appeared to meet at its termi¬ 
 nation ; they are separated, however, by the valley of 
 tombs—the cemetery of Palmyra—bare and glaring to 
 the eye ; the tombs on the hills, lofty towers, had for 
 hours been conspicuous on the horizon. 
 
 sisting of a court, stalls for horses, an open divan, and a single apart¬ 
 ment, all very neat and clean. Many Bedouins and villagers came 
 to look at us, and count our guns. Beyond U1 Haibi we proceeded 
 over the hills, two Anezee Bedouins preceding us on horseback with 
 their long spears—through a valley, with a salt lake on the right, 
 and Nasaria, a ruined town on the other side of it. We stopped, 
 after about five hours, (a long range of blue hills on the right,) 
 at Jerud, a village prettily surrounded by orchards, almost invisible 
 behind their high walls. We found our guards here, who had ridden 
 on thus far without stopping, on learning we had left Damascus. 
 We asked Alevvyn to share our tent, as he was suffering from a 
 severe cold, and Pell’s was less comfortable,—we dined in it alto¬ 
 gether, a large party. A delightful day. 
 
 “ Thursday, 8th June. —Bitter cold night—saturated with the dew. 
 Started at sunrise—in about an hour came to the village Unta, and 
 got a Bedouin as a guide-—passed an Anezee camp on the move, the 
 only encampment of Bedouins we saw on the route. The helladeen 
 here have much the look of Bedouins, wearing the kefieb, &c., but 
 bitter enmity subsists between them, particularly near Karietein. 
 Proceeded for some hours through a broad desert Wady, covered 
 with shrubs—few incidents—a soldier licks the Bedouin, for which 
 Clarke licks the soldier—the valley gradually expands, and we cross 
 a rising ground of considerable length before we reach Karietein, 
 after about twelve hours’ ride, exclusive of stoppages and time lost on 
 
PALMYRA. 
 
 319 
 
 Presently, emerging from the valley, we came at 
 once in sight of Palmyra, her countless columns of 
 white marble ranging over the plain in distinct sym¬ 
 metrical colonnades, with the boundless desert 
 stretching far, far away beyond them towards the 
 Euphrates,—the most magnificent field of ruins I ever 
 witnessed; you remember how I used to pore over 
 the folio engravings of Palmyra at Muncaster ? the 
 word has been music to my ear ever since,—the report, 
 however, of some later travellers made me dread being 
 disappointed, so that it was with fear, as well as 
 curiosity, that I drew near to the goal my wishes had 
 so long pointed to ; great and joyous was my disap¬ 
 pointment ; I shall never forget the first sight of the 
 ruins ; I know nothing to liken it to—it must be seen; 
 
 the road. Halted, as last night, in a deserted garden. Sent for the 
 Sheikh, and presenting our teskeray, engaged five camels with four 
 drivers, and fourteen waterskins, each holding seven or eight basons- 
 full, in addition to six we had brought from Damascus. For twenty- 
 four hours, we were told, we should find no water. 
 
 “ Friday , 9 th June. — Started about six. The soldiers wished us 
 to take twelve Bedouins as a guard.—‘ No.’—Stayed behind, and said 
 they would not come—went off without them—they followed soon 
 afterwards. Broad desert plain bounded by hills,—to the right, 
 rather a picturesque range. At seven hours from Karietein arrived 
 at Khan Khair, the ruins of a lofty tower sculptured with Maltese 
 crosses. At a saddle-backed mountain two hours to the right from 
 this tower, is a spring of excellent water, called Ain Woon; by 
 keeping nearer the southern side of the valley travellers might make 
 it a convenient halting place,—we were told, however, that the 
 spring yields but little water, and was some distance up the moun¬ 
 tain. We lunched at the tower, and then proceeded along the valley 
 —the ground of sand and stone mixed, and very scantily clothed 
 with shrubs of a dirty clay colour, very little variety—the hills that 
 bound it probably eight or ten miles apart—they call it Wady Ke- 
 beer, or the Great Valley. .... The mirage was seen this 
 morning very distinctly, resembling a lake with an island in it.” &c. 
 [1847.J 
 
320 
 
 PALMYRA. 
 
 I felt no fatigue at Palmyra, and oh! the luxury of 
 remembrance ! 
 
 Descending to the plain, we stopped to drink at a 
 well, near the outer wall of the Temple of the Sun, 
 and then pitched under an olive tree, in a deserted 
 garden. There are many palm trees still at Tadmor, 
 probably, however, of recent importation, for the few 
 survivoss of the ancient stock, that flourished there at 
 the end of the seventeenth century, had all, save one, 
 disappeared sixty years afterwards, at the time of 
 Wood’s visit. ( 45 ) 
 
 The Temple of the Sun stands in the centre of an 
 immense court, nearly seven hundred feet square, 
 which is now entirely filled by the noisy houses of 
 the Arab Palmyrenes. The court-wall, externally, 
 presents a lofty dead surface, relieved by pilasters, and 
 false doors with pediments in the intermediate spaces; 
 within, a couple of niches for statues, surmounted by 
 very handsome pediments, adorn, or rather did adorn, 
 the angles of the enclosure, which there rose like 
 semi-towers, while similar niches, with neat but plainer 
 pediments, run along the connecting walls. A hand¬ 
 some colonnade ran all round the court; many of the 
 columns are still standing, especially six at the south¬ 
 west angle, very beautiful at a distance, but which lose 
 on a nearer inspection. 
 
 The Temple itself, sadly, alas! dilapidated, was 
 surrounded by a peristyle of fluted Corinthian columns, 
 with bronze capitals, all of which have disappeared, 
 most pitiably exposing the naked surface of the stone 
 to which they w T ere attached. Eight columns, in this 
 sad condition, are still standing on the east of the 
 temple ; those on the north have lost their capitals 
 entirely ; one only on the west supports its entabla- 
 
PALMYRA. 321 
 
 ture ; even the bronze clinches that secured the stones 
 of the temple have been carried off. 
 
 Two fine Ionic semi-pillars, flanked by Corinthian 
 pilasters, adorn the south end of the temple; the chief 
 ornaments of the other walls are the pediments sur¬ 
 mounting the windows, which are very elegant. 
 
 The great gate is the most beautiful I ever saw, next 
 to the matchless one at Baalbec ; the devices are very 
 beautiful, but the design is superior to the execution; 
 they are not cut deep enough, and the stone, moreover, 
 has suffered much from exposure. A smaller door, 
 that of the temple itself, introduced us into a mosque, 
 which fills up a great part of the interior; we saw a 
 very curious ancient ceiling in one of the side apart¬ 
 ments. Proceeding through other modern structures, 
 we reached a gate or doorway ornamented with double 
 fluted pillars, of no very chaste design, the ceiling dis¬ 
 playing a Zodiac, and the suffit of the architrave the 
 winged vulture soaring among the stars,—an interesting 
 proof, of which I observed similar instances at Baalbec 
 and in the tombs of Palmyra, of the affinity of the 
 Egyptian and Syrian sun-worship. I was much pleased 
 with this temple, but it is not to be compared with the 
 Temple of the Sun at Baalbec. 
 
 Quitting the Court, and proceeding towards the ruins, 
 all of which lie westward of the Temple, the first 
 building we approached was a ruined mosque, only 
 remarkable for a beautiful little pediment, and part of 
 an ancient ceiling, built into the wall. 
 
 Between the mosque and the great arch of the colon¬ 
 nade lie some curiously sculptured stones, that seem to 
 have belonged to, and perhaps mark the site of, an 
 ancient temple. The great arch is richly sculptured, 
 particularly on the western, or inner face; the central 
 
 Y 
 
322 
 
 PALMYRA. 
 
 ornament of the pilasters, leaves connected by inter¬ 
 lacing stalks, is particularly beautiful. Two smaller 
 arches adjoin the large one. The plan, however, view¬ 
 ing them from the east, is confused and unintelligible. 
 This colonnade, running nearly from east to west, is of 
 great length and very beautiful; the columns are in 
 good proportion and excellent preservation, each shaft 
 consisting of three courses of stone, admirably jointed, 
 with a bracket for a bust or statue interposed between 
 the second and third,—while the portico of a ruined 
 temple, (six beautiful columns, each shaft of a single 
 stone, and still surmounted by the tympanum,) ter¬ 
 minates the vista. This portico, however, is not visible 
 from the arch of entrance, owing to the street deviating 
 from the straight line. 
 
 Advancing up this noble avenue, temples and public 
 edifices attract the eye on all sides, all more or less in 
 ruins, except a small temple, of the time of Adrian, 
 considerably to the north, and the most entire at Pal¬ 
 myra, but its columns and richly sculptured portal have 
 suffered wofully from wind and time. Beyond it, 
 
 “ O’er the still desert gleaming from afar,” 
 
 stands a lofty, solitary, nameless, column. 
 
 The ruined temples seem to have been very elegant; 
 one of them, the first on the right, walking up the 
 colonnade, was surrounded by columns, of which six 
 on the W. and five (besides a pilaster) on the S. side 
 are still standing,—their shafts are each of one single 
 block of stone. South of this, in a minor colonnade, 
 branching off north-westwards from the principal one, 
 stood an arch, ornamented with four granite pillars, 
 each shaft also of a single stone, but the bases and 
 capitals of ordinary marble; one only remains upright. 
 Another building, to the south of the great colonnade, 
 
PALMYRA. 
 
 323 
 
 and exactly between two arches that open from it in 
 that direction, seems to have been a stoa, or public 
 portico. Beyond it, to the S.W., is the largest build¬ 
 ing (except the temple) at Palmyra; we set it down at 
 once as Zenobia’s palace, without the least authority 
 for doing so. Passing the four cubical masses of 
 masonry, which I have already mentioned, in speaking 
 of Jerash and Shoaba, as marking the crossing of 
 streets in these towns, we came to a third temple, now 
 lying a heap of ruins; but remains of beautifully sculp¬ 
 tured friezes, and fragments of large statues in alto- 
 relievo, as execrable as the friezes are beautiful, and 
 fragments of a long and deeply cut inscription in 
 Greek and Palmyrene, show what a noble pile it once 
 was. Lastly, behind the portico which closes the 
 colonnade to the west, the remains of the temple it 
 belonged to—friezes of vine-leaves, and beautiful net¬ 
 work designs, and sarcophagi from the adjacent tombs 
 —are heaped together in utter confusion. C 6 ) Besides 
 these distincter ruins, innumerable fallen columns and 
 mouldering fragments of sculpture lie in every direc¬ 
 tion—traces of edifices to which it is impossible even 
 for fancy to assign any plan. 
 
 It is indeed a most striking scene; an awful stillness, 
 a lifelessness pervades the ruins, which I never felt 
 anywhere else, except, perhaps, at Paestum,—I do not 
 even recollect heai'ing a bird sing there; no huts en¬ 
 cumber them, no filthy Arabs intrude on you; they 
 stand as lonely and silent as when the last of the Pal¬ 
 myrenes departed, and left the city of Zenobia to 
 silence and decay; the fall of pillar after pillar has 
 been the only note of Time there, and that uncounted, 
 for centuries.—One cannot occupy oneself with petty 
 architectural details at Palmyra —within the temple- 
 court I could criticise —without it admire only; and, at 
 
 Y 2 
 
324 
 
 PALMYRA. 
 
 sunrise, at sunset, in the morning glow, or in the even¬ 
 ing calm, wandering among those columns, so graceful 
 in themselves, so beautiful in their sisterly harmony, I 
 thought I had never seen such loveliness—such awful 
 loveliness !—lovely and yet awful; at times you almost 
 feel as if Palmyra were a woman, and you stood by 
 her corpse, stilled in death, but with a sweet smile 
 lingering on her lip. 
 
 How different all this from Baalbec! Here one’s eye 
 is free as air—how could it be otherwise at Tadmor in 
 the wilderness ? There it is cooped up within lofty 
 walls; you cannot see the temple to advantage till you 
 are close to it, and the details force themselves on your 
 admiration,—and, as for the great temple, which many 
 travellers seem not to be aware is a temple—unfinished, 
 as it was left by the ancients; marred, as it has been, 
 by the intrusion of modern buildings; covering the 
 whole platform; and hidden by the walls, so that from 
 no one point within or without is it possible to view it 
 as a whole—the eye is at first utterly bewildered, and 
 even at last unable, except with imagination’s aid, to 
 estimate its grandeur. 
 
 But we have not yet done with Palmyra. Leaving 
 the portico, we clambered up a steep hill, to the N.W. 
 of the colonnade, from the top of which, as from the 
 crater of a volcano, rises a very large and strong castle 
 of the middle ages, built of stone cut out of the moun¬ 
 tain all round it, so as to form a deep fosse. The view 
 from this hill is very fine. 
 
 Alewyn and I tnen proceeded, in a southerly direc¬ 
 tion, along the western hills, exploring the tombs, 
 which are very numerous and extremely interesting, 
 resembling none I had ever seen before, except (exter¬ 
 nally) those in the Hainan; they are almost all of 
 them towers, two, three, four, and in one instance, (and 
 
PALMYRA. 
 
 325 
 
 but one, I think,) five stories high. That of Manaius, 
 (which I had entered before reaching Palmyra, unable to 
 resist my curiosity, it being only twenty or thirty yards 
 to the left of the road,) is peculiarly interesting—in 
 some respects, indeed, the most curious building at 
 Palmyra; it is in wonderful preservation, and a descrip¬ 
 tion of it will give you some idea of the others, as they 
 are almost all built on the same plan, though far less 
 beautiful. 
 
 It is a lofty square tower, lessening by three courses 
 of stone, like steps, at about a third of its height. An 
 inscription in honour of the deceased is engraved on a 
 tablet over the doorway. The principal apartment is 
 lined with four Corinthian pilasters on each side, with 
 recesses between them for mummies, the Egyptian 
 mode of interment prevailing here,— each recess divided 
 into five tiers by shelves, only one of which retains its 
 position. A statue in a reclining posture lay at the end 
 of the tomb between two semi-pillars; busts, with in¬ 
 scriptions in the Palmyrene character, range between 
 them, just below the cornice, and this again supports a 
 false sarcophagus, sculptured with four busts, and 
 covered by an embroidered cushion, on which the 
 effigy of a dead body seems once to have lain. Two 
 smaller Ionic pillars flank the sarcophagus. Several 
 other busts, all with Palmyrene inscriptions, are sculp¬ 
 tured in relief over the door of entrance, and that of 
 the staircase which leads to the upper story. The 
 ceiling, broken through in the centre, but perfect at 
 both ends, is sculptured all over with a beautiful pat¬ 
 tern, tastefully coloured, of white flowers on blue 
 grounds, enclosed within small squares, and they within 
 larger, formed by lines of deep brown crossing each 
 other, with yellow knobs at the points of intersection. 
 Towards each extremity of the ceiling are two male 
 
326 
 
 PALMYRA. 
 
 busts, in Roman costume, on a blue ground, the colour 
 as bright as if laid on yesterday. The cornice is beau¬ 
 tiful—the echinus or egg ornament, and roses between 
 projecting modillions,—the same as that in the library 
 at Haigh, and which is found on almost every building 
 at Palmyra and Baalbec. The upper and lower apart¬ 
 ments display little or no ornament, except a pediment 
 or two in the former,— a doorway from the east led 
 down by a flight of steps to the latter, the roof of 
 which, forming the floor of the principal chamber, has 
 fallen in; it has four large recesses for burial, on each 
 side. The date of this edifice is a.d. 103. ( 47 ) 
 
 The tomb of Jamblichus, mentioned by Wood, eighty 
 years ago, “ as the most perfect piece of antiquity” he 
 ever saw, is now dreadfully dilapidated, its stairs crum¬ 
 bled away, and the floor of the fourth story entirely 
 gone. It is five stories high, and was built in the third 
 year of the Christian era. Like that of Manaius, the 
 principal chamber is ornamented with four pilasters on 
 either side. The ceiling is the chief object of attrac¬ 
 tion, beautifully disposed in deep diamond-like com¬ 
 partments, filled with mythological devices on blue 
 grounds, all much defaced—the diamonds occupy each 
 the centre of a square, and the triangular spaces 
 formed by the prolongation of their angles are orna 
 mented with heads and the winged vulture of Egypt. 
 The roof of the second story is sculptured with a very 
 curious and complicated device,— stars composed of 
 diamonds touching at their sides, within large squares, 
 &c. &c.—These are the best preserved tombs at Pal¬ 
 myra,—two others, however, much interested me—the 
 second from that of Iamblichus, which leads to a 
 sepulchre excavated in the rock—and one completely 
 hollowed out of the hill, on the left, going up to the 
 castle; I crept into it by a hole like the entrances to 
 
PALMYRA. 
 
 327 
 
 the tombs of the oldest Theban Pharaohs at Quoornet 
 Murraee, but there was no queen of Sheba within to 
 repay me for the trouble. There are some other tombs, 
 partly built, partly excavated, and these appear to me 
 the most ancient monuments of Palmyra. 
 
 It was excessively hot all the time we were there; 
 to avoid the heat, vary the aspect of the scenery, and, 
 in case there should be any mischief imagined against 
 us by the Bedouins, to baulk their measures, we deter¬ 
 mined on turning night into day, and travelling by star¬ 
 light only, on our return to Damascus. We mounted 
 accordingly, at half-past eight on Sunday evening, the 
 twelfth of June, and quitted Palmyra by the necropolis, 
 the sepulchral towers sternly glooming through the 
 darkness. We halted for the day at half-past six the 
 next morning, but got little sleep on account of the 
 intense heat of the sun, and a hot wind that brought 
 quantities of sand into the tent; moreover, the whole 
 party were in peculiarly high spirits, and, when we 
 composed ourselves to an attempt to sleep, found it 
 impossible. After supping on rice and strong tea, we 
 started again at half-past eight, and reached Karietein 
 at half-past seven on Tuesday morning ; it was a lovely 
 night; the summer lightning gleamed in the distance, 
 and about midnight a most splendid meteor, brighter 
 than the moon, sailed majestically across the heaven, 
 and disappeared like a rocket,—such was Palmyra’s 
 glory. ( 49 ) This was shortly before arriving at Khan 
 Khai’r, a lofty ruined tower, romantically interesting as 
 the spot where former travellers had been robbed, but 
 to us only as a landmark,—for, travelling at the hour 
 we did, we had no apprehension of an attack. When 
 we first reached it, however, coming from Damascus, 
 the appearance of a Bedouin, reconnoitring us on the 
 horizon, was rather startling; and, as we rode past a 
 
328 
 
 RETURN TO DAMASCUS. 
 
 small caravan that presently appeared, we presented as 
 martial a front as we could, riding all in file, with guns 
 displayed, &c. 
 
 We were all very sleepy this second night; I walked 
 and rode alternately, which kept me awake, but one of 
 my friends fell off his horse, and hurt his hip, which 
 detained us some time, so that we were eleven houi'S in 
 doing what ought to have been performed in ten. I 
 was not so sleepy or tired as I expected, got eight 
 hours’ repose during the day, and felt quite fresh during 
 the following night.—We started shortly after sunset, 
 at twenty minutes past seven—a lovely moon, but, as 
 usual, bitterly cold; the horses went extremely well at 
 first, but flagged the latter part of the night. At sun¬ 
 rise we passed a ruined Khan on the left, and at seven 
 minutes past eight reached Anta, which for two or three 
 hours had been provokingly visible in the distance, and 
 which it seemed destined we were never to reach,— 
 nor was it, after all, to be our resting-place—we pressed 
 on, and halted at last, at a quarter past nine, after a 
 ride of fourteen hours, at Jerud, where we breakfasted, 
 slept, and dined as usual, and started again at eight in 
 the evening—striking towards the Aleppo road, and 
 riding (especially towards daybreak) through mist and 
 fog, noxious exhalations, damp and cheerless, the road 
 seeming to lengthen as we journeyed,—and passinglarge 
 fires from time to time, flaring wildly to the right and 
 left of the track, with groups of Arabs gathered round 
 them, moving in the flames, as it seemed to my excited 
 and wearied brain, like demons. We reached Damas¬ 
 cus at last, at a quarter past seven in the morning, 
 after a ride of eleven hours and a half. 
 
 [It was on my arrival at Damascus, that I learnt, 
 from my kind and deeply sympathizing friend Mr. 
 
DAMASCUS. 
 
 329 
 
 Farren, the mournful intelligence that Mr. Ramsay 
 had fallen a victim to the cholera during my absence. 
 He had accompanied us as far as our first encampment 
 at Adra, five hours from Damascus, but returned the 
 following morning, having been unwell during the 
 night, and not feeling sufficient interest in the excur¬ 
 sion (which he had never fancied) to induce him to 
 come on with us. On re-entering Damascus, symp¬ 
 toms of cholera became apparent; all remedies proved 
 ineffectual, and at three on the morning of the 8th of 
 June, my poor friend was released from suffering. 
 
 I cannot refrain from inserting the closing lines of his 
 Journal, and the supplement which I observe has been 
 added in pencil since it left my hands: “ We had senton 
 Missirie to Mr. Farren’s,to ask for rooms in his house for 
 strangers Rut this had been destroyed by the earthquake, 
 so we found our way to the Convent, where . . .” “in 
 less than three days afterwards, the writer of this 
 Journal, dear William, ended his earthly career, leaving 
 us good hope to believe that he has entered the New 
 Jerusalem, and is there enjoying the blessing of that 
 rest prepared for the people of God.”] 
 
 Section IV. 
 
 Several weeks having elapsed, and all my sad arrange¬ 
 ments being completed, there being nothing more to 
 detain me here till the time of ultimate departure—my 
 friends Pell and Alewyn proposed my joining them in 
 an excursion they meditated to Baalbec and the cedars 
 of Lebanon. I felt low in spirits, I was sick too of 
 Damascus, the heat even of Salhyieh was intense, and 
 I longed for the snow and the mountain streams and 
 breezes; I went with them therefore, and I am glad I did 
 
330 
 
 DAMASCUS. 
 
 so, for I have been better both in mind and body ever 
 since. I had another reason for wishing to leave Da¬ 
 mascus for a while; I was living all this time in Mr. Far- 
 ren’s house; his kindness would not allow of my quit¬ 
 ting it for my own apartments at the Sheikh’s, and I saw 
 no way of effecting an exit, unless by leaving Damascus 
 altogether, and returning to my own quarters,—yet 
 even this I was obliged to relinquish before my depar¬ 
 ture, and declare myself Mr. F.’s willing prisoner during 
 the whole time I should be detained here.—I have not 
 words to tell you how kind he has been to me, how at¬ 
 tentive to save me pain, and provide me with every 
 comfort. 
 
 I told you, I think, that Mr. Farren had been attacked 
 by cholera a day or two after my return from Palmyra. 
 He has been living almost ever since at his tents, leav¬ 
 ing me his locum tenens here. The day we were to start 
 for Baalbec, my companions being detained by the de¬ 
 camping of one of their grooms, who had been paid 
 forty piastres in advance, I rode on by myself, expect¬ 
 ing them to overtake me at the noonday halting-place. 
 In half an hour, reaching the brow of the hill, I bade 
 adieu to the plain of Damascus—a most lovely spec¬ 
 tacle—the city, with her picturesque minarets, sailing- 
 like a fleet through a sea of verdure. The view in the 
 Landscape Annual (I think) is taken from this spot, or 
 rather from a Sheikh’s (Saint’s) tomb a little off the 
 road, which I climbed up to, but found the artist had, 
 innocently enough, taken the liberty of altering the 
 position of the Arch, which in the original cuts the view 
 in two. 
 
 Nothing can be conceived more dreary than the 
 ravines near Damascus, except when streams flow 
 through them, which are always fringed with green. 
 
VALLEY OF BARRADA. 
 
 331 
 
 In about an hour after starting, I reached the Barrada 
 or ancient Pharphar, (“ lucid stream! ”) rapidly flowing 
 over its bed of rocks,—and followed its course for 
 several hours among the loveliest groves of poplars, 
 figs, walnuts, olives, pomegranates, and vines; innu¬ 
 merable bright and clear streams spring from the rocks 
 close to the road side, and run merrily down to the 
 river; but raise your eyes above them, and all is barren¬ 
 ness,—glaring white walls of stone, without even crag¬ 
 giness to relieve their ugliness. 
 
 After about an hour and three quarters’ lonely ride, 
 I was encountered by a janissary of Mr. Farren’s, who 
 invited me, in his master’s name, to pay him a visit.— 
 I found his tents pitched in a most lovely glade, a little 
 above the river, but so sequestered in the woods, as to 
 be utterly invisible to the passing wayfarer. It was a 
 singular approximation of the East and West, of the 
 extremes of refinement, and—I will not call it bar¬ 
 barism, but anti-civilization; Mrs. Farren was seated 
 at her work-table in a charming recess, completely 
 shaded by trees; Mr. F.’s mat lay on the ground oppo¬ 
 site her, and a Bedouin of the Waled Ali tribe of 
 Anezees, who had brought despatches from Bagdad in 
 seven days and a half across the desert, squatted in 
 eastern immobility beside it After half an hour’s de¬ 
 lightful and most refreshing converse with my kind 
 friends, I rode on. 
 
 At five hours and three quarters from Damascus, we 
 entered a wild mountain pass, through which the Bar¬ 
 rada comes foaming down like a maniac. We saw 
 tombs, high in the rocks, and the remains of a temple 
 below, and of an aqueduct excavated in the rocks above, 
 the bridge by which we crossed it. Presently, after 
 passing a very beautiful waterfall on the left, we emerged 
 
332 
 
 CROSS ANTILIBANUS. 
 
 into the upper valley of the Barrada, where he flows as 
 gentle as infancy, yet diffusing verdure and fertility all 
 around him. Every stream, indeed, that descended 
 from the hills was made available to the irrigation of 
 long strips of green that marked its course. The soil 
 of the valley is very rich and well cultivated; harvest 
 was going on, the reapers plucking up the corn hy the 
 roots, like the old Egyptians. 
 
 The scenery became more and more beautiful as we 
 advanced, and very English too; the vineyards were 
 protected, each by its low wall and hedge; cross-barred 
 gates, which it would puzzle even James to clear, 
 secured every field,—had I been James himself I could 
 not have seen them with more pleasure; while our ap¬ 
 proach to Zebdani, our halting place that night, was 
 through green lanes, bordered by lofty hedges of wild 
 roses and other flowers, as shady and cool as those of 
 old England that Miss Mitford loves so dearly and de¬ 
 scribes so well. Here, according to Arab tradition, 
 Cain slew Abel—Adam was made of the red earth of 
 Damascus, the plain El Ghoutta in which it stands 
 being Paradise; and the tombs of many other patri¬ 
 archs, giants, and men of renown, are found in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Next morning, we crossed Antiiibanus; the scenery 
 is very grand,—lofty crags, covered with prickly oaks 
 and dwarf valonidis. We reached the highest point 
 in rather more than three hours and a half, and the 
 snowy Lebanon stood before us in all his grandeur,— 
 a long mountain ridge, extending N.E. and S.W. as 
 far as the eye could reach, and separated from Antiii¬ 
 banus by the Bekaa, a beautiful valley, several miles 
 broad, well cultivated, and covered with villages. The 
 first we reached was called Nebe Sheet, after the pro¬ 
 phet Seth, son of Adam,—then Britani (its name was a 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 333 
 
 pleasant surprise to us), ( 49 ) then Taibi; not one of 
 which you will find in the maps. Possibly this may 
 be the “valley of Baca” of the Psalmist, both names 
 implying the vale of mulberries. 
 
 At last, after a tedious ride through the uninteresting 
 hills that intervene between the plain and the actual foot 
 of Antilibanus, we caught sight of a long line of trees, 
 marking the course of a stream towards the centre of 
 the valley, and, (as it seemed,) a castle rising above 
 them, with a lofty tower, which resolved itself, as we 
 drew nearer, into six stately columns,—it was Baalbec; 
 but more than an hour elapsed before we reached the 
 quarries that supplied the material for those wondrous 
 pillars—and, a little farther on, within three or four 
 hundred yards of the Temple of the Sun, were stopped 
 by quarantine officers (common soldiers) with words 
 and gestures tantamount to “ On ne passe pas ici.” 
 
 Could anything be more provoking ? A strong de¬ 
 tachment of Ibraham’s cavalry is quartered at Baalbec, 
 and, from an absurd dread of the cholera, as a con¬ 
 tagious disease, this cordon had been ordered round 
 the place. Arguing was of no use—we .said we did not 
 want to enter the village or approach the camp, but 
 merely to look at the old stones, which were quite un¬ 
 connected with either, and desired them to go and say 
 so to their commanding officer, and beg him to give us 
 leave to enter, or else to come out and speak with us 
 himself; Englishmen, some one said, were not accus¬ 
 tomed to be treated in this sort of way,—no one moved, 
 and “ Ingles kelb !” “ the English are dogs !”•—was the 
 only reply. Now, infidel, thought I, I have thee on the 
 hip ! and forthwith commenced manoeuvring after my 
 friend Clarke’s system of tactics. I made noise enough 
 about the word that the soldier might see I understood 
 him; he tried hard to equivocate, but it would not do 
 
334 
 
 BAALBEC. 
 
 with so short a sentence; I slowly pulled out my note¬ 
 book, and eyeing the man attentively, pretended to write 
 down a minute description of his person—asked him 
 his name, which he refused to give—no matter—then 
 pulled out and opened my firman, crackled it, and 
 uttered the words “Mahommed Ali”—“ Ibraham Pasha” 
 several times with much austerity; it answered! off 
 went the message—back came plenary indulgence to 
 enter—and up, as I rode on, came the soldier bully, to 
 kiss my hand, (he made a dash at it, or he would not 
 have touched it,) and fawn for pardon. 
 
 Had I seen the commandant, I would most undoubt¬ 
 edly have complained of the man, not that I cared a 
 fig about my nation being accused of puppyism, but 
 that this habitual insolence towards Franks ought in 
 every way to be resisted. A marked distinction is 
 already made by the Turks between Ingles andFrangi, 
 all in our favour, and I have never let an opportunity 
 slip of upholding our national character, as quite dis¬ 
 tinct from that of the Franks. The Levant has always 
 been overrun by Italian and French adventurers, from 
 whom the Turks, till within these few years, formed all 
 their ideas of Europeans, confounding every nation 
 under the term Frangi; the English they have now 
 learnt to distinguish from the herd, to respect and fear 
 us, to look up to us as wiser than themselves, and to 
 esteem, I believe, if they do not like us. “ The word 
 of an Englishman” is almost proverbial in Syria. In 
 fact, a singular change is taking place in the character 
 of the people; prejudice is gradually wearing away; 
 the extension of the Egyptian dominion over Syria, 
 productive, as it has been, of incalculable individual 
 suffering, may eventually be the cause of much gene¬ 
 ral good. The English are summoned to the breach; 
 I do not think (I hope I am not speaking presumptu- 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 335 
 
 ously) that much can be done openly as yet, but the 
 way seems to be paving for a great moral revolution, in 
 which we must be active and zealous in our master’s 
 cause,—or woe betide us! The eye of Providence is 
 visibly watching this land—all Turkey indeed; and, as 
 its counsels are unfolded in the progress of events, I 
 doubt not we shall see cause to admire and praise 
 the unsearchable wisdom of God in preparing the way, 
 and affording the means for the revival of his Gospel in 
 the land it first rose upon 
 
 We pitched our tent near a beautiful walnut tree, at 
 the N.W. corner of the platform on which the Temples 
 are built. 
 
 The ruins of Baalbec consist of two very large tem¬ 
 ples, the smaller and best known of which was sacred to 
 the Sun, Baal, while the larger, dedicated to “the Great 
 Gods of Heliopolis,” seems never to have been finished. 
 With the help of Pococke’s description, which was as 
 unintelligible to me as I fear mine will be to you, till I 
 stood on the spot, I made out its plan most satisfac¬ 
 torily, and have been wondering at its grandeur ever 
 since; the architect must have been the Michael Angelo 
 of antiquity. 
 
 As a site for this magnificent pile, a lofty platform 
 was built of very massive stones, supported by two 
 parallel vaulted passages, running from east to west, 
 lofty, and of most beautiful workmanship, and con¬ 
 nected with each other by a third passage, running at 
 right angles to them from north to south. The grand 
 entrance was from the east, by a flight of steps, leading 
 to a portico flanked by handsome pavilions on the right 
 and left. A lofty doorway introduced the visitor into a 
 polygonal court, from which, passing into a second, 
 three hundred and fifty feet square, and ascending a flight 
 of steps, he proceeded under a double colonnade to the 
 
336 
 
 BAALBEC. 
 
 grand portico of the temple, consisting of two (or, per¬ 
 haps, three) rows of columns, fifty or sixty feet in height, 
 while the peristyle consisted, or was to consist, of six¬ 
 teen, in length, on each side, and eight at the west end 
 —all of the same gigantic proportions. Of the temple 
 itself, if it was ever built, not a trace remains, except a 
 line of stones that perhaps marked the cella. From the 
 eastern landing-place to the western extremity of the 
 temple, I found it three hundred and thirty-six paces, 
 or more than a thousand feet. 
 
 Such was the idea of the architect—the Plato of ar¬ 
 chitectural antiquity ; modern additions have done much 
 to obscure the plan of what was executed, hut, after 
 careful examination, and rejection of the adventitious 
 parts, as distinguished from those which, at first sight, 
 resemble them, but are in reality unfinished walls per¬ 
 taining to the original design, it all comes out clear, 
 and your fancy builds up the pile as beautiful and 
 sublime as it gleamed before the mind’s eye of the 
 architect. 
 
 And who was that architect ? Might it not have been 
 Apollodorus of Damascus, who threw Trajan’s Bridge 
 across the Danube, and who was put to death by Ha¬ 
 drian, for a witty criticism on one of his own Imperial 
 designs ? Left imperfect, we may be very sure that the 
 jealous Emperor would not have finished the work of 
 his rival. 
 
 I reconcile this idea with the assertion of the Byzan¬ 
 tine, John of Malala, that Antoninus Pius built a temple 
 to Jupiter, one of the wonders of the world, at Helio¬ 
 polis—and with the fact of the singular resemblance 
 that exists between the architecture of the two temples 
 •—by the reflection, that the unfinished temple, there 
 can be no doubt, was dedicated to the Deities of Helio¬ 
 polis collectively, ( 60 ) and that one can no more be sur- 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 337 
 
 prised that the reverence of the pious Antoninus for his 
 benefactor’s memory should have ensured its neglect, 
 than that his taste and candour should have done jus¬ 
 tice to the talents of the unfortunate Apollodorus, in 
 adopting his design of the larger temple for that of the 
 smaller—confessedly dedicated to Jupiter or Baal, and 
 which might well be described in the language of any 
 age—much more in the inflated style of the lower Em¬ 
 pire—as a wonder of the world. 
 
 A few words now on the actual condition of the larger 
 temple.—Of the grand staircase no vestige remains, 
 and a modern wall has been built in the place of the 
 portico, overtopping the landing-place. Of the pavi¬ 
 lions, that on the right remains in tolerable preserva¬ 
 tion ; you enter under an arch, flanked by square 
 Corinthian pillars, each of two large blocks of stone, 
 lessening towards the capital ; these extraordinary 
 columns give an Egyptian character to this part of the 
 building—which is rather confirmatory of my theory as 
 to the age and the architect; there was a strong bias to 
 the Egyptian style in the architecture of Hadrian’s 
 time. Within the pavilion you find beautiful niches 
 for statues, with pediments, &c. 
 
 Neither the sculpture of the grand Portal, (which had 
 two smaller entrances on its right and left,) nor that of 
 the wall of connexion between the two pavilions, was 
 ever finished. The polygonal court seems also to have 
 been left very imperfect; the great court, however, is 
 surrounded by chambers for the priests, and exedra , or 
 pillared recesses, for the philosophers to sit and lecture 
 in—decorated with most beautifully sculp.ured niches 
 and pediments, friezes and cornices,—niches for idols, 
 richly ornamented, project between each chamber or 
 recess. The beauty of some of the friezes is beyond 
 all praise; in one of them I discovered the orb with 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 BAALBEC. 
 
 wings and serpents, precisely the same as that which 
 figures on every Egyptian temple. 
 
 In front of the recess in which this device occurs, lie 
 fragments of most beautiful granite columns; probably 
 all the exedroe were faced by them. The central colon¬ 
 nade which existed in La Roque’s time (1688) has now 
 completely disappeared; the platform on which it 
 stood remains. A large semicircular building has been 
 built by the Saracens in front of the portico,—the bases, 
 indeed, of the eight columns of which the first row con¬ 
 sisted, are built into it. We determined the number of 
 columns the peristyle consisted of, by supplying losses 
 and omissions from the opposite sides,—on the S. there 
 are distinct traces of ten—the three most westerly 
 fallen, the six next standing, and the base of the tenth 
 still in its place, while beyond it the platform has been 
 completely broken down since Pococke’s time, when 
 nine of the great pillars were standing.* Opposite 
 this tenth base, stand the base and broken shaft of the 
 column that corresponded to it on the other side of the 
 temple, beyond which we distinctly traced six bases in 
 their original places, built into the modern wall, making 
 up the number of intended columns sixteen,—while, 
 beyond them, there appeared to have been two, or, 
 perhaps, three more, belonging to the portico; the 
 seventeenth is wanting. 
 
 Of the three most westerly columns, on the north side 
 of the temple, there are no traces—not even their bases, 
 and it struck me that the three immense blocks of 
 stone, from sixty-three to sixty-seven feet in length, 
 and twelve feet thick, which lie in the outer wall of the 
 platform at this very spot, and below its level, and 
 which Dr. Richardson conjectures were lowered to 
 
 * The same number that Belon found in 1549. 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 339 
 
 their present position by the workmen who found them 
 lying useless on the top of the platform—were the in¬ 
 tended material for these very pillars, never worked 
 upon. In the quarry we passed, approaching the 
 town, lies another block, undetached from the rock, of 
 still more stupendous dimensions, sixty-eight feet in 
 length, and from twelve to fifteen thick. 
 
 The six surviving columns are the glory of Baalbec; 
 they are the principal object in every view of the ruins, 
 but the most pleasing aspect, I thought, was from a 
 little Corinthian temple to the south of the platform, 
 where the wall has been broken down. Viewed, how T - 
 ever, near or far, they are equally worthy of love and 
 admiration,—whether you watch them from a distance, 
 or, looking upward from their feet, criticise their de¬ 
 tails, the chaste ornament of their suffit, their rich 
 frieze, their superb cornice — and pronounce them 
 faultless.—Palmyra at sunrise, and Baalbec at sunset, 
 are Claudes treasured in the cabinet of the memory, 
 which neither accident can injure, nor beggary deprive 
 one of. 
 
 The Temple of the Sun stands directly south of the 
 great Temple, and the best view of it, commanding its 
 northern and w r estern facades, is from underneath the 
 six pillars. The platform, on which it stands, adjoins 
 the great one, but is considerably lower; indeed it 
 appears to me built up against it — a later con¬ 
 struction. 
 
 It is only by comparison, however, that either plat¬ 
 form or temple can be spoken of as small. The N. 
 and S. sides w r ere ornamented by fourteen magnificent 
 pillars, of wdiich nine on the N. and four on the S. are 
 still standing,—the W. end, by eight, of which the 
 three most southerly are perfect, the next four broken, 
 and the last, towmrds the N., prostrate. The ground, 
 
 z 2 
 
340 
 
 BAALBEC. 
 
 between the temple and the western wall, is heaped 
 with broken shafts and capitals. All the columns of 
 this peristyle are Corinthian, with smooth shafts, each 
 of three pieces of stone —like the six great columns— 
 admirably joined. The frieze, cornice, &c. most 
 beautiful. The lacunari, or panels of the suffit of 
 the peristyle, are sculptured in imitation of network, 
 a series of large busts and mythological designs 
 running down the centre, each in the middle of a large 
 diamond, and smaller busts occupying the angles 
 formed by the interlacing compartments,—a most in¬ 
 tricate and indescribable design, but very beautiful. 
 On the N. side, under the nine columns, these lacunari 
 remain very nearly perfect. 
 
 The walls of the temple, within the peristyle, are, as 
 usual, quite unornamented except by pilasters at the 
 angles, and by the cornice, which, on the south side, 
 is seen to great advantage from below the platform. 
 The grand staircase, mentioned by La Roque in 1688, 
 has been destroyed. 
 
 Of the portico, four columns only remain perfect— 
 it the S. E. angle. It consisted of two rows of columns, 
 all fluted, except the two last on either side, belonging 
 to the peristyle. The frieze and cornice above these 
 four columns are most beautiful; a battlemented tower 
 has been built over them by the Saracens, who have 
 also most barbarously reared a huge wall directly in 
 front of the great gate of the temple. Creeping through 
 a low gateway, we found ourselves before this match¬ 
 less portal; every ornament that could be introduced 
 into Corinthian architecture is lavished on it, and yet 
 it is perfectly light and graceful. It is composed of 
 nine vast stones, six forming the sides, and three the 
 top; each must be some tons weight. The keystone 
 has slipped partly through, and hangs ominously over 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 341 
 
 head, as one passes under it. An eagle is carved on 
 the suffit, holding in his talons what has been called the 
 Caduceus, and ribbons in his beak flowing towards a 
 winged genius — “a messenger of Heaven,” Anne 
 would call him—“ sailing upon the bosom of the air,” 
 —and holding a wreath of fruits; his brother, once to 
 be seen to the right of the eagle, lias been defaced. 
 
 The ornaments of this door-case are exquisitely de¬ 
 licate, especially the ears of corn and the grapes and 
 vine leaves,—it was not till a second or a third visit, 
 that we distinguished the little elves or genii lurking 
 among the leaves in the lower compartments formed 
 by the intertwining vine. The rolling frieze, the 
 cornice, the surviving scroll—I have no words to express 
 their beauty. 
 
 The interior of the temple is also very richly orna¬ 
 mented,—six fluted pillars adhering to the walls on 
 each side, with an arch of most delicate sculpture, sur¬ 
 mounted by a niche and rich pediment, between each 
 pillar. Two other arches, beyond the sixth pillar on 
 either side, and separated by pilasters, appear to have 
 belonged to a small arcade on each side of the great 
 altar — now utterly destroyed. The double row of 
 pillars, added by Theodosius, when he converted this 
 temple into a church, was still visible at the commence¬ 
 ment of the last century. 
 
 But turn to Wood, dear mother—I should not be 
 surprised if he has omitted all mention of a curious 
 Saracenic building, directly facing the temple,—(the 
 whole ruins, in short—and I ought to have mentioned 
 it before — were turned by them into an immense 
 castle;) its semi-vaulted portals, scooped shell-wise, 
 like the ceilings of the Alhambra, lead to staircases, 
 one running down into the platform, but filled up with 
 rubbish,— the other leading to the roof. Peeping 
 
342 
 
 BAALBEC. 
 
 through the chinks of a door a few steps up, I saw a 
 large chamber with pointed arches, now used, appa¬ 
 rently, for a magazine.—Ibrahim Pasha’s soldiers are, 
 I fancy, the utilitarians who have turned the vaults 
 and halls of Baalbec to such profitable account. We 
 passed their camp on the east of the ruins ; they were 
 watering their horses at the brook of Baalbec,—I never 
 saw such a number of fine animals. 
 
 Leaving the platform by the southern breach, and 
 crossing the stream, we proceeded to a beautiful little 
 Corinthian temple among the trees, circular within 
 and without, and pierced externally with handsome 
 niches, each flanked by two columns,—the architraves, 
 cornices, &c. curving inwardly, so as to give the building 
 the appearance of an octagon. Wreaths are gracefully 
 suspended from the cornice over each niche. A more 
 elegant little edifice I have seldom seen. Earthquakes 
 have sadly shaken it, and four pillars only are standing. 
 The door-posts are of single blocks of stone.—But 
 everything is on a grand scale at Baalbec,—the blocks 
 of the great platform frequently measure from fifteen to 
 thirty feet in length. 
 
 We observed three Arabic inscriptions in the walls of 
 the platform—one on the east side, near the N. E. 
 angle,— another, in large and beautiful characters, on 
 a fallen stone near the S. E. angle,—and a third at the 
 S. W. corner; all in the modern character. Baalbec 
 made a noble defence against Abou Obeidah, the Lieu¬ 
 tenant of the Caliph Omar, and, on surrendering, was 
 condemned to pay two thousand ounces of gold, four 
 thousand of silver, two thousand silk vests, and a 
 thousand swords ; she was very powerful too under the 
 Omniades—Now, how fallen !—How hath the fine gold 
 become dim, the City of the Sun ceased 1 
 
BAALBEC. 
 
 343 
 
 But the brook of Baalbec still wimples on, 
 
 “ Its silver streams glittering in the sunny beams,” 
 
 brightly as the Tweed—transparently as the rill im¬ 
 mortalized by Ben Yousef:— 
 
 “ So smooth the pebbles on its shore 
 That not a maid can thither stray, 
 
 But counts her strings of jewels o’er, 
 
 And thinks the pearls have slipped away!" 
 
 About half an hour’s walk W. of the ruins, stand 
 eight stumpy columns of most beautiful Egyptian 
 granite, highly polished, and, for the most part, without 
 a scratch on them ; all, except three, standing on their 
 heads—no capitals, and supporting a most clumsy 
 superstructure of calcareous stone, the fallen roof of 
 which covers the floor. A very large massive slipper 
 bath (at least liker one than a sarcophagus) has been 
 stuck, feet upwards, between two of the pillars, and is 
 retained in its position by a thin slab, awkwardly in¬ 
 terposed between it and the architrave. I never saw 
 such a jumblement. It is probably some Sheikh’s 
 tomb ; no Moslem would have ever thought of building 
 it for the sake of preserving the pillars ; they, doubt¬ 
 less, were removed from the Great Temple. 
 
 Thus much for Baalbec ! ( 51 ) 
 
 “ Now upon Syria’s land of roses 
 Softly the light of eve reposes, 
 
 And, like a glory, the broad Sun 
 Hangs over sainted Lebanon, 
 
 Whose head in wintry grandeur towers, 
 
 And whitens in eternal sleet, 
 
 While Summer, in a vale of flowers, 
 
 Is sleeping rosy at his feet.”( 52 ) 
 
 Such was the evening—calm and beautiful, as we 
 rode slowly away from Baalbec across the Bekaa, in a 
 
344 
 
 TRIBES OF LEBANON. 
 
 north-westerly direction, towards Deir el Akhmar, a 
 village on the lowest slope of Lebanon, three hours 
 distant; we encamped there near the ruin of a Co¬ 
 rinthian temple.* ( 53 ) The only object of interest on 
 the road is an isolated Corinthian pillar, that rises 
 nobly in the middle of the plain, nearly, if I mistake 
 not, west of Baalbec. It looks best from a distance, 
 and was evidently intended to be so seen; the shaft 
 consists of fourteen courses of stone, the capital of one, 
 and the base of two,—the whole elevated on a platform 
 of four courses, projecting one beyond another, like 
 steps; we saw no inscription, nor any ruins near, to 
 which it could have belonged. It might have been 
 surmounted by a statue, like Pompey’s pillar at Alex¬ 
 andria. 
 
 At Deir el Akhmar, w r e first found ourselves among 
 the Maronites, a Christian nation of Syrian descent, 
 but, by adhesion, a branch of the Church of Rome, 
 who inhabit the central regions, chiefly, of Mount Le¬ 
 banon. They speak Arabic, but write it in the ancient 
 Syriac character; they are an industrious, hospitable, 
 estimable race, I believe, and we were much pleased 
 Avith what we saw of them. 
 
 Three other tribes live on the mountain—ever a 
 refuge for the oppressed:—the Anzairies, a remnant of 
 the ancient Pagan inhabitants of Syria, (some of whom, 
 the Ismaylys, or Assassins of the old writers, are said 
 to retain the most abominable superstitions of Egypt 
 
 “ It was originally ornamented with pillars and pilasters of the 
 Corinthian order; one of the latter remains, at the N.W. corner, 
 and the fragment of a column,— several bases are worked into a 
 modern wall which has rendered this ruin habitable; the foundation 
 stones are just vi-.ible above the ground, by following which I 
 ascertained that it had been 29 J paces long by 11^ broad.” Orig. 
 Journal. [ 1647. j 
 
THE DRUSES. 
 
 345 
 
 and Greece,) live to the north of the Maronites; south 
 of them, dwell the Metoualis, hated by Turks and 
 Arabs as belonging to the Persian sect of Mahometans 
 called Shiites, who consider the first three Caliphs as 
 usurpers,—many of this race live in the Bekaa—Baal- 
 bec was their stronghold, but they are a scattered peo¬ 
 ple, and their territories much diminished; lastly, the 
 Druses occupy all the Gebel Sannin, or southern chain 
 of Lebanon, including the maritime district of Kesrouan, 
 as far south as Deir el Kammar, where the Emir Beshir, 
 their Prince, resides,*—they are a sect of Moslems, 
 who believe that the Deity became incarnate in the 
 person of Hakim, the fanatic Caliph of Egypt,( M ) and 
 expect his return as the Moehdy or Saviour—from 
 China ! to establish his universal worship, and the ex¬ 
 clusive dominion of his followers. They are divided 
 into two classes, akhals, and djahels , the initiated, and 
 non-initiated into their mysteries, which seem, how’ever, 
 to be very simple, for even children are intrusted with 
 their secrets. These religious chameleons adopt the 
 external religion of whatever people they live amongst, 
 affirming that they are commanded to do so till the 
 Moehdy return.—These are the people whose cleanli¬ 
 ness and pleasing manners so much charmed me in 
 the Hauran; I have seen little or nothing of those in 
 Mount Lebanon. Great numbers of Maronites live 
 intermingled with them, particularly in the Kesrouan. 
 
 About two hundred years ago, a general belief pre¬ 
 vailed in Europe that these Druses w T ere descendants of 
 a party of Crusaders, who had remained in Syria under 
 a Comte de Dreux; their famous Emir Fakr-ed-din, 
 the guest of the de’ Medici,( 65 ) favoured the delusion; 
 
 * When the ferdi tax was imposed, the Druses were reckoned in 
 the Government return at 15,000 males; the Maronites at the same 
 number; the Metoualis at 1200; and the Anzairies at 20,000. 
 
346 
 
 SYRIO-NORMAN RACES. 
 
 yet never had a theory less foundation. You meet with 
 traces of the Franks, reminiscences of the Crusades, 
 everywhere in Syria, but — while the Bekaris, or 
 descendants of Abubekr, (Mr. Farren showed me their 
 pedigree,) are still flourishing at Damascus, as well as 
 the houses of many of the Companions of Mahomet— 
 the descendants of the Berengers, Betliunes, Lusignans, 
 D’lbelins, and other Syiio-Norman families recorded 
 in the Lignages d’Outremer, Duchesne’s folios, and the 
 old Chronicles, have sunk—if indeed any of them re¬ 
 main— into mere fellahs, or cultivating Arabs, — so 
 quickly does the race degenerate in this clime of the 
 sun!—And yet never was a rule proved by a more 
 interesting exception—the discovery made a few years 
 ago by a Frank traveller, to whose eyes, like mine, a 
 landscape in Lebanon had scarcely more attractions 
 than a bundle of old parchments, that the village 
 Sheikh, in whose possession he found them, was the 
 descendant of one of the oldest crusading families in 
 France !—Ignorance would have been bliss in his case, 
 poor old man! he started forthwith on pilgrimage to 
 Paris, and got as far as Alexandria, but falling ill there, 
 and other obstructions being cast in his way by a kind 
 Providence, he returned to his village—Gausta, and 
 was living there in extreme old age about two years 
 ago. Mr. Farren tells me that, along the mountains of 
 Safeta, there is a line of feudal towers from Tripoli to 
 the plain of Homs, evidently built by the crusaders as 
 a means of defence and communication between those 
 points, and completely commanding Lebanon. The 
 splendid castle of Hosn is in the range, and Mr. Farren 
 is strongly of opinion that the very large Convent of 
 Mar Georgius, which is in its immediate vicinity, and 
 the most celebrated of the Greek ecclesiastical posses¬ 
 sions in Syria, is the Convent at which that celebrated 
 
MOUNT LEBANON. 
 
 347 
 
 conflict took place, when a detachment of the Arabs 
 who were then besieging Damascus carried off the 
 daughter of the Governor of Tripoli, who, with her 
 bridegroom and a gallant train, had gone there to be 
 wedded.( 56 ) A distinct and warlike race of Christians 
 still live in that neighbourhood, though the greater part 
 of what they once possessed has been wrested from 
 them by the Sejoote, a very bold and martial race, of 
 Arab descent, among whom too some Curdish settle¬ 
 ments have been made.—There, Mr. Farren thinks that 
 traces of the Crusaders or their descendants might be 
 sought for with most likelihood of success, but all his 
 own inquiries have hitherto proved fruitless. ( 57 ) 
 
 Now let us cross Mount Lebanon — it bears the same 
 name still, Gebel Libnan; it is spelt Limanon in the 
 Theban sculptures of the invasion of Osirei. 
 
 Starting from Deir el Akhmar, at a quarter past four 
 in the morning, and ascending through woods of prickly 
 oak and valonidi, we reached, in three hours, the ruined 
 village Ainnet, from which begin the steep ridges of 
 Lebanon. All the trees ceased now, except a species 
 of dwarf cedar, emitting a delicious fragrance, which 
 replaced them, and continued, though diminishing in 
 number, almost to the summit. The rocky slope of 
 the mountain is covered with yellow, white, red, and 
 pink flowers, affording delicious food to the bees of 
 Lebanon—their honey is excellent. At eight, we came 
 in sight of Lake Leman of the East, or Yemouni, as 
 every one pronounced it, lying to the south, embosomed 
 between the upper and lower ridges. An hour after¬ 
 wards, we l'eached an immense wreath of snow, lying 
 on the breast of the mountain, just below the summit— 
 and from that summit, five minutes afterwards, what a 
 prospect opened before us !—Two vast ridges of Leba¬ 
 non, curving westwards from the central spot where we 
 
348 
 
 THE SACRED RIVER. 
 
 stood, like the horns of a bent bow or the wings of a 
 theatre, run clown towards the sea, breaking in their 
 descent into a hundred minor hills, between which— 
 unseen, unheard—and, through as deep and dark and 
 jagged a chasm as ever yawned, the Kadisha, or Sacred 
 River of Lebanon, rushes down to the Mediterranean— 
 the blue and boundless Mediterranean, which, far on 
 the western horizon, meets and mingles with the sky. 
 
 Our eyes coming home again, after roving over this 
 noble view, we had leisure to observe a small group of 
 trees, not larger, apparently, than a clump in an Eng¬ 
 lish park, at the very foot of the northern wing or horn 
 of this grand natural theatre; these were the far-famed 
 cedars. We were an hour and twenty minutes reach¬ 
 ing them, the descent being very precipitous and diffi¬ 
 cult. As we entered the grove, the air was quite per¬ 
 fumed with their odour, the “ smell of Lebanon,” so 
 celebrated by the pen of inspiration. 
 
 We halted under one of the largest trees, inscribed 
 with De La Borde’s name on one side, and De La 
 Martine’s on the other. But do not think that we were 
 sacrilegious enough to wound these glorious trees; 
 there are few English names comparatively, I am happy 
 to say—I would as soon cut my name on the wall of a 
 church. 
 
 Several generations of cedars, all growing promiscu¬ 
 ously together, compose this beautiful grove. The 
 younger are very numerous,—the second-rate would 
 form a noble wood of themselves, were even the pa¬ 
 triarchal dynasty quite extinct,—one of them, by no 
 means the largest, measures nineteen feet and a quarter 
 in circumference, and, in repeated instances, two, three, 
 and four large trunks spring from a single root,—but 
 they have all a fresher appearance than the patriarchs, 
 and straighter stems—straight as young palm trees. 
 
THE CEDARS. 
 
 349 
 
 Of the giants, there are seven standing very near each 
 other, all on the same hill,—three more, a little further 
 on, nearly in a line with them,—and, in a second walk 
 of discovery, after my companions had lain down to 
 rest, I had the pleasure of detecting two others low 
 down on the northern edge of the grove—twelve there¬ 
 fore in all, of which the ninth from the south is the 
 smallest, but even that bears tokens of antiquity coeval 
 with its brethren. 
 
 The stately bearing and graceful repose of the young 
 cedars contrast singularly with the wild aspect and 
 frantic attitude of the old ones, flinging abroad their 
 knotted and muscular limbs like so many Laocoons, 
 while others, broken off, lie rotting at their feet; but life 
 is strong in them all,—they look as if they had been 
 struggling for existence with evil spirits, and God had 
 interposed and forbidden the war, that the trees He had 
 planted might remain living witnesses to faithless men 
 of that ancient “ Glory of Lebanon ”—Lebanon, the 
 emblem of the righteous—which departed from her 
 when Israel rejected Christ; her vines drooping, her 
 trees few, that a child may number them, she stands 
 blighted, a type of the unbeliever! And blighted she 
 must remain till her second spring, the day of renova¬ 
 tion from the presence of the Lord, when, at the voice 
 of God, Israel shall spring anew to life, and the cedar 
 and the vine, the olive of Carmel and the rose of Sharon, 
 emblems of the moral graces of God, reflected in his 
 people, shall revive in the wilderness, to “ beautify the 
 place of his sanctuary, to make the place of his feet 
 glorious”—to swell the chorus of Universal Nature to 
 the praise of the living God. 
 
 We had intended proceeding that evening to Psherre, 
 but no—we could not resolve to leave those glorious 
 trees so soon—the loveliest, the noblest, the holiest, in 
 
350 
 
 PSHERRE. 
 
 the wide world. The tent was pitched, and we spent 
 the rest of the day under their “ shadowy shroud.” 
 Oh ! w'hat a church that grove is !—never did I think 
 Solomon’s Song so beautiful, and that most noble chap¬ 
 ter of Ezekiel, the thirty-first—I had read it on the 
 heights of Syene, Egypt on my right hand, and Ethiopia 
 on my left, with many another denunciation, how aw¬ 
 fully fulfilled ! of desolation against Pathros, and judg¬ 
 ments upon No—but this was the place to enjoy it, 
 lying under one of those vast trees, looking up every 
 now and then into its thick boughs, the little birds 
 warbling, and a perpetual hum of insect life pervading 
 the air with its drowsy melody. Eden is close by,— 
 these are “ the trees of Eden,” “ the choice and best of 
 Lebanon,”—these are the trees (there can be none 
 nobler) which Solomon spake of, “ from the cedar of 
 Lebanon to the hyssop on the wall,”—the object of 
 repeated allusion and comparison throughout the Bible, 
 —the emblem of the righteous in David’s sabbath 
 hymn,—and, honour above honour, the likeness of the 
 countenance of the Son of God in the inspired Canticles 
 of Solomon. 
 
 Our encampment was very picturesque that night, 
 the fire throwing a strong light on the cedar that o’ei- 
 canopied us; those enormous arms, of ghastly white¬ 
 ness, seemed almost alive and about to grasp and catch 
 us up into the thick darkness they issued from. ( 58 ) 
 
 The direct road from the cedars to the village of 
 Eden is little more than two hours; we were desirous, 
 however, of seeing the famous Convent of Canubin, (or 
 Anubin, as they pronounce it, always dropping the ini¬ 
 tial C,)and accordingly, on arriving atPsherre, after an 
 hour and twenty minutes’ ride, we sent on the baggage 
 direct under Ale w yn’s care, who was not well enough 
 to accompany us. 
 
VALLEY OF THE KADISHA. 
 
 351 
 
 The descent to Psherre (the Beshirai of the maps) 
 was very precipitous, but nothing to what awaited us 
 beyond it; the village lies in a lovely vale, all verdant 
 with vines and fruit trees, and musical with cascades; 
 and the breezes of Lebanon—who that has ever quaffed 
 can forget them ?—To the east, on the slope of the 
 valley, stand the Convent of Mar Serkis, almost con¬ 
 cealed among thick groves, with a very remarkable 
 pointed rock rising over it. Our route lay westward, 
 along the edge of the ravine, broken every now and 
 then by deep gullies, descending from the northern 
 Lebanon,—each with its torrent dashing dow T n from the 
 mountains, and sometimes forming beautiful cascades 
 over the rocks, light clouds of spray hovering over 
 their descent. We passed the village Hatsheit, at nine, 
 and that of Belausi, at ten,—both situated on the edge 
 of the chasm; looking eastwards from this point to¬ 
 wards its head, we saw the river Kadisha, like a silver 
 thread, descending from Lebanon. The whole scene 
 bore that strange and shadowy resemblance to the won¬ 
 drous landscape delineated in 4 Kubla Khan,’ that one 
 so often feels in actual life, when the whole scene around 
 you appears to be re-acting after a long interval,— 
 your friends seated in the same juxta-position, the sub¬ 
 jects of conversation the same, and shifting with the 
 same “ dreamlike ease,” that you remember at some 
 remote indefinite period of pre-existence; you always 
 know what will come next, and sit spell-bound, as it 
 w T ere, in a sort of calm expectancy.—One would almost 
 have thought Coleridge had been here in some such 
 vision, or at least that some description of the valley 
 had been unconsciously lingering cn his memory,—the 
 general resemblance between the scene he has painted 
 and that before us was so striking. I dare not insist 
 on the coincidence of there being “ a sacred river” in 
 
352 
 
 CONVENT OF CANUBIN. 
 
 both landscapes, in proof of their identity,—“ there 
 is a river in Macedon, and there is a river at Monmouth; 
 ’tis called the Wye at Monmouth; it is out of my prains 
 what is the name of the other river, but ’tis all one, ’tis 
 so like as my fingers is to my fingers, and there is 
 salmons in both !”* 
 
 Beyond Belausi, we began the descent to Canubin 
 by a very difficult path, occasionally hewn into rude 
 steps. This magnificent ravine (I speak of it gene¬ 
 rally, as we viewed it from different points) is of im¬ 
 mense depth, broken into vast hollows, overhung with 
 trees, chiefly prickly oaks, and shooting into pinnacles, 
 between which the mountain torrents rush down on all 
 sides, some of them forming beautiful cascades, many 
 hundred feet in height. At Canubin, however, the voice 
 
 * “ The most imaginative bard of our time, he whose poetry may 
 be considered as the matrix of that of Byron, has favoured us, by 
 way of a psychological curiosity, with a picture of one of his dreams, 
 the result probably of opium, which a recent traveller has declared 
 to be so exact a transcript of the scenery viewed from Mount Leba¬ 
 non, that, when halting under the hoary cedars of the antique world, 
 he could find no truer description of the landscape before him than 
 the celebrated verses of Coleridge. 
 
 “ Are we to infer that to the inspired brain of the poet that Oriental 
 beatitude was literally man ; fested ? ‘ There are more things in heaven 
 and earth than were dreamt of’ in the philosophy of Horatio. But 
 there are more things in the human mind than were dreamt of even 
 by Hamlet, even by Shakspeare. May there not even exist senses 
 still imperfectly defined by physiological science ? May there not 
 be mysteries of the soul still undeveloped, indicated only by the di¬ 
 vining rod of the initiated, a mockery to the learned, but of profound 
 conviction to more delicate organizations, conscious of magnetic in¬ 
 fluences—such as might be esteemed a supernatural visitation, did 
 aught in our frail and miserable nature seem to entitle us to commu¬ 
 nication with the invisible world?” Cecil , vol. ii, p. 40.—Memory, 
 however—the remembrance of some description of Lebanon in the old 
 travellers, mingling with that of Kubla Khan’s palace in Marco Polo, 
 might have suggested the vision in question to the poet’s limey. 
 [1847.] 
 
CANUBIN. 
 
 353 
 
 even of the Ivadisha is scarcely heard ; a profound 
 silence reigns—all is grandeur, but grandeur in repose, 
 —the choicest place in the world for dreaming away 
 one’s life in monastic inactivity The convent hangs 
 about two-thirds down the precipice, partly built up 
 against, partly excavated in the rocks ; it looks as if 
 held by cramping-irons in its present position, so deep 
 is the abyss below, so menacing the rocks that over¬ 
 hang it. 
 
 Here, in winter only, resides the Batrak, or Patriarch, 
 of the Maronites; we had expected to see him, but 
 were disappointed to hear that he had flown off with 
 all the brethren to Adiman, tlieir summer residence, on 
 the top of the mountain opposite. 
 
 Several leaves of the Syriac Bible alighted at our 
 feet as we rode up to the gate, and a lay Maronite, who 
 made his appearance at the window above it, seemed 
 quite indifferent to their fate. He informed us, in addi¬ 
 tion to the unwelcome news of the Batrak’s absence, 
 that there was absolutely nothing in the Convent for 
 man or beast,—this did not at all coincide with our 
 plans, which were to rest there a few hours, feed our 
 horses and ourselves, and then proceed in the afternoon 
 to Eden; we, therefore, the gate being open, took 
 possession of the monastery, searched and discovered 
 corn in abundance, fed our horses, established ourselves 
 in the pleasantest place we could find, and then tried 
 to persuade the Maronite that food for man was also 
 producible, assuring him, as we did from the first, that 
 w T e had felousli enough to pay for it. All persuasion 
 was in vain till a sort of major-domo arrived, to whom 
 intelligence had been sent of the capture of the Con¬ 
 vent ; from that moment all was cordial hospitality,— 
 he unlocked a small room, furnished with mats—pro¬ 
 duced some of the sweet red wine of Lebanon—and. 
 
 A A 
 
354 
 
 CANUBIN. 
 
 by degrees, the most sumptuous dejeune a la fourchette 
 we had seen for many a day made its appearance,— 
 salad, cheese, eggs, honey, and dibs—a syrup ex¬ 
 pressed from grapes,—and delicious Arab bread; a 
 meal for princes ! 
 
 During the glow of victory—for we virtually resigned 
 our conquest, the moment that hospitable thoughts 
 were evinced by the rightful proprietors,—we explored 
 the Convent as thoroughly as a lingering respect for 
 bolts and bars permitted. There is nothing worth 
 seeing, except the church, which is a large and beautiful 
 grotto cut lengthways in the rock that overhangs the 
 monastery. The portraits of the Patriarchs, mentioned 
 by old travellers, no longer line its walls, but there are 
 several paintings of a character superior to what one 
 would expect to see in such an out-of-the-way place— 
 daubs, but done in Italy; the best of them was an 
 Assumption of the Virgin over the altar. In, and on, 
 a press in the church, lay many books and MSS., the 
 former chiefly printed at Rome by the Propaganda, 
 some of the latter most beautifully written — all in 
 Arabic, I suppose, but in the Syriac character. The 
 Bible, to which the leaves that flew out of the window 
 with such empressement to welcome us belonged, lay in 
 a small apartment at the end of a long gallery built up 
 against the rock, and overlooking the gate. ( 59 ) 
 
 After a hearty meal and comfortable siesta, we re¬ 
 mounted, and, with the major-domo as guide, a merry 
 good-humoured fellow, re-ascended the gorge we had 
 come down by, but up its western side. We presently 
 passed a small chapel cut in the rock; the whole 
 valley, indeed, is full of the excavated dwellings of 
 ancient hermits. The scenery was still more beautiful 
 at this evening hour, the southern declivity all shadow, 
 except the salient points of rock. 
 
EDEN. 
 
 355 
 
 After about an hour’s ascent, we came in sight of 
 the vale of Eden, with the village on the N. W. side 
 of it, so that we had to wind round the head of the 
 valley to reach it,—there is no cutting across country- 
 in Mount Lebanon—and who would wish to do so, and 
 abridge his enjoyment? Above, below, around you, 
 wherever you cast your eyes, Man and Nature vie with 
 each other in beautifying and enriching the landscape 
 —Man affording Nature a field to display her bounty 
 upon, by terracing the hills to their very summits, that 
 not a particle of their soil may be lost,—Nature, in 
 rewarding his toil by the richest luxuriance, pouring 
 gtain into his lap, and wine into his cup, without mea¬ 
 sure. The slopes too of the valleys, one mass of 
 verdure, are yet more productive than the hills, thanks 
 to the “ springs of Lebanon,” that come gushing down 
 so fresh and cool and melodious in every direction,— 
 vines twine around and hang in garlands from every 
 tree ; mulberries are cultivated in immense quantities, 
 with houses for the silkworms—of dry branches or 
 matting,hound with reeds—built between the trees; they 
 never pluck off the leaves, but cut whole boughs off for 
 the silk-worms,—the trees, however, are little injured 
 in appearance, as many boughs as are seen on a young 
 fig tree being left untouched on each. The fig trees 
 are beautiful, the apricots delicious, and as common as 
 apples in England. Walnut trees, of majestic growth 
 and beautiful produce, flourish beside the deep torrent- 
 beds, along with the weeping willow and Lombardy 
 poplar, the only unfruitful trees in this garden of Eden 
 —for all I have said, though descriptive generally of 
 the valleys of this part of Lebanon, applies strictly to 
 that we have just ascended to from Canubin.—And 
 then the cordial greeting of the country people—poor, 
 but all seemingly happy and contented, and as like 
 A A 2 
 
356 
 
 EDEN. 
 
 each other in features as brothers and sisters—a smile 
 on every woman’s countenance, all of them unveiled, 
 and some very pretty — the steeples of the village- 
 churches peeping out through the trees, and the bells 
 answering each other across the ravines every morning 
 and evening — were moral charms that doubled the 
 attractions of the scenery; we felt ourselves in a 
 Christian country, and almost among brethren. 
 
 Eden is built on a lofty ridge, extremely precipitous, 
 its sides supported by terraces, wherever it has been 
 possible to introduce them, planted with vines, mulber¬ 
 ries, and corn. A considerable torrent, augmented in 
 its course by minor rills, flowing in cascades from the 
 hills, rushes down a deep ravine towards the south. 
 We reached the village after a quarter of an hour’s 
 ascent from the bridge, and found our friend Alewyn 
 encamped near a cascade, in a magnificent grove of 
 walnut trees. Pell and I, pursuant to his advice, started 
 off immediately on foot for the brow of a hill about 
 twenty minutes distant, to catch the sunset view of the 
 western side of Lebanon; it was superb; Tripoli was 
 concealed by the rising ground, but the headland, the 
 port where the merchants reside, the vessels, the towers 
 —remnants of the old fortifications of the knightly 
 Berengers — were clearly visible, and the sea-ward 
 course of the Kadisha, distinguishable at intervals by 
 its snow-white foam. More to the south, we saw the 
 bold headland near Batroun, the mountain that hid 
 Djebail, &c. &c., and—beyond all, the Mediterranean. 
 
 A crowd of the villagers congregated under the trees 
 in front of our tent that night; children were romping 
 about,—some one was modulating the shepherd’s reed 
 not unmelodiously,—it was a more cheerful scene than 
 I ever witnessed in the lowlands of Syria, or Palestine, 
 
PSHERRE. 357 
 
 where the merry-hearted sigh, and the mirth of the 
 tabret has almost ceased in the land. 
 
 The old Sheikh of Eden was absent, but Yousef, his 
 second son, paid us a visit—a very fine intelligent boy, 
 about twelve, who speaks Italian beautifully, and un¬ 
 derstands French; these languages he has learnt from 
 the Bishop, who was educated at Rome. His cousin, 
 also, a son of Sheikh Latouff, the Sheikh’s brother, 
 speaks French with great fluency, but I did not like 
 him half so much. The whole family bear a very high 
 character. 
 
 The population of Eden is estimated at about two 
 thousand; there are eleven churches.—I have often 
 had a present of a nosegay in the East; a Maronite 
 brought me one that morning of pinks and jessamine, 
 which he called yesmin , evidently the same word. 
 
 We returned to Psherre, by the direct route, the fol¬ 
 lowing afternoon, with the intention of proceeding to 
 Zachle, by Akoura and Afka, along the heights of 
 Lebanon—and thence to Damascus. Burckhardt is 
 the only traveller I know of who has taken this route, 
 and a most sublime and beautiful one it is, so far as 
 Akoura and Afka, beyond which I cannot speak of it, 
 the guide having led us, either ignorantly or knavishly, 
 into another road. 
 
 Leaving Psherre, the fleecy clouds that had been 
 hovering all the day on the heights of Lebanon be¬ 
 gan to sink lower and lower, and, as we passed 
 under Mar Serkis, completely concealed one of the 
 lofty crosses erected on the peaks of the mountain, 
 while the other, encircled by them, appeared as if un¬ 
 dergoing translation to heaven. We crossed a bridge 
 over the Ivadisha, at the head of the Wady, and then 
 proceeded westwards along the opposite or southern 
 
358 
 
 WADY KADISHA. 
 
 bank,—passing a large Convent, Mar Elisha, on the 
 right, hanging about half way down, like Canubin, 
 and the village Ka Koffere, high on the left. Soon 
 after passing through Bur Osha, we saw an immense 
 roofless cavern on the other side of the valley,—a 
 ravine, in fact, in the process of formation, the torrent 
 not having completed the work of clearance. Between 
 this and a vast gorge on which stood the village Hat- 
 sheit, which we passed the day before, descended a 
 beautiful and very lofty waterfall, from the very summit 
 of the ravine. 
 
 We halted at Hasi’oun, nearly opposite Hatsheit, 
 after four hours’ ride—a straggling village, like Eden, 
 almost lost in its groves of mulberries,—the houses oi 
 stone, very large and substantial, without windows, 
 and serving, apparently, each for several families. 
 
 After fixing on a sj)ot for the tent, Schranz and I 
 hastened down to the edge of the valley, and, from a 
 projecting rock, enjoyed one of the grandest and most 
 beautiful spectacles I ever witnessed. The thick clouds 
 resting on the valley and the northern ridge of Lebanon 
 were gradually beginning to ascend, terraces beyond 
 terraces receding into the clouds like an immense 
 staircase leading to some unknown shrine of glory; and 
 a shrine indeed, of unspeakable grandeur was soon re¬ 
 vealed to us in the heights of Lebanon, unveiled in all 
 their magnificence, and glowing in the rays of the 
 evening sun—invisible to us below; but in a few mo¬ 
 ments all was gloom again—heavy, moist, fleecy mist 
 swept in a torrent down the valley, and you could 
 scarcely see, as old Homer says, so far as you could 
 throw a stone. It cleared toward sunset—a superb 
 sunset after all; and a most delicious green tint diffused 
 itself over the sky after his departure, such as we have 
 seen in Nubia. I found such a pretty little garden in a 
 
SOUTHERN LEBANON. 
 
 359 
 
 crevice of the rock we stood on,—about six feet long by 
 three or four broad—just the size for my little May¬ 
 flower. 
 
 Next morning, the church bells, answering each 
 other from the opposite sides of the chasm, proclaimed 
 the festa of Saint Peter and Saint Paul; no one was 
 visible when we emerged from the tent, but, just as we 
 finished breakfast, the whole population issued from the 
 churches and collected under the mulberry trees, to 
 witness our departure, and bid us good bye. After 
 winding round the ravine, on the edge of which, over¬ 
 hanging the great Wady, Hasroun stands, we com¬ 
 menced the ascent—at first very short and steep- 
 then, long and gentle—of the Southern Lebanon. In 
 an hour and a quarter we lost sight of Tripoli, the 
 Wady, and the theatre of mountains that encompass 
 it, and proceeded along the western heights towards 
 the snowy peaks above Afka, repeatedly catching 
 glimpses of the lower ridges of the chain descending to 
 the Mediterranean. 
 
 We passed through fine rocky scenery, but saw little 
 cultivation, except in a plain which we passed at a 
 great depth below us, lying in the southern side of a 
 rocky valley, and where we saw Mar Antonios Hoop, 
 a convent, on one side, and the village Tanurin on the 
 other. This part of Lebanon is quite abandoned to 
 pasturage; we passed two or three small camps of 
 Bedouins, the most barbarous I think I ever met with— 
 no curiosity, no intelligence; they had a good many 
 camels, sheep, and goats, — the sheep lugging after 
 them the immense tails that are seen all over Lebanon; 
 these tails, like the humps of camels, are accounted 
 great delicacies in the Arab kitchen. 
 
 After an hour and a half’s steep and continual de¬ 
 scent, we reached Akoura, a Maronite village, beauti- 
 
8 60 
 
 MINETRI. 
 
 fully situated among gardens of mulberries, at the 
 eastern extremity of Wady Metouali, a very deep vale, 
 which completely separates the mountain range we had 
 just traversed from that on which Afka stands, which 
 w T e saw directly in front, as we descended to the Wady. 
 
 We dined and rested at Akoura, under a magnificent 
 walnut-tree, and then started again for Afka, winding 
 round the head of the valley, under crags of most sur¬ 
 passing grandeur,—one of them peculiarly noble, with 
 a projecting ledge on one of its lower peaks, evidently 
 designed by nature for a Dive’s or a Genie’s castle— 
 I sighed for Aladdin’s lamp! This noble Wady de¬ 
 rives its name from the Metoualis, once, I believe, its 
 sole proprietors, but Maronites and Metoualis now 
 share it in common, and are very good friends not¬ 
 withstanding. A torrent flows from under a large 
 semi-hexagonal cavern at the head of the vale under 
 the rocks; we crossed it by a beautiful natural bridge, 
 and, soon afterwards, crossing the intermediate hills 
 into a collateral wady, descended to Naitri, Nitri, 
 or Minetri, (for they gave it all these names), a village 
 at its eastern extremity, inhabited by Metoualis, a most 
 uncourteous set,—before reaching it, we passed the 
 remains of an ancient building of hewn stone. We 
 halted there, unable to get on further that night. 
 
 We passed great numbers of dwarf cedars this day, 
 and rode through whole woods of them the following 
 morning, commencing our ascent of Lebanon directly 
 eastwards, the guide assuring us that the road we 
 wished to go did not pass through Afka. In two hours 
 we reached the highest point of ascent, and, after an 
 hour’s ride among low undulating hills, came in sight 
 of a vast and beautiful plain, far below us, which we 
 presently recognised as the Bekaa, with Baalbec in the 
 distance. It was evident our guide had brought us 
 
RAID ON THE BEKAA. 
 
 361 
 
 quite a different route from Burckliardt’s,—here, he 
 said, his knowledge of the road ended, so we sent him 
 back to his village. 
 
 And yet I am glad now that we took this road, for on 
 this eminence Raymond of Tripoli and his followers 
 must have halted, after ascending from Minetri—the 
 ruined building there being evidently the fort of Ma- 
 naithere, the only station mentioned by William of 
 Tyre as occurring on their route from Gebail—halted 
 there, I say, and looked down on the rich fields of 
 Baalbec, before descending to commit them to the 
 flames.—Baldwin of Jerusalem, meanwhile, (not the 
 young prince, whose chivalrous expeditions to Petra 
 and Bozrah I have already mentioned, but his nephew, 
 the leper,)—acting in concert with Raymond, and cross¬ 
 ing the mountains from Sidon, had descended into the 
 Bekaa by Messara, (the Meshgara, evidently, of the 
 maps,) and commenced a similar work of devastation, 
 each advancing towards the other, till they met— 
 
 “ These flaming comets with their fiery tails,” 
 
 in the centre of the valley, and, turning to the east, 
 stood side by side, awaiting the chivalry of Damascus, 
 who, under Saladin’s brother, were rushing down from 
 Antilibanus to check their ravages. The Moslems 
 fought well, nor was it till after a long and bloody con¬ 
 flict that the crescent sank, and the victorious Franks 
 departed with their plunder. ( 6I ) 
 
 We descended slopingly along the mountain, through 
 beautiful woods of oak and cedar, towards Zachle, 
 and, after entering the low hills that, on this as well as 
 the other side, intervene between the foot of Lebanon 
 and the Bekaa, passed villages innumerable—Shmuster, 
 Beitsliemi, Bednein, Tenmein, Zernubbi, (which lies 
 out of the road to the right, on a hill, but we found the 
 
362 
 
 TOMB OF NOAH. 
 
 remains of a temple there, built with very massive 
 stones—traces of four columns in front, and the three 
 steps of entrance perfect, which I hardly ever saw else¬ 
 where, except at Pompeii),—Ilabla, Karak, Malaka— 
 blazing with furnaces, for it was already dark—and 
 Zachle beyond it, a short distance up a valley. Its lights, 
 gleaming through the trees, reminded us of the ap¬ 
 proach to a great manufacturing town in England. 
 Dark as it was, we managed to discover a resting-place 
 and pitch the tent, in which we were glad to lie down 
 at half-past eight at night. 
 
 Zachle derives considerable importance from its trade 
 of dyeing cloth; the inhabitants are calculated at five 
 thousand, the greater number Greek Catholics. The 
 town lies on the southern slope of a very beautiful 
 valley, well watered by the poplar-shaded stream of 
 Berdowni, with extensive vineyards and mulberry- 
 groves on the hills; up the glen there is a large Greek- 
 Catholic Convent, Mar Elias—and, beyond it, at its 
 extremity, a little village among the rocks, El Uedi.* 
 
 Next morning, sending the baggage in advance, 
 across the Bekaa, we rode back to Kerak to visit the 
 tomb of—Noah ! !—thirty-eight paces long, by about 
 one and a half wide, and elevated on a platform. It 
 adjoins an old mosque, and is surrounded by a wall 
 with grated windows. In a ruined building contiguous 
 to the mosque, and apparently ancient, we found a 
 Latin funeral inscription.f 
 
 From Kerak we crossed the Bekaa, in about three 
 
 * Zachle was burnt, and its inhabitants ruined, during the recent 
 war, which mingled the tears of the natives with every fountain in 
 Lebanon. [1847.] 
 
 t Cn. Julius L. Fab. 
 
 Rufus P. P. 
 
 Hie situs est. Vix. 
 annis lxxxiv. 
 
DAMASCUS. 
 
 363 
 
 hours, south-eastwards, towards Medjdel, a ruined 
 tower conspicuous on a hill on the eastern side of the 
 plain, with a large village below it—crossed Antili- 
 banus—I could expatiate on its fine rocky scenery, but 
 will only tell you that we traced a Roman road, still 
 the line of communication between Damascus, Aura- 
 nitis, and the Bekaa, for many hours—halted for the 
 night at Dimes, after nearly eleven hours’ ride, and 
 reached Damascus in five hours the next morning. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Farren were still at their tents, when I 
 an'ived at Damascus, but returned a few days after¬ 
 wards to keep me company during the remainder of my 
 stay.* Nothing coukl exceed their kindness; no inter- 
 
 * “5 July.—Visited the palace of the Mufti of Damascus, the 
 representative of a family surnamed Murad, originally of Tartar 
 extraction, and which has supplied the city with muftis for many 
 centuries,—the present Mufti is a most respectable man. After 
 paying our respects to him in his ordinary divan, we visited the 
 mosque attached to the house,—all the outer buildings are very plain 
 and ordinary, but the harem, or residence for the women, (to which 
 we passed through a small garden,) quite delighted us. The apart¬ 
 ments open on a very large rectangular inelosure, paved with marble 
 and interspersed with tanks of water and parterres of (lowers—with 
 a large open alcove, or divan, at the upper end. The surrounding 
 buildings are two stories high, and a gallery or balcony runs all 
 round, on which the upper story opens. The ladies had retreated to 
 this upper story—but by an indirect glance we saw them peeping at 
 us through the blinds. The rooms of the ladies were very beautiful 
 —the floors inlaid with variegated marhle—the ceilings richly gilt, 
 and painted in fanciful devices, with inscriptions from the Koran, 
 &c.—Most luxurious divans, sofas, and English chairs occupied the 
 upper part of every room, and a fountain, overflowing into a marble 
 reservoir, the lower. Woodcarving and marquetcrie work abounded, 
 excellent in design and execution; and there were some pieces of 
 embroidery, views of Mecca, &c., worked by the ladies.—The Mufti’s 
 own bedroom was luxury itself. The ladies’ baths were nothing 
 very particular.”— Orig. Journal. But the tomb of Saladin, sadly 
 neglected now, was the most interesting thing I saw at Damascus. 
 [1847.] 
 
364 
 
 BEYROUT. 
 
 mittent spring, but ever fresh and constant, flowing 
 from the heart—I can scarce express to you the extent 
 of my obligations to these kind friends—to Mr. Farren 
 especially, who, from the first, insisted on relieving me 
 of all those painful, but necessary, interviews, arrange¬ 
 ments, &c., which, under the circumstances, I should 
 have been obliged to go through myself. He is indeed 
 the man of all others to represent the British nation in 
 a country like this, and, indeed, what he has effected in 
 dispelling Turkish prejudice, and raising the character 
 of Englishmen, is marvellous,—’tis, in great measure, 
 to his personal character, his courtesy, his decision, that 
 we owe the respect in which we are now held. ( 62 ) 
 
 I am now writing from Beyrout; I left my kind 
 friends on Thursday the thirteenth, and arrived here 
 on Saturday afternoon; the last day’s journey was 
 beautiful, but the heat while descending towards Bey¬ 
 rout, and that of the town itself—(poor little Julie de 
 Lamartine’s death-bed)—exceeds anything I ever felt 
 before; the perspiration rolls down one’s face very 
 nearly as fast as it does in a vapour batli.( 63 ) 
 
 It is long past midnight, and by this time to-morrow 
 I hope to be many a league from Syria. You, my 
 dearest mother, will be more thankful for me than, I 
 fear, I am for myself, but, in closing this long letter, 
 and reviewing the scenes I have wandered over during 
 the last few months, I cannot but feel how deep a debt 
 of gratitude I owe to Divine Providence, for the un¬ 
 varying health, bodily strength, and good spirits, that 
 have never failed me during so many months,—for pre¬ 
 servation from accidents and perils, known, and often 
 probably unknown, to me,—and for the accomplish¬ 
 ment of every wish I formed before and after com¬ 
 mencing my Tour in Egypt and Syria, relative to its 
 extent; so that I have seen all and more than I pro- 
 
DEPARTURE. 
 
 365 
 
 posed at starting. Everywhere I have received the 
 kindest attentions from men in and out of authority.— 
 And if the loss of poor William, my companion through 
 so many instructive and interesting scenes, impress me 
 as it ought, and as I trust it will, even that too will 
 prove a blessing !—Adieu. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTES, 
 
 EGYPT. 
 
 Note 1, page 10.—Missirie. 
 
 I feel great pleasure in bearing testimony to tbe merits of this excellent 
 man. During the whole time he travelled with us as courier, we never 
 once had occasion to find fault with him, except for exerting himself too 
 much. He kept our boatmen, muleteers, native servants, &c., in perfect 
 order; we had not the slightest trouble with them. With other gentlemen 
 he has travelled over most parts of Europe, in North America, and Mexico. 
 He speaks Greek, (his native tongue,) Turkish, Russian, Walachian, 
 Arabic, English, (which he has taught himself to read and write,) French, 
 Italian, Spanish, and, I believe, can make himself understood in some other 
 languages. 
 
 Of his personal character, intelligence, activity, energy, and those more 
 important points, honesty, sobriety, and Christian principle—it would be 
 impossible for me to speak too highly. 
 
 I cannot refrain from mentioning (what would never have come to my 
 knowledge directly) his having ransomed from Turkish slavery, and sent 
 home to their native country, (Argos,) a mother and a daughter. Nor is 
 this the only instance, as I have reason to know, of his having stood the 
 friend of the fatherless, and caused the widow’s heart to sing with joy. 
 
 [Since this was written, Missirie has settled at Pera, and opened an 
 hotel, which Mr. Warburton describes as “ most comfortable and excel¬ 
 lent ... the last comfort one enjoys in going to the East, and the first in 
 returning from it .”—Crescent and the Cross, vol. ii, pp. 368, 381. 1847.] 
 
 Note 2, page 15.—Cleopatra’s Needle. 
 
 Its companion lies beside it, almost covered by the sand. Both appear 
 to have been standing when Abd’allatif wrote his account of Egypt, 
 A.D. 1203. 
 
 Note 3, page 15.—Pompey’s Pillar. 
 
 “ Nulla sane columnarum huic similis!”—E drisi. 
 
 This noble column appears to have stood in the court of a large quad¬ 
 rangular edifice, popularly called the School of Aristotle, and supposed to 
 have been built by Solomon, till the reign of Saladin, when the governor of 
 
368 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Alexandria destroyed it. We learn this from Abd’allatif.—Edrisi, about the 
 middle of the twelfth century, describes this building as supported by six¬ 
 teen columns at each extremity, and by sixty-seven at either side; and 
 Benjamin of Tudela, the last writer who speaks of it as an eyewitness, 
 (a.d. 1100,) says it contained twenty colleges, divided from each other by 
 marble columns, (exedrce}) “ whither men flocked from all parts of the 
 world to learn the philosophy of Aristotle.”—Abd'allatif saw the remains of 
 the columns on the shore, whither they had been carried by the governor, 
 and traces of them all round the pillar, within thirty years after their 
 destruction.* 
 
 The central pillar was cut in the quarries of the Said, or Upper Egypt. 
 “ 11 en existoit originairement,” says an Arab writer of the twelfth century. 
 “ sept, de la meme dimension, qui servoient d’ornement a un palais im¬ 
 mense nomine Maison de la Sagesse, qui n’avoit pas son pareil sur la 
 terre.”—“ Sept geants de la famille de Aad apporterent cliacun une de ces 
 colonnes sous leurs bras, depuis le Mont Berim au midi d’Efouan jusqu’a 
 Alexandrie."— Langles, notes to Norden's Travels, vol. iii, p. 181. 
 
 Pompey's pillar has at different times been represented as a monument 
 reected by himself to his own glory, (Breydenbach, 1483,) and a memorial 
 of Caesar's triumph on his rival’s defeat. ( Belon , 1548; Satidys, 1610.) 
 In 1507, when that “ pious, honourable, and magnanimous knight,” Martin 
 a Baumgarten, visited Egypt, it was popularly supposed that Pompey’s head 
 was buried under it. 
 
 “ Elle etoit surmontee, je crois, d’une statue colossale d’airain, placee 
 sur un enorme stylobate, et qu’on nommoit cherahhyl; elle regardoit la 
 mer, et avoit le doigt dirige vers Constantinople. Un receveur general des 
 impositions d’Egypte, Ayameh ben-Zeid, demanda au khalife El Oualyd ben- 
 Abdoul-melik ben-Merouan, la permission de faire fondre cette statue pour 
 en frapper une grande quantite de fels, petites pihces de billon.”— Langles, 
 lit supra. 
 
 This sacrilege must have been perpetrated between a.d. 714 and 717 — 
 the duration of El Walid’s reign. 
 
 Every one has heard of persons ascending Pompey’s pillar by means of 
 a rope-ladder and a kite, but perhaps the most extraordinary achievement 
 of the sort was that of a famous rope-dancer, who climbed up by a knotted 
 rope with a donkey on his shoulders, left it there to pass the night, and 
 brought it down again the next morniug.— D'Arvieux, Memoircs, vol. i, 
 p. 191. 
 
 Some beautiful porphyry columns were standing at a little distance from 
 
 * See F.drisi , Geogr. Nubiensis, p. 214 .—Ben. Tud. Itin. p. 214, ed. Elzev. 32mo.— 
 Abd’allatif ; Relation de l’Egypte, and a very interesting note of M. de Sacy, p 182, 
 and pp. 230 sqq.—or in Pinkerton’s Collection, vol. xv. p. 828. Perhaps the columns 
 seen on the shore by Abd’allatif were the same as those described by Paul Lucas a 
 hundred years afterwards, as follows:—“ Je decouvris au pied des murailles, sur le 
 bord de la mer, plusieurs blocs de porphvre, qu’il seroit fort facile d’enlever pour en 
 faire d’excellens ouvrages. II y en a qui pesent assurement deux ou trois milliers; 
 j’en enlevai un de 150 livres, que j ai envoye en France, et on peut juger par cet 
 echantillon de la beaute du porphyre, et de l’usage qu’on en pourroit faire.”— 
 Troisieme Voyage, (1714,) tom. ii, p. 29. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 369 
 
 the pillar in 1658, when D’Arvieux visited Alexandria—perhaps the same 
 us the “ six pillars of marble, twenty spans about, and three fathoms high 
 without the ground,” mentioned in Grimstone’s ‘ Estates, Empires, and 
 Principalities of the World,’—London, fol., 1615*—a work, the title-page 
 of which, engraved by Elstracke, may be ranked for beauty along with that 
 of Purchas’s Pilgrims. 
 
 Note 4, page 16.—Remains of Alexandria. 
 
 “ Je vis aussi, en passant dans le milieu de la viile, un rang de colonnes 
 de marbre granite, d’une hauteur et d’une grosseur extraordinaires, dont il 
 y en a encore une qui conserve son chapiteau; ces colonnes, qui sont sur 
 une meme ligne, s’etendent pres de 500 pas, et ne sont pas aujourd'hui dans 
 une egale distance 1’une de l’autre, parce que la plus grande partie en a ete 
 enlevee ou abattue, et l’on en voit encore beaucoup de reuversees. Entre 
 celles qui subsistent, il y en a qui ne sont eloignees que de dix ou douze 
 pieds, ce qui fait juger qu’il y en avoit sur chaque rang plus de 150. En¬ 
 core faut il supposer que la premiere et la derniere de celles qui se trouvent 
 sur cette ligne etoient effectivement aux detux extremites de ce rang; ce qui 
 n’est pas vraisemblable, puisque vis-a-vis de ces colonnes on en voit a deux 
 cents pas dela d’autres semblables qui leur sont opposees; et quoiqu’il n’en 
 reste aujourd’hui que trois ou quatre, il est visible, par la disposition des 
 lieux, par le meme ordre, la meme grosseur, qu’elles ne faisoient qu’un 
 meme tout avec celles dont je viens de parler. Il paroit aussi par d’autres 
 colonnes, qui sont a une egale distance de ces deux rangs, qu’il y avoit 
 autrefois en cet endroit une superbe fontaine; l’edifice de brique, et les 
 bassins ou l’eau tomboit, se voient aujourd’hui manifestement. Ainsi on 
 peut conclure qu’il y avoit la une place superbe, dont la figure composoit un 
 quarre long, large de 200 pas, et long de 500. Les principaux Palais de la 
 ville faisoient sans doute les quatre faces de cette belle place, puisque der- 
 riere ces colonnes, du cote ou il en reste un plus grand nombre, on voit 
 quantite de murs de brique, les uns renverses, les autres encore entiers, qui 
 laissent juger de la grandeur et de la beaute des edifices qui etoient en cet 
 endroit. On distingue meme, parrai les masures, des bains presque entiers, 
 et j’en ai vu un dont les murs etoient faits d’un ciment si dur qu’il ressem- 
 bloit a du marbre. Les Turcs en detachent tous les jours quelques mor- 
 ceaux pour faire servir a leurs batimens. Mais comme ces mines sont 
 presque entitlement couvertes de sable, ils n’enlevent que ce qui paroit en 
 dehors; et s’ils vouloient se donner la peine de creuser jusques aux fonde- 
 mens, ils decouvriroient bien des choses curieuses.”— Troisieme Voyage de 
 Paul Lucas, vol. ii, p. 31, sqq. 
 
 “ Proh dolor ! illustrem, maximum, habitatoribus refertissimam, pulcher- 
 rimam, opulentissimamque quondam Ptolemaeorum sedem, Alexandrian), 
 collapsam, dirutam, majori ex parte desertam, miserando spectaculo deplo- 
 ravi. Heu infelicem ! quae et quanta moenia, quales et quam amplae ejus 
 
 * Translated from the French of P. d Avity. 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 urbis stratae vise, quam conspicuae domorum frontes ad coeluin tendentes, qui 
 portarum fornices ! Sed in cinerem versa domorum interna omnia preeter- 
 euDtes conspiciebamus.”— Petri Martyris Legatio Babylonica, (1502,) 
 printed in the same volume with his Decades, f. 80 verso, ed. 1532. 
 
 Note 5, Page 16.—Eacotis. 
 
 M. L an pies, however, claims much higher consideration for Eacotis:— 
 
 “ Alexandre ne fit que relever les ruines et changer le nom d’une des plus 
 anciennes et des plus grandes villes de l'Egypte. Cette ville se nommoit 
 Eaqouth, ou Baqoudah, suivant les auteurs Arabes, mais plutot Bakhoty, 
 suivant l’orthographe Qopte; mot dont les Grecs et les Latins ont fait Ea¬ 
 cotis.”— Notes on Norden, t. iii, p. 158. 
 
 Murtadi, in his curious legendary history of Egypt, says it was built by 
 Blasar, grandson of Ham, and his thirty followers, with whom he came to 
 Egypt on the dispersion of nations. His paternal grandfather was the wise 
 priest Philemon, who, being deputed by Pharaan, the last antediluvian king 
 of Egypt, to a religious conference with Noah, was converted by the Patri¬ 
 arch, and admitted into the arknvith his daughter, afterwards married to 
 Misraim, son of Ham. Philemon, returning to Egypt with his grandson 
 and his thirty followers, reopened the pyramids, taught them the secret 
 writing of the birbas or temples, the knowledge of the talismans concealed 
 in them, and how to make new ones, and also the rules how to subject 
 spirits. “ Ils bastirent plusieurs villes sur la mer Eomaine, et entre autres 
 celle de Eacode, au lieu ou est maintenant Alexandrie.”— Merveilles 
 d-Egypte, p. 113. 
 
 Others attribute its foundation to Shedad the son of Aad, illustrious in 
 the annals of the East for the gardens of Irem, which he planted in rivalry 
 of the celestial paradise. A third account states that he merely rebuilt it 
 after its destruction by the Amalekites, or Shepherd Kings. 
 
 Note 6, Page 19_.Daniel’s prophecies. 
 
 “ These prophecies of Daniel, foretelling the sufferings and persecutions 
 of the Jews, from Alexander's successors in Syria and Egypt till the end 
 of the reign of Antiochus Epiphanes, during a disastrous period of 160 
 years, are, if possible, more surprising and astonishing than even his grand 
 prophetic period of 2300 years, and the several successions of empire, or 
 the four temporal kingdoms, that were to precede the spiritual kingdom of 
 God upon earth. The magnificence of the whole scheme, comprising the 
 fortunes of all mankind, seems to be an object suitable to the Omniscient 
 Governor of the universe, calculated to excite awe and admiration; but the 
 minuteness of detail exhibited in this part, exceeds that of any existing 
 history of those times. The prophecy is really more concise and compre¬ 
 hensive, and yet more circumstantial and complete, than any history. No 
 one historian has related so many circumstances, and in such exact order of 
 time and place, as the prophet; so that it was necessary to have recourse 
 
NOTES. 
 
 371 
 
 to several authors, Greek and Roman, Jewish and Christian, for the better 
 explaining and illustrating the great variety of particulars contained in this 
 prophecy.—The astonishing exactness with which this minute prophetic 
 detail has been fulfilled, furnishes the strongest pledge, from analogy, that 
 the remaining prophecies were and will be as exactly fulfilled, each in their 
 proper season.”— Dr. Hales' Analysis of Chronology, vol. ii, p. 556. 
 
 Note 7, Page 23.—Interview with Mohammed Ali. 
 
 We entered unannounced—in our plain Frank clothes, and found no one 
 in attendance on the Pasha. It is curious to contrast this unceremonious 
 reception with that of foreigners on the same spot in Mandeville’s time, 
 about 1330:— 
 
 “ And before the Soudan comethe no Strangier, but zif he be clothed in 
 clothe of gold, or of Tartarye, or of Camaka, in the Sarazines’ guise, and 
 as the Sarazines usen. And it behovethe that anon at the firste sight that 
 men see the Soudan, be it in wyndowe, or in what place elles, that men 
 knele to him and kisse the erthe : for that is the manere to do reverence 
 to the Soudanne of hem [them] that speken with him. And whan that mes- 
 sangeres of straunge contrees comen before him, the meynee [menzie, at¬ 
 tendants] of the Soudan, whan the straungeres speken to liym, thei ben 
 aboute the Soudan, with swerdes drawen and gvsarmez [battle-axes]* and 
 axes, here armes lift up in highe with the weapenes, for to smyte upon hem, 
 zif thei seye ony woord that is displesance to the Soudan. And also no 
 straungere comethe before him, but that he makethe him sum promys and 
 graunt of that the straungere askethe resonably, be so it be not azenst 
 [against] his lawe. And so don othere princes bezonden. For thei seyn 
 that no man schalle come before no prynce but that he be bettre and schalle 
 be more gladdere in departynge from his presence thanne he was at the 
 comynge before him.”— Voiage and Travaile of Sir John Maundeville, 
 Knight, p. 47, ed. 1727. 
 
 For the ceremonies of reception in the time of the Caliphs, see William 
 of Tyre’s graphic account of Hugo de Caesarea’s mission,—book 19 of his 
 History of the Crusades. And conf. Tasso’s description of the Egyptian 
 court in the Geras. Liberate, canto xvii. 
 
 Note 8, Page 27.—Streets and Houses of Cairo, in 1634. 
 
 “ Some of those streets I have found two miles in length, some not a 
 quarter so long; every one of them is locked up in the night, with a door 
 at each end, and guarded by a musketeer, whereby fires, robberies, tumults, 
 and other disorders are prevented. Without the city, towards the wilder¬ 
 ness, to stop sudden incursions of the Arabs from abroad, there watch on 
 horseback four Sanjiaks, with each of them a thousand horsemen. 
 
 “ This city is built after the Egyptian manner, high, and of large rough 
 
 * “ Guisarme, pertuisane, hache a deux tranchans, espece d’arme tranchante, dont 
 on se servoit, au defaut de l’epee.”— Roquefort, Glossaire de la Langue Romaine. 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 stone,, part of brick, the streets being narrow. It hath not yet been above 
 one hundred years in the Turks’ possession, wherefore the old buildings 
 remain; but, as they decay, the new begin to be after the Turkish manner, 
 poor, low, much of mud and timber; yet of the modern fabrics, I must ex¬ 
 cept divers new palaces which I have seeu, both of Turks, and such Egyp¬ 
 tians as most engage against their own country, and so flourish in its 
 oppression. I have oft gone to view them and their entertainments, some¬ 
 times attending the Illustrissimo,” (Signor Santo Seghezzi, of Venice,) 
 “ with whom I lived; otherwhiles accompanied with some of his gentlemen. 
 The palaces I found large and high, no state or flourish outwardly ; the first 
 court spacious, set with fair trees for shade, where were several beasts and 
 rare birds, and wonderful even in those parts ; the inner court joined to 
 delicious gardens, watered with fountains and rivulets ; beside the infinite 
 variety of strange plants, there wanted no shade from trees of cassia, 
 oranges, lemons, figs of Pharaoh, tamarinds, palms, and others, amongst 
 which pass very frequently chameleons. The entry into the house, and all 
 the rooms throughout, are paved with many several-coloured marbles, put 
 into fine figures; so likewise the walls, but in Mosaic of a less cut; the roof 
 layed with thwart beams, a foot and a half distant, all carved, great, and 
 double gilt; the windows with grates of iron, few with glass, as not desiring 
 to keep out the wind, and to avoid the glimmering of the sun, which in 
 those hot countries glass would break with too much dazzling upon the eye ; 
 the floor is made with some elevations a foot high, where they sit to eat and 
 drink; those are covered with rich tapestry; the lower pavement is to walk 
 upon, where in the chief dining chamber, according to the capacity of the 
 room, is made one or more richly gilt fountains in the upper end of the 
 chamber, which, through secret pipes, supplies in the middle of the room a 
 dainty pool, either round, fore-square, triangular, or of other figure, as the 
 place requires, usually twenty or twenty-four yards about, and almost two in 
 depth, so neatly kept, and the water so clear, as makes apparent the exqui¬ 
 site mosaic at the bottom; herein are preserved a kind of fish of two or 
 three feet long, like barbels, which have often taken bread out of my hand, 
 sucking it from my fingers at the top of the water. 
 
 “ But that which to me seemed more magnificent than all this was my 
 entertainment. Entering one of these rooms, I saw at the upper end, 
 amongst others sitting cross-legged, the Lord of the Palace, who beckoning 
 me to come, 1 first put off my shoes, as the rest had done, then bowing very 
 often, with my hand on my breast, came near; where he making me sit 
 down, there attended ten or twelve handsome young pages, all clad in scar¬ 
 let, with crooked daggers and scymetars, richly gilt; four of them came 
 with a sheet of taffety, and covered me; another held a golden incense with 
 rich perfumes, wherewith being a little smoked, they took all away; next 
 came two with sweet water, and besprinkled me ; after that, one brought a 
 porcelain dish of coffee, which when I had drank, another served up a glass 
 of excellent sherbet. Then began our discourse.In their ques¬ 
 
 tions and replies, I noted the Egyptians to have a touch of the merchant 
 or Jew, with a spirit not so soldier-like and open as the Turks, but more 
 
NOTES. 373 
 
 discerning and pertinent.”— Voyage into the Levant, by Sir Henry Blount, 
 of Tittenhanyer, Knight. Harleian Voyages, vol. i, p. 525. 
 
 Note 9, page 29. 
 
 “ Foule-fat-fool-Saint.” 
 
 “Another of their Saints went about the Citie continually starke naked, 
 covering neither head, foot, nor any part of his foule fat bodie; yet I have 
 seen divers as hee passed along, at divers times, (yea women,) kiss his 
 naked armes and hands. On a time, at Bullaco, going over Nilus, he going 
 in a passage-boat, in which I, with others, went over, a Moore in the com- 
 panie, seeing him come, layed him a piece of an old coat to sit on; but 
 when he felt it under him, he layd it aside, and sate on the bare boords; so 
 hee ever did on the stones, earth, and sands. This man was in Cairo 
 before I came thither, and I know not how long after. 
 
 “ This great fat lubberly beast would goe through the streets and take off 
 the stalles to eat, bread, little baked meats, and fruits, and roots, and no bodie 
 denied him, but counted themselves happiethat he would do so. He would 
 not touch money of any sort; a very kinde of scorched bacon hogg, hee was 
 as fat as he could goe. 
 
 “ Other of those saints of Cairo goe but half-naked, and some of them 
 are very leaue rascalls.”— Sundrie the personall Voyages performed by John 
 Sanderson, of London, Merchant, begun in October, 1584. Ended in 
 October, 1602.— Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. ii, p. 1616. 
 
 Note 10, page 30. 
 
 “ Here I may fitly take occasion to teach those that purpose to travel into 
 Turkey how to behave themselves. If they be set upon by thieves, they 
 may defend themselves, if they be strong enough; but if they be polling 
 officers, they must not be contradicted. But neither in their cities, nor in 
 their travels, may they strike again, though they be abused and beaten by 
 any man, except they be thieves and robbers, for if they do, they shall either 
 be put to death, or have their hand cut off. Neither if a man receive a box 
 on the ear at any of their hands, must he give one bad word, or look frown¬ 
 ing upon him that smote him; for then he will strike again, and say, 
 
 ‘ What, Goure 1 dost thou curse me, and wish the devil had me ? ’ But he 
 must kiss his beard, or the skirt of his garment, and smile upon him, and 
 then he will let him pass.”— Biddulph's Travels of Four Englishmen, &c. 
 1600—11. Harleian Voyages, vol. i, p. 812. 
 
 Note 11, page 31.—Isle of Eoda. 
 
 “ Ce fut sous le vezyrat de Chahan-Chah, surnomme El Afdhal, et fils 
 du celebre Bedr el-Djemaly, qu’elle rejut le nom de Baoudah, ou Jardiu. 
 Ce prince avoit affectionne cette isle, et en avoit meme acquis une portiou 
 assez considerable, qu’il avoit embellie avec soin, et ou il se promenoit fre- 
 quemment. II l’appelloit son jardin; cette denomination est restee a l’isle 
 
374 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 entiere: cependant le veritable Itaoudah ne paroit pas avoir subsiste long- 
 temps apres la mort de Chahan-Chah, assassine enl’an 515, (a. d. 1121-2.) 
 Le khalife el Amar Behhakam-Allab, que l’on soup^onne avec beaucoup de 
 vraisemblance d’avoir ete l’instigateur de ce crime, s’empara de toutes les 
 proprietes du malbeureux vezyr, de son tresor qui renfermoit plusieurs mil¬ 
 lions de pieces d'or, de ses pierreries, de ses cbevaux, et de ses armes: la 
 maison de plaisance situee dans l’isle en faisoit aussi partie; et si le kbalyfe 
 negligea l’entretenir, c’etoit pour lui en substituer une inflniment plus vaste 
 et belle, et sur-tout plus analogue au gout de la personne qui devoit l’oc- 
 cuper. 
 
 “ Ce prince avoit un penchant particulier pour les Arabes Bedouynes. 
 Ayant appris qu’il y en avoit une, celebre par sa beaute, dans le Said, il y 
 alia deguise en Arabe Bedouyn, et apres beaucoup de courses et demarches 
 il parvint a la voir. Sa passion en devint alors plus violente; de retour 
 dans son palais, il envoya aupres des parens de la jeune fille un negotiateur 
 charge de la demander en manage pour le kbalyfe. On imagine bien que 
 la proposition ne fut pas rejetee. Arrivee aupres de son auguste epoux, 
 environnee de toute la pompe des grandeurs, la jeune Bedouyne n’en sentit 
 pas moins vivement la perte des jouissauces, ou plutot de la liberte a la- 
 quelle elle etoit accoutumee, et peut-etre aussi l’absence d'uu jeune Arabe de 
 ses parens. Par condescendance pour cet amour de la liberte, qui devoit 
 lui paroitre fort etrange dans une femme, le kbalyfe fit batir dans Pile de 
 Roudah, sur le bord du Nil, auprbs du Mokhtar* une maison de plaisance 
 d’une etendue et d’une magnificence etonnautes, et que Ton nomma el Hou- 
 dedjeA Peut-etre ce nom fut il imagine par la jeune Bedouyne, qui, dans 
 ce vaste palais, se trouvoit aussi a l’etroit que dans ces litibres ou les Arabes 
 enferment leurs femmes pour les transporter sur des chameaux quand ils 
 cbangent de campement. 
 
 “ Le Kbalyfe rendoit des visites si assidues a cette belle captive, que les 
 Batbenyens,J qui avoient forme le complot de l’assassiner, se mirent en am¬ 
 buscade, dans un four situe a l’extremite du pont du cote de l’ile ; ils fon- 
 dirent sur lui au moment ou il passoit, et le poignarderent. Apres samortle 
 houdedje fut abandonne, et vers le milieu du quinzieme si^cle de 1’ere vul- 
 gaire on n’en connoissoit plus l'emplacement. 
 
 “ Les contes que l’on a faits sur la jeune Bedouyne, sur Ebn Mobahh 
 son cousin, et sur le kbalyfe El Amar Behhakam Allah, sont aussi nom- 
 breux que ceux d’El Batlial et des Mille et Une Nuits.”— Langles, Notes on 
 Norden’s Voyage , de. , tom. iii, pp. 207-9. 
 
 * A1 Mokhtar, “the preferred,”—a magnificent garden, planted in the island, 
 A.D. 937. 
 
 t “ Le houdedje est un litiere dans laquelle les Arabes transportent leurs femmes 
 quand ils changent de campement; e’eet une espece de caisse, garnie de planches ou 
 de l’etoffe ; elle est quelquefois decouverte, ou surmontee d’une imperiale, a laquelle 
 pend un rideau, pour cacher les femmes dans la marche. Le houdedje est porte par 
 un chameau: ce nom convenoit assez bien a une demeure dans laquelle, malgre toute 
 son etendue, notre jeune Arabe devoit se trouver aussi genee que dans une litiere.”— 
 Langles. 
 
 t “ Les Bathenyens etoient une secte heretique de Musulmans, partisans, pour ne 
 pas dire adorateurs, d’Aly. On les nommoit aussi Nossairytes. ( Abulftda .) Les 
 eerivains des croisades les nomment assassins." — Langles. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 375 
 
 This story will probably remind some of my readers of the song of Mai- 
 suna, the Bedouin bride of Moawia, who, sighing for the desert amidst the 
 pomp of Damascus, found her greatest comfort in singing its melancholy 
 strain in private; Moawia overheard her, and sent her back to Yemen. 
 
 “ The russet suit of camel’s hair, 
 
 With spirits light and eye serene, 
 
 Is dearer to my bosom far 
 
 Than all the trappings of a queen. 
 
 The humble tent and murmuring breeze 
 That whistles through its fluttering walls, 
 
 My unaspiring fancy please 
 
 Better than towers and splendid halls. 
 
 The attendant colts, that bounding fly 
 And frolic by the litter’s side, 
 
 Are dearer in Maisuna’s eye 
 
 Than gorgeous mules in all their pride. 
 
 The watch-dog’s voice, that bays whene’er 
 A stranger seeks his master’s cot, 
 
 Sounds sweeter in Maisuna’s ear 
 
 Than yonder trumpet’s loud-drawn note. 
 
 The rustic youth, unspoiled by art, 
 
 Son of my kindred, poor but free, 
 
 Will ever to Maisuna’s heart 
 
 Be dearer, pampered fool, than thee !” 
 
 Carlyle’s Specimens of Arabian Poetry, p. 38. 
 
 Note 12, page 37.—Magic. 
 
 Few perhaps are aware that a species of incantation, extremely similar to 
 that which has excited so much interest lately at Cairo, was practised at 
 Paris at the commencement of the last century. I am indebted to the kind¬ 
 ness of my hereditary friend Mr. Morritt for a reference to the following 
 account of it, as witnessed by Philip, afterwards the Regent Duke of Orleans, 
 and described by himself to the Duke de St. Simon ; from whose Memoirs 
 (the fifth volume of the new and complete edition) I extract the passage— 
 at full length—in order that the reader may determine how far the well- 
 known trick with which the narrative closes, ought to throw suspicion on 
 the supernatural character of the rest of the exhibition. 
 
 “ Yoici une chose qu’il me raconta dans le salon de Marly, dans un coin 
 ou nous causions tete-a-tete, un jour que, sur le point de son depart pour 
 1’Italie, il arrivait de Paris, dont la singularite verifiee par des evenemens 
 qui ne se pouvaient prevoir alors m’engage a ne la pas omettre. II etait 
 curieux de toutes sortes d’arts et de sciences, et, avec infiniment d’esprit, 
 avoit eu toute sa vie la faiblesse si commune alacour des enfans d'Henri II., 
 que Catherine de Medicis avait entre autres mceurs apportee d’ltalie. II 
 
376 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 avait tant qu'il avait pu cherche a voir le (liable, sans y avoir pu parvenir, a 
 ce qu’il m’a souvent dit, et a avoir des cboses extraordiuaires, et a savoir 
 l'avenir. La Sery avait une petite fille chez elle de huit ou neuf ans, qui y 
 etait nee et n'en etait jamais sortie, et qui avait l’ignorance et la simplicity 
 de cet age et de cette education. Entre autres fripons de curiosites cachees, 
 dont M. le Due d’Orleans avait beaucoup vu en sa vie, on lui en produisit 
 un chez sa maitresse, qui pretendit faire voir dans un verre rempli d’eau 
 tout ce qu’on voudrait savoir. II demanda quelqu’un de jeune et d’innocent 
 pour y regarder, et cette petite fille s’y trouva propre. Ils s’amuserent 
 done a vouloir savoir ce qui se passait alors meme dans des lieux eloignes, 
 et la petite fille voyait, et rendait ce qu’elle voyait a mesure. Cet liomme 
 prononqait tout bas quelque chose sur ce verre rempli d’eau, et aussitot on 
 y regardait avec succes. 
 
 “ Les duperies que M. le Due d’Orleans avait souvent essuyees, l’en- 
 gagerbnt a une epreuve qui put le rassurer. II ordonna tout bas a 1’oreUle 
 a un de ses gens d’aller sur-le-champ a quatre pas de-la, chez Madame de 
 Nancre, de bien examiner qui y etait, ce qui s’y faisait, la position et 
 l’ameublement de la chambre, et la situation de tout ce qui s’y passait, et 
 sans perdre un moment ni parler a personne de le lui venir dire a l’oreille. 
 En un tourne-main la commission fut executee, saus que personne s’aperput 
 de ce que e’etait, et la petite fille toujours dans la chambre. Des que M. le 
 Due d’Orleans fut instruit, il dit a la petite fille de regarder dans le verre 
 qui etait chez Madame de Nancre, et ce qui s’y passait. Aussitot elle leur 
 raconta mot pour mot tout ce qu’y avait vu celui que M. le Due d’Orleans y 
 avait envoye. La description du visage, des figures, des vetemens, des gens 
 qui y etaient, leur situation dans la chambre, les gens qui jouaient a deux 
 tables differentes, ceux qui regardaient ou qui causaient assis ou debout, la 
 dispositiou des meubles, en un mot tout. Dans l’instant M. le Due d’Orleans 
 y envoya Nancre, qui rapporta avoir tout trouve comme la petite fille l’avait 
 dit, et comme le valet qui y avait ete d’abord l'avait rapporte a 1’oreille de 
 M. le Due d’Orleans. 
 
 “ II ne me parlait gubre de ces cboses-la, parce que je prenais la liberte 
 lui en faire honte. Je pris celle de le pouiller a ce recit, et de lui dire ce 
 que je crus le pouvoir detourner d’ajouter foi et de s’amuser a ces prestiges, 
 dans un temps surtout ou il devait avoir l’esprit occupe de tant de grandes 
 choses. ‘ Ce n’est pas tout,’ me dit-il; ‘ et je ne vous ai conte cela que 
 pour venir au reste;’ et tout de suite il me conta que, encourage par l’exacti- 
 tude de ce que la petite fille avait vu de la chambre de Madame de Nancre, 
 il avait voulu voir quelque chose de plus important, et ce qui se passerait a 
 la mort du roi, mais sans en rechercher le terns qui ne se pouvait voir dans 
 ce verre. Il le demanda done tout de suite a la petite fille, qui n’avait jamais 
 oui parler de Versailles, ni vu personne que lui de la cour. Elle regarda et 
 leur expliqua longuement tout ce qu’elle voyait. Elle fit avec justesse la 
 description de la chambre du roi a Versailles, et de l’ameublement qui s’y 
 trouva en effet a sa mort. Elle le depeignit parfaitement dans son lit, et ce 
 qui etait debout aupres du lit ou dans la chambre, un petit enfant avec 
 l’ordre tenu par Madame de Ventadour, sur laquelle elle s’ecria parce qu’elle 
 
NOTES. 
 
 377 
 
 l’avait vue chez Mademoiselle de Sery. Elle leur fit connaitre Madame de 
 Maintenon, la figure singuli&re de Fagon, Madame la Duchesse d’Orleaus, 
 Madame la Duchesse, Madame la Princesse de Conti; elle s’ecria sur M. le 
 Due d'Orleans: en un mot, elle fit connaitre ce qu’elle voyait la de princes, 
 de seigneurs, de domestiques ou valets. Quand elle eut tout dit, M. le Due 
 d’Orleans, surpris qu’elle ne leur eut point fait connaitre Monseigneur, 
 Monseigneur le Due de Bourgogne, Madame le Duchesse de Bourgogne, ni 
 le Due de Berry, lui demanda si elle ne voyait point des figures de telle et 
 telle fayon. Elle repondit constamment que non, et repeta celles qu’elle 
 voyait. C’est ce que M, le Due d’Orleans ne pouvait comprendre, et dont il 
 s’etonna fort avec moi, et en rechercha vainement la raison. L’evenement 
 1’expliqua. On etait lors en 1706. Tous quatre etaient alors pleins de vie 
 et de sante, et tous quatre moururent avant le roi. Ce fut la meme chose 
 de M. le Prince, de M. le Due et de M. le Prince de Conti, qu’elle ne vit 
 point, tandis qu’elle vit les enfans des deux derniers, M. du Maine, les 
 siens, et M. le Comte de Toulouse. Mais jusqu’a l’evenement cela demeura 
 dans l’obscurite. 
 
 “ Cette curiosite achevee, M. le Due d’Orleans voulut savoir ce qu’il 
 deviendrait. Alors ce ne fut plus dans le verre. L’homme qui etait la lui 
 offrit de le lui montrer comme peint sur la muraille de la chambre, pourvu 
 qu’il n’eut point de peur de s’y voir; et au bout d’un quart d’heure de 
 quelques simagrees devant eux tous, la figure de M. le Due d’Orleans, vetu 
 comme il l’etait alors et dans sa grandeur naturelle, parut tout-a-coup sur 
 la muraille comme en peinture, avec une couronne fermee sur la tete. Elle 
 n’etait ni de France, ni d’Espagne, ni d’Angleterre, ni Imperiale. M. le 
 Due d’Orleans, qui la considera de tous ses yeux, ne put jamais la deviner; 
 il n’avait jamais vu de semblable. Elle n’avait que quatre cercles, et rien 
 au sommet. Cette couronne lui couvrait la tete. 
 
 “ De l’obscurite precedente et de celle-ci, je pris occasion de lui remontrer 
 la vanite de ces sortes de curiosites, les justes tromperies du diable, que 
 Dieu permet pour punir des curiosites qu’il defend, le neant et les tenebres 
 qui en resultent au lieu de la lumiere et de la satisfaction qu’on y recherche. 
 Il etait assurement alors bien eloigne d’etre regent du royaume, et de 
 l’imaginer. C’etait peut-etre ce que cette couronne singuliere lui annonjait. 
 Tout cela s’etait passe a Paris chez sa maitresse, en presence de leur plus 
 etroit intrinseque, la veille du jour qu’il me le raconta, et je 1’ai trouve si 
 extraordinaire que je lui ai donne place ici, non pour l’approuver, mais pour 
 le rendre.” 
 
 A kind communication from M. Hamilton, received at the very moment 
 this sheet is passing through the press, enables me to add to the above 
 extract another from the first Apology of Justin Martyr, in which, among 
 various proofs of the consciousness of the separate spirit, he alleges the 
 very art now in vogue in Egypt, with its peculiar characteristic of being 
 only practised through the medium of children, in regard to their age, inno¬ 
 cent and pure. His words are as follow:— 
 
 UtKuo/jiavTiiai jiiv yap, k ai at aiiatydoptov iraidwv tirojTtnmj, (cat 
 
378 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ipvxvv avOpioTTivuv k\t}(thq, k ai oi Xtyoyevoi icapa roig payoig ovti- 
 pOTropnroi, Kai TrapeSpoi, Kat ra yiyvoptva vtto t<ov t avra tiSorwv, 
 miaaTiiiaav vpag bn tm ptra Oavarov tv aiaQ-yati twiv ai ipvxat .— 
 Apolog. edit. Thirlbii, 1722, p. 27. 
 
 [For full information respecting these Egyptian magicians, see Mr. Lane’s 
 most valuable “ Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians,” vol. i, 
 p. 341, and the Quarterly Review, vol. 59, pp. 195 sqq.—1847.] 
 
 Note 13, page 40.—The Great Pyramid. 
 
 Yet it would appear to have been open in Abd’allatifs time:—“ Cette 
 ouverture mbne a des passages etroits, a des conduits qui s’etendent jusqu'a 
 tine graude profondeur, a des puits et a des precipices, comrae l’assurent 
 les personnes qui ont le courage de s’y enfoncer; car il y a un grand nombre 
 de gens qu’une folle cupidite et des esperances chimeriques conduisent dans 
 Tinterieur de cette edifice. 11s s’enfonceut dans ses cavites les plus profondes, 
 et arrivent eufin a un endroit ou il ne leur est plus possible de pousser plus 
 avant. Quant au passage le plus frequente, et que l’on suit d’ordinaire, c’est 
 un glacis qui conduit vers la partie superieure de la pyramide, ou Ton 
 trouve une chambre carree, et dans cette chambre un sarcophage de pierre.” 
 —On a second visit, he plucked up courage to enter the pyramid in company 
 with a large party—but he shall tell his own story :—“ Dans un autre visite 
 que je rendis aux pyramides, j’entrai dans ce conduit interieur avec plusieurs 
 personnes, et je penetrai jusqu’aux deux tiers environ; mais ayant perdu 
 connoissance par un effet. de la frayeur que m’inspiroit cette montee, je 
 redescendis a demi mort.”— Relation, &c., p. 175. 
 
 “ A most dreadful passage, and no less cumbersome, not above a yard in 
 breadth and four feet in height, each stone containing that measure, so that, 
 always stooping and sometimes creeping by reason of the rubbish, we de¬ 
 scended (not by stairs, but as down the steep of a hill) 100 feet, where the 
 place for a little circuit enlarged, and the fearful descent continued, which 
 they say none ever durst attempt any further, save that a Bassa of Cairo, 
 curious to search into the secrets thereof, caused divers condemned persons 
 to undertake the performance well stored with lights and other provision, 
 and that some of them ascended again well nigh thirty miles off in the 
 deserts. A fable devised only to beget wonder. But others have written 
 that at the bottom there is a spacious pit, eighty and six cubits deep, filled 
 at the overflow by concealed conduits; in the midst a little island, and on 
 that a tomb containing the body of Cheops, a king of Egypt, and the builder 
 of this Pyramis, which with the truth hath a greater affinity. For since 
 I have been toid by one out of his own experience that, in the utter¬ 
 most depth, there is a large square place (though without water) into which 
 he was led by another entry opening to the south, known but to few, (that 
 now open being shut by some order,) and entered at this place where we 
 feared to descend.”*— Sandys. 
 
 * Was not this the central chamber rediscovered (as it would appear) by Caviglia? 
 
NOTES. 
 
 379 
 
 “ Au fond de ceste descente y a une espace a main gauche, de laquelle se 
 void une autre descente, qui va beaucoup plus has sous la Pyramide, mais 
 l’entree en est muree .”—Relation des Voyages de M. de Breves, &e., Paris, 
 4to, 1630.—p. 277.* 
 
 I transcribe from Murtadi’s “ Merveilles d’Egypte” the following speci¬ 
 men of the popular Arab traditions regarding the Pyramids. 
 
 “ Apres que la Pyramide fut ouverte, le monde la vint voir par curiosite 
 pendant quelques annees, plusieurs entrant dedans, et les uns en revenant 
 sans incommodite, les autres y perissant. Un jour il se rencontra qu’une 
 troupe de jeunes hommes, au nombre de plus de vingt, jurerent d’y entrer, 
 pourvu que rien ne les en empeschast, et de pousser tant qu’ils fussent 
 arrivez jusques au bout. Ils prindrent done avec eux a boire et a manger 
 pour deux mois. Ils prindrent aussi des plaques de fer et des barres, des 
 chandelles de cire et des lanternes, de la mesebe et de l’huile, des haches, 
 des serpes, et d’autres tranchans, et entrerent dans la Pyramide. 
 
 “ La pluspart d’entre eux descendirent de la premiere glissade et de la 
 seconde, et passerent sous la terre de la Pyramide ou ils virent des chauve- 
 souris grandes comme des aigles noires, qui commencerent a leur frapper le 
 visage avec beaucoup de violence. Mais ils souffrirent constamment cette 
 incommodite, et ne cesserent d’avancer jusques a ce qu’ils parvindrent a un 
 lieu estroit d'ovi il sortoit un vent impetueux etfroid extraordinairement, sans 
 qu’ils peussent reconnoistre d’ou il venoit ny ou il alloit. Ils s’avancerent 
 pour entrer dans ce destroit, et alors leurs chandelles commencerent a 
 s’esteindre, ce qui les obligea de les enfermer dans leurs lanternes ; puis ils 
 entrerent, mais le detroit se trouva presque entierement joint et clos devant 
 eux. Sur quoy, l’un d’eux dist aux autres, ‘ Liez moy avec une corde par 
 le milieu du corps, et je me hazarderay de passer outre, a la charge que, 
 s’il m'arrive quelque accident, vous me retirerez aussi-tost a vous.’ 11 y 
 avoit a l’entree du destroit de grands vaisseaux vuides faits de pierre en 
 forme de bieres, avec leurs couvercles a coste, ce qui leur fist connoistre 
 que ceux qui les avoient mis la les avoient preparez pour leurs morts, et que 
 pour parvenir jusques a leurs thresors et a leurs richesses, il falloit passer 
 par ce destroit. Ils lierent done leur campagnon avec des cordes, afin qu’il 
 se hazardast de francliir ce passage. 
 
 “ Mais incontinent le destroit se ferma sur luy, et ils entendirent le bruit 
 du fracassement de ses os. Ils tirerent les cordes a eux, mais ils ne le 
 peuvent retirer. Puis il leur vint une voix espouvantable du creux de cette 
 caverne, qui les troubla et les aveugla si bien qu’ils tombbrent immobiles et 
 insensibles. 
 
 “ Ils revindrent a eux quelque temps apres, et cherchbrent a sortir, 
 estant bien empeschez de leurs affaires. Enfin ils revindrent aprbs beau¬ 
 coup de peine, horsmis quelques uns d’eux qui tomberent sous la glissade. 
 Estant sortis dans la plaine, ils s’assirent ensemble tous estonnez de ce qui 
 leur estoit arrive, et alors voicy que tout d’un coup la terre se fendit devant 
 eux et leur jetta leur compagnon mort, qui demeura d’abord immobile, puis 
 
 * De Breves, French Ambassador at the Porte, visited the Pyramids on his return 
 to France in 1605. 
 
380 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 deux heures apr^s commenja a remuer, et leur parla en une langue qu’ils 
 n’entendoient point; car ce n’estoit pas de l’Arabe; mais quelque temps 
 aprts quelqu’un des habitans de la Haute Egypte le leur interpreta, et leur 
 dit qu'il vouloit dire cecy, ‘ C’est icy la recompense de ceux qui taschent de 
 s’emparer de ce qui ne leur appartient pas ! ’ Apres ces mots leur compag- 
 non leur parut mort comme auparavant, c'est pourquoy ils l’enterrerent en 
 la mesme place."— Merveilles d’Egypte, p. 55. 
 
 Note 14, Page 42. 
 
 Cheops is doubtless the “ Priest Saiouph” of Murtadi, who lived till the 
 time of King Pharaan, under whose reign the deluge took place. “ II 
 faisoit sa demeure dans la pyramids maritime (ou septentrionale) laquelle 
 pyramide estoit une temple des astres, ou il y avoit une figure du Soleil, et 
 une de la Lune, qui parloient toutes les deux.”— Merveilles d’Egypte, 
 
 р. 19. 
 
 Note 15, Page 44.—Caviglia. 
 
 “ His pursuits have unsettled many of those notions which he probably 
 received in childhood, and have given him, I suspect, no consoling equiva¬ 
 lent. I remembered, however, that there lay in his cottage” (at Memphis) 
 “ one of the finest uninspired volumes ever penned,” the ‘ Thoughts of Pas¬ 
 cal,’ “ and I could not help wishing that, while looking for the Temple of 
 Vulcan, he might find a nobler prize.”— Scenes and Impressions in Egypt 
 and Italy, 1824, p. 197. The wish—the prayer, of the kind and excellent 
 writer has been answered. 
 
 Note 10, Page 47. 
 
 The granite casing of the Pyramid of Mycerinus appears to have been 
 entire in the sixteenth century. “ C’est uu edifice merveilleux,” says Villa- 
 mont in 1589, “pour estre tout hasty entierement de marbre, et s’estre 
 conserve du tout en son entier. II n’y a non plus de degrez au dehors et 
 au dedans pour y monter qu’en la seconde.”*— Voyages, &c., p. 581. “ La 
 
 troisiesme Pyramide,” says a much more accurate and trustworthy traveller, 
 the naturalist Belon, (in 1548,) “ est encore en son entier, n’ayant aucune 
 tache de ruine. Ceste troisiesme Pyramide n’a non plus d’ouverture en 
 toute la masse, qui si elle venoit d'estre faite: car la pierre dont elle est 
 faite est d'une sorte de marbre nomme Basalten, autrement appelle lapis 
 jEthiopicus, qui est plus dur que le fin fer. Ceste sorte de pierre est celle 
 dont pour la plus grande partie tous les sphinges Egyptiens ont este mis en 
 sculpture, tels qu’on voit a Borne au Capitole, et qui ont este autrefois 
 entaillez paries Egyptiens.”— Observations de plusieurs singularitez, &c.— 
 
 с. 45, fob 204, verso, edit. 1555. 
 
 The exterior coating of the other two pyramids was entire at the com¬ 
 mencement of the thirteenth century:—“Ces pierres sont revetues d’ecri- 
 ture dans cet ancien caract&re dont on ignore aujourd’hui la valeur. Ces 
 
 Was the Second Pyramid entire also in the time of Villamont? 
 
NOTES. 
 
 381 
 
 inscriptions sont en si grand nombre que, si l’on vouloit copier sur du papier 
 celles seuleraent que l’on voit sur la surface de ces deux pyramides, on en 
 rempliroit plus de dix mille pages.”— Abd'allatif, Relation , &c., p. 177. 
 
 All the early Arab writers bear witness to the existence of these inscrip¬ 
 tions:—see the passages collected by De Sacy, Notes to Abd’allatif, pp. 
 221 sqq., or in Pinkerton’s Voyages, &c., vol. 15, p. 825. Mandeville, 
 about J 330,* and Bildensel, + in 1336, mention them, but in Bakoui’s 
 time, 1403, they would seem to have totally disappeared. “ On pretend,” 
 says he, “ que sur ces pyramides qui etoient couvertes de sculpture il y 
 avoit une inscription en caract&res mousnads , (anciennes lettres Hemy- 
 arites,) par laquelle il etoit dit que leur construction etoit une preuve de 
 la puissance des Egyptiens, et qu’il etait plus facile de les detruire que de 
 les elever.”— Notices des MSS. de la Bibliotheque du Roi , tom. 2, 
 p. 457. 
 
 Yet Vansleb, in 1672, asserts that he saw upon some of the Pyramids 
 hieroglyphic characters, but he had not time to copy them.— Present State 
 of Egypt , &c., p. 84. 
 
 “ To reconcile the silence of the Greek and Latin writers, on the subject 
 of the inscriptions on the Pyramids, with the testimony of the Arab writers, 
 Mr. White makes a judicious observation, which 1 transcribe: ‘ Such 
 
 * Mandeville’s whole description is curious:—“Now I schalle speke of another 
 thing, that is bezonde Babyloyne, above the flode of Nyle, toward the desert, betwene 
 Africk and Egypt,—that is to seyn, of the Gerneres of Joseph that he lete make, for 
 to kepe the greynes for the perile of the dere zeres. Thei ben made of ston, full 
 welle made of masonnes’ craft, of the whiche two ben merveyllouse grete and hye, and 
 the tothere ne ben not so gret; and every Gerner hath a xate [gate] for to entre 
 withinne , a lytille high,' fro the Erthe , for the lond is wasted and fallen sithe the 
 Gerners were made. And withinne thei ben alle fulle of serpentes. And aboven the 
 Gerneres withouten , ben many scriptures qf dyverse languages. And sum men seyn, 
 that thei ben sepultures of grete Lordes that weren sometyme : but that is not trewe : 
 for alle the comoun rymour and speche is of alle the peple there, both fer and nere, 
 that thei ben the Gerneres of Joseph. And so fynden thei in here Scriptures and in 
 here Cronycles. On that other partie, zif thei weren sepultures, thei sholden not 
 ben voyd withinne. For yee may well knowe that tombes and sepultures ne ben not 
 made of such gretnesse, ne of such highnesse. Wherefore it is not to believe that 
 thei ben tombes or sepultures.”— Voiage , &c., p. 63. 
 
 Does Sir John intend to intimate that the Pyramids of Cephrenes and Mycerinus 
 were open in his time? 
 
 t Baldensel also found a Latin inscription of six lines, sculptured on a stone in one 
 of the Pyramids, and beginning in the following affecting strain:— 
 
 “ Vidi pyramidas sine te, dulcissime frater! 
 
 Et tibi, quod potui, lacrymas hie moesta profudi, 
 
 Et, nostri memorem luctus, hanc sculpo que relam.” 
 
 The concluding lines, as given by him, are unintelligible.— Hodoeporicon , %c. ap. 
 Canisii Lectiones Antiquas y t. 4, p. 342. 
 
 Ludolf, rector of Suchen, who performed his pilgrimage to Jerusalem the same 
 year as Baldensel, furnishes another copy of this inscription, which is found, says he, 
 along with other Latin inscriptions, on the wall of one of the two larger pyramids ; 
 its second, third, and fourth faces being similarly sculptured with inscriptions in 
 Greek, Hebrew, and an unknown character. Ludolf’s work being extremely scarce, 
 I transcribe the original passage from the folio edition printed by Eggestein at Stras- 
 burgh, (but without name, place, or date, paging, or signature,) in the fifteenth cen¬ 
 tury : —“ Item, juxta Babiloniam Novam, trails fiuvium Nyli, versus desertum Egypti, 
 stant quamplurima mire magnitudinis antiquorum monumenta, ex lapidibus sectis 
 facta; in quibus sunt duo maxima e; olim pulcherrima sepulchra quadrata, in cujus 
 unius pariete uno Latine, in secundo Greece, in tertio Hebraice, in quarto multa quae 
 ignorantur scripta sunt et sculpta. Sed in primo pariete quo scripte erant Latine, in 
 
 quantum pro vetustate discerni potest, hi versus sunt insculpti, &c.Haec 
 
 monumenta * horrea Pharonis ’ ab incolis vocantur.” 
 
382 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 abundance of hieroglvphical characters were seen in every part of Egypt 
 that they would fail of exciting admiration in the observers, and be deemed 
 unworthy of particular relation. Owing to this it is, that, in the descrip¬ 
 tion of the obelisks, which from the ground to the very summit are covered 
 with hieroglyphics, this circumstance has remained unnoticed by the greater 
 part of the ancients.’ ”— De Sacy. 
 
 Note 17, Page 48. 
 
 Do we not recognise another well-known tale in Bakoui’s account of the 
 great and ancient city of Ansina, (Antinopolis,) to the east of the Nile, 
 where the inhabitants had all been changed into stone, and were to be seen, 
 some asleep, some awake, each in the different attitude and occupation he 
 had been engaged in when the spell took effect ? Ansina was called, in 
 Edrisi’s time, (a.d. 1153,) the City of Magicians, those opposed to Moses 
 by Pharaoh having been summoned by him from that town.— Geogr. Nub., 
 p. 41. I wonder they did not ascribe the transformation to the rod of Moses. 
 
 Ebn Haukul, however, in the tenth century, brings Pharaoh’s magicians 
 from Bouseir. 
 
 Note 18, Page 48. 
 
 “ L’Egypte etoit alors, disent ils, partagee en quatre-vingts-cinq provinces, 
 dont il y en avoit quarante-cinq dans la partie basse et quarante dans la 
 haute. Et en chaque province ii y avoit un gouverneur, du nombre des 
 princes des prestres, qui sont ceux dont Dieu parle dans l’histoire de 
 Pharaon, quand il dit, 1 Envoye par les villes des herauts, qui amenent vers 
 toy tons les scavans magiciens,’ il entend ces Gouverneurs. L’on dit que 
 les villes des Princes des Magiciens avoient este basties par Busire. Le 
 Prestre qwi servoit les astres estoit sept ans en charge, et quand il estoit 
 parvenu a ce degre, on le nommoit Cater, ctmraie qui diroit Maistre des 
 Influences* et alors il prenoit seance avec le Boy, en mesme rang, et le 
 Boy menoit ses bestes a Tabrevoir et les ramenoit (c’est a dire, faisoit 
 toutes les affaires) selon son conseil. Quand i! le voyoit venir, il se levoit 
 pour le recevoir, alloit au devant de luy et le faisoit asseoir. Puis les 
 Prestres s’approchoient, et avec eux les Maistres des Arts, qui se tenoient 
 debout au dessous du Cater. Chaque Prestre avoit un Astre a servir parti- 
 culibrement, sans qu’il luy fust permis d’en servir aucun autre, et on le 
 nommoit le serviteur de tel astre, tout de mesme que les Arabes servoient 
 chacuu son dieu, et se nommount Gabdosamse, Gabdiagoth, Gabdolgasi, 
 c’est a dire, Serviteur de Samse ou du Soleil, Serviteur de Jagots, Serviteur 
 du Gazi. Le Cater disoit done au Prestre: ‘ Ou est aujourd’bui 1’astre que 
 tu sers ? ’ et le Prestre respondit, ‘ Il est en tel signe, tel degre, telle 
 minute.’ Puis il demandoit la mesme chose a un autre, et quand il avoit 
 
 * “ I.es prestres estoient distinguez en sept ordres, dont le premier estoit celuy des 
 Caters, qui estoient ceux qui servoient tous les sept astres, chaque astre sept ans. 
 Avec le Cater estoit le Docteur Universel. Le second ordre appartenoit a ceux qui 
 servoient six astres, et qui estoient ceux qui suivoient immediatement apres le pre¬ 
 mier degre. Apres cela ils nommoient celuy qui en servoit cinq et audessous, le 
 suivant et l'inferieur.”— Ibid. p. 4G. 
 
NOTES, 
 
 383 
 
 eu response de tous, et qu’il scavoit la position de tons les astres, il s’ad- 
 dressoit au Roy, et luy parloit ainsi: ‘ II est a propos que vous fassiez 
 aujourd’hui teUe chose, que vous envoyez telle armee en tel lieu, que vous 
 vous vestiez de telle maniere, que vous parliez en tel temps, que vous 
 fassiez assemblee en tel temps;’ et de mesme de tout ce qu’il trouvoit bon 
 dans toutes les affaires du Roy, et dans tout le gouvernemeut de son Roy- 
 aume. Le Roy escrivoit tout ce que disoit le Cater, et tout ce qu’il desap- 
 prouvoit. 
 
 “ Puis il se toumoit vers les artisans, et leur parloit ainsi. ‘ Grave, toy, 
 telle figure sur telle pierre,’ ‘ et toy, plante tel arbre,’ ‘ et toy, fais le plan 
 geometrique de tel ouvrage,’ et ainsi de suite a tous, depuis le premier jus- 
 ques au dernier. Incontinent ils sortoient tous, et se reudoient promple- 
 ment chacun a sa boutique, ou ils mettoient la main a l’oeuvre, travaillant 
 aux ouvrages qui leur avoient ete commandez, et suivant exactement le 
 dessein qui leur avoit este prescrit par le Cater, sans s’en eloigner aucune- 
 ment. Ils marquoient ce jour la dans le registre des ouvrages qui s’y 
 faisoient, et le registre estoit plie, et mis en garde dans les thresors du 
 Roy. 
 
 “ Leurs affaires se faisoient selon cet ordre; puis le Roy, quand illuy 
 survenoit quelque affaire, faisoit assembler les prestres hors la ville de 
 Memphis, et le peuple s’assembloit dans les grandes rues de la mesme ville. 
 Alors ils entroient l’un aprbs l’autre chacun en son rang, le tambour bat- 
 tant devant eux pour faire assembler le monde, et chacun faisoit voir quelque 
 trait merveilleux de sa magie et de sa sagesse. L’un faisoit paroitre sur 
 son visage, aux yeux de ceux qui le regardoient, une lumibre pareille a 
 celle du soleil; de sorte que personne ne pouvoit arrester sa veue sur luy. 
 L’autre paroissoit revestu d’une robe chamarree de pierreries de diverses 
 couleurs, vertes, ou rouges, ou jaunes, ou tissue d’or. Un autre venoit 
 monte sur un lyon, environne de grands serpens entortillez autour de luy 
 en forme de cengles. Un autre s’avan 9 oit couvert d’un dais ou pavilion 
 compose de lumiere. Un autre paroissoit environne d’un feu toumoyant 
 autour de luy, en sorte que personne ne le pouvoit approcher. Un autre se 
 faisoit voir avec des oyseaux terribles voltigeans autour de sa teste, et tre- 
 moussans de leurs aisles, comme des aigles noires et des vaultours. Un 
 autre faisoit paroistre en 1’air devant luy des personnages effroyables et 
 espouvantables, et des serpens aislez. Enfin, chacun faisoit ce que luy 
 enseignoit son astre qu’il servoit: mais tout cela n’estoit que phantosme et 
 illusion, sans aucune verite ”—the gramarye of European superstition.—■ 
 Murtadi, Merveilles d’Egyple, pp. 5—10. 
 
 Note 19, Page 51.—Spirits of the Pyramids. 
 
 “ Tous ces esprits sent veus manifestement par ceux, qui approchent 
 d’eux et des lieux de leur retraite, et y hantent longtemps. Il y a pour 
 tous certaines offrandes particulibres, par le moyen desquelles il se peut 
 faire que les thresors des Birba et des Pyramides paroissent, et qu’il se 
 forme amitie et familiarite entre les hommes et les esprits, suivant ce que 
 les sages ont estably.”— Murtadi, Merveilles cCEgypte, p. 66. 
 
384 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 “ Les fables que les Arabes nous racontent snr ces gardiens et ces esprits 
 attaches aux Pyramides, ne seroient-elles pas fondees sur les figures mon- 
 strueuses disposees probablement a 1’entour de ces monuments, et dont la 
 sphinx est la seule qui subsiste?”— Langles, Notes on Norden, t. 3, p. 272. 
 
 Note 20, Page 52.—The Sphinx. 
 
 “ On dit que c’estoit anciennement un oracle, qui donnoit response a 
 ceux qui luy parloient et demandoient son avis et conseil en beaucoup de 
 choses.”— De Breves, p. 279. 
 
 Abd’allatif speaks of the Sphinx with great admiration: “ On voit sur la 
 figure une teinte rougeatre et un vernis rouge, qui a tout l’eclat de la 
 fraicheur. Cette figure est tres belle, et sa bouche porte l’empreinte des 
 graces et de la beaute. On diroit qu’elle sourit gracieusement.”— Relation, 
 &c., p. 179. 
 
 The face was mutilated by a fanatic sheikh of the Soufiee sect, in 1379, 
 “ et depuis cette epoche, les sables inondent le territoire de Djizeh.”— 
 Langles, Notes on Norden, t. 3, p. 339. 
 
 Note 21, Page 53.—Heliopolis. 
 
 The name Heliopolis or Beth-Shemesh, the House—is still preserved in 
 that of the adjacent spring Ain-Shems, the Fountain—of the Sun. 
 
 Abd’allatif describes Ain-Shems as a small town, “qui etoit entouree 
 d’un mur, que Ton reconnoit encore aujourd'hui, quoique detruit. On voit 
 facilement que ces ruines appartiennent a un temple; on y trouve des 
 figures effrayantes et colossales de pierre de taille, qui ont plus de trente 
 coudees de long, et dont tous les membres sont dans des dimensions pro- 
 portionees. De ces figures, les unes etoient debout sur des piedestaux; les 
 autres assises dans differentes positions singulieres, et avec une parfaite 
 regularity La porte de la ville subsiste encore aujourd’hui. La plupart 
 de ces pierres sont couvertes de figures d’hommes et d’autres animaux, et 
 d’un grand nombre d’inscriptions en caractere inconnu. II est rare de 
 rencontrer une pierre qui n’oflre, ou une inscription, ou quelque objet grave 
 en creux, ou une figure en relief.” 
 
 He proceeds to mention, “ les deux obelisques si renommes, que Ton 
 appelle les deux aiguilles de Pharaon ,”—one of them erect, “ la tete recou- 
 verte d’un espece de chapeau en cuivre, en forme d’entonnoir, qui descend 
 jusqu’a trois coudees environ du sommet,”—the other lying on the ground 
 broken in two, with its cap taken away. “ Autour de ces obelisques il y 
 en a une multitude d’autres qu’on ne sauroit compter: ceux-ci n'ont que la 
 moitie ou le tiers de la hauteur des grands. Parmi ces petits obelisques, on 
 n’en voit gufere qui soient d’une seule pierre ; la plupart sont de plusieurs 
 pieces rapportees. Le plus grand nombre ont ete renverses, mais leurs 
 bases sont encore en place.”— Relation, &e., pp. 180-181. 
 
 Both the obelisks were erect in 1118, and De Sacy’s conjecture is pro¬ 
 bably correct, that we should read 556 for 656—the year of the Hegira in 
 which the one mentioned by Abd’allatif as lying broken on the ground 
 
NOTES. 
 
 385 
 
 fell—corresponding to the year of Christ 1160. Inside of the fallen obe¬ 
 lisk (of which not a trace is now to be seen) was found, according to 
 Makrisi, our authority for the above date, nearly two hundred quintals of 
 copper, and from its summit copper was taken of the value of ten thousand 
 dinars. These copper caps (on which, according to a writer cited by 
 Makrisi, the figure of a man, seated and looking towards the east, was 
 engraved) were seen by Denys de Telmayre, a.d. 775; and Ephraim Svrus 
 mentions them in his commentary on Isaiah, in the fourth century .—De Sacy. 
 
 The surviving obelisk was supposed by the Arabs to have been erected 
 by Hushenk the Just, father of the Pischdadian dynasty of Persia, and 
 famous for his doughty deeds in Peri-land, warring against the Dives. The 
 sculptured figures, which were to be seen at Ain-Shems in Bakoui’s time, 
 were similarly attributed to the Genies. 
 
 Close to Heliopolis is Mataria, of equal interest in Christian tradition as 
 the resting-place of the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary, and our Saviour on the 
 Flight into Egypt, and in natural history for its Garden of Balsam—a shrub 
 brought originally (according to Arabic tradition) from Yemen by the 
 Queen of Sheba as a present to Solomon, and planted by him in the gardens 
 of Jericho, and thence brought to Egypt by Cleopatra. All the old travel¬ 
 lers, Arab and Christian, mention this garden with deep interest. The 
 Balsam of Jericho, or Balm of Gilead, has long been lost; it may not be 
 uninteresting to trace the gradual extinction of that of Mataria. 
 
 The Christians, we are informed by an Arab writer, cited by D’Herbelot, 
 attached a peculiar religious value to the Balm of Mataria, using it “ pour 
 faire ce que les Grecs et les autres Chretiens Orientaux appellent myron, 
 qui est la chreme de la confirmation.” “ Les souverains Chretiens,” says 
 Makrisi, “ le recherchent a 1’envi les uns des autres, et tous les Chretiens, 
 en general, l’ont en grande estime; il ne croient point qu’un Chretien soit 
 devenu parfait Chretien, si l’on ne met un peu d’huile de baume dans l’eau 
 baptismale, quand on l’y plonge .”*—De Sacy, Notes on Abd’allatif p. 88. 
 
 The Balm of Mataria was also indispensable at the coronation of the 
 European sovereigns:— 
 
 “ Not all the water in the rough rude sea 
 Can wash the balm from an anointed king!” 
 
 * The Greek word, which the French have softened into creme, is retained with 
 greater purity in the chrism or chrisome of our old English writers. 
 
 Till the revisal of the liturgy in 1551, the chrism or consecrated oil was applied 
 immediately after baptismal immersion; the infant’s head was then enveloped in the 
 chrisome-cluth, a vesture of white linen, originally, in all probability, emblematical of 
 those robes of righteousness provided for the redeemed soul by the Saviour, and 
 wrapped in which, by an affecting image, its little body was consigned to rest, if the 
 Almighty was pleased to recal the spirit he had given within a month after birth. 
 Such an infant was called a chrisome-child. “Every morning,” says Jeremy Taylor, 
 alluding probably to the beautiful idea that the smiles of infants are the medium of 
 their converse with angels, “ creeps out of a dark cloud, leaving behind it an igno¬ 
 rance and silence deep as midnight, and undiscerned as are the phantasms that make 
 a ckrisom-child to smile.” And perhaps, to a thoughtful mind, Mrs. Quickly's com¬ 
 parison of Falstaff’s death to the peaceful departure of a chrisom-child is, in the 
 reflections it suggests, the most awful in the whole compass of literature. In process 
 of time the word ckrisom came to be used indifferently for the unction, the vesture, 
 and the infant; it is in the last sense only that it now survives, as beading the most 
 numerous column in the London bills of mortality. 
 
 c c 
 
NOTES. 
 
 38fi 
 
 The first writer, I believe, who mentions it, is the author of the Apocry¬ 
 phal Gospel of the Infancy of Christ—a work supposed to have been 
 translated from a Greek original of ancient date,—p. 69, Sikes’ Edition, 
 1697. 
 
 Abd'allatif gives a minute account of the plant, and of the method of 
 gathering the bairn. “ On le cultive,” he says, “ dans un lieu enclos, et 
 soigneusement garde, de l’etendue de sept feddans.”—p. 20-1. 
 
 The garden, Elm al Ouardi tells us, in the thirteenth century, was a mile 
 square—the only spot (and this assertion, as old as Ebn Haukul’s time, is 
 reiterated by every traveller) where it was preserved. De Salignac, in 
 1522, describes this garden as two bow-shots long, by a stone’s cast broad. 
 
 Sir John Mandeville, about 1330—(his authority is not to be contemned 
 while he treats of the well-known regions of Egypt, Mount Sinai, and 
 Palestine)—has dedicated a chapter of his marvellous narrative to the 
 ‘ Field of Balsam,’ which he asserts would nowhere else bear fruit, nor even 
 there, unless under the culture of Christian gardeners. They call the tree, 
 he says, Enonchbalse, the fruit abebissam, the liquor or gum, girybalse. 
 The incisions were made with bones or stones, never with iron, or the gum 
 would be corrupted. It was an infallible specific for fifty different diseases, 
 but was very rarely to be obtained pure.— Voiage , &c., p. 60. 
 
 One tree only existed in Bakoui’s time, (1403,) which, he says, “ en 
 commenjant a pousser, ressemble au grenadier et au hanna; on en tire la 
 baume dans des vases de verre. II s’en fait un grand commerce; on compte 
 qu’on en recueille par un an 200 livres d’Egypte ; il y a la un Chretien, qui 
 seul a le secret de la preparer et de la purifier.” 
 
 But the fullest account of this garden is to be found in Breydenbach’s 
 curious folio, the “ Peregrinatio in Montem Syon, ad venerandum Christi 
 sepulchrum, atque in Montem Synai, ad divam Virginem et Martyrem Kathe- 
 rinam,” performed in 1483, and printed at Mentz, in 1486. Arriving from 
 Mount Sinai, weary and way-worn, and having for many days tasted only 
 the foul water of the desert, one can well imagine his delight in welcoming 
 the “sweet, clear, and cold” waters of Mataria, and reposing in a “spa¬ 
 cious and delicious ” edifice, built over the fountain of the Virgin, its 
 windows opening on the garden, and completely perfumed by the fragrance 
 of the balsam. This ‘ palace,’ as a contemporary of Breydenbach’s calls it, 
 was built by the Soldan, who paid it an annual visit at the season when the 
 balm was gathered. The earliest and choicest balm was obtained in Decem¬ 
 ber, incisions being made thrice in that month, and the produce was reserved 
 exclusively for the Soldan, who made presents of it to the Cham of Tartary, 
 Prester John, Xanssa Lord of the Tartars, and the Grand Turk; the sub¬ 
 sequent produce was sold, but much adulterated. 
 
 Dismissing their camels here, Breydenbach and his companions rested for 
 the remainder of the day, after sending to Cairo for a dragoman, without 
 whose escort no Christians were allowed to enter. Wine, they complain, 
 was the only luxury they could not obtain here; everything else was to be 
 had in abundance, and on reasonable terms. 
 
 When the Holy Family, on their flight from Egypt, arrived at Malaria, 
 
NOTES. 
 
 387 
 
 they went from house to house, asking, hut in vain, for a cup of water— 
 faint, thirsty, and sorrowful, the Virgin sat down to rest herself, when sud¬ 
 denly the sacred fountain sprang forth at her side. The balsam, adds Brey- 
 denbach, with fond and amiable superstition, refuses to yield her produce to 
 any irrigation save that of the fountain of the Virgin.* 
 
 In Breydenback’s time, therefore, the garden appears to have been flou¬ 
 rishing. Shortly afterwards, most unaccountably, the balsam plants—for 
 the single shrub mentioned by Baltoui would seem to have been extensively 
 propagated—all died out—whether through carelessness of the gardener, 
 through fraud and envy of the Jews, or through religion and piety being 
 offended, no one could tell; “however that may be,” says Peter Martyr, 
 who visited Mataria in 1502, “ all those plants have peiished from the very 
 roots, nor does the slightest trace of them remain.” This must have been 
 some years before his visit., as the interior of the Sultan’s palace, deserted 
 ever since the balm failed, had already fallen to ruin. 
 
 Baumgarten, five years afterwards, tells the same tale, adding, that “ the 
 balm failing, a neighbouring fountain was dried, which, as they told us, used 
 to moisten the trees, and make them fruitful.” The fountain, however, was 
 still as sweet and plentiful as ever, when the plenipotentiary of Castile was 
 there, who tells his sovereigns, in elegant latinity, that though water was 
 forbidden him by his physicians, he could not, remembering who had bathed 
 in that fountain, abstain from taking three such copious draughts of it, that 
 his stomach swelled to such a degree that he was obliged to loosen his 
 girdle. 
 
 One solitary plant, however, appears to have been recovered, and the 
 fountain (Baumgarten would have supposed by sympathy) had sprung up 
 again, when Leo Africanus, the protege of Leo X., finished that ‘ golden 
 volume,’ his Description of Africa, in 1526. “At Amalthria,” says he, 
 “ there is a garden containing the only halm tree, (for in the whole world 
 beside there is not any other tree that heareth time balm,) growing in the 
 midst of a large fountain, and having a short stock or body, bearing leaves 
 like vine-leaves, but not so long; and this tree, they say, would utterly 
 wither and decay, if the water of the fountain should chance to be dimin¬ 
 ished. The garden is surrounded with a strong wall,” (in Peter Martyr’s 
 time only by a mound of earth,) “ whereinto no man may enter without the 
 special favour aud licence of the Governor.” 
 
 “ Ils sont dedans un grand jardin,” says Belon, in 1548, “enfermez en 
 un petit parquet de muraille, que 1’on dit y avoir este fait depuis que le Turc 
 a oste l’Egypte des mains du Souldan; et dit on que ce fut un Bacha, qui 
 estoit lieutenant pour le Turc, qui les estima dignes d’avoir closture a part 
 eux. Lorsque les veismes, il n’y en avoit que neuf ou dix plantes, qui ne 
 rendent aucune liqueur.”— Observations, Sec., p. 195. 
 
 These plants, being totally withered, were in 1575 replaced by forty fresh 
 
 * Peter Martyr says that laches, King of Cyprus, with permission of Caytbeius, 
 (Qaetbai e’ Zaheree,) the Sultan, attempted to rear it in Cyprus, irrigating it witt 
 water brought from Mataria; but the plant would not live.— Legatio Babylonica- 
 lib. 3. 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 cuttings from Mecca, 'which had also perished, however, through the negli¬ 
 gence of the gardener, in 1580, when Prosper Alpinus (who lays the scene 
 of his “ Dialogus de Balsamo” in the garden of Mataria) visited the spot. 
 
 Another supply had been procured before De Breves’ visit, in 1605. He 
 speaks of the garden as “ garde avec grand soin ; et avant que d’y entrer, 
 le Bostandji ou jardinier pria un chacun de ne point toucher aux plantes. 
 La dedans nous vismes sept ou huits petits arbrisseaux de baume, ayaut 
 chacun son quarreau a part; ils sont fort petits, de la hauteur d’un pan et 
 demy, ou deux, ayant la feuille petite comme de la marjolaine sauvage, ses 
 branches fort desnuees de feuilles. Le Bostandji nous donna deux ou trois 
 petites phioles de baume, et un petit du bois ; il rend une fort bonne odeur. 
 Nous en vismes un qui avoit este incise, qui distilloit sa liqueur dans une 
 petite phiole. En nous promenant dans ledit jardin, quelqu’un des nostres, 
 ayant marche sur une des dites plantes, en rompit une branche tout a fait; 
 ce qu'ayant apperpu le pauvre jardinier, il en devint palle et transi de dou- 
 leur et de frayeur, comme s’il eust este condamne a la mort, et se deses- 
 peroit, disant qu’autre que sa vie ne pouvoit reparer ce dommage, le s^a- 
 chant le Grand Seigneur ou le Bassa; car ceux qui sont a la garde de ces 
 plantes en respondent sur leur teste. En fin on appaisa ce pauvre homme 
 avec un peu d’argent qu’on luy donna.”— Relation , &c., p. 271. 
 
 Two plants only, and almost dead, existed in 1612, when Brenning visited 
 Mataria. Sandys mentions one—“ the whole remnant of that store which 
 this orchard produced, destroyed by the Turks, or envy of the Jews, as by 
 the others reported.” 
 
 This last survivor perished in 1615, in consequence of an excessive inun¬ 
 dation of the Nile. 
 
 Thevenot’s account of Mataria, in 1657, throws so much light on the 
 preceding descriptions, and gives so accurate an idea of the present appear¬ 
 ance of the garden and its facilities for pic-nics, that I cannot resist tran¬ 
 scribing it:—“ Vous y voyez une petite salle presque quarree, qui autrefois 
 etoit une simple grotte, maintenant elle est enclose avec un jardin, dont on 
 a le soin; au commencement de cette salle, a main gauche, est un bassin 
 
 qui est a rez-de-chaussee du pave, un peu plus long que large. 
 
 L’eau qui vient en ce bassin de cette salle, et partout le jardin, se tire par 
 deux bceufs, qui font tourner une saki dans le cour, par le moyen de laquelle 
 
 ils elevent cette eau.Aprbs avoir vu cette salle, on passe dans 
 
 un grand jardin, enferme aussi de murailles, ou il y a plusieurs arbres, mais 
 entr’autres il y a un gros sycomore, ou figuier de Pharaon, fort vieux, qui 
 porte toutefois du fruit tous les ans ; on dit que la Vierge passant par la 
 auprbs avec son fils Jesus, et voyant que des gens la poursuivoient, le figuier 
 s’ouvrit, et la Vierge y etant entree dedans, il se referma; puis ces gens 
 etant passez, il se rouvrit, et resta toujours ainsi ouvert jusqu’a l’annee 
 1656, que le morceau qui s’etoit separe du tronc fut rompu *.Ce 
 
 * “ The Copts say, that when our Lord Jesus Christ and his most holy mother hid 
 themselves in this opening of the Sycamore, they saved themselves from the soldiers’ 
 
NOTES. 
 
 389 
 
 jardin est assez agreable pour se reposer, et on y dine ordinairement dans 
 quelque allee couverte d’orangers et de limoniers, dont il y a si grande quan¬ 
 tity, et qui font un tel ombrage, que le soleil n’y passe point du tout, mais 
 ils sont si bas, qu’il faut se baisser extremementpour passer en plusieurs de 
 ces allees, au milieu desquelles il y a des canaux faits pour conduire l’eau 
 par tout lejardin ; on vous fait passer l’eau par l'allee ou vous etes, et vous 
 y faites rafraichir votre vin; mais il faut porter la ce que vous voulez man¬ 
 ger, car on n’y trouve que des oranges belles et bonnes en quantite, et des 
 petits limons .”—Voyages au Levant, tom. ii, p. 440. 
 
 Two prints of the ‘house of Joseph and Mary,’ as the hut erected over 
 the sacred fountain was then called, as it existed in 1681, may be found in 
 the Voyages de Lebrun, vol. i, plates 76, 77. 
 
 The well is now open to the sun, and the balm survives only in tradition. 
 
 Between Mataria and Cairo, a garden and pleasure-house of the Mama- 
 luke Sultans existed in Belon’s time, 1548—of which he gives the following 
 description:— 
 
 “ Quand nous l’eusmes veu, tournasmes bride vers le Caire, nous des- 
 toumauts de nostre chemin, en declinant a main dextre, pour aller voir un 
 autre jardin, qui n’est qu’ a une lieu du Caire, ou il y a une grande et spa- 
 cieuse salle, qui fut faite par les Cercasses au temps que le Souldan etoit 
 Seigneur d’Egypte. Cestuy edifice est une grand espace pavee de graudes 
 pierres quarrees, et est couverte dessus en maniere de terrasse pour defendre 
 
 violence by the favour of a spider’s web that covered them suddenly, and appeared 
 very old, though it was made in an instant by a miracle; so that they imagined not 
 that any person could be hid within, much less the persons whom they were seeking.” 
 — Vansleb, Present State of Egypt, p. 141. 
 
 No mention of this tree, or of its miraculous history, is to be found in the Gospel of 
 the Infancy of Christ. 
 
 A large sycamore is still reverenced at Mataria as the Virgin’s Tree. But the 
 stump of another, which bore the same title, was shown in the garden, and the 
 fragments of its trunk were preserved as relics by the Franciscans at Cairo, in 1672. 
 — Vansleb. 
 
 Tucher mentions another miraculous tree as shown to him at Mataria in 1479:— 
 “ In the garden there stands a great fig-tree, which bears the figs named Pharaoh’s. 
 The tree had exhausted itself at the time when our Lady and her son Jesus came into 
 Egypt,” but recovered its fertility in consequence; “ a burning lamp, with oil, hangs 
 before it.” 
 
 A third sacred tree was to be seen at Cairo in the days of Jacques de Vitry, Bishop 
 of Acre, who died in 1244. “At Cairo is a very ancient date-tree, which spontane¬ 
 ously bent itself to the blessed Virgin when she wished to eat of its fruit, and rose 
 again when she had gathered it. The Saracens, seeing this, cut the tree down, but 
 the following night it sprang up again as straight and entire as before, and conse¬ 
 quently they now venerate and adore it. The marks of the axe,” adds the Bishop, “ are 
 visible to this day.”— Jacobi de Vitriaco Hist. Orientalise Liber 3, ap. Martenne , Thes. 
 v. 3, p. 375. 
 
 The Virgin is said, in the Koran, to have borne our Saviour leaning against a 
 withered date-tree, which miraculously let fall ripe fruit for her refreshment.— Sale’s 
 Koran , c. 19, p. 250. 
 
 The latter tree was said in the tenth century to be preserved in the “ dome or 
 vault ” of Bethlehem, and held in high repute.— Ebn HaukuCs Oriental Geography, 
 p. 40. 
 
390 
 
 NOTES, 
 
 du soleil, dont la couverture est soustenud a pilliers de pierre de taille 4 
 claires voyes. Le Nil y arrive tout joiguant les murailles, non pas le cou- 
 rant, mais quand il inonde. Au coste de levant de ceste salle, il y a un 
 beau petit jardin, dedans lequel sont plusieurs arbres de casse, des arbres 
 de henne, des rosiers, et josuin jauue: mais aux costez de septentrion et 
 de midy, il y a deux petits reservouers en maniere de viviers, qui servent a 
 garder l’eau pour boire. Tout le bastiment est peinct par le dessus. Les 
 poutres et aix sont de palmiers. Depuis que l’Egypte est rendue tributaire 
 au Turc, il a toujours continue tomber en decadence.”— Observations, &c., 
 p. 109. 
 
 Prince Radziwil, in 1583, describes another royal palace, the Gaurea—in 
 which he dined, returning from Mataria. It was erected, he says, by Sultan 
 Gaur, (or El Goree, the last of the Mamaluke Sultans,) who attached to it 
 an elegant mosque with two lofty minarets, in which he was buried. The 
 porticoes of this palace, supported by numerous aud beautiful columns, 
 may vie, he says, with any for elegauce. In the centre is a tank, fifty 
 cubits square and six deep, which the Sultan, whenever, as was his frequent 
 custom, he held a solemn banquet for his court and people, filled with 
 sherbet,that whoever would might drink as much as he liked. Fourflights 
 of marble steps descended from the brink of the pool, for the convenience 
 of the people, who descended, step by step, as the sherbet diminished. Re¬ 
 freshments, meanwhile, were laid out for them under the porticoes, while 
 the Sultan looked on from the upper story of the building. Ibrahim Pacha, 
 adds Radziwil, occasionally resided in this palace—possibly the same 
 described by Belon, repaired and enlarged.— Jerosolymitana Peregrinatio, 
 &c.— Can it be one of the tombs of the Mamlook Sultans, outside the 
 gates of Cairo? 
 
 The Gipsies wandered over Lower Egypt in great numbers about the 
 middle of the sixteenth century:— 
 
 “ Il n’y a lieu en tout le inonde qui soit exempt de telle pauvre gent 
 ramassee que nous nommons de faux noms Egyptiens ou Baumiens—car 
 mesme estants entre la Materee et le Caire, nous en trouvions de grandes 
 compagnies, et aussi le long du Nil en plusieurs villages d’Egypte, campez 
 dessous des palmiers, qui estoyent aussi bien estrangers en ce pays la 
 comme ils sont aux nostres.”— Belon, Observations, &c., livre ii, c. 41. 
 
 “Nous voyons en allant,” (a Mataree) “plusieurs pauvres gens campez 
 par les camps comme les Arabes, et nous estans enquis quels ils estoyent, 
 on nous dit que e’estoyent de ceux que nous appellons en noz quariiers 
 Sarrasins ou Boemiens, que les Italiens nomment Zingani.”—1581.— Pere¬ 
 grinations du Sieur Jean Palcrne ; ed. 1C06, p. 138. 
 
 Note 22, Page 57.—Abhir. 
 
 With the utmost deference to the learned Klaproth, might not the illus¬ 
 trious race of the Avars have derived their name (written indifferently 
 
NOTES. 
 
 391 
 
 Abares, Auairas, Awai'es, and Aviri,) from this Sanscrit word ? The Gaelic 
 aodhair, contracted aoir, a shepherd, (from aodh, a sheep,) appears to be the 
 same word. 
 
 I cannot help remarking how singularly the hereditary title Topa, or 
 Master of the Earth, borne by the Khans of the Geougen, afterwards called 
 Avars,—and that of Tobbaa, assumed by the Hamyarite dynasty of Yemen, 
 resemble each other. The arms of the Tobbaas were carried as far as 
 China, and an inscription in the Musnad, or ancient Hamyarite character, 
 was long shown on one of the gates of Samarcand, attesting their presence 
 and their victories, “ a thousand parasangs from Senaa,” at least 500 years 
 b. c. See Ebn Haukul’s Oriental Geography, translated by Sir W. Ouseley, 
 4to, 1800. 
 
 Note 23, Page 57. 
 
 I am aware that the Philistines and Cherethim are identified in Scrip¬ 
 ture, and that Calmet and many learned commentators consequently 
 bring the Philistines from Crete. Major Wilford’s and Mr. Taylor’s 
 opinion appears to me nearer the truth—that Crete was colonized by the 
 Cherethim, a tribe of the Philistines or shepherd race, who preserved their 
 distinct appellation, though an integral part of the nation, in the same 
 manner as one of the principal branches of the Pali in India (to all appear¬ 
 ance the same as the Cherethim) is distinguished to this day by the kindred 
 name of Ciratas.—Crete, it is remarkable enough, is said by Anaximan¬ 
 der (ap. Plin.) to have been named from the Curetes under their king 
 Philistides. 
 
 With all deference, however, to those learned men, I cannot subscribe to 
 their opinion that the Philistines came all the way from India. Gausanitis, 
 or Goshan, in Mesopotamia, and Palestine to the east of the Tigris, seem 
 to be the two ventricles, as it were, of that mighty heart, from which the 
 streams of Pali and Ciratas flowed towards the east, and those of Pliilistim 
 and Cherethim towards the west. 
 
 The argument in the text refers to the great migration from Caphtor to 
 Canaan; some Philistines had certainly settled on the borders of Canaan at 
 a much earlier period. Abimelech, king of Gerar, was king of the Philis¬ 
 tines in Abraham’s time. Gerar, however, no longer existed as a capital, 
 nor the Abimelechs as a line of kings, in the time of Joshua. 
 
 Note 24, Page 68. 
 
 Peter Martyr d’Angliiera, ambassador of Ferdinand and Isabella to the 
 Mamlook Sultan of Egypt, draws a sad picture of the moral degradation and 
 political oppression of the Egyptians, at the commencement of the sixteenth 
 century:— 
 
 “ Gens autem ipsa incolarum est imbellis, effceminata, inermis, discincta, 
 mollis, timida: mechanicis tantum artibus aut mercaturae intenta: vitam 
 silentio prseterit ingloriam. Nec aliis legibus a Mameluchis gubernata, 
 
392 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 qukm absoluto judicio. Est prasterea Mameluchi cujusvis tanta in incolas 
 universos potestas, ut elava lignea, quam manu gestat semper, quemcunque 
 incolam obvium ferire pro libito, vel levissima occasione sumpta, liceat: 
 quod scilicet ipsum transeuntem tetigerit, aut venienti non assurrexerit, vel 
 minus bonorifice salutaverit, aut non citus loco cesserit. Interdum etiam 
 nullam nactus causam, dum aut temulentus aut insanus vel alias iratus 
 incedens per urbem Mameluclius occurrit incolee, ipsum quotquot ictibus 
 libet percutit, nec mussitare miser audet, neque in ejus auxilium vel labium 
 movere quisquam intentat: quamvis pater filium, aut filius patrem a Mame- 
 
 lucbo ceedi conspiciat, eequo tamen vultu patiatur, necesse est. 
 
 Incolee cuiquam arma ulla, vel gladiolum quidem acuta cuspide vel recta, 
 apud se habere, equo vel pedibus ambulanti, vetitum est. Redituum autem, 
 preeter ordinaria vectigalia, lex est—principum voluntas. Exignnt, expilant, 
 extorquent, et ad ossa usque excoriant. Propterea etsi animus ad vindi- 
 candum se in libertatem a tam impia servitute adesset, vires tamen defi- 
 cerent: cum pecuniee, quse sunt nervi belli, illis aesint; exercitique minime 
 
 sint armis.Voluptatibus omnifariam dediti, futurorum omni cura 
 
 posthabita, vivunt: suoque Mahomet® se magis gratum facere tunc arbi- 
 trantur, quando ardentius delectationibus incumbunt. 
 
 “ .Indicate igitur, serenissimi reges, quam infausto sydere regiones haa 
 gubernentur, in quibus servi dominantur, liberi serviunt, graves opprimun- 
 tur, stulti extolluutur: ubi nulla fides, nullum jus, nulla pietas, misericordia 
 rara, avaritia immensa : in domibus summa ob multas uxores discordia, foris 
 ingens inter se odium.” —Legatio Babylonica, lib. 3, fol. 84.* 
 
 Nor was the Egyptian policy of the Grand Signors less oppressive than 
 that of the Caliphs and Sultans :— 
 
 “ Now the Turk, to break the spirits of this people the more, oppresses 
 them with a heavier poverty than any of his other Mahometan subjects; 
 and, therefore, if there be one Vizier more ravenous than another, he sends 
 him thither, and connives at all his extortions, though afterwards, accord¬ 
 ing to the Turkish policy, he knows how to squeeze him into the treasury, 
 so satisfying the people; the prince drains them, and they discern him no 
 otherwise than as their revenger.” —Blounts Voyage into the Levant; 
 Harl. Voyages, vol. i, p. 529. 
 
 The following passage from Vansleb I need only preface by reminding 
 the reader that the Copts are the sole remnant of the ancient Egyptians :— 
 
 “ I must needs confess that there is no nation in Egypt so much afflicted 
 as are the Copties, because they have nobody amongst them who deserves 
 to be honoured for his knowledge, or feared for his power and authority; 
 for all that were rich or wealthy are destroyed by the cruelty of the Maho¬ 
 metans ; therefore the rest are now looked upon as the scum of the world, 
 
 * The writings of Peter Martyr “ abound in interesting particulars not to be found 
 in any contemporary historian. They are rich in thought, but still richer in fact, 
 and are full of urbanity, and of the liberal feeling of a scholar who has mingled in the 
 world. He is a fountain from which others draw, and from which, with a little pre¬ 
 caution, they may draw securely.”'— Washington Irving , Life of Columbus. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 393 
 
 and worse than the Jews. The Turks abuse them at their pleasure; they 
 shut up their churches and the doors of their houses, when they please, 
 upon light occasions, altogether unjust, to draw from them some sums of 
 money.”— Present State of Egypt, 1672, p. 174. 
 
 What a commentary these passages are upon the prophecy of Ezekiel:— 
 “ It shall be the basest of kingdoms, neither shall it exalt itself any more 
 among the nations, for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule 
 over the nations. Her power shall come down—I will sell the land into 
 the hand of the wicked—I will make the land waste, and all that is therein, 
 by the hand of strangers. I the Lord have spoken it.” 
 
 Note 26, Page 68.—Manfalout. 
 
 Manfalout has been almost swept away by the Nile. Besides “ certain 
 huge and high pillars and porches, whereon are verses engraven in the 
 Egyptian tongue,” Leo Africanus mentions “ the ruins of a stately building, 
 which seemeth to have been a temple in times past,” as standing “ neare 
 unto Nilus.”—It has long since suffered the fate of those at Antsopolis, 
 and elsewhere—and Ombos will follow. 
 
 Among the ruins, he adds, the citizens “ find sometimes coin of silver, 
 sometimes of gold, and sometimes of lead, having on the one side hielygra- 
 pliic notes, and, on the other side, pictures of ancient kings.”— Geographi¬ 
 cal History of Africa, p. 325, edit. 1600. 
 
 Note 26, Page 70.—Siout. 
 
 Leo Africanus, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, describes Siout 
 as “ most admirable in regard of the hugeness and of the variety of old 
 buildings, and of epitaphs engraven in Egyptian letters; although at this 
 present the greatest part thereof lyeth desolate. When the Mahometans 
 were first lords of this city, it was inhabited by honourable personages, and 
 continueth as yet famous in regard of the nobility and great wealth of the 
 citizens.”— Geographical History, Sec., p. 325. 
 
 Siout was the birth place of many celebrated Arab literati, especially of 
 Gelaleddin Aboul Eadhl Abdal-raliman Mohammed, surnamed Assiouti,—a 
 most voluminous writer, who flourished under Saladiu, and to whom we owe 
 the story of the fair Bedouin and the Garden of Boda. 
 
 Note 27, Page 70. 
 
 Mallem Athanasius, the last of the Copts that spoke his native tongue, 
 was living at Siout in 1673, when Vansleb ascended the Nile. “ I could 
 not benefit myself much by him, because he was deaf, and about fourscore 
 years of age; nevertheless, I had the satisfaction to behold that man, with 
 whom the Coptie3’ language will be utterly lost.”— Present State, &c., 
 p. 219. 
 
 Note 28, Page 71. 
 
 For these traditions, and respecting the balsam-grove, vide supra, p. 385. 
 
394 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note 29, Page 73. 
 
 Between Siout and Girgeh we visited Akhmim and Gebel Sheikh Heridy. 
 
 The legend of the serpent into which Sheikh Heridy’s soul is said to 
 have migrated, is well known, and perhaps of Indian origin; at least the 
 Hindoos appear to have been acquainted with it. See Major Wilford “ On 
 Egypt and the Nile.”— Asiatic Researches, vol. iii, p. 344, edit. 4to. 
 
 At Aklimim, the ancient Chemmis or Panopolis, and the retreat and 
 abode, according to the Arab writers, of the most powerful magicians, we 
 found little of interest. Nonnus, author of the Dionysiaca, that “ vast 
 repertory of Bacchic fable, the Grecian P.amayuna,” as Mr. Keightley calls 
 it, was horn there; and it has produced two great men among the Arabs— 
 Dhou el Noun, surnamed El Akhmimi, the chief of the Souffee sect, and a 
 skilful magician, who died a.d. 859; and Zulmin ebn Ibrahim, a skilful 
 chemist, not inferior, we are told, to Geber ben Ilaiau in that art, and who 
 added the science of mysticism to his other acquirements; the temple of 
 Akhmim was his constant resort and study, “ as a museum of antiquities, 
 where wondrous images and statues of exquisite labour were to be seen.”— 
 Casiri, Bibliotheca Arabico-Hispana, vol. i, p. 441. 
 
 Man, as usual, has whetted the scythe of Time ; “ the pillars and prin¬ 
 cipal stones of Akhmin” were employed, according to Leo Africanus, in 
 building Menshieh, on the opposite bank of the Nile; and of the zodiacs, 
 sculptures, and other “arcana sapientise,” recorded by Edrisi *—the “restes 
 admirables de palais, d’obelisques, et de statues colosses,” mentioned by 
 D’Herbelot—nothing now remains except an arch almost buried in the 
 earth, and a few massive stones of the great Temple of Perseus, in ahollow, 
 picturesquely surrounded hy palm-trees, the representatives of those men¬ 
 tioned by Herodotus. 
 
 Perseus, according to the report of the natives, as recorded by Herodotus, 
 ( Euterpe , cap. 91,) frequently appeared in the temple and the neighbour¬ 
 hood of Panopolis; “ a beardless and naked youth,” such as he is repre¬ 
 sented in the works of Grecian art, is the description Murtadi gives of the 
 guardian spirit of the Temple of Akhmim—well known, he adds, among the 
 inhabitants of that place. The coincidence is curious-—nor is it less inter¬ 
 esting to find the name of the earliest hero of European romantic fiction 
 attached to a spot, illustrious among the Arabs as a sort of Egyptian 
 Domdaniel. 
 
 Note 30, Page 77. 
 
 A talisman was supposed to be preserved at Bellini, to hinder crocodiles 
 from descending lower.— Bakoui. 
 
 * Edrisi decidedly prefers the temple of Akhmim to those at Dendera and Esne. 
 “In praedicta urbe Echmim extat a'dificium illud, quod appellatur Beraba; sunt 
 autem plures Berabae, inter quas est Beraba Asnae, Beraba Dandarae, et Beraba 
 Echmim: at haec et aedificio firmior et rebus memoria dignis omatior est; nam in 
 isto domicilio sunt nonnullae steilarum, et artium quarundarum, picturae, scripta 
 diversa, variaeque scientiae. Istud domieilium, quod Beraba dicitur, est in media 
 urbe Echmim, ut diximus.”— Geogr. Nubiensis, p. 42. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 395 
 
 Note 31, Page 86. 
 
 Near this tomb is another, containing paintings of animals beautifully 
 executed, but almost destroyed, and apparently since Burckhardt’s time, who 
 mentions them as “ the most elaborate and interesting work of the kind ” 
 that he had seen in Egypt. He adds the curious remark, that “ among the 
 innumerable paintings and sculptures in the tombs and temples of Egypt,” 
 he “ never met with a single instance of the representation of a camel.” I 
 do not recollect ever seeing one either. 
 
 Note 32, Page 91. 
 
 “ Mount Meru made also part of the cosmographical system of the Jews ; 
 for Isaiah, making use of such notions as were generally received in his 
 time, introduces Lucifer, in Sanscrit Swarblianu, or Light of Heaven, 
 boasting that he would exalt his throne above the stars of God, and would 
 sit on the mount of the congregation on the sides of the north. Meru has 
 also the name of Sabha, because the congregation, or assembly of the gods, 
 is held there on its northern side.”— Wilford on the Sacred Islands of the 
 West,—Asiatic Researches, vol. viii, p. 284. 
 
 Note 33, Page 102.—Thebes. 
 
 Nothing can be more unaccountable than the cloud of utter oblivion that 
 hung over Thebes till the middle of the seventeenth century. No Frank 
 traveller, certainly, had penetrated beyond Cairo; but that the Arab writers, 
 who are generally apt to exaggerate in their descriptions of architectural 
 remains, should take no notice of ruins like those of Thebes, is most extra¬ 
 ordinary.* Abd’allatif gives us no assistance; he was not in the upper 
 country, and his valuable work on Egypt is merely an account of what he 
 himself had seen, extracted from a larger compilation,—Edrisi, Ebn al 
 Ouardi, and Bakoui, are quite silent,—Abulfeda, who finished his work in 
 1321, after bestowing just praise on the antiquities of Oshmunein, Ensina, 
 and Memphis, pronounces a grave eulogium on the pottery of Luxor ! Ebn 
 Batuta, who ascended the Nile in 1325, mentions El Aksar (Luxor) as one 
 of the stages of his journey, but says nothing (at least in the abridgment, 
 which is all we possess of his work) of its ruins. How Leo Africanus 
 could have omitted all mention of them, is most surprising; he must have 
 passed and repassed them by night, for he expressly states that he sailed up 
 the river as high as Essouan. But did he hear nothing of Luxor and Car- 
 nac ? Were there no tales current of those vast halls, that genii might 
 walk under with unbended brow—of those awful statues that, side by side, 
 look down on the Nile like the tutelar guardians of Egypt—works worthy 
 of the Preadamites ? Were there no tales of mystery, no talismans concealed 
 
 * Yet not more so than that Herodotus should pass them over so completely. 
 
396 
 
 NOTES 
 
 there for A1 Ouardi or Bakoui to record ? One would almost fancy they 
 believed that merely naming them would wake Memnon and his brother 
 from their charmed slumber, let loose the sphinxes, and bring them down, 
 a mighty army, to revenge the wrongs of Egypt on her oppressors’ heads. 
 
 Neither Carnac nor Luxor are to be found in D’Herbelot’s precious 
 “ Bibliotheque Orientale,” first published in 1697, and he suggests that 
 Cous in the upper Thebaid, may possibly be the ancient Thebes.* 
 
 In short, the first notice I have been able to find of them, occurs in the 
 brief narrative, dated 1668, of Father Protais, a worthy Capuchin mission¬ 
 ary, who, after describing Luxor and Carnac with the simplicity and accu¬ 
 racy of Burckhardt, does not appear to have been aware that he had trodden 
 on the dust of Thebes ! The reader will not be displeased to compare his 
 account of the ruins of Carnac with those given by modern travellers; they 
 have suffered much, it seems, within the last hundred and seventy years. I 
 do not know how it may be with others, but to me the glimpses of the pro¬ 
 gress of ruin one meets with in the old travellers are as affecting as the 
 varying shades of age deepening over a beauty’s features in a succession of 
 portraits taken at different stages of her life ; this will plead my apology, I 
 
 * Nor are Luxor or Carnac mentioned in the singularly curious “ Mappamundi” of 
 Fra Mauro, preserved in the Library of ®t. Mark’s at Venice, and which I have 
 examined, though very cursorily, since the above remarks were published. It is a 
 most curious document, six or seven feet high, drawn and written on vellum, and 
 contains geographical notices which we have been accustomed to suppose of much 
 more recent acquisition. The venerable librarian told me, that when repairing and 
 framing it, he found an inscription on the back giving the name of the author and 
 the date of its completion, December, 1460. There is no gleam of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, but “ Dafur” is indicated, and the circular sweep of the Nile, with its source, 
 marked by a circle of small fountains, and the lake, inscribed (if I recollect right) 
 “ Fons Neel,” in the country of “ Abassia,” (Habesh,)—and another fount to the 
 west, named “ Fonte Geneth,”—then, descending northwards, “Nubia,” and the 
 upper cataracts of the Nile, immediately beyond “ Sua,” (Essouan,) on the east bank, 
 —but no notice whatever of Luxor or Carnac,—then, still descending the river, suc¬ 
 cessively, “Miniam” (?) on the eastern, “Mocassor” on the eastern, “El Medina” 
 on the western, “Nebend” on the western, “Elmine” (Minieh?) on the western, 
 and “ Benebeida” on the eastern bank,—“Babilonia,”—“ Masser, ovver El Chaiero,” 
 —the Granaries of Pharaoh, i. e ., the pyramids,—the “ Tebaida,” east of Cairo, and 
 many of the towns in the Delta,—“ Elfoa,” “ Damiata,” “ Seramia,” “El Minie,” and 
 “ Semenun.” Crossing the Red Sea, we have the “ Pozo de Moisis,” “ Eltoreva,” 
 “ Synay,” and beyond it the city “ Olch,” in Arabia Petrsea, and then “ Hacse ” and 
 “ Aaran.” 
 
 Fra Mauro says in a note on Palestine, that he has “ amplissimi desegm de tute 
 queste parte,” (*. e., Syria, Armenia, Arabia, &c.,) “ che li sono mejo distincte et 
 ordinati.” 
 
 Nor are the British Islands overlooked:—In England only the towns on the south¬ 
 ern coast, from west to east, are marked, to wit, “Falamita,” (Falmouth,) “ Alca- 
 mum,” (Charmouth?) “ Bristo,” (Bristol?) “Ancona,” (Hants? or the Jsle of 
 Wight?) “ Gixalexio,” (Chichester?):— 
 
 In Ireland, we have—in the south, “ Comborg,”—on the west coast, “ Lanere,”— 
 and in the north, the “ Purgatorio di S. Patricio”:— 
 
 For Scotland, nothing but the following very flattering notice:—“ Scotia, chome 
 apar, e contiguacum Anglia, ma devisa da aqua e da monti dala parte meridional, e la 
 gente eligiara e feroce e crudel contra i nemici, e piutosto ele^eriano la morte cha la 
 servitu,” adding, that it is “ fertilissima de’ pascoli, fiumere, fontane, et animali, e de 
 tote altre cosse e egual ad Anglia.” 
 
 This map ought to be engraved in fac-simile and carefully illustrated. An atlas of 
 ancient maps, one or two for each century, so edited, would be invaluable. The 
 librarian of St. Mark’s showed me some others, very curious, in one of which, dated 
 between 1430 and 1440, the Antilles were marked, and “ Ys. Brasil,” (Ysola Brasilefe,) 
 apparently in the same handwriting. [1847.] 
 
NOTES, 
 
 397 
 
 hope, for the present anti similar notices of the changes wrought by the foot 
 of Time, falling heavier and heavier every year he makes his rounds over 
 the monuments of antiquity. 
 
 After a brief but accurate description of Luxor, Father Protais proceeds 
 as follows:— 
 
 “ Le deuxieme village est el Hnmdie, ou Loxor el Cadim, ou Carnac. 
 La tradition des gens du pays dit que e’estoit autrefois la demeure d’un 
 Roy; il y a bien de l'apparance, car on y voit de grands et beaux restes d’un 
 chasteau, aux avenues duquel il y a des sphinx de part et d’autre, la teste 
 tournee vers bailee dans la posture a peu pres qu’on donne aux lions du 
 trone de Salomon. Ils ont vingt-uue semelles de longeur, distans de deux 
 les uns des autres. J’en ay veu quatre allees toutes garnies, avant que 
 d’arriver au Palais; je ne s£ay pas s’il y en a d’autres, parce que je ne vis 
 que la moitie du contour: j’en comptay soixante de chaque coste dans la 
 premiere allee, et cinquante-un dans la seconde, le tout fort bien ordonne. 
 Les portes sont grandes et exhaussees au dela de toute mesure et de la 
 croyance, couvertes des plus belles pierres qu'il est possible de voir; j’en 
 mesuray une de trente-cinq semelles. Je ne pus rien connoistre dans la 
 cimetrie des bastimens; taut ils sont en desordre et ruiuez, outre que le peu 
 de temps que nous avions a y demeurer ne nous permit pas d’observer 
 toutes ces ckoses; pour les bien examiner piece a piece, il faudroit du 
 moins un mois, et je n’y fus pas plus de trois heures et demie. Je croy 
 qu'il y a plus de mille figures demy relief, et quelques-unes tout relief. Il 
 v a un tres-grand nombre de colonnes; j’en comptay environ 120 dans une 
 seule salle, qui estoient de cinq grandes brasses de grosseur. Je rernar- 
 quay sept aiguilles, deux desquelles sont assez regulibres, excepte que l’une 
 a demy pied de face plus que les deux de Loxor, et que l’autre est beaucoup 
 plus petite. Il y en a trois par terre, brisees, qui a moitie, qui tout a fait, 
 et deux autres de jaspe rompues par le haut, sur lesquelles il y a de grands 
 personnages gravez avec quantite d’ornemens fort particuliers. Il y a un 
 grand bassin d’eau dans la cour du chasteau avec un tour de belles pierres: 
 on me dit que cette eau seule blanchissoit fort bien le linge ; pour l’eprouver, 
 j'y trempay un mouchoir, qui conserva l’odeur du savon durant quatre ou 
 cinq jours. A l’un des portaux du palais il y a deux grandes statues d’une 
 pierre blanche comme albastre, mais le visage en est tout ruine: elles ont 
 l’epee a la ceinture.* Une autre paroist encore vers le milieu du chasteau, 
 de mesme taille, e’est a dire, de la hauteur de trois kommes bien propor- 
 tionnez.” 
 
 He supplies some further particulars in a letter dated Cairo, January Cth 
 1670 :—“ Je croy qu il v a plus d’un million de statues et de figures de bas- 
 relief. Dans les bas reliefs des murailles et des piliers toutes les figures 
 sont de bas relief, et il n’y en a aucune qui soit veue de front: il m’eust 
 f.tllu un mois tout entier dans un semblable lieu pour en observer toutes les 
 
 * These are the statues, now decapitated, which Mr. Ramsay was so much pleased 
 with. 
 
398 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 particularitez: je me contentai de tirer settlement les postures d’une dou- 
 zaine de diables les plus extravagans avec leurs troupes d’kommes et de 
 femmes qui les adorent, et quelques frontispieces de temples, lesquels ne sont 
 pas fort riches en architecture, mais ils sont bastis de tres belles pierres; ce 
 qui me plaisoit le plus, c’estoit le plat-fond et l’azur, et les autres couleurs 
 qui sont liees comme de l’email, paroissant aussi fraiclies que si elles avoient 
 ete appliquees depuis un mois.” 
 
 “ Ce queje vieus de dire n’est que bagatelle an regard de ee qui setrouve 
 vis-a-vis, a une lieue de la, du coste du Ponant, selon le rapport de plus de 
 einquante personnes, de qui je me suis informe; c’est un lieu qui s’appelle 
 l'ancienne ville de Habou, [Mediuet Habou,] pleine d’antiques et de curio- 
 sitez incomparablement plus belles que celles de Hamdie; outre qu’il y a 
 quantite de momies que les Arabes brulent tous les jours, aussi bien que 
 leurs divinitez de hois. Le lieu ou sont les momies se nomme Biout (beit) 
 el Melouc: on decouvre de loin avec des lunettes d’approche deux epouvan- 
 t.ables Idoles, masle et femelle, assises dans des chaises, tournees au Levant, 
 lesquelles doivent avoir la teste a peu pres comme celle des Pyramides du 
 Caire appelle Aboul et Saoul.* Elies sont bien proportionnez; on discerne 
 aisement l’bomme d’avec la femme ; leurs noms sont Tama et Cama.-t 
 
 “ Tout proche de la est un lieu nomme Legourue, [Goumou,] ou el 
 Abouab, ou les temples et les statues se sont eonservees si fraisches, et les 
 couleurs si vires, qu’il semble (disent les habitans) que le maistre n’a pas 
 encore laveses mains depuis son travail,—ce sont leurs propres termes. On 
 en decouvre quelque chose du bord du Nil. Les chrestiens de Loxor, 
 voyant que j’avois grande envie d’aller sur les lieux pour en considerer les 
 beautez, s’offrirent de me mener a Habou, mais pour plusieurs raisons je ne 
 le jugeay pas a-propos, dont je me suis repeuti; mon dessein est d’y re- 
 tourner non settlement par curiosite, mais a cause des Chiestiens qui sont 
 
 comme de pauvres brebis sans pasteur.il y en a qui ont passe 
 
 einquante annees sans confession et sans communion, n’ayant ni eglise ni 
 prestre.” 
 
 He closes his letter from Cairo—“ J’esphre y retourner bientost, et n’en 
 pas revenir avec tant de precipitation ; mais il me faut faire un petit voyage 
 sur la Met- Bouge, ou je vais tous les ans pour visiter les pauvres esclaves 
 dans les galeres du Turc, et leur administrer les sacremens.”— Relation du 
 Voyage du Said, ou de la Thcbayde,fait en 1608, par les P. P. Protais et 
 C. F. eCOrleans, Capucins Missionaires. In Thevenot's Collection of 
 Voyages, &c., tom. ii, part 2.J 
 
 * He means the sphinx, called by the Arabs Abou-el-hol, the Father of Terrors, 
 or Abou-el-haoun, the Father of the Column. 
 
 t They are still called so—Shama and Tama. 
 
 j Father Protais evidently mistook Memphis for Thebes, as Thevet did in the 
 sixteenth, Breydenbach in the fifteenth, and Burcardus de Monte Sion in the thir¬ 
 teenth century.—“ From Babylon,” (old Cairo,) says the latter, “ Thebes is two 
 leagues distant, and the desert of Thebais, once densely peopled with monks, lies 
 adjacent to it.”—Descriptio, Sfc., apud Ccinisii Lectiones Antiquas , tom, iv, p. 26. 
 [This desert, misnamed “ of Thebais,” is that of Nitria, or of the Natroun lakes, the 
 scene of the ghostly conflicts and penances of the “ fathers of the ” Egyptian “ desert,” 
 
NOTES, 
 
 399 
 
 The good father never revisited Thebes, falling a victim to the plague the 
 year following, 1671. ( Vansleb.)* His companion, Father Carlo Francisco 
 d’Orleans, was afterwards superior of the Capucins at Cairo.— Letter of Dr. 
 Huntingdon — Rag's Collection, &c., vol. ii, p. 463. 
 
 Pfere Sicard’s exaggerated account of more than one thousand columns to 
 be seen at Carnae, and of many hundreds at Luxor—to say nothing of his 
 mistake of the statues in front of the propyla there for sphinxes—contrast 
 unfavourably with the simple and accurate statement of his humble prede¬ 
 cessor, who had but three hours and a half to examine them in ! Among 
 the precise facts, however, mentioned by Sicard, is the existence of six 
 obelisks—two of which, small ones, but the most interesting, were of por¬ 
 phyry—at the time of his visit to Thebes about 1714.—See his interesting 
 plan of a work on Egypt— Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses, tom. v, p. 255.+ 
 
 These small obelisks, evidently the same as those mentioned by Protais, 
 are described by Norden as follows :—“ On voit an devant d'un petit temple 
 deux autres obelisques, mais beaucoup plus petits que les precedents. Ils 
 peuvent avoir a peu pr&s onze a douze pieds de hauteur, et leurs faces n’ont 
 qu’un pied et demi de largeur. Quant a la matiere, elle est de granit, et d’un 
 grain si fin qu’elle approche beaucoup du porphyre. Ils out servi, selon 
 toutes les apparences, de piedestaux a deux idoles, et ils sont ornes d’hiero- 
 glyphes peints de divers couleurs; et ces hieroglyplies represented, pour 
 la plus grande partie, des figures qui s’embrassent.”— Norden, Voyages, &c., 
 vol. i, p. 171, edit. Dangles. 
 
 They probably stood behind the sanctuary, where two pedestals of red 
 granite are still to be seen. When they were destroyed I know not, but it 
 must have been before Pococke’s visit in 1737. He only found four obe¬ 
 lisks, all of red granite—three standing, and one, the last towards the S. E., 
 fallen. Perry, a year or two afterwards, found only two erect, and in his 
 time two pillars of the great colonnade of the first court were standing—the 
 other six lying on the ground, “ like a pile of mill-stones thrown down”— 
 there could not be a juster simile. 
 
 I need not dwell longer on the tale of ruin. 
 
 Sicard appears to have been the first traveller who recognised Thebes in 
 the ruins of Carnae and Luxor. Lucas supposed it to have been situated 
 
 as narrated in the “ Vitse Patrum” of Rostveyde. I have translated many of them 
 among the records of Christian mythology, introductory to my recent work, entitled, 
 “ Sketches of the History of Christian Art.” Many monasteries still subsist there. 
 1847.] 
 
 * This plague swept away, as Vansleb informs us, six hundred and fourscore 
 thousand persons. 
 
 t In his list of “ restes de l’ancienne Egypte paienne,” he reckons “ dix-huit obelis¬ 
 ques, deux a Alexandrie, dix a Thebes, quatre a Phile, une a Arsinoe, et une a 
 Heliopolis .”—Lettres Edif., tom. v, p. 495. 
 
 Father Sicard fell a victim to his humanity in attending the sick and dying while 
 the plague raged at Cairo in 1726. See a sketch of his life and character ,—Lettres 
 Edif., &c., p. 354. 
 
400 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 much more to the south*—near a little Turkish fortress called Naassa, 
 where he describes the ruins of what appeared to him, he says, the greatest 
 city that ever existed in the world—ruins which have remained as invisible 
 as the gardens of Irem to all subsequent travellers. 
 
 “ Je demeurai comme interdit a l’aspect d’un ouvrage le plus grand et 
 le plus magnifique. C’est un palais grand comme une petite ville ; quatre 
 avenues de colonnes couduisent a quatre portiques. On voyoit a cliaque 
 porte, entre deux grandes colonnes de porpbyre, deux figures, d’uu beau 
 marbre noir, de geans qui ont chacun une masse a la main. L’avenue de 
 colonnes qui conduit a chaque porte, est de trois colonnes en triangle de 
 cliaque cote composee de plus de 1500 colonnes. Sur le chapiteau de 
 chaque triangle il y a un sphynx, et sur 1’ordre des trois colonnes qui suivent, 
 un tombeau, et ainsi sueeessivement de chaque cote dans toutes les quatres 
 allees. On eu voit beaucoup de tombees. Chaque colonne a soixante et 
 dix pieds de haut, toutes d’une seule pierre, de manibre que dans les quatre 
 avenues il faut qu’il y ait plus de cinq a six mille colonnes. 
 
 “ Je trouvai la premiere salle de ce palais toute peinte de tres-beaux sujets 
 d’histoires, et il ne paroissoit pas qu’il y cut long-temps que cette peinture 
 fut achevee. On y voyoit des chasses de gazelles; en d’autres endroits des 
 festins; et quantite de petits enfans qui jouoient avec toutes sortes d’ani- 
 maux. Je passai de la a d’autres appartemens tout revetus de marbre, dont 
 les voutes etoient soutenues par des colonnes de porphyre et de marbre noir. 
 Quoique les decombremens ne permettent pas d’oiler partout, nous trou- 
 vames le moyen cependant d’aller en haut, d’ou j’eus le plaisir et en meme 
 terns le chagrin de promener ma vue sur les mines de la plus grande ville 
 qui ait ete, ce me semble, au monde. Je me figurais dans ce tems-la que ce 
 pouvoit etre Diospolis, l’ancienne Thebes a cent portes, et cenx de mes amis 
 qui ont fait un cours d’antiquitez, semblent en convenir. Ils trouvent nit'me 
 dans ce que je rapporte une exactitude et une precision que n’est pas venue 
 dans les auteurs jusqu’a nous. Je me flatte ainsi que celadonneraquelque 
 merite a ma relation, et qu’on me S 9 aura gre de ma diligence. 
 
 “ On decouvroit, du cote du desert qui est au Levant, environ douze 
 Pyramides, qui ne cedent rien a celles du Grand Caire. Outre quantite de 
 busies, de plus de trente pieds de haut, de figures d’hommes, j’y remarquai 
 un fort grand nombre de palais qui paroissent encore tous entiers, mais si 
 ensevelis dans les mines, que l’on n’en voit plus les portes, et meme j’entrai 
 dans quelques uns par les fenetres. Je partis de ce lieu le coeur tout con- 
 trit de voir que tant de beaux edifices fussent deserts et abandonnez a 1’in- 
 jure du terns ; que la demeure de tant de rois soit devenue la retraite des 
 serpens et des autres animaux semblables ! En revenant a Naasse nous 
 passames par un endroit qui est sur le penchant de la montagne, tout plein 
 de puits qnarrez, qui servoient a enterrer les gens du pays; tous ces lieux 
 sont tout a fait deserts.” 
 
 * Lucas had visited Luxor and Camac some years before Sicard; he speaks of 
 “ plusieurs obelisques,” but his account is strangely confused and inaccurate. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 401 
 
 This extraordinary tissue of lies circumstantial is illustrated by a bird s 
 eye view of the chateau, and by prints of a pyramid, fourteen hundred feet 
 high, and of a female bust, seventy two, without the pedestal!!! 
 
 Note 34, Page 108. 
 
 Edrisi, in the twelfth century, describes Essouan as a small but densely 
 peopled town, abundant in all sorts of vegetables, and noted for its excellent 
 breed of camels, goats, &c.—all very fat and well favoured.— Geogr. Nu- 
 biensis, p. 18. 
 
 Ebn al Ouardi, in the following century, speaks of it as “ trhs peuplee, 
 mais on ne peut y parvenir que par la montagne Alaki on Allaki, situee dans 
 un lieu bas et couvert de sables, sous lesquels, en creusant, on trouve 1’eau. 
 11 y a dans cette montagne des mines d’or et d’argent; et aumidi du Nil est 
 une autre montagne dans un desert, ou est line mine d’emeraudes, la seule 
 de cette espece qu’on trouve dans le monde.”— Notices des MSS., &c., vol. 
 ii, p 31. In this singular account the Gebel Ollaki, or Golden Mountain 
 of the present day—the Hemacuta, I conceive, of the Hindoos—east of 
 Dakke—is misplaced to the north of Essouan. The emerald mine is in the 
 desert, east of Edfou. 
 
 Syene still deserved the name of “ the great, ancient, and populous city 
 of Assuan,” in Leo’s time. “ The citizens are exceedingly addicted unto 
 the trade of merchandise, because they dwell so near unto the kingdom of 
 Nubia, upon the confines whereof standeth their city; beyond which city, 
 Nilus, dispersing himself over the plains through many small lakes, be- 
 cometh innavigable. Also the said city standeth near unto that desert over 
 which they travel unto the port of Suachen upon the Red Sea, and it ad- 
 
 joineth likewise upon the frontiers of Ethiopia. Here are to be seen 
 
 also many buildings of the ancient Egyptians, and most high towers, which 
 they call in the language of that country Birba. Beyond this place there 
 is neither city nor habitation of any account, besides a few villages of black 
 people, whose speech is compounded of the Arabian, Egyptian, and Ethio¬ 
 pian languages. These being subject unto the people called Bugiha, 
 (Beeja,) live in the fields after the Arabian manner, being free from the 
 Soldan’s jurisdiction, for there his dominions are limited.”— Description of 
 Africa. 
 
 Note 35, Page 119. 
 
 “ And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the 
 earth until the ninth hour, And the sun was darkened.”—“ This obscura¬ 
 tion of the sun was observed at Heliopolis, in Egypt, by Dionysius the 
 Areopagite, afterwards the illustrious convert of St. Paul at Athens; who, 
 in a letter to the martyr Polycarp, describes his own and his companion the 
 sophist Apollophanes’ astonishment at the phenomenon. Apollophanes ex¬ 
 claimed, as if divining the cause, 1 These, 0 Dionysius, are the vicissitudes 
 of divine events.’ Dionysius answered, ‘Either the Deity suffers, or he 
 sympathizes with the sufferer.’ And that sufferer, according to tradition, 
 
 D D 
 
402 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 recorded by Michael Syncellus of Jerusalem, he declared to he the un¬ 
 known God, for whose sufferings all nature was darkened and convulsed.”— 
 Hales’ Analysis of Ancient Chronology. 
 
 Note 30, Fage 121. 
 
 While Elephantine was the boundary city, Phil® seems to have been the 
 extreme outpost of the Roman empire, to the south.* Diocletian, after 
 settling the Nubians, originally inhabitants of the great Oasis, along the 
 banks of the Nile, built a strong fortress on the island, and, in the view of 
 cementing a friendly alliance with them and the Blemmyes, who inhabited 
 the interior country, erected “temples and altars," common to the Romans 
 and barbarians, under the care of priests chosen from both nations. Narses, 
 the Pers-Annenian refugee,+ while stationed there as lieutenant of Justi¬ 
 nian, received the imperial mandate to destroy the temple ; he did so, says 
 Procopius, and, throwing the priests into prison, sent the images of the 
 gods to Byzantium.— Procopius de Bello Persico, lib. i, cap. 19. 
 
 Note 37, Page 121. 
 
 “ Agatharcides, et Dltadore aprhs lui, ont parle des mines d’or abondantes 
 que renfermoient des montagnes situees dans ces cantons et sur les bords 
 de la mer. Agatharcides rapporte meme un fait interessant a saisir, et qui 
 prouve que ces mines etoient exploitees dhs la plus haute antiquite. ‘ On 
 y trouve encore aujourd’hui,’ dit cet auteur, ‘ une immense qnantite d’osse- 
 mens humains, des outils, et des marteaux de bronze, dont on se servait 
 autrefois, parce que dans les anciens temps le fer etoit tres rare.’ Ces 
 mines n’ont point cesse d’etre connues des Arabes. L’Edrisi et Abulfeda 
 en parlent: le premier dit qu’elles produisoient de l'or et de 1’argent. On 
 les fouilloit encore de leur temps, mais elles commenqoient a etre moins 
 abondantes, et il est probable qu’elles ont ete negligees depuis. Us nom- 
 ment les montagnes ou elles se trouvent, Oltaki ou Alalaki, et les placent 
 a quinze journees d’Asuan,et abuit journeesd’Aidab.”— Gosselin,Reche.rch.es 
 sur la Geographie des Anciens, tom. ii, p. 144. 
 
 See also Note 34. 
 
 Note 38, Page 127. 
 
 The Franks found the Ethiopian scourge a most formidable weapon at 
 the battle of Ascalon:—“ D'abord les Ethiopiens, ou Azoparts, qui, selon 
 leur usage, comhattent un genou en terre, s’avanpbrent sur la premiere 
 ligne, et attaquerent vivement les Franqais.Ces memes Azoparts, 
 
 * Procopius makes a marked distinction between Elephantine and Philae:— 
 “ vrtaov Tiva ev nuTafiu* NeiA^j ayx'UTa irr] t*k EAe^urrivur iroAeais evpiov 6 fiarrcKevv 
 outoc, (ppouptov T€ TOLVTt] bunanevos exupwrarov . . . 6tu dr] Kai duAar eTrurvopiaae 
 
 To xoipiov." 
 
 t Not the illustrious conqueror of Italy, but “ the brother of Isaac and Armatius, 
 w ho, after a successful action apainst Belisarius, deserted from his Persian sovereign, 
 and afterwards served in the Italian war .”—Vide Gibbon, c. xlvi, n. 17. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 403 
 
 hommes horribles et tres noirs, portaient en outre des fleaux en fer, instru¬ 
 ment terrible avec lequel ils battaient violemment les cuirasses et les 
 casques, frappaient les chevaux a la tete, et dont les coups redoutables 
 
 retentissaient d’une manure epouvantable dans les rangs des fiddles.”_ 
 
 Albert d’Aix, Hist, des Croisades, livre vi, p.366, ed. Guizot; or p. 287 of 
 the Gcsta Dei per Francos. 
 
 Note 39, Page 146. 
 
 Is not the word Re, “ the Sun”—which, with the demonstrative article 
 prefixed, became Ph’re or Pharaoh, the hereditary title of the kings of 
 Egypt—recognisable in most of the primitive dialects of mankind as im¬ 
 plying a king or prince ? We find righ, or ri, in the Celtic— reich, or 
 recks , in the Teutonic languages ; rec in Hebrew, reis in Arabic and Turk¬ 
 ish, rajah in the East Indies, eree and rhio in Otaheite and the Sandwich 
 Islands.—See Armstrong's Gaelic Dictionary , sub voce righ. 
 
 Note 40, Page 149. 
 
 “Armand,” or Herment, is described by Father Protais as almost en¬ 
 tirely abandoned, “ les gens du pays ne m’en purent dire la raison; ils 
 l'appellent Balab (bellad) Mouse; il y a encore un temple d’idoles, oil l’on 
 va par un cliemin convert et souterrain." “ They call it in Arabic Beled 
 Muse, or the country of Moses, because the Egyptians believe that Moses 
 was horn there.”— Vansleb, Present State, &c., p.243. 
 
 Bakoui speaks of Ghouft, the ancient Coptos, as follows:— 
 
 “ On y voit un batiment extraordinaire qui a 360 colonnes, chacune 
 d’une seule piece. Sur le sommet de ces colonnes est une figure d’homme, 
 ayant sur la tete un espece de bonnet ou mitre (calansara). Le toit de ce 
 batiment est de pierres, dont les extremites posent sur des colonnes, et on 
 n’y aper?oit aucunes jointures.” 
 
 The 360 columns are probably according to the usual Arab fatjon de 
 parler, but there must have been some monument of uncommon grandeur 
 at Ghouft even to account for such an exaggeration. 
 
 Note 41, Page 150.—Dendera. 
 
 “ Les gens du pays disent que ce palais a ete bati par les demons, et que 
 Ton voit la nuit plusieurs fautomes se promener dans ses ruines.”— 
 P. Lucas, Voyage au Levant, tom. i, p. 109. Bakoui notices the birbe of 
 Dendera, “ et autres batimeus, qui sont autant de talismans and De 
 Guignes, in a note on the passage, suggests the probability that the dread 
 of the natives, lest the talismans should be discovered and injured, may 
 contribute as much as the belief in concealed treasures to their aversion to 
 the excavating propensities of the Franks.— Notices des MSS., &c., tom. ii, 
 p. 438. 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note 42, Page 153.—Memphis. 
 
 Rapid must have been the work of decay and destruction since the time 
 of Abd’allatif:—“ Malgre l'immense etendue de cette ville et la haute anti- 
 quite a laquelle elle remonte, nonobstant toutes les vicissitudes des divers 
 gouvernements dont elle a successivement subi le joug, quelques efforts que 
 differens peuples aient faits pour l’aneantir, en en fuisant disparoitre jusqu’ 
 a ses moindres vestiges, effa 9 ant jusqu’a ses plus legbres traces, transportant 
 ailleurs les pierres et les materiaux dont elle etoit construite, devastant ses 
 edifices, mutilant les figures qui en faisoient l’ornement; enfin, en depit de 
 ce que quatre mille ans et plus ont du ajouter a taut de causes de destruc¬ 
 tion, ses mines offrent encore aux yeux des spectateurs uue reunion de 
 merveilles qui confond l’intelligence, et que l’hommele plus eloquent entre- 
 prendroit inutilement de decrire. Plus on la considere, plus on sent aug- 
 menter 1’admiration qu’elle inspire; et chaque nouveau coup-d’ceil que l’on 
 donne a ses ruines est une nouvelle cause de ravissement. A peine a-t-elle 
 fait naitre une idee dans l’ame du spectateur, qu’elle lui sugg^re une idee 
 encore plus admirable; et quand on croit en avoir acquis une connoissance 
 parfaite, elle vous convainc au meme instant que ce que vous aviez conju 
 est encore bien au-dessous de la verite.”— Relation, &c., p. 185. 
 
 Besides a beautiful monolithic shrine, called the Green Chapel, (de¬ 
 stroyed in 1449,) he specifies idols that, whether their number or size be 
 considered, surpass description :—“ Mais ce qui est encore plus digne d’ex- 
 citer l’admiration, c’est l’exactitude dans leurs formes, la justesse de leurs 
 proportions, et leur ressemblance avec la nature. Nous en avons mesure 
 une qui, sans son piedestal, avoit plus de trente coudees; sa largeur, du 
 cote droit au cote gauche, portoit environ dix coudees; et du devant au der- 
 rifere, elle etoit epaisse en proportion. Cette statue etoit d’une seule pierre 
 de granit rouge; elle etoit recouverte d’un vernis rouge, auquel son anti- 
 quite sembloit ne faire qu’ajouter une nouvelle fraiclreur.”— Relation, &c., 
 pp. 185-7. 
 
 This, probably, was the statue of Sesostris, discovered by Caviglia, or 
 one of its brethren that stood before the temple of Vulcan. 
 
 Abulfeda, who flourished a century later, speaks of the antiquities of 
 Memphis as considerable, but neglected and perishing; the green and other 
 colours, he says, remain as vivid as ever. 
 
 “ On voit encore les ruines de cette ville,” is all the notice Bakoui be¬ 
 stows on them at the commencement of the fifteenth century. 
 
 Furer, in 1565, asserts that two giants, or colossi of porphyry, originally 
 elevated on lofty bases and sculptured with hieroglyphics, were then lying 
 prostrate in Memphis—the name he gives to Old Cairo. “ One of them,” he 
 says, “ measures twenty feet from the head to the extremity of the torso,— 
 the other wants the head. The Arabs will have it they are the images of the 
 son and daughter of Pharaoh. Very many other statues, a camel espe¬ 
 cially, of stupendous size, a lion, a sphinx, besides other animals, are seen 
 there—till of red marble, but all broken and destroyed.”— Ilinerarium, 
 p. 19. I am inclined to think he never saw them, and has misunderstood and 
 
NOTES, 
 
 405 
 
 misstated information similar to that which Badziwil obtained in 1583— 
 that two colossi, twenty cubits high, each of one stone, most beautifully 
 sculptured, both fallen, but entire—one of them representing a Pharaoh, 
 the other a Queen, perhaps his wife—were lying on the ground five miles to 
 the south of the Pyramids; he did not see them himself, he tells us, but 
 received this account from persons at Cairo, who assured him they had.— 
 Jerosolymitana Peregrinatio, p. 164. 
 
 Villamont, however, in 1590, speaks of these statues as an eye-witness. 
 “ En chemin,” he says—for the mummy-pits, nine miles from Cairo, “ nous 
 veismes sur le sable deux grands Colcsses, que nous laissasmes pour suivre 
 nostre chemin jusques a Zaceara.”— Voyages, &c., p. 584. 
 
 “ A city, great and populous, adorned with a world of antiquities! But 
 why spend I time about that that is not, the very ruins now almost ruinated? 
 Yet some few impressions are left, and divers thrown down statues of mon¬ 
 strous resemblances ; a scarce sufficient testimony to show unto the curious 
 seeker that there it hath been. Why then deplore our human frailty? 
 
 “ ‘ Mors ctiam saxis nominibusque venit.’ ” 
 
 “ ‘ When stones as well as breath 
 And names do suffer death.’ ” 
 
 Sandys, p. 132. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 EDOM AND THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Note 1, Page 1A9. 
 
 “ Camels are the ships of Arabia, their seas are the deserts.”— Sandys. 
 
 Note 2, Page 165. 
 
 “ As this was the first time that I rid upon a camel, I could hardly 
 endure the shakings, which the manner of walking of this fantastic beast 
 caused me to suffer. I confess, when I saw myself upon this colossus, 
 without any stay, lifted up in the air, seated upon an ugly beast, my feet in 
 two ropes instead of stirrups, holding in my hand a cord made with the 
 strings of a palm-tree, which cut my hands, it seemed to me very strange; 
 I resolved, nevertheless, to overcome all these difficulties ; and, instead of 
 vexing myself, I made a sport of that which would have troubled other per¬ 
 sons.”— Vansleb’s Present State of Egypt, p. 196. 
 
 Note 3, Page 106. 
 
 “ The tracks of the chariot-wheels are not only to be seen on the shore, 
 but as far into the sea also as one’s sight can reach, and if they should at 
 any time be defaced, either by chance or through curiosity, the divine power 
 immediately orders the winds and floods to restore them to their former 
 condition.”— Orosius, quoted by Baumyarten, who confirms the tale, lib. i, 
 c. 21. 
 
 Note 4, Page 167. 
 
 The El Tih, Ard El Tia, or Tiali beni Israel, lies, according to the best 
 Arab geogiaphers, between Aila and the mountains As Schorah, or Mount 
 Seir, to the east, the Sea of Kolsum or Gulph of Suez, to the west, Palestine 
 to the north, and the Sinaite promontory, to the south. “ Major autem pars 
 terrae hujus At Tiali arenis constat, alia loca salebrosa sunt; reperiuntur 
 quoque palmae et fontes late dimanantes pauci .”—Abulfedce Tabula Syria. 
 
 This, in Ptolomy’s time, was the country of the Saraceni, whose name 
 (derived, Mr. Farren thinks, from the word Sarakeen, robbers—the epithet 
 bestowed on them by their enemies) was afterwards popularly extended to 
 the whole Arab race. Ptolomy distinguishes them from the Pliaranit®, who 
 
NOTES, 
 
 407 
 
 then inhabited the country south of Gebel Tiah; but Procopius, four cen¬ 
 turies later, extends their power over the whole peninsula, describing them 
 as the ancient inhabitants of the Phoenicon, or palm-forest, extending to a 
 great distance along the coast, and which their prince Abocharubus, who 
 dwelt there, had nominally given to Justinian.* 
 
 The monks of Sinai, in the day of their power, appear to have made good 
 their claims as representatives of the Emperor; they are still in possession 
 of extensive palm-groves, near Tor, but those of Wady Feiran—all, indeed, 
 in the peninsula—are said to have once belonged to them. 
 
 Procopius, I may add, as well as Bakoui and other of the Arabian geo¬ 
 graphers, consider Aila as the eastern boundary of Egypt. 
 
 Sir John Mandeville gives a graphic description of the Bedouins, whc 
 inhabit the desert between Sinai and Jerusalem :— 
 
 “ Thei ben folke fulle of alle evylle eondiciouns. And thei have none 
 houses but tentes, that thei maken of skynnes of bestes, as of camaylles and 
 of other bestes, that thei eten; and there-benethe thei couchen hem, and 
 dwellen in place where thei may fynden watre, as ou the Bede See, or elles- 
 where. For in that desert is fulle gret defaute of watre; and oftentime it 
 falleihe that where men fynde watre at o [one] tyme in a place, it faylethe 
 another tvme. And for that skylle they make noue habitations there. Theise 
 folk that I speke of, thei tvlen not the loud, ne thei laboure noughte; or 
 thei eten no bred, but zif it be ony that dwellen nyghe a gode touu, that gon 
 tkidre and eten bred som tyme. And thei rosten here [their] flescbe and 
 here fische upon the hot stones azenst the sonne. And thei ben stronge 
 men and wel fyghtynge. And there is so meche multitude of that folk that 
 thei ben witliouten nombre. And thei ne recchen of nothing, ne don not 
 but cbacen afire bestes, to eaten hem. And thei recchen nothing of here 
 lif; and therfore thei dowten not the Sowdon, ne non other prince; but thei 
 dar well werre with them, zif thei d n ony thing that is grevance to hem. 
 And thei han ofteutyme werre with the Soudan; and namely that tyme that 
 I was with him. And thei beren but o scheld and o spere, witliouten other 
 armes. And thei wrappen here hedes and here necke with a gret guautytee 
 of white lynneu clothe. And thei ben ryghte felonouse and foule, and of 
 cursed kynd.”— Voiuge and Travaile, &c. p. 77, sipj. 
 
 “ They are of mean statures, raw-bone, tawny, having feminine voices, of 
 a swift and noiseless pace—behind you, ere aware of them.”— Sandys. 
 
 * “ Stir les bords de ce golfe est un canton oil se trouvent plusieurs sources, et que 
 sa fertilite a rendu celebre: on l'appelle Phoenicon, a cause des palmiers qu’il pro- 
 duit. Ces arbres torment un bois pour lequet on a le plus grand respect, parceque 
 les environs, exposes a toute l’ardeur du soleil, sont brulans, sans eau, et sans 
 ombrage. 
 
 “ On y voit un ancien autel construit en pierres dures, et dont Pinscription est en 
 caracteres inconnus. 
 
 “ Vers ces lieux on remarque des montagnes elevees de differentes couleurs: elles 
 se prolongent pour former un cap, et s’etendent ensuite jusqu’a Petra, dans le pays 
 des Arabes Nabatheens, et jusqu’a la Palestine.”— Periples combines d'Agathurcid.es 
 et d'Arlemidore. Gosselin , Geographic des Anciens , t. 2, p. 232. 
 
 M. Gosselin conceives that the palm-groves near Tor represent the ancient 
 Phoenicon. 
 
408 
 
 .NOTES. 
 
 “ Sono huomini molto piccoli, e di color leonato scuro, e hanno la voce 
 feminile e li capelli lungbi, stesi, e neri. Sono veramente questi Arabi una 
 grandissima quantita, e combattono continualmente fra loro.”— Barthema, 
 Itinerario, 1503. 
 
 “ And they bad hair as the hair of women,” is expressly stated in the pro¬ 
 phetical description of the Arab locusts, (Eev. ix. 8,) a metaphor, by the 
 way, which the Arabs apply to themselves, to express their numbers; see 
 Antar, vol. i, p. 6,—“ I must assail you without further preparation, and I 
 shall command these armies, numerous as the locusts, to assault you, and 
 to grind you like grain, and to ride you like lions;”*—and again, vol. ii, 
 p. 267, “ They call on Antar, and their spears are like a descent of locusts 
 an a towering sand-hill.” 
 
 Every reader of ‘ Antar,’ that most vivid picture of the desert life of the 
 
 rabs, must have been struck by the constant reference to their dwelling 
 '* in the presence of all their brethren,” as a principle of action. 
 
 Note 5, Page 169. 
 
 “ Alvah—bois qui adoucit les eaux de Marah dans le desert. Moyse en 
 nvoit un morceau qui lui avoit venu par succession des patriarches depuis 
 Noe, qui l’avoit conserve dans l’Arche.”— D’Herbclot. 
 
 Note 6, Page 169. 
 
 “The twelve fountains, and the seventy palm trees of Elim, are emble¬ 
 matical of the twelve apostles of our Saviour, and the seventy disciples, 
 sent forth to scatter the sweet watere of the Gospel over the world.”— 
 Michael Syncellus, Chronographia. Script. Byz. v. vi, p. 102. 
 
 Note 7, Page 172.—Sea of Edom. 
 
 “ It is now an opinion generally received, that the Red Sea is the Idu- 
 mean Sea, taking its name from Edom, or Esau, the Arabian patriarch; 
 and Edom signifies red. The Arabians were, doubtless, the first navigators 
 of the Indian Ocean, and, as they entered that sea by passing the straits 
 of Babelmandel, they carried the name of the Red Sea, from whence they 
 commenced their course, to the utmost extent of their discoveries. Hence 
 the Indian Ocean received the title of Red ; and the Greeks, who translated 
 everything rather than introduce a foreign word, made it the Erythraean 
 Sea.”— Vincent’s Periplus, vol. i, p. 350. 
 
 Note 8, Page 174. 
 
 The early pilgrims, who travelled in immense caravans, were often in 
 great distress from want of water. Baumgarten describes their sufferings 
 most affectingly:— 
 
 “ Travelling all that day and night, without eating, resting, or sleeping, 
 
 This is also a prophetical mark, Rev. ix. 7. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 409 
 
 we could not avoid falling off our camels, while we were half sleeping, half 
 waking. A thousand strange dreams and fancies came into our heads, 
 whilst hungry and weary, and we sat nodding on our camels. We thought 
 we saw somebody reaching us victuals and drink, and putting out our hands 
 to take it, and stretching ourselves to overtake it when it seemed to draw 
 back, we tumbled off our camels, and by a severe fall found it a dream and 
 illusion. We underwent the same hardship all the twenty-second and 
 twenty-third days, mutually pitying one another’s leanness and misery, 
 and exhorting each other to patience and resignation."— Travels, lib. i, 
 c. 27. 
 
 Conf. Isaiah, c. 29, v. 8. 
 
 “ As when a hungry man dreametli, and lo! he seemeth to eat, 
 
 But he awaketh, and his appetite is still unsatisfied; 
 
 And as the thirsty man dreameth, and lo! he seemeth to drink, 
 
 But he awaketh, and he is still faint, and his appetite still craving: 
 
 So shall it be with the multitude of all the nations, 
 
 Who have set themselves in array against Mount Zion.” 
 
 —And Tasso, Jerus., lib. xiii, 60. 
 
 Note 9, Page 181.—Wady Feiran. 
 
 Baumgarten and his friends found a very different reception :*— 
 
 “ That day, about noon, we came to a certain garden, where we were 
 most barbarously used by the people who lived there. For, understanding 
 that we were Christians, they came flocking out of their holes with a design 
 to rob us; and, raising a hideous cry, threatened us with their dreadful 
 bows and spears; some of them knocking us down off our camels, others 
 taking us up, and protecting us from the fury of the rest. Our interpreter 
 neglected us for some time, but did his part at last. However, we were 
 five times knocked down, and had part of our provisions, that were not well 
 enough hid, taken from us; and with great difficulty, after much noise and 
 severe drubbing, we were let go, upon payment of eight pieces of silver 
 each man."—Lib. i, c. 22. 
 
 Belon, one of the most accurate and interesting of the early travellers, 
 gives a pleasing account of Wady Feiran in 1548. After entering the valley 
 by a “ grande ouverture entre moult hautes montagnes”—and praising the 
 “ beau ruisseau d’eau douce de claire fontaine,” “ la premiere eau droicte- 
 ment douce courante que nous eussions trouve sur le chemin depuis le 
 
 * “ That morning,” says Baumgarten, “ a little before entering Wady Feiran, there 
 was running by us a bitch with her puppies, that belonged to one of the Arabians, 
 who happening to bring forth her litter there, and seeing us leave her, was horribly 
 afraid to be left there alone with her whelps. For a long time she seemed to be 
 deliberating, at last fell a howling most mournfully, and chose rather to save herself 
 by following us, than stay behind and perish with her puppies.” 
 
 George, the Carthusian Prior, the companion of Baumgarten, relates that, on their 
 return from Sinai, the poor famished animal, after one bitter howl of recognition, 
 made a meal on the remains of her offspring.— Georgii Prioris Ephemeris ,— ap. Pezt'i 
 Thesaurus , tom. 2, pt. 3, p. 493. 
 
 The “ Ephemeris” seems to be nearly the same work with Baumgarten’s, under a 
 different name. 
 
410 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Came," lie proceeds as follows:—“Nous trouvasmes un grand village a 
 l’entree de ceste bouclie, habite d’Arabes, nomme Pharagou, ou il n’y avoit 
 que trois ou quatre maisons basties; car les villages de ces pays-la ue con¬ 
 sistent pas en maisons elevees, mais au nombre d'hommes qui babitent 
 
 dessous les palmiers au descouvert ou dessous les rocbers. 
 
 Le village de Pbaragou nous sembla plaisant, au regard des pays que nous 
 avions cliemine; car il y a bel ombrage de grenadiers, palmiers, oliviers, 
 
 figuiers, poiriers, et autres arbres fruictiers.Les bommes 
 
 de ce pays sout contents d’babiter dessous les palmiers au descouvert, qui 
 est la cause qu'ils sont de couleur d’olive. Et poui* ce qu’il ne pleut gueres 
 sur eux, il leur sufiit d’avoir leurs maisons faits de rameaux de palmiers, 
 appuyees la en contre les troncs pour les defendre quelque peu de la vehe¬ 
 mence du soleil.”— Observations, etc. c. 61, fob 22 'l verso. 
 
 Note 10, Page 186. 
 
 Poor Baumgarten found it otherwise. “ After delivering our letters from 
 the Patriarch at Cairo, and having a room assigned us, and eat something, 
 when we would have gone to rest, we were surrounded by a crowd of Ara¬ 
 bians, who put all sorts of sleep out of our mind. They broke into our 
 room, seized our things as if they had been their own, and in a barbarous 
 manner repeated a certain sort of word tlus, ( feloosh ?) which with them 
 signifies money; with which having stopped their hellish mouths and 
 greased their ugly fists, we shut our doors again, and composed ourselves 
 to our much desired rest.”— Lib. i, c. 23. 
 
 Note 11, Page 188. 
 
 “ There is the Chirche of Seynte Kateryne, in the whiche ben manye 
 lampes brennynge. For thei ban of oyle of olyves ynow, both for to brenne 
 in here lampes and to ete also. And that plentee have thei be the myracle 
 of God. For the ravenes, and the crowes, and the choughes, and other 
 fowles of the contree assemblen hem there every zeer ones, and Seen thider 
 as in pilgrymage : and everyche of hem bringethe a braunche of the bayes 
 or of olyve, in here beekes, in stede of offryng, and leve hem there: of the 
 whiche the monkes muken gret plentee of oyle : and this is a gret inarvaylle. 
 And sithe that foules, that ban no kyndely wytt ne resouu, gon thider to 
 seche that gloriouse Virgyne; wel more oughten men than to seche hire 
 and to worschipen hire. Also behynde the awtier of that Churche is the 
 place where Moyses satighe oure Lord God in a brennynge bussehe. And 
 whanne the monkes entren in to that place, thei don of both hosen and 
 schoon or botes alweys; because that oure Lord seyde to Moyses, Do of 
 thin hosen and thi schon; for the place that thou stondest on is lond holy 
 and blessed. And the monkes clepen that place Bezeleel, that is to seyne, 
 the Schadow of God. And besyde the highe awtiere, three degrees of 
 heighte, is the fertre * of alabastre, where the bones of Seynte Kateryne 
 
 Sarcophagus, or bier; Lat. feretrum. 
 
NOTES, 
 
 411 
 
 Ivzn. And the prelate of the monkes schewethe the relykes to the pil- 
 grymes. And with an instrument of sylver, he frotethe the bones; and 
 thanne ther gothe out a lytylle oyle, as thoughe it were a maner swetynge, 
 that is nouther lyche to oyle ne to baume ; but it is full swete of smelle: 
 And of that tliei zeven [give] a little to the pilgrymes; for there gothe out 
 but lytille quantitee of the likour. And after that, tliei schewen the head of 
 Sevnte Kateryne, and the clothe that sche was wrapped inne.'that is zit alle 
 blody. And in that same clothe, so y-wrapped, the aungeles beren hire 
 body to the Mount Synay, and there thei buryed hire with it. And thanne 
 thei schewen the bussche that brenned and wasted nought, in the whiche 
 our Lord spak to Moyses, and othere relykes ynowe. Also whan the prelate 
 of the Abbeye is ded, I have undirstonden be informacion that bis lampe 
 quenchethe. And when thei cheseu another prelate, zif he be a gode man 
 and worthi to be prelate, his lampe schal lighte, with the grace of God, 
 withouten touching of any man. For everyche of hem hath a lampe be 
 himself. And be here lampes thei knowen whan ony one of hem schalle 
 dye. For whan ony schalle dye, the lyglite begynnethe to chatinge and to 
 wexe dym. And zif he be chosen to ben Prelate, and is not worthi, his 
 lampe quenchethe anon.”— Mandeville, p. 71, seq. 
 
 I transcribe a few lines from the Carmelite Le Huen’s version of Brey- 
 denbach’s pilgrimage, (in his ‘Grant Voyage de Jherusalem,’) as a curious 
 specimen of the enthusiastic devotion of the chivalrous votaries of St. Ca 
 therine. “ Quiconques est vray amateur, et devot orateur, culteur tres- 
 reverend dicelle tressacre et bieneuree Vierge Katherine, estimera le labeur 
 facile et plaisant pour l’amour d'elle, combien qu’il soit grief et terrible, 
 laborieux et mal, facillement se passera et surmontera.—Helas! et qui ne 
 l’aymeroit, celle que Jhesus a tant aymee si chierement, et enquise et pour- 
 suite des sa jeunesse pour en faire son espouse : une dame si belle, si 
 noble, et si tres-fort prudeute, la Vierge Katherine! Noble de sang, plus 
 
 noble de vertus—la fleur de noble sang dont elle proceda.Et 
 
 combien que plusieurs soient trouves nobles et sages et plaines de vertus, 
 Katherine emporte dignement le pris ; parquoy justement elle est a aimer et 
 a venerer par toute excellence. Maintes dames sainetes ont eu sapience, 
 les autres eloquence, les autres Constance; cestecy a tous.” .... 
 Tanaquil, (he proceeds,) Calpburnia, the Sibyls, Sappbo, Centona, Ange- 
 riona, Isis, Ceres, Minerva—“ toutes cellesicy ne vaillent pas ung clou ; car 
 Katherine a la preeminence.—O vraye vierge et martyre venerande ! vierge 
 des vierges; gemme tres luisante! du Boy des Boys espouse glorieuse ! O 
 une hostie a Jhesus precieuse, que tes servans remeris noblement qui de bon 
 cueur te servent devotement!” 
 
 Note 12, page 188.—Monks of Sinai. 
 
 Frescobaldi, in 1384, found two hundred monks at Sinai; one hundred 
 and fifty resident in the monastery, each with a separate cell, the rest dis¬ 
 tributed between the chapel on the summit of the mountain, and the church 
 of Santa Maria della Misericordia—as he names the convent of the forty 
 martyrs.— Viaggio in Egitto, &c. Roma, 8vo, 1818, p. 20. 
 
412 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 There were only one hundred, when Eudolph the knight of Frameynsperg 
 was their guest, in 1346. All strangers, he tells us, were entertained three 
 days, and on their departure, each was presented with ten loaves, sufficient 
 for ten days’ subsistence. 
 
 They had then, as now, two small bells only,—hanging, at that time, in 
 the principal church. 
 
 “ Item, in prsedicto monasterio, et capella Moysis, versus plagam Aqui- 
 lonis, situm est templum Idolorum rotundum, ad quod nullus Christianorum 
 ingredi permittitur.”— Itinerarinm, &c. ap. Canisii Lectiones Antiq. t. 4, 
 p. 359. 
 
 Note 13, Page 190. 
 
 Mandeville, in 1325 —Baldensel, in 1336 — Frescobaldi, in 1384—• 
 Anshelmus, (author of a Descriptio Terrae Sanct*,) in 1509 —Furer, in 
 1565 —and all subsequent writers, identify Sinai with Gebel Mousa:— 
 
 Frameynsperg, in 1340 —Breydenbach, in 1483 —Baumgarten, in 1507— 
 and Belon, in 1548 —with St. Catherine’s. 
 
 Mandeville speaks dubiously:—“ Either mountain," he says, “ may be 
 called Mount Sinai, since the whole surrounding country is called the 
 Desert of Sin.” 
 
 The Arab geographers appear to comprehend the whole nucleus of the 
 Sinaite mountains under the name of Tor Sina. The dual number, Sinein, 
 is also used by them, “ comme qui diroit les deux Sinai,” being “ deux 
 croupes separees— Horeb et Sinai.”— D'Herlelol. 
 
 Note 14, Page 190. 
 
 Belon’s good sense—a rare quality in the middle of the sixteenth century 
 —refused credit to the legend. “ Cestuy est le rocher dont sortit l’eau pour 
 abbreuver les enfans d’lsrael. Toute fois il est joignant un ruisseau 
 courant qui vient de la sommite du Sinai. Cela nous fait penser ou que ce 
 n’est pas celtiy que frappa Moyse, ou qu’il n’y eust encor point d’eau en ce 
 ruisseau la: mais, sauf meilleur jugement, nous penserions que les Caloires 
 devroyent monstrer le roc a la source de la fontaiue, dont sort l’eau le haut 
 de dessous la montague.”— Observations, &c. p. 227. 
 
 Baldensel, in 1336, says that the water produced by the rod of Moses “ is 
 in the monastery.” Mandeville, a few year's earlier, tells us, that “before 
 the zett is the well where Moses smote the stone, of the which the water 
 came out plenteously.” The legend, therefore, cannot have been attached 
 to the stone in the El Ledja before the 14th century. 
 
 Note 15, Page 191. 
 
 The Cypress was regarded with peculiar veneration by the Greek Chris¬ 
 tians in the middle ages, ns the tree of which the shaft of our Saviour’s 
 cross was made:— 
 
 “ The Cristene men, that dwellen bezond the see in Grece, seyn that the 
 
NOTES. 
 
 413 
 
 tree of the Cross, that we callen Cypresse, was of that tree that Adam ete 
 the appulle of: and that fynde tliei written. And thei seyn also, that here 
 Scripture seyth* that Adam was seek, and seyd to his sone, Sethe, that he 
 scholde go to the aungelle that kept Paradys, that he wolde senden hym 
 oyle of Mercy, for to anoynte his membres with, that he myglit have hele. 
 And Sethe wente. But the aungelle wolde not late him come in; hut seyd 
 to him, that he myghte not have of the oyle of Mercy. But he toke him 
 three greynes of the same tree, that his fadre eet the apple offe; and bad 
 him, als sone as his fadre was ded, that he scholde putte theise three 
 greynes undre his tonge, and grave him so: and he dide. And of theise 
 three greynes sprong a tree, as the aungelle seyde that it scholde, and here 
 a fruyt, tliorghe the which fruyt Adam scholde be saved. And whan Sethe 
 came azen, he fond his fadre nere ded. And whan he was ded, he did with 
 the greynes as the aungelle bad him: of the whiche sprongen three trees, 
 ot the whiche the Cross was made, that bare gode fruyt and blessed, oure 
 Lord Jesu Crist; throghe whom Adam and alle that comen of him scholde 
 be saved and delivered from drede of dethe withouten ende, but it be here 
 own defaute .”—Voiage and Travaile, Sec. p. 13, IT. 
 
 But the European superstition, by which the tremulous shiver of the 
 aspen-leaf is accounted for, is still more beautiful:— 
 
 “ The blessed cross, whereon 
 The meek Redeemer bowed his head to death, 
 
 Was framed of aspen wood, and since that hour 
 Through all its race the pale tree hath sent down 
 A thrilling consciousness, a secret awe, 
 
 Making them tremulous, when not a breeze 
 Disturbs the airy ihistle-down, or shakes 
 The light lines of the shining gossamer. 
 
 Child. Rafter a pause.') Dost thou believe it, father? 
 
 Father. Nay, my child, 
 
 We walk in clearer light. But yet, even now, 
 
 With something of a lingering love, I read 
 The characters, by that mysterious hour 
 Stamp’d on the reverential soul of man 
 In visionary days, and thence thrown back 
 On the fair forms of nature. Many a sign 
 Of the great sacrifice which won us heaven, 
 
 The woodman and the mountaineer can trace 
 On rock, on herb, and flower. And be it so! 
 
 They do not wisely that, with hurried hand, 
 
 Would pluck these salutary fancies forth 
 From their strong soil within the peasant’s breast, 
 
 And scatter them—far, far too fast! away 
 As worthless weeds:—oh, little do we know 
 When they have soothed, when saved! ” 
 
 Felicia Hemans. 
 
414 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note 16, Page 193. 
 
 Justinian, says the historian Procopius, did not build the monastery on 
 the summit of Mount Sinai—for no one can pass the night on it, on account 
 of the continual clashing noises and other supernatural sounds heard there* 
 —but far below it; and at the foot of the mountain he built a very strong 
 fortress, and stationed in it a guard of soldiers to bridle the Saracens.— Be 
 JEdificiis Bn. Justiniani, lib. 5. 
 
 Would it not appear from this passage that the original monastery stood 
 on the small plain, nearly on the site of the deserted Convent of St. Elias, 
 and that, when the garrison was withdrawn, and the monks were left 
 defenceless in the midst of enemies daily drawing the circle closer round 
 them, they descended to, and occupied, the fortress ? The existence of the 
 church and the Mosaic portrait of Justinian certainly militate against this 
 supposition. [For the early accounts of the monastery and district gene¬ 
 rally, see Dr. Robinson’s ‘ Biblical Researches in Palestine,’ &c., vol. i, pp. 
 180 sqq., and 556 sqq.—J8A7.] 
 
 Note 17, Page 194. 
 
 “ On the eighteenth day, about sun-rising, we came down the west side of 
 Mount Horeb by a very steep and dangerous way, and came into a valley 
 betwixt Mount Horeb and Sinai, in which there was a monastery dedicated 
 to forty saints,” and hence “ we began to ascend Mount Sinai.” . . . . 
 
 “ At last our ascent grew so difficult, that all our former toil and labour 
 seemed but sport to this. However, we did not give over, but, imploring 
 the Divine assistance, we used our utmost endeavour. At last, through 
 untrodden ways, through sharp and hanging rocks, through clefts and hor¬ 
 rible deserts, pulling and drawing one another, sometimes with our staves, 
 sometimes with our belts, and sometimes with our hands, by the assistance 
 of Almighty God, we all arrived at the top of the mountain. The top of 
 Mount Sinai is scarce thirty paces in compass ; there we took a large 
 prospect of the countries round about us, and began to consider how much 
 we had travelled by sea and land, and how much we had to travel, what 
 hazards and dangers, and what various changes of fortune, might probably 
 befal us. While we were thus divided between fear and hope, and possessed 
 with a longing for our native country, it is hard to imagine how much we 
 were troubled.”— Bciumgarten. 
 
 * Marvellous sounds, of supernatural repute, still haunt the neighbourhood of 
 Mount Sinai. One of the most romantic of these legends is that of the disappearance 
 of a convent, situated to the west of the peninsula, between the Sinaite mountains 
 and the Gulf of Suez, which no one in these modern times, says Breydenbach, has 
 ever been able to discover, though the music of its bells may he heard daily on the 
 breeze at the canonical hours. Some Arabs declared they had been within it, but 
 that the moment they recrossed the threshold they lost sight of it. 
 
 This idea probably arose from the natural phenomenon of Gebel Narkous, or the 
 Mountain of the Bell, on the coast north of Tor; a legend of “ a bodiless hand ringing 
 a bell” is attached to it by Sir Frederick Henniker. Burckhardt says that the 
 Bedouins believe the sounds to proceed from a convent buried in the sand. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 415 
 
 Note 18, Page 197. 
 
 Tills would have been no drawback in the estimate of the Persian 
 poet:—“ Le Mont Sinai est la plus petite des montagnes : mais elle est en 
 trbs-grande consideration aupr^s de Dieu par sa dignite, et par le ran" 
 qu’elle tient par dessus les autres montagnes.”— Saadi, Gulistan, ap. 
 U Herbelot. 
 
 Note 19, Page 202. 
 
 “ Recepte singuliere pour apprester la chair a gents qui vont 
 en voyage lointaing:— 
 
 “Nous chargeastnes aussi un chameau de chair preparee pour le voyage, 
 ainsi qu’il s’ensuit. L’on tua gi'and nombrede moutons, qu’on lit bouillirde- 
 hachez en pieces. En apres l'on separa la chair des os, qu’on tailla a petits 
 morceaux, gros comme le bout du poulce, puis fut boullue en de la gresse 
 jusques a la consomption de la humidite qui estoit dedens, avcc des oignons 
 cuicts. Cela faict, fut salee, epicee, puis mise en barils. Ceste viande est 
 bonne a garder longtemp9. Car encore qu’on l’ait portee quinzejournees, 
 en la rechautfant, et y adjoustant un oignon, il semble que ce soit une fri¬ 
 cassee fraischement faite du jour mesme, qui nous sembla fort bonne viande 
 estants es deserts.”— Belon, Observations, See., c. 53, fol. 214, verso. 
 
 Note 20, Page 204. 
 
 -“ A thousand fantasies 
 
 Begin to throng into my memory, 
 
 Of calling shapes or beckoning shadows dire, 
 
 And aery tongues that syllable men’s names 
 On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.” 
 
 Comus. 
 
 Milton, as has been well remarked by Warton, probably borrowed this 
 idea from the popular narrative of Marco Polo :—speaking of the “hungry 
 desert” (as it is called) of the Mongols, he says,—“it is asserted as a well- 
 known fact, that this desert is the abode of many evil spirits, which amuse 
 travellers to their destruction with most extraordinary illusions. If, during 
 the day-time, any persons remain behind on the road, until the caravan has 
 passed a hill and is no longer in sight, they unexpectedly hear themselves 
 called to by their names, and in a tone of voice to which they are accus¬ 
 tomed. Supposing the call to proceed from their companions, they are led 
 away by it from the direct road, and, not knowing in what direction to ad¬ 
 vance, are left to perish. In the night-time they are persuaded they hear 
 the march of a large cavalcade on one side or other of the road, and, con¬ 
 cluding the noise to be that of the footsteps of their party, they direct 
 theirs to the quarter from whence it seems to proceed ; but upon the break¬ 
 ing of day, find they have been misled, and drawn into a situation of danger. 
 Sometimes, likewise, during the day, these spirits assume the appearance of 
 
41G 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 their travelling companions, who address them by name and endeavour to 
 conduct them out of the proper road. It is said, also, that some persons, in 
 their course across the desert, have seen what appeared to them to be abody 
 of armed men advancing towards them, and, apprehensive of being attacked 
 and plundered, have taken to flight. Losing by this means the right path, 
 and ignorant of the direction they should take to regain it, they have pe¬ 
 rished miserably of hunger. Marvellous, indeed, and almost passing belief 
 are the stories related of these spirits of the desert, which are said at times 
 to fill the air with the sounds of all kinds of musical instruments, and also 
 of drums and the clash of arms ; obliging the travellers to close their line 
 of march, and to proceed in more compact order .”—Book i, c. 35, p. 159, 
 Marsden’s Edition. 
 
 It will be seen, from the following passage of Vincent le Blanc, that a 
 similar belief prevails in the Arabian desert; the Bedouins are always un¬ 
 easy if the traveller loiters at a distance from his caravan :— 
 
 “ From thence” (the Dead Sea) “ we took our way through the open 
 desert, marching in rank and file. Upon our march, we were from hand to 
 hand advertised that some one of our company was missing, that strayed 
 from the rest; ’twas the companion of an Arabian merchant, very sad for 
 the loss of his friend : part of the caravan made a halt, and four Moors 
 were sent in quest of him, and a reward of a hundred ducats was in hand 
 paid them, but they brought back no tidings of him; and ’tis uncer¬ 
 tain whether he was swallowed up in the sands, or whether he met his 
 death by any other misfortune, as it often happens, by the relation of a mer¬ 
 chant then in our company, who told us that, two years before, traversing 
 the same journey, acamarude of his, going a little aside from the company, 
 saw three men, who called him by his name, and one of them, to his think¬ 
 ing, favoured very much his companion, and as he was about to follow 
 them, his real companion calling him to come back to his company, he 
 found himself deceived by the others, and thus was saved. And all tra¬ 
 vellers in these parts hold that in the deserts there are many such phan¬ 
 tasms and goblins seen, that strive to seduce the travellers, and cause them 
 to perish with hunger and despair .”—World Surveyed, p. 11. 
 
 Many of these superstitions have probably arisen from those optical phe¬ 
 nomena common in the desert; others, doubtless, from the excited, and, 
 as it were, spiritualized tone the imagination generally assumes in scenes 
 presenting so little sympathy with the ordinary feelings of humanity. As 
 an instance of this power of fancy, I may mention that, when crossing 
 Wady Araba, in momentary expectation of encountering the Jehaleens, Mr. 
 Kamsay, a man of remarkably strong sight, and by no means disposed to 
 superstitious credulity, distinctly saw a party of horse moving among the 
 sand hills ; and, though we met none, and afterwards learnt that the enemy 
 had already passed up the valley, I do not believe he was ever able to divest 
 himself of the impression. 
 
 Note 21, Page 206. 
 
 The Gheraslii, or Korashy, originally from the Hedjaz, are a branch of 
 the illustrious tribe of Koreish, from whom Mahomet sprung. He was very 
 
NOTES. 417 
 
 kind to the monks of Sinai, and Pietro della Valle records a tradition that 
 he was once the camel-driver of the Convent. 
 
 Note 22, Page 208.—Nouehe. 
 
 “ The narrow plain, which rises here from the sea to the mountain, is 
 covered with sand and loose stones. Ayd told me that in summer, when 
 the wind is strong, a hollow sound is sometimes heard here, as if coming 
 from the upper country. The Arabs say that the spirit of Moses then de¬ 
 scends from Mount Sinai, and, in flying across the sea, bids farewell to his 
 beloved mountains.”— Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, p. 517. 
 
 Note 23, Page 208. 
 
 Procopius, like ourselves, restricts the appellation Eed Sea to the gulf 
 within the straits of Babelmandel, distinguishing the Elanitic arm, or gulf of 
 Akaba, as the Sinus Arahicus, called so, he says, “ because the region be¬ 
 tween Aila and the territory of Gaza was formerly named Arabia, the king 
 of the Arabs in elder times holding his court in the city Petra.”— De hello 
 Persico, lib. i, cap. 19.— Script. Byzant., t. i, p. 262, edit. Ven. 
 
 Note 24, Page 217. 
 
 “ There sit they chatting most of the day, and sippe of a drinke called 
 Coffa, (of the berry that it is made of,) in little china dishes, as hot as they 
 can suffer it: blacke as soote, and tasting not much unlike it—why not that 
 black broth which was in use amongst the Lacedemonians ?”— Sandys’ 
 Travels, p. 60. 
 
 Note 25, Page 220. 
 
 The Mons As Scharat of Abulfeda,* or Mount Seir of Scripture, is, I 
 conceive, the op?j, or Black Mountains, of Ptolomy, who extends 
 
 them from the promontory of Phara, now Ras Mohammed, to Judea. + The 
 word Seir or Sihor, black, was used for the Nile in Hebrew.J 
 
 “ The Arabian Gulf," Sir Gardner Wilkinson informs us, was “ called by 
 the Egyptians the Sea of Shari,”—may not the Shorii or Shari of Beit Wel- 
 lee be the inhabitants of Mount Seir ? 
 
 In his Annales Muslemici, Abulfeda extends the appellation Schora to 
 the district S.W. of Kerek el Shobek; the whole passage is interesting in a 
 geographical point of view:—“Homaima oppidum est in Schora, tractu 
 Syria:; quod oppidum a Schaubec diurno itinere minus abest, sic ut earn 
 
 * Tabula Syriae, p. 13. 
 
 f Brocardus, in the thirteenth century, says there are two Mount Seirs, that to 
 which the name is now restricted, and Pharan.— See his “ Terra: Sanclcr exactissima 
 Description in the sixth volume of Ugo Inn's Thesaurus. 
 
 X “ The form esh-Sherah,” says Dr. Robinson, “ has no relation to the Hebrew Seir, 
 the ancient name of this district. The Hebrew word means ‘ hairy,’ and is written 
 with ’Ain, which never falls away; while the Arabic name signifies ■ a tract, region.’ ” 
 It can only, therefore, be by coincidence—and yet is a very singular one—that the 
 terms Me\ai>n opn and Seir should correspond so exactly in meaning. [1847.) 
 
 E E 
 
418 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 inter et Vadi-Musa medium situm sit, et versus Schaubecse mendiem occi- 
 dentaiem speetet. Tota vero ilia planicies, quae aSclraubec inde in meri¬ 
 diem et occidentem porrigitur, Schora appellatur.”—Vol. i, p. 477. 
 
 Note 26, Page 224.—Wady Mousa. 
 
 “ Cette contree etait entierement plantee d’oliviers feconds, qui formaient 
 une epaisse foret et couvraient de leur ombre toute la surface de la terre ; 
 leur produit servait. aux habitans du pays, comme il avait servi a leurs 
 uncetres, a se procurer toutes les choses necessaires a la vie; cette res- 
 source enlevee, ils devaient se trouver depourvus de tout moyen de sub 
 sistance,” &c.— See William of Tyre’s Histoire des Croisndes, livrc 16 ; 
 tom. 2, p. 458.—( Guizot's Collection des Memoires relatifs a l’Histoire de 
 France.) 
 
 He places Wady Mousa in die third Arabia, or Syria de Sobal, commonly 
 called Terra de Montreal; Petra was in those days mistaken for Carac, or 
 Kerek, the Mons Regalis of Godfrey : see livre 22, t. 3, p. 450. 
 
 Brocardus de Monte Sion, who confounds the fort retaken by Baldwin 
 with that of Kerek, calls it, however, ‘ Castrum Mozara,’—a corruption, 
 apparently, of ‘Wady Mousa,' yet a most felicitous one, if, as Colonel 
 Leake remarks in the Introduction to Burckhardt’s Travels in Syria, 
 “ Mousa is perhaps an Arabic corruption of Mosera, where Aaron died.” 
 
 Bakoui, at the commencement of the fifteenth century, speaks of “ beau- 
 coup d’oliviers,” in Ouadi Mousa. 
 
 Note 27, Page 226.—Petra. 
 
 From Bostra and Petra—the northern and southern capitals of Arabia 
 Provincia—having begun to compute their years from the date of their sub¬ 
 jection to Borne, it is probable that the architectural magnificence of both 
 cities is to be ascribed to Trajan, who reduced the country in the seventh 
 or eighth year of his reign. Du Cange remarked this 150 years ago—long 
 before Petra had been recognised in Wady Mousa.—See his notes to the 
 Ckronicon Paseliale, Script. Byz. tom. v, p. 453. 
 
 But the importance of Petra, as the central point of commerce, “to which 
 all the Arabians tended from the three sides of their vast peninsula,” and 
 from which “ the trade seems to have been again branched out in every 
 direction to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, 
 Jerusalem, Damascus, and a variety of subordinate routes that all termi¬ 
 nated on the Mediterranean,”—dates from the most remote antiquity.— 
 Vincent's Periplus. 
 
 The A1 Eakim of Abulfeda, with its “ houses cut in the live rock,” is 
 rightly identified by Scliultens with the Apticipri of Josephus, and Petra of 
 the desert. The word ‘ Rekem,’ however, which occurs in Numbers, xxxi. 
 8, and in Joshua, xiii. 21, is not the name of the city, as Bochart and Vin¬ 
 cent suppose, but that of one of the five Midianite kings subdued by Moses, 
 and tributary, it would appear from a comparison of the passages, to Silion 
 king of the Amorites. 
 
NOTES, 
 
 419 
 
 Eekem, according to Calmet, signifies, in Hebrew, “painting or embroid¬ 
 ery of several colours or shades;” may not this refer to the rainbow-like 
 tints of the rocks at Petra ? * 
 
 The original inhabitants of Petra—or Hagiar, as many of the Arab 
 writers call it—and to whom her magnificent excavations are attributed by 
 tradition, were the Beni Thamoud,f descended from a prince of that name, 
 nephew of Arpliaxid; they were cutoff 1 , in consequence of their impiety, 
 by a judgment of God similar to that which exterminated the children of 
 Aad. These two tribes, of gigantic stature, and of race distinct from the 
 three great houses of Yoktan, Ishmael, and Esau, figure in the Arabian 
 history much as the Titans and Giants do in the Grecian. For the destruc¬ 
 tion of the Aadites, see the first book of Thalaba; that of the Thamud- 
 ites is related as follows in the seventh chapter of the Koran.—“And 
 unto the tribe of Thamud we sent their brother Saleh. He said, ‘ 0 my 
 people, worship God: ye have no God besides him. Now hath a manifest 
 proof come unto you from your Lord. This she-camel of God J is a sign 
 unto you; therefore dismiss her freely, that she may feed in God's earth: 
 and do her no hurt, lest a painful punishment seize you. And call to mind 
 how he hath appointed you successors unto the tribe of Ad, and hath given 
 you a habitation on earth; ye build yourselves castles on the plain thereof, 
 and cut out the mountains into houses. Remember, therefore, the benefits 
 of God, and commit not violence in the earth, acting corruptly.’ The chiefs 
 among his people, who were puffed up with pride, said unto those who were 
 esteemed weak, namely uuto those who believed among them, ‘ Do ye know 
 that Saleh hath been sent from his Lord ?’ They answered, ‘We do surely 
 believe in tbat wdrerewith he hath been sent.’ Those who were elated with 
 pride replied, ‘ Verily we believe not in that wherein ye believe.' And they 
 cut off the feet of the camel, and insolently transgressed the command of 
 their Lord, and said, ‘ O Saleh, cause that to come upon us, with which 
 thou hast threatened us, if thou art one of those who have been sent by 
 God.’ Whereupon a terrible noise from heaven assailed them; and in the 
 morning they were found in their dwellings prostrate on their breasts, and 
 dead. And Saleh departed from them, and said, ‘ 0 my people, now have I 
 delivered unto you the message of my Lord; and I advised you well, but 
 ye love not those who advise you well.’”—A fuller version of this story 
 (expanded till the sublime is utterly lost in the ridiculous) will be found 
 in D’Herbelot’s Bibliotheque Orientale, on the authority of a paraphrast on 
 the Koran. 
 
 Mahomet himself halted at Hagiar on his expedition to Tabuc,§ in the 
 
 * Baldensel describes the desert between Palestine and Mount Sinai as inhabited 
 by an “ infinita multitudo Arabum, qui dicuntur alio nomine Ridilbim: ” a name 
 which reminded Canisius of Thevet’s assertion that Arabia Petraea “ is called by the 
 Arabs in their patois, Rahhal Alliaga.” Sandys says that Petra is called by the 
 Arabs Rathalalah. Ptolomy, in his description of Arabia Petrrea, places the Raitheni 
 7rapa rt]u opetvnr Trjv euiiaiuoi'Or Apa/hav. 
 
 f They settled there after their expulsion from Yemen by the Hamyarites. 
 j Produced miraculously out of a rock by Saleh, the proof of his divine mission. 
 
 § “ Ad litus maris Rubri jacet urbs Madian, major quam Tabuc: et in ipsa extat 
 puteus, e quo Moses, cui pax, adaquavit gregem Scioaib. Ab urbe Madian ad Ayia 
 
 E E 2 
 
423 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 ninth year of the Hegira. The army, says Ahulfeda, suffered much on the 
 road from heat and thirst; “ praesertim quum Propheta illos, ad Hagrum, 
 antiquam Tamuditarum sedem hserentes, vetaret aquas illas haurire, et 
 haustas juheret effundere, et crustula, si qute ilia ex aqua coxissent, camelis 
 eseam objicere.”— Annates Muslemici, t. i, p. 173. 
 
 The fullest Arab description of Petra is that given by Edrisi, in the 
 twelfth century.—“ At vero Ragiar distat a Vadi Aliqora, * stat. 1 ; estque 
 arx pulclire sita inter montes, in quibus commorabatur familia Thomud ; 
 suntque in illis domus excises in petra; atque hi montes vocantur ab habi- 
 tatoribus Hagiar et earum partium, Alathaleb. (Id est, saxa. Marg.) Isti 
 vero montes, quamvis aspicienti a longe videantur coujuncti, tamen cum is, 
 qui illuc pergit, accedit ad ipsos, et in medio eorum se constituit, deprehen- 
 dit singulas partes per se existere, ita ut unaquaeque ambiri possit, neque 
 una alteram tangat, aut una cum altera commisceatur; et est ibi modi> 
 puteus Thomud. Circumdant Hagiar undique montes et arenae, quorum 
 cacumina nemo valet sine maximo labore ac difficultate conscendere.”— 
 Geogr. Nub. p. 110. 
 
 [I have retained the foregoing paragraphs, as the authorities adduced are 
 interesting—but Dr. Robinson denies the identity of Hagiar (or Hijr) and 
 Rekem with Petra, and apparently on sound considerations. See the 
 ‘Biblical Researches,’ vol. ii, p. 653.—1847.] 
 
 For a most interesting commentary on the history of Petra, I need hardly 
 refer to a book so well known and so universally valued as Dr. Keith’s 
 Evidence of Prophecy. 
 
 Note 28, Page 237. 
 
 Both Mandeville and Baldensel mention Beersheba, having crossed the 
 desert direct from Mount Sinai to Hebron—a journey of thirteen days. 
 “ That town of Bersabee, founded,” says Sir John, “ by Bersabee, the wif 
 of Sire Urye the knighte,” “ was wont to ben a fulle faire town and a dely- 
 table of Christien men ; and yet there ben some of their churches.”— 
 Voiage, p. 79. Baldensel uses nearly the same words,—“ quondam fuit 
 villa competens ; pulchras liabuit ecclesias, quarum adhuc aliquse perse- 
 verant; puleher valde locus est; et delectabilis atque sanus.”— Ap. Canisii 
 Lectiones Ant., tom. iv, p. 345. 
 
 Breydenbacli mentions “the city of Abraham" (“oppidnm Sancti 
 Abrahe dictum”) as lying to the left of his road from Hebron to Gaza.-)- A 
 
 habetur intervallum quinque stationum .... A Madian ad Tabuc, per medi¬ 
 terranean), orientem versus, insunt stationes sex. Estque sita urbs Tabuc inter 
 Hagiar et initium Damasci (initium autem Damasci, quod est in media fere vifi quae 
 ducit Damascum, distat ab ipsa stationibus quatuor) habetque intra se arcem pul- 
 cherrimam : et scatebra aquae potum civibus suppeditat; suntque in ea palmae per- 
 multse. Dicuntur autem incolae Aiebae, ad quos Deus destinavit Scioaib, fuisse tunc 
 in ipsa. CiBterum Scioaib erat ex Madian. At verb Hagiar, &c.,” as quoted in the 
 text.— Geogr. Nub., p. 109. 
 
 * Aliqora. the Alcoura of other Arab geographers, (not to be confounded with the 
 El Coura, or plain of Moab,) is the El Ghor, or the valley of the Jordan. 
 
 t Elsewhere, he says, that “Bersabee, now called Gallyn, is four leagues distant 
 from Gaxa, and, like Gaaa, more than a day’s journey from Hebron.” 
 
NOTES. 
 
 421 
 
 noted hospital was maintained there by the Saracens, who supplied all, 
 without distinction of sect or nation, that asked their charity, with bread, 
 oil, and broth. Every day, he says, 1200 loaves were baked for the poor, 
 and the annual expenditure of the establishment amounted to 24,000 
 ducats.* 
 
 This accurate and pleasing traveller crossed the desert from Gaza to 
 Sinai by a route undescribed—so far as I am aware—by any other writer, 
 and which I here subjoin abridged from his ‘ Itinerary.’t 
 
 “ Aug. 24, 1483. Quitted Jerusalem at vespers, and slept at Bethlehem, 
 where we remained two days. 
 
 “ Aug. 27.—To Hebron. 
 
 “ Aug. 28. Starting before light, travelled the whole day till after sunset, 
 when we found shelter in a large solitary house. Here the mountains end, 
 and a tolerably fruitful and pleasant plain begins. Passed on the road a 
 castle named after Saint Samuel, to the left of which is the city of Abraham, 
 &c. &c. 
 
 “Aug. 29. Reached Gazera (Gaza) a little after noon. Passed many 
 cisterns to-day; the Saracens draw up the water with great exertion, and 
 offer it to pilgrims for the love of God. 
 
 “ We were detained several days at Gaza, a city twice as large and of 
 twice the circumference of Jerusalem, but inferior to it in the structure of 
 its edifices. 
 
 “ Sept. 10. Quitting Gaza, slept at Lebhem, a village a mile distant, 
 where a large, deep, but dry well is shown as the night’s resting-place of 
 the Virgin and her son on their flight into Egypt. We now entered the 
 great Southern desert. 
 
 “Sept. 11. Across a gravelly plain—horizon unbounded, except to the 
 West by the Great Sea—and encamped on a spot called in Arabic Cawatha, 
 and in Latin Cades. 
 
 “ It was on this day that we came to the real desert, where man never 
 dwelt, nor the son of man abode : a land that you can neither plough nor 
 sow—no city, village, or hamlet—not a house—not a cottage visible as you 
 proceed—no fields, no vineyards, no gardens or trees of any description, 
 but a land scorched, burnt up, by the heat of the sun, utterly sterile and un¬ 
 fruitful—abundant only in torrents, hills, and mountains, which bear the 
 stamp of horror and the image of death. We often saw vast clouds rising 
 over the desert like smoke, but soon found them to consist merely of dust 
 and the finest sand, caught up by the wind. These sands are always shift* 
 
 * That “ he acted as his father had done in keeping up the establishments for 
 guests, in protecting the timid and the helpless, and in clothing the widowed and the 
 naked,” is the commendation of Khaled in the romance of “ Antar.” 
 
 t When this work was last published, I had not been able to procure Tucher’s 
 rare Itinerary, printed in 1482 ; and since obtaining it, I find that Dr. Robinson has 
 given an abridgment of his route from Gaza to Sinai, by a more easterly track than 
 Breydenbaoh’s. “ He appears,” observes Dr. Robinson, “to have crossed the Tih by 
 the pass el-Mureikhy, which he calls Roachie. He gives the following names:—Sept. 
 22. Mackati, wady.—33. Nockra, wady.—26. Ludra , wady.—27. Schilludy, mountain. 
 28. Toriko. —30. Vintheine , wady. Oct. 1. Ruackie, pass, [el-Mureikhy.]—2. Mul- 
 chalach, wady ."—Biblical Researches, vol. i. p. 564. [1847.] 
 
422 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 iug; where to-day the path is clear, to morrow you will find a little mourtain 
 in its place. Thus slowly step by step advancing, we reached, on 
 
 “Sept. 12, a place called Gayan, where we pitched our tents in the dry 
 bed of a torrent. 
 
 “ On the 13th, came to a great torrent-bed in the mountains, called Wa- 
 dalar,* * * § where we saw quantities of coloquintida. 
 
 “ On the 14th, entered a solitude, still more desolate than that we crossed 
 yesterday and the day before—no men, cattle, or birds (except ostriches) to 
 be seen: thence—between lofty and sterile mountains, ‘ non nisi limpidissimis 
 et abruptissimis petris coagulata,’ and named, from their ruggedness, Gebel 
 Helelt—to a sandy spot called Magare. 
 
 “ On the morrow, crossing another very nigged desert, and much colder 
 than usual in the East, halted in a flat chalky spot, Mynscheue.J 
 
 “ On the 16th, through another broad and nigged district, (said to extend 
 for two months’ journey eastward, and thought by some to be part of the 
 Torrid Zone, and to be prolonged as far as Paradise, - ) to Alherock. 
 
 “ Sept. 17th, to Mesmar, at the foot of a lofty mountain, (apparently 
 artificial,) named Caleb. 
 
 “ Sept. 18, the ground covered with depositions of salt—halted in the 
 dry bed of a torrent.§ 
 
 “ Sept. IS), reached those mountains from which you get the first sight 
 of Horeb and Sinai, still four days distant, to the left, and on the right the 
 Red Sea. The road here so rocky and precipitous that we were obliged to 
 dismount and go on foot.|| Rested in some caves near a place called Rama- 
 thym. No water, trees, or shrubs. 
 
 “ Sept. 20th, rising with the dawn, entered rugged mountains of mingled 
 red and black, shining in the sun as if anointed with oil; the air quite per¬ 
 fumed with the blossoms of the Spina-Christi tree. Here we saw a beast 
 larger than a camel, which our guides told us was an unicorn.5T Towards 
 evening, halted at Scholie. 
 
 “ Henceforth, in all our difficulties and fatigues, we had this constant 
 consolation, that the star called St. Catherine’s, brighter than any of the 
 other constellations, rose every night after twelve in the South, and hovering 
 over Mount Sinai till the morning, pointed out our way.** 
 
 “ At sunset on the 21st, we encamped in Abulherock, a great plain shut 
 
 * “ Wady el-’Arish,” suggests Dr. Robinson, who has given Breydenbach’s route in 
 the Notes to his “ Biblical Researches,” vol. i, p. 564. [1847.] 
 
 t Jebel Helal.-— Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 t “ Hachssene el Hasana,” according to Dr. Robinson, is mentioned on the 15th 
 September, before arriving at Mynscheue, by Fabri, a companion of Breydenbach on 
 this route. [1847.] 
 
 § Named Meschmar, by Fabri. [1847.] 
 
 fl “ Sept. 19, the pass of Rackami, ‘ er-Rakineh.* ”— Robinson. [1847.] 
 
 5f A wood-cut representing the unicorn, crocodile, salamander, capre da India , 
 giraffe, camel, and a baboon (with the legend, “ non constat de nomine,”) holding it 
 by the bridle, will be found on the verso of Breydenbach’s map of Syria. The wood 
 engravings in this work are extremely curious, and often very spirited, and were 
 executed, as we learn incidentally in the text, from the drawings of “ Erhardus 
 Rewich de Trajecto Inferiori, pictor ille artificiosus et subtilis .... qui omnia loca 
 in hoc opere depicta docta manu efBgiavit.” 
 
 ** So too Hans Tucher, 4th October, 1479, in the journal of his pilgrimage, printed 
 in 1482. [1847.] 
 
NOTES. 
 
 423 
 
 in on every side by lofty mountains, and in which Moses is said to have 
 kept the flock of Jethro; a hollow in the rock, commanding a view of the 
 ■whole plain, was shown to us as the place where he sat and slept. 
 
 “ On the 22nd, getting up very early in the morning, we entered the 
 inner wilds of the desert by a narrow pass which led us into a large sandy 
 plain—” 
 
 —the El Raha of modern travellers, which Breydenbach and his 
 companions entered from Wady Sheikh—and here I leave them. 
 
 Note 29, Page 238. 
 
 Yet the ancient name is not forgotten—Abulfeda calls it Beit Chabrun. 
 
 Breydenbach describes Old Hebron as “hodie omnino destructa; et 
 sunt mine ejus magne valdfe, et videtur fuisse satis gloriosa.” Four bow 
 shots to the S. E. was New Hebron, built on and around the sepulchral cave 
 of the patriarchs. 
 
 Note 30, Page 240. 
 
 The old pilgrims delight to dwell on the etymologies of Bethlehem and 
 Nazareth:— 
 
 “ Bethlehem, which is, being interpreted, the House of Bread Nor is it 
 called so without good cause, for the fruit of life sprung there from the flower 
 of Nazareth—the son, namely, of the living God, Christ Jesus—the bread of 
 angels and the life of the whole world.” — Johannis TFirzburgensis 
 Descriptio Terra Sancta, seculo 13. ap. Pezii Thesaur., t. i, part 3, 
 
 р. 490. 
 
 “ Nazareth is als moche as to seye, Flour of the Gardyn; and be gode 
 skylle may it ben clept Flour, for there was norisscht the Flour of Lif, that 
 was Crist Jesu.”— Voiage &c., of Sir John Muundevile, p. 136 
 
 Note 31, Page 247.— The Ghor. 
 
 The following description of the Ghor is given by John of Wirzberg, in 
 the thirteenth century;—“ A montibus Gelboe usque ad lacum Asphal- 
 titis, vallis est ilia, per quam labitur Jordanis; et haec vallis vocatur, ut 
 diximus, praegrandis seu campestris,qu® ex utraque parte vallatur continuis 
 montibus a Libano usque ad desertum Pharan.”— Descriptio Terra Sancta, 
 
 с. 5, ap. Pezii Thes. t. i, p. 3, p. 505. 
 
 Similarly Ebn Haukul:—'■ The district of Ghour . . . commences at the 
 borders of Arden” (the country of the Jordan) ; “ when it passes them, it 
 extends to the boundary of Palestine, and in like manner reaches to Aileli.” 
 — Oriental Geography of Ebn Haukul, translated by Sir W. Ouseley, p. 
 41: or, as quoted by Abulfeda—“ Incipit al Ghaur a mari Gennesaretb, 
 unde protenditur ad Baisanam, bine ad Zoaram et Jerichuntem usque ad 
 Mare Mortuum, hinc ad Ailam.”— Tabula Syria, p. 9. 
 
 [Since this work was published, it has been ascertained that a line of 
 cliffs, forming a watershed, from which the waters flow respectively North 
 and South into the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akaba, crosses the Ghor to 
 the N. of a place named es-Zuweirah.—This of course disproves the hypo- 
 
424 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 thesis, that the Jordan discharged itself into the Gulf of Akaha previous to 
 the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. The name of the Ghor is now 
 restricted to that portion of this immense valley which lies to the North of 
 the line of cliffs above mentioned; all to the South of it is the Araba.— 
 This, on the other hand, (Araba,) is the precise name given by the writers 
 of the Old Testament to the whole of the valley from the Sea of Tiberias to 
 the gulf now called of Akaba. See Dr. Robinson’s ‘B. Researches,’ vol.ii, 
 pp. 258, 490, 599.—1847.] 
 
 Note 32, Page 249. 
 
 It would be difficult to read, without a smile, the following comparative 
 estimate of distances, in the environs of Jerusalem and London :— 
 
 “Now concerning how the country about Jerusalem lyeth, for your more 
 ease and perfect understanding, I will familiarly compare their several places 
 with some of our native English towns and villages, according to such true 
 estimation as I heare made of them. 
 
 “ The river Jordan (the very nearest part thereof) is from Jerusalem as 
 Epping is from London. 
 
 “ Jericho, the nearest part of the plaine thereof, is from Jerusalem as 
 Lowton Hall, Sir Robert Wrath's house, is from London. 
 
 “ The lake of Sodom and Gomorrlia is from Jerusalem as Gravesend is 
 from London. 
 
 “ The fields where the angels brought tidings unto the shepherds, lye 
 from Jerusalem as Greenwich doth from London. 
 
 “ Mount Olivet lyeth from Jerusalem as Bow from London. 
 
 “ Betliania is from Jerusalem as Blackwall is from London. 
 
 “ Bethphage is from Jerusalem as Mile End is from London. 
 
 “ The valley Gethsemaue is from Jerusalem as Ratcliffe fields lye from 
 London. 
 
 “ Brooke Cedron is from Jerusalem as the ditch without Aldgate is from 
 London,” &c. 
 
 The distances of Bethlehem, Beersheba, Gaza, Joppa, Samaria, and Naza¬ 
 reth, from Jerusalem, are similarly estimated by those of Wandsworth, 
 Alton, Salisbury, Aylesbury, Royston, and Norwich, from London. 
 
 See the “ True and Strange Discourse of the Travailes of two English, 
 Pilgrimes, etc., written by Henry Timberlake, on the behalfe of himselfe 
 and his fellow pilgrime, (1001.)” 4to, 1620. 
 
 Note 33, Page 249.—Burckhardt. 
 
 The rough unfinished state in which his journals were left is against it 
 —and their scrupulous minuteness ; yet there are many most touching pas¬ 
 sages scattered through them. 
 
 I cannot refrain from transcribing Mr. Legh’s account of his interview 
 with Burckhardt in Nubia. Two Arabs had hailed that gentleman from 
 the shore—he demanded what they wanted—“ To our great astonishment, 
 we were answered in English, and immediately recognised the voice of our 
 
NOTES. 
 
 425 
 
 friend Slieikh Ibrahim, whom we had left at Siout in Upper Egypt, ex¬ 
 tremely well dressed after the Turkish fashion, and in good health and con¬ 
 dition. He had now all the exterior of a common Arab, was very thin, and 
 upon the whole his appearance was miserable enough. He told us he had 
 been living for many days with the Sheikhs of the villages through which 
 he had passed, on lentils, bread, salt, and water, and, when he came on 
 board, could not contain his joy at the prospect of being regaled with animal 
 food."* 
 
 No one, observes this intelligent traveller, was ever better fitted for such 
 undertakings as Burckhardt was employed upon—“ his enterprise, his 
 various attainments in almost every living language, and his talent for 
 observation, are above all praise.” 
 
 Note 34, Page 203.—Sea of Galilee. 
 
 “ Au milieu du Lac est un rocher creuse, dans lequel on croit qu’est le 
 tombeau de Salomon. Le philosophe Lokman a ete enterre a Tkiberiade.”f 
 — Bakoui. 
 
 Motanebbi J has inserted a beautiful compliment to this lovely lake in a 
 poem addressed to his benefactor Ali ben Ibrahim, and inserted, for that 
 reason, by Koehler in the Appendix to Abulfeda’s Syria: — 
 
 “ Save for thee, son of Ibrahim ! I would not quit the Lake of Tabaria, 
 while the Ghor is warm, and its wave cold. 
 
 “ The water-birds float on its billows, like the riders of black horses 
 without bridles. 
 
 “ When the winds lash it—you would think you saw two armies, one in 
 flight, the other in pursuit. 
 
 “ The moon sheds her radiance on the Lake, but black groves girdle it 
 round. 
 
 “ It is soft to the touch, like a body—yet without bones; it rejoices in its 
 finny daughters, yet never knew the pains of a mother. 
 
 “ The birds warble on its banks; copious showers irrigate its gardens. 
 
 “ It flashes like to a round mirror when the veil that hides it is with¬ 
 drawn. 
 
 “ Yet this is to its shame—that it is notorious over the whole earth, 
 what vile and cowardly inhabitants defile its territory.” 
 
 * But this is nothing to what he underwent on his journey through Arabia Petraaa; 
 see his Travels in Syria , p. 438. 
 
 t The author of the Tarikh Montekheb, however, says that the tomb of Lokman 
 was in his time (the fourteenth century) to be seen at Ramlah. 
 
 t This illustrious poet was born at Cufa in the 303rd year of the Hegira, and, after 
 a wandering unsettled life, courted wherever he went, yet rendered miserable by 
 his overweening vanity, was slain by robbers near Bagdad, in 354— a.d. 965.—See 
 D'Herbelot , v. 3, p. 737. Seif Addaulet, the Sultan of Aleppo, appears to have been 
 his chief patron ; the court of that monarch, says Carlyle, “ was the most polished in 
 the East; the Sultan and his brothers were all eminent for poetical talents, and 
 whoever excelled, either in literature or science, was sure of obtaining their patron¬ 
 age ; so that, at a time when not only Europe, but great part of Asia was sunk in the 
 profoundest ignorance, the Sultan of Aleppo could boast of such an assemblage of 
 genius at his court as few sovereigns have ever been able to bring together.”— Speci¬ 
 mens of Arabian Poetry, &c., p. 97. 
 
426 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Had tliis poem been written in tbe middle of the sixteenth instead of 
 that of the tenth century, the satirical allusion at the close might have been 
 explained, in accordance with the prejudices of the age, by the following pas¬ 
 sage from Belon:—“ Les villages sont maintenant habitez des Juifs, qui 
 ont nouvellement hasty en tous lieux au tour du lac, et pour y avoir invente 
 des pescheries, l’ont rendu peuple qui estoit auparavant desert.”— Observa¬ 
 tions, &c. c. 90, p. 263. 
 
 Note 35, Page 265.—Bethsaida. 
 
 The ruined Ehan near the shore, called Khan Mennye, must he the one 
 referred to by Seetzen under the name Beit-Zeide, which he passed soon 
 after crossing the Jordan, on his road from Damascus to Tabaria. See his 
 “ Brief account of the Countries adjoining the Lake of Tiberias,” &c. p. 29. 
 -—The Beitsida, discovered by Pococke, was two miles west of the Lake. 
 
 [Dr. Robinson thinks that the places mentioned to Pococke and others, as 
 Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida, &c., were responsive to leading questions 
 on the part of the travellers, and are therefore not to be depended upon. 
 “ The very names of Capernaum, Bethsaida, and Chorazin, have,” he says, 
 “perished.”— B. Researches , vol. iii, p. 295. —1847.] 
 
 Most of the old pilgrims record a belief which once prevailed, grounded 
 on our Saviour’s denunciation against Chorazin, that it was to be the birth¬ 
 place of Antichrist. 
 
 Note 36, Page 277.—King Baldwin’s Expedition against Jerash. 
 
 William of Tyre notices this Expedition as follows, in the twelfth book of 
 his History:—- 
 
 “ L’annee suivnnte, (1122,) Doldequin (Toghteghin), perfide et impie 
 roi de Damas, conclut un traite avec le prince des Arabes, et prit a son 
 service ses chevaliers. Voyant notre roi fort occupe des affaires des deux 
 pays qu’il avoit a gouverner, et accable de sollieitudes qui semblaient 
 depasser ses forces, Doldequin envoya ses legions dans les environs de 
 Tiberiade, et fit ravager toute cette contree. Le roi, en ayant ete informe, 
 rassembla aussitot ses chevaliers dans tout son royaume, et lui-meme, selon 
 sa coutume, partit en toute hate pour Tiberiade. Doldequin, instruit de sa 
 prochaine arrivee, jugeant bien qu’il lui serait impossible de poursuivre son 
 entreprise avec succhs, et n’osant se mesurer avec sonennemi, se retira dans 
 Tiuterieur de ses etats. Le roi dirigea sa marche vers le midi avec ses 
 bataillons, et arriva a Gerasa. Cette ville, situee dans la tribu de Manasse, 
 a quelques milles du Jourdain, et tout pres du mont Galaad, etait autrefois 
 Tune des plus nobles cites de la province dite Decapolis. Une portion de 
 la ville avoit ete abandonuee depuis long-temps, dans lacrainte des invasions 
 ennemies; il en restait encore la partie la mieux fortifiee, dans laquelle 
 Doldequin avaitfait elever l’annee precedente une citadelle construite a grand 
 frais et batie en grandes pierres carrees. Le roi assiegea le fort avec la 
 plus grande vigneur aussitot qu’il y fut arrive: quarante soldats, qui y 
 avaient ete laisses pour le defendre furent forces de le livrer, a condition 
 
NOTES. 
 
 427 
 
 qu’il leur serait permis de se retirer sains et saufs dans leur pays. Alors )e 
 roi mit en deliberation dans son conseil s'il vaudroit mieux raser le fort, ou 
 le conserver aux Chretiens. On reconnut enfin que ceux-ci ne pourraient 
 jamais s’y maintenir sans de grandes depeuses et des fatigues continuelles, 
 et sans se voir constamment en peril, exposes aux attaques de tous les 
 nassans, et Ton resolut en consequence, a l’unanimite, de detruire la nou- 
 velle forteresse.”— Hist, des Croisades, tom. ii, p. 221. 
 
 None of the Arabian geographers appear to take the slightest notice of 
 Jerash. 
 
 Note 37, Page 282.—Ammon. 
 
 “Amman, urbs antiqua, qu® jam ante Islamismum destructa est. Ssepius 
 ejus mentio fit in annalibus Israelitarum. Est vero jam ingens area 
 ruderibus obsita. Sub ilia decurrit fluvius az Zerka, qui religiosorum e 
 Syria Chegjazam petentium occurrit catervis. Urbs ad occidentem hujus 
 rivi et ad Boream Barkat Ziza (s. B. Zaira ) sita est ad mansionem fere 
 inde. Est vero sub ditione al Balka. Supersunt rudera ejus ingentia. In 
 agro ejus sunt terebinthi aliusque generis arbores. Cincta est undique arvis. 
 Solum enim illud est purum et salubre. In Ketab al Athwal Loth dicitur 
 ejus fundamenta jecisse. Secundum al Lobab est urbs el Belkae.”— Abul- 
 J'edcE Tabula Syria, p. 92. 
 
 Colonel Chesney, in 1830, visited “ some ruins called Djezia,” several 
 hours to the South-East of Ammon, where “ all he found was a large birket, 
 or reservoir, measuring 120 paces in length by 90 broad.”—( Travels die. of 
 Georye Robinson, Esq., vol. ii, p. 179.) This is, probably, the Birket Ziza 
 of Abulfeda. 
 
 Note 38, Page 285.—Assalt. 
 
 The castle of as Szalt was built, according to Abulfeda, by El Melek el 
 Moadbam, the captor of St. Louis, and the last of the direct line of Saladin. 
 He was murdered hy his Mamalukes, in 1250. Sheikh Dhaher, the cele¬ 
 brated predecessor of Djezzar in the pashalic of Acre, “ almost wholly 
 rebuilt it,” says Burckhardt, “ and resided here several years.” 
 
 “ The city,” says Abulfeda, “ is populous; a copious fountain, springing 
 up at the foot of the mountain, runs down into it; there are many gardens, 
 and great over the whole earth is the fame of its pomegranates."— Tabula 
 Syria, p. 92. 
 
 Note 39, Page 289.—Ajeloon. 
 
 Abulfeda speaks of the castle of Ajeloon as recently built by Azzodin, 
 (otherwise named Osamat, “ qui fuit ex majoribus Emiris Sultani Salochod- 
 dini,”) to control the natives of Mount Aouf. It is strongly fortified, he 
 says, and of great fame, and can be seen from Besan. The cultivated par t 
 of the mountain is remarkable for its trees and streams, and a soil of ex¬ 
 treme fertility—I can attest the truth of this description.— Tabula Syria, 
 p. 13, and pp. 92-3. 
 
428 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Noth 40, Page 293. 
 
 Apropos of ladies’ costume : it may not be generally known that bussels 
 and patches are both of Eastern origin. Patches were, according to Abul- 
 ghazi Khan, a favourite ornament of the ladies of Tungoose Tartary, and 
 D’Arvieux considers the fashion described as follows, and still of general 
 prevalence among the Arab women, as an approximation to them :—“ Elies 
 se font faire de petits points noirs aux cotes de la bouche, du menton, et 
 aux joues, qui leur tiennent lieu de mouckes ; quand le nombre n’en est 
 pas grand, cela leur est un agrement.”— Memoires, &c., tom. ii, p. 297. It 
 was reserved for the ladies of England to invest patches with the dignity of 
 party signals; see the Spectator , Number 81.—Bussels are of Persian 
 origin, being, as Dr. Nott observes in his Notes critical and explanatory on 
 the Odes of Hafiz, “ the refaight, or that kind of bolster which the Persian 
 ladies fixed to the under garment, and which was to produce a certain round¬ 
 ness which they thought becoming.” 
 
 Note 41, Page 297. 
 
 Abulfeda mentions this road in his account of Scharchhod, or Salkhud: 
 —“ A plaga ejus orientali porrecta est via regia ar Raszif, —i. e. aggeribus 
 munita, in lrakam ferens. Tradunt itinera, huic qui insistat eum decern 
 circiter diebus ad Bagdadum pervenire.” 
 
 The whole district took the name of Strata from the road that passed 
 through it-—See Procopius de Bello Persico, Script. Byz., tom. i, p. 256, 
 edit. Ven. 
 
 Almonzar, or as this writer styles him, Alamundarus, was singularly 
 skilled in warfare, bold but prudent, and a most faithful adherent to the 
 Persian interest. For fifty years he harassed the Homans, and brought 
 them, so to speak, to their knees. They could not have had a more trou¬ 
 blesome enemy. From the borders of Egypt to the banks of the Euphrates, 
 like a bird of prey, he was constantly on the wing—plundering, killing, and 
 carrying away captive the few he did spare in expectation of ransom. Had 
 he lived longer, says the Byzantine, he would have depopulated the whole 
 East. 
 
 To balance bis power, Justinian invested Aretas, or Hareth, chief of 
 the tribe of Gassan, and the natural enemy of Almonzar, with the supe¬ 
 riority over all the tribes who acknowledged the Roman yoke. 
 
 The aspect of the same landscape, as viewed through variously tinted 
 panes of the window, is not more different than that of human character as 
 contemplated through the medium of friendship or enmity ; and yet, in both 
 cases, the features remain unaltered, the tints only vary. One would 
 scarcely suppose that, in the following character of Almonzar, the his¬ 
 torian of Antar delineated the same moral landscape as the Byzantine Pro¬ 
 copius :— 
 
 “ Monzar was an intelligent man and very regular in administration of 
 justice, and prudent in policy. For this reason Chosroe had appointed him 
 king over the Arabs, and, when he was present in the palace of Chosroe, be 
 
NOTES. 
 
 429 
 
 enjoyed superior dignities, and he was never styled but as king of the Arabs. 
 And Chosroe used to treat him as a friend, and to eat and drink with him, 
 and when they were busy in conversation Monzar used to describe to him 
 the peculiarities of Mecca and the sacred shrine, and their glory over the 
 Deelimites and the Persians, and used to recite to him the verses of the 
 eloquent men. And Chosroe, in his impartiality, was pleased with him, 
 and enjoyed his society, and loved to diguify him with presents of gold and 
 silver ; for the Cliosroes of Persia were renowned for their love of justice 
 and impartiality, and abhorred oppression and violence, ruling over mankind 
 with impartiality and generosity."— Antar, v. 1, p. 227. 
 
 “ O great and renowned monarch,” said Antar, “be glorified ! for no one 
 can ever vaunt himself superior to thy glories. As to liberality, thy hand 
 lias grasped it all ; as to rain, thy palm bestows it—and thy hand calms 
 every woe. How many hast thou relieved from sorrow, whose pains vanish 
 as soon as thy countenance appears! The armies of battle are thy drawn 
 sword, and, wherever it moves against the foe, it vanquishes. May the 
 glory it desires never fail it, and may the world ever be at thy command! 
 May thy Lord ever grant thee every favour, and mayst thou avert aud sub¬ 
 due all thy enemies ! May the projects and efforts of man ever fail against 
 thy enterprises, aud may glory ever belong to the grasp of the hand and 
 the fingers of King Monzar! He has attained every honour, every 
 virtue, every excellence, every felicity, and universal liberality.”— Ibid. 
 p. 313. 
 
 And this was the man who, if we may believe Procopius, sacrificed to 
 Venus a son of Aretas, wdiom he had surprised and taken prisoner! 
 
 Monzar’s usual title in ‘ Antar,’ is “ King of the Arabs, ruler of the 
 tribes of Lakhm and Juzam.” Monadlierah, or Monzar, was the usual name 
 of the Lakhmite kings of Hira, as Hareth or Aretas w r as that of the Gassan- 
 ites of Syria. Both families came originally from Yemen, being descended, 
 by different brothers, from Cahlan son of Saba, of the illustrious race of the 
 Hamyarites. 
 
 The ancestors of the tribe of Gassan quitted Yemen after the deluge of 
 Irem, and, arriving at Gassan, a well-watered and fertile district on the bor 
 ders of Syria, drove out the Dhajaame Arabs who then occupied the spot, 
 and established themselves in their stead. An Aretas is mentioned in the 
 history of St. Paul, and the name is familiar to the reader of Josephus. 
 Their descendants still reigned over the Syrian Arabs at the birth of 
 Mahomet; most of them were Christians, and held their power under 
 the Boman Emperors, as the Lakbmites held theirs under the Chos- 
 roes of Persia.* The last of their kings embraced Islamism under the 
 Caliph Omar. 
 
 A descendant of this illustrious race—himself illustrious for his genius 
 —is numbered among the literati of Spain, as a panegyrist of Saladin.— 
 D’Herbelot. 
 
 * “ At that time,” says Asmaee, “ Chosroes and Caesar reigned over the whole 
 earth, and the Euphrates divided them. The Emperor ruled over the countries of 
 Europe and the Christian tribes, and Chosroe Nushirvan ruled over the Arabs and 
 the Persians.”— Antar, vol. i, p. 302. 
 
430 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Some, also, of the tribe of Lakhm, settled in the district of Illiberis, the 
 modern Elvira, near Granada.— Casiri, Bill. Arab. Hisp. Escurialensis, t. ii, 
 p. 252. 
 
 Note 42, Page 302. 
 
 I cannot trace the route of the army on the modern map of Syria, until it 
 reaches Adrate, the modern Daara, or Edrei. 
 
 P ouifS, according to Eusebius, quoted by Beland, was a town four miles 
 distant from Scythopolis, or Bethsan. But this place, though it might have 
 given its name (if then remembered) to the “terra de Roob,” vaguely 
 identified by Baldensel with Upper Galilee and Decapolis, has evidently no 
 connexion with the ‘ valley of Roob ’ of William of Tyre. Calmet gives 
 us more assistance; “ Syria of Rohob, or Rehob,” says he, “was that part 
 of Syria of which Rehob was the capital, near the northern frontier of the 
 Land of Promise, (Numb. xiii. 21), on the pass that leads to Emath or 
 Hamath. It was given to Asher, and lay contiguous to Aphek, in Libanus. 
 Josh. xix. 28—30 ; xxi. 13. Laish, situate at the fountains of Jordan, was 
 in this country, Judy. i. 31.” 
 
 The Medan is the name of the plain where one of the branches of the 
 Jordan re-appears, after its subterraneous course from the lake Phiala, 
 “Innumerable multitudes,” says an old writer, “ meet here at the beginning 
 of summer, with goods of every description for sale.” Eugesippvs de dis- 
 tantiis locorum Terra Sancta —compiled in 1150, ap. Leon. Allatii Sym- 
 micta, p. 109. The Saracens, says Breydenback, from Aran, (Hauran,) 
 Mesopotamia, Syria, Moab, Ammon, and all the east country, meet round 
 the fountain Phiala, and, pitching their tents of divers colours, (beautiful 
 to behold,) hold a fair there through the whole summer.—The former of 
 these passages accords best with the words of the Archbishop of Tyre :— 
 “ La pluine que l’on appelle Medan, et ou les Arabes et les autres peuples 
 orientaux se reunissent tous les ans pour une foire considerable.” 
 
 Note 43, Page 300.—Bozrah. 
 
 To the argument already alluded to in a note on Petra, Du Cange 
 adds the positive testimony of a medal inscribed Nova Trajana Bostra, 
 in proof of the architectural munificence of that Emperor having been 
 extended to one, at least, of the sister capitals of Arabia Provincia. 
 
 William of Tyre writes the name Bussereth; the Assises de Jerusalem, 
 Bethseret: De Saligniac, before 1525, Burseth,—the common pronunciation 
 of the present day is Bussra. 
 
 Abulfeda describes the castle as “ aedificatum ad instar arcis Damascene.” 
 lie says nothing of the vines for which Bostra was formerly celebrated, but 
 the dependent town of Salkliud he describes as abounding in them.— Tabula 
 Syria, pp. 99, and 105. 
 
 “ Cette ville, au rapport du geographe Persien, a nn chateau tres-fort, 
 une porte de la hauteur de vingt coudees, et irn des plus grands bassins ou 
 inares d’eau, qui soil dans tout le Levant.”— D’Herbelot. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 431 
 
 Note 44, Page 312.—Nedjraun. 
 
 The inscription runs as follows:— 
 
 Tov Se viov ot rvpfiov avgp lopiorog tStipt 
 Tipwvog apTitxi)g v'lwvog <piXaooX(3iog r. 
 og Trod’ i)ytpovog fiivsipiKiapios* K(ii TaOOvog 
 nrXtro ipoiviKov SaXpciTiog avra Sop, oio 
 avXrjg to xpoxapoiQt evivdttv oi(p air’ aXXuiv 
 oxxarav ai (OiXyoiv opouov Qavaroio 
 otppa vSKvg r’ avSptioaiv aiu %uioi<Jiv tvtuj. 
 
 Note 45, Page 320.—Palmyra. 
 
 Palmyra was first made known to Europe by some English merchants in 
 1691; it had long been known to the Arabs under the ancient name Tad- 
 mor, which it still retains. Bakoui, at the close of the fourteenth century, 
 describes it as “ remplie de colonnes de marbre et de statues; on pense que 
 ce sont des genies qui l’ont batie pour Salomon.” Abulfeda mentions 
 briefly its ancient columns, palms, and olive-trees. Benjamin of Tudela, 
 about 1160, says that two thousand Jews dwelt there, “valiant, and ready 
 prepared for battle,”—“qui cum Christianis et Arabis qui imperio Noraldini 
 parent bellum gerunt, et vicinis suis, sc. Ismaelitis, suppetias ferunt.” Abou 
 Obeid, a writer cited by Schultens, and whose mention of both obelisks 
 being erect at Heliopolis proves him to have lived before 1160, gives a 
 short but interesting description of Palmyra, from which it would appear 
 that the stone folding doors of the great gate of the temple-court were still 
 existing, and in use, when he wrote his Geographical Lexicon. The whole 
 passage is worth extracting:—“ Tadmor,” says he, “ substructions est ad- 
 mirandae, quippe quae columnis albis marmoreis tota sustinetur ac suspen- 
 ditur. Ejus incolae dictitant jam ante Salomonem Davidis filium earn 
 extitisse. Nunc degunt in arce quadam ejusdem, quae muro lapideo est 
 septa, et cui porta est bipatentibus e lapide valvis praedita. Durant in ea 
 turres fastigatse ad hoc usque tempus. Habent et fluvium qui palmas eorum 
 hortosque rigat.”— Boliadini Vita Saladini ; Index Geogr. voce Tadmor. 
 
 Note 46, Page 323. 
 
 This appeal's, from Mr. Wood’s account, to have been a sepulchre; it has 
 sadly fallen to ruin since his day. 
 
 Note 47, Page 326. 
 
 A Cnfic inscription is painted on the right of the doorway, entering this 
 tomb. 
 
 * Beve0.KiaA.os (?)—“ beneficialis, beneficiarius, apparitor, minister magistratus. 
 Gloss. Basil. Beve0.KiaA.oi, 6. otput..vtui £7t. Cepan-eiy tu>v Maytarparuiv TeTarpevot.” 
 Ducange, in voce. 
 
432 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Note 48, Page 327. 
 
 “Nowhere could we discover in the face of the heavens more beauties, 
 nor on the earth fewer, than in our night travels through the deserts of 
 Arabia .”—Woods Baalbcc, p. 15. 
 
 Note 49, Page 333. 
 
 Beret ani means “ the second village,”—it was the second we came to 
 after crossing Antilibanus. Yet the name might well remind us of home, 
 for Mr. Farren informs me that beret anic would imply in Arabic, “the land 
 of tin,”—tantamount to the Cassiterides of Herodotus; and he is inclined 
 to think that the name Nqtroi ~BptravviKai is derived from it. 
 
 Note 50, Page 33(1.—Baalbec. 
 
 That the unfinished temple was dedicated to the great Gods of Heliopolis 
 would appear from the votive inscriptions on two bases of the portico, 
 (built into the eastern wall of the platform,) purporting that, for the wel¬ 
 fare of Antoninus Pius and his mother Julia, the inscribers had been at the 
 expense of preparing capitals for the columns, “ dum erant in muro inlu- 
 minata.” Mr. Wood understands these as the names of Caracalla and his 
 mother Julia Domna. I should rather suppose them to be those of Bassi- 
 anus, commonly called Heliogabalus, as Priest of the Sun at Emesa, who 
 assumed the name of Antoninus, and his mother, Julia Soaemias. What 
 could be more natural than for the Syrian Heliogabalus to propose the 
 completion of the great Temple of Heliopolis? 
 
 Note 51, Page 343.—Baalbec. 
 
 “ Beyond the borders of Demesck,” says Ebn Haukul, in the tenth cen¬ 
 tury, “ is Baalbec, situated on an eminence. Here are the gates of palaces, 
 sculptured in marble, and lofty columns, also of marble; in the whole 
 region of Syria there is not a more stupendous or considerable edifice than 
 this.” 
 
 The Temple of Baalbec was built, according to popular superstition, by 
 Solomon, for the reception of Belkeis, Queen of Sheba; or, as others say, 
 for that of his Egyptian bride, the daughter of Pharaoh. Asmodeus, the 
 Asmugli div of the Persians, was the architect, if we may believe Benjamin 
 of Tudela. The Sabian or Fire-worshippers, according to an Arab writer 
 cited by Abulfeda, held it in high reverence as the work of their ancestors. 
 
 Baalbec is often mentioned in the chronicles of the crusaders, and is 
 always identified by William of Tyre with Heliopolis. Warfare and earth¬ 
 quakes have both contributed to its present state of ruin. 
 
 Baumgarten visited Baldach, as he calls it, (the country of Baldach, the 
 friend of Job,) in 1507, but his chief admiration was attracted by the huge 
 stane that lies in the quarry near the town, “ resembling for bigness a tower 
 or a lhll;” near it, he says, stand “ three pillars, not unlike those that are 
 
NOTES. 
 
 433 
 
 to be seen in St. Mark’s place in Venice,”—these have disappeared. “ Not 
 far from thence is the Castle Baldach; the rows of pillars are admirahle, 
 being stones of a huge bigness; the building is very high and stately, but 
 all gone to ruin, yet even what is left shows there has been there some¬ 
 thing very great and noble.” 
 
 Belon’s account of Baalbec is very succinct; he mentions, however, the 
 granite columns of the Sheikh’s tomb, to the west of the town, which 
 escaped the notice of most subsequent travellers:—“ Approchants de Bal- 
 bec, trouvasmes uu sepulchre en la campague, sousteuu de gros pilliers 
 courts et ronds faits de la pierre Thebaique, dont le faiste estoit une voute 
 de grosses pierces dessus, qui se termine en poincte.” Most of the inhabit¬ 
 ants at that time were Jews. 
 
 Andre Thevet, who visited Palestine in 1551, and styles Belon “ mon 
 amy . . . et mon compaignon du pais de Levant,” mentions having seen at 
 “ Baalbeth,” “ vingt-sept colomnes de diverses haulteurs, dont la moindre 
 avoit pour le moins douze brasses de haulteur, et deux et demie de largeur. 
 On m’a asseure que depuis mon partement Sultan Solyman (mort depuis 
 huict ans) a faict meuer une partie de ces colomnes en Constantinople, 
 comme il feit de mon temps plusieurs autres qui estoient en Egypte, pour 
 orner et decorer sa mosquee, commencee du temps que j’y estois.”— Cosmo- 
 graphie Universelle, Paris, 1575 ,fol. 192 verso. 
 
 We owe the first accurate account of Baalbec to Monconys, who visited it 
 in 1647, and, with a more discerning eye than honest Maundrell, (whose 
 fidelity deserves the praise of every one who has had the opportunity of 
 verifying his descriptions,) immediately recognised the dependence of the 
 two courts and the nine larger pillars on one unfinished design; announc¬ 
 ing, moreover, the existence of the dedicatory inscription to the great Gods 
 of Heliopolis, and of that in the gallery under the platform, imperfectly 
 given by Maundrell. See his Voyages, &c., pp. 347, sqq.—a curious 
 medley of valuable and worthless information. 
 
 La Boque spent a fortnight at Baalbec, in 1688 ; his account is exagger¬ 
 ated, but furnishes many curious particulars. Maundrell’s, in 1696, is 
 meagre; Pococke’s, in 1738, good; but all verbal descriptions have been 
 superseded by Wood’s folio, 1757, which leaves nothing to be desired on 
 the subject of Baalbec. 
 
 Note 52, Page 343. 
 
 “ Nous y trouvames en deux jours les quatre saisons de l’anuee. Car au 
 pied de la montagne il y fait une chaleur tres vehemente; a moitie de sa 
 hauteur 1 air y est tempere, comme au printemps et en automne; et au 
 sommet 1 on n y void que des neiges et des glajons, vrais images de l’hyver.” 
 — Voyage d'ltalie et du Levant, de Messrs. Fermanel, Fauvel, &c., en 1630 ; 
 Rouen, du. 1670, p. 209. 
 
 Note 53, Page 344. 
 
 I transcribe the following passage from Belon’s travels, in the hope of 
 directing the attention of some future traveller to the ruins mentioned by 
 
 F F 
 
434 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 liim:—Starting from Baalbec on his road to Homs, in the evening, “ nons 
 trouvasmes une plateforme, faite de pierre de grosse etoffe de massonnerie, 
 situee sur le pendant d’un constau, ayant vingt et cinq pas de longueur, et 
 quinze de largeur, spacieuse par le dedans, dont les murailles ne sont gueres 
 hautes, toutefois sont de desmesuree espaisseur. Arrivez le soir en un 
 village nomme Luhon, nous trouvasmes un edifice antique, fait par les 
 Romains, qui est encor tout entier, de grosses pierres massives de deux 
 toises de largeur. Ce village est bien ombrage d’ormeaux et noyers, et est 
 arrosee d’un misseau qui descend de la montagne. Au partir de la nous 
 vinsmes gagner une plaine. Quand nous fusmes un pen advancez, com- 
 menfasmes a monter une colline, &c.” Beyond it, after repelling an attack 
 of the Arabs, “ nous passasmes nostre chemin, et ne cheminasmes gueres 
 que ne vinssions en une grande plaine, qui est semblable a celle de Damas, 
 en laquelle l’eau est conduite par petits ruisselets, en sorte que tout le ter- 
 ritoire est rendu fertile.” This plain was thickly covered with villages. 
 Presently, losing sight of Lebanon, they began crossing mountains, “ les- 
 quelles s’eslargissants de coste et d’autre entourent une grande campagne 
 en laquelle nous defcendismes au pais de Cilicie ”—or Homs. 
 
 I am permitted to insert the following interesting extract from a letter of 
 Mr. Farren 
 
 “ The ‘ Megaret el Rahab,’ which you see in the map, signifies * the 
 caverns of the monks,’ and I think it must be the spot I passed, on ascend¬ 
 ing the valley of the Bekaa northwards, (though it is not so called there,) 
 at the point where Antilebanon begins to decline, and the vale, by gentle 
 undulations, expands itself into the great plain of Homs. The caves are 
 on the western bank of the Orontes, and most of them resemble ancient 
 tombs. Not far from them is the small town or village of Hurmel, which 
 is covered with fragments of antiquity. 
 
 “ On the eastern side of the stream, and within half an hour of its bank, 
 stands a curious monument, which, placed on a most commanding situation, 
 is visible for hours in the distance. It is a square building, of solid 
 masonry, and without aperture or chambers. It rests on a pedestal of steps, 
 and is surmounted by a pyramid or cone. The faces of the square are orna¬ 
 mented with pilasters, (Doric, I think,) and on a broad entablature are 
 sculptured, in bold relief, the figures of dogs, boars, gazelles, and various 
 implements of the chase. It may have been dedicated to Diana, or com¬ 
 memorative of a great hunting match. It is very remarkable that the faces 
 of this monument are covered with small marks, cut on the stones,—hiero¬ 
 glyphics I cannot call them—they are too numerous to be accidental, and I 
 was convinced that they were not from the mere process of chiselling the 
 stones.* 
 
 “ Hurmel is very inaccurately placed in Arrowsmith’s map, with Corry’s 
 corrections, the one I had. It is on the west, and not on the eastern side 
 of the valley; nor does Antilebanon run parallel to the other range up into 
 Northern Syria, but (nearly in a line with this monument) its elevations 
 
 * Can these be the marks or monograms of the masons in that remote day ? [1847.] 
 
NOTES. 435 
 
 subside into the valley, which, as I have mentioned, expands round it into 
 that of Homs, and stretches out to the desert.” 
 
 Note 54, Page 345. 
 
 El Hakim, according to Egyptian tradition, was a wise astrologer and 
 mighty magician, and built on Mount Mokattam, east of Cairo, a mosque 
 and an observatory—to the latter of which he was in the custom of retiring 
 to make his talismans, “ an art in which he was very skilful. The Egyp¬ 
 tians say that he could go in and out into all the caves under ground, 
 where he knew the treasures of the ancient kings and lords of Egypt to be 
 hid, and that he could make use of them when he pleased; and that, by the 
 power of magic and the extraordinary skill that he had in that art. 
 
 “ According to the example of those great men, a little before his death, 
 he buried his own treasures, and put a crocodile made by the talismanical 
 art, to keep them. 
 
 “ In this mountain, and near this mosque, he caused several caves to be 
 digged, wide and large, in the rock, so as to pass from one into the other; 
 in the furthermost he caused a pond to be made to keep water in, cut in the 
 rock ; in it is a crocodile that begins to fly at one as soon as a man enters 
 in. Moreover, in the bottom of the water, is to be seen a door which leads 
 to other caves under ground, where the records of Egypt declare that his 
 treasures are hid. No man can imagine from whence this water can come, 
 for the cave is upon a high mountain which is very dry always, and in this 
 place is no spring; and it is not known what this crocodile is, and how he 
 may be nourished during so many ages. To take this treasure, you must 
 know how to undo this talisman, that is, one must take away the water and 
 the life of the crocodile; for both are the effects of magic, which depend 
 upon the art of the talismans.” — Vansleb's Present State of Egypt, 
 p. 170-1. 
 
 The Biblioth&que Royale at Paris ought to be very rich in the magical 
 lore of the Arabians, for Vansleb, a devout believer in their supernatural 
 powers, tells us that amongst other rare “ Manuscripts,” he had been very 
 diligent in collecting and sending to Paris “ the ancientest and best authors 
 of the Arabians, which might give some light and knowledge of this noble 
 science. I may say that I have emptied Egypt of them, with an intent that 
 if I was ever admitted to the service of him who had given me this com¬ 
 mission,* I might have the time and the means to discover with ease the 
 admirable secrets of this science, and to unfold the enigmas under which it 
 lies hid; and by the same means to discover of what consequence those 
 manuscripts are, though they are despised by some that understand not 
 neither their price nor use.” 
 
 Note 55, Page 345—Fakr-ed-din. 
 
 Fermanel and his friends give an interesting account of their interview 
 with this remarkable man, in 1630, at Beirout. He was very partial to that 
 
 * The great Colbert. 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 town, they say, “ k cause qu’il y arrive quantite de navires de la Chres¬ 
 tiente ; s’y rend fort familier avec les marcliauds Chrestiens, jusques a 
 venir jouer avec eux. Nous ne voulusmes pas mauquer a luy faire la 
 reverence, et luy faire presens d’une veste de drap : il nous receut courtoise- 
 ment, nous faisant disner avec luy, oil nous fusmes traitez comme en la 
 Chrestiente, y ayant tables, linges, chaires, et la viande, quoy que grossiere, 
 bien accommodee. Ce prince avoit soixante et dix ans, mais nenntmoins il 
 se portoit bien, estant encore dispos et habile a toutes sortes d’exercises: il 
 estoit de moyenne stature, de couleur basanee, les cheveux tous blancs, et 
 les sourcils si grands qu’iis luy couvroient presque la veue. Nous ne 
 pouvions assez admirer comment il mangeoit, car U en prenoit plus que 
 quatre de nous autres. Au reste e’estoit un homme plein d'esprit, verse en 
 plusieurs sciences, grand herboriste, philosophe, et astrologue, et n’enten- 
 doit que trop de la Magie naturelle. Il estoit estime pour un des plus 
 habiles homines de la Turquie. Il traittoit bien ses subjets ; les Chres¬ 
 tiens n’y sont aucunement subjets aux avanies, et y vivent avec autant de 
 liberte que dans leur pais naturel; le voyage que ce Prince a fait en la 
 Chrestiente, ayant demeure l’espace de quatre ans a Florence, a beaucoup 
 servy a polir ses nmeurs et son esprit, et a rendre sa domination ainsi douce.” 
 —Voyage en Ttalie et du Levant, &c., p. 326-7. 
 
 The river Kislion, according to M. Fermanel, divided Fakr-ed-din’s 
 country from that of the Emir Turabeye, of whom D’Arvieux has given so 
 interesting an account, and whose dominion extended over part of Samaria 
 and Lower Galilee, and the whole coast from Carmel to Jaffa,—Nablous, 
 Jerusalem, and Judea, belonged to the Emir Faroux. The ancestors of 
 these Princes ruled over Palestine at the time of Sultan Selim’s conquest, 
 and were confirmed by him in their authority on engaging to pay a regular 
 tribute. 
 
 Note 56, Page 347. 
 
 This episode in the history of the Saracen conquest is related as follows 
 by Ockley, after A1 Wakidi:— 
 
 “ Deir Abi’l Kodos lies between Tripoli and Harran. There lived in 
 that place a priest eminent for his singular learning, piety, and austerity of 
 life, to such a degree that all sorts of persons, young and old, rich and 
 poor, used to frequent his house, to ask his blessing, and to receive his in¬ 
 structions. There was no person, of what rank or quality soever, but 
 thought themselves happy if they had his prayers ; and whenever any young 
 couple amongst the nobility and persons of the highest rank were married, 
 they were carried to him to receive his blessing. Every Easter there used 
 to be a great fair kept at his house, where they sold rich silks and satins, 
 plate and jewels, and costly furniture of all sorts. 
 
 “ Abu Obeidah, now possessed of Damascus, was in doubt whither to go 
 next. One while he had thoughts of turning to Jerusalem; another, to 
 Antioch. Whilst he was thus deliberating, a Christian, that was under the 
 Saracens’ protection, informed him of this great fair, which was about thirty 
 miles distant from Damascus. When he understood that there never used 
 
NOTES. 
 
 437 
 
 to be any guards at the fair, the hopes of an ea3y conquest ana large spoil 
 encouraged him to undertake it. He looked round about upon the Mussle- 
 mans, and asked which of them would undertake to command the forces he 
 should send upon this expedition; and at the same time cast his eye upon 
 Caled, but was ashamed to command him that had been his General so 
 lately. Caled understood his meaning; but his being laid aside stuck a 
 little in his stomach, so that he would not proffer his sendee. At last 
 Abd’ollah Ebn Jaafar, (whose mother was, after his father Jaafar was killed 
 in the wars, married to Abubeker,) offered himself. Abu Obeidah accepted 
 him cheerfully, and gave him a standard and five hundred horse. There 
 was never a man of them but what had been in several battles. The Chris¬ 
 tian, who had first informed them of this fair, was their guide. And whilst 
 they staid to rest themselves in their march, he went before to take a view 
 of the fair. When he came back, he brought a very discouraging account; 
 for there had never been such a fair before. He told them, that there was 
 a most prodigious number of people, abundance of clergy, officers, courtiers, 
 and soldiers. The occasion of which was, that the Prefect of Tripoli had 
 married his daughter to a great man, and they had brought the young lady 
 to this reverend priest, to receive the communion at his hands. He added 
 that, taking them altogether, Greeks, Armenians, Copties, Jews, and Chris¬ 
 tians, there could be no fewer than ten thousand people, besides five 
 thousand horse, which were the lady’s guard. Abd’ollah asked his friends 
 what they thought of it ? They told him that it was the best way to go 
 back again, and not to be accessary to their own destruction. To which he 
 answered, ‘that he was afraid, if he should do so, God would be angry with 
 him, and reckon him amongst the number of those who are backward in his 
 service; and so he should be miserable.’ ‘ I am not,’ said he, 1 willing to 
 go back before I fight, and if any one will help me, God reward him; if 
 not, I shall not be angry with him.’ The rest of the Saracens, hearing 
 that, were ashamed to flinch from him, and told him he might do as he 
 pleased, they were ready at his command. 
 
 “ ‘ Now,’ says Abd’ollah to the guide, * come along with us, and you shall 
 see what the Companions of the Apostle of God are able to perform.’ 
 ‘ Not I,’ answered the guide, ‘ go yourselves; I have nothing to say to you.' 
 Abd’ollah persuaded him with a great many good words, to bear them com¬ 
 pany till they came within sight of the fair. Having conducted them as far 
 as he thought fit, lie bade them stay there, and lie close till morning. 
 
 “ In the morning they consulted which way to attack them to the best 
 advantage. Omar ebn Rebiyah thought it most advisable to stay till 
 the people had opened their wares, and the fair was begun, and then fall 
 upon them when they were all employed. This advice of his was approved 
 by all. 
 
 “ Abd’ollah divided his men into five troops, and ordered them to charge 
 in five different places, and not regard the spoil nor taking prisoners, but 
 put all to the sword. 
 
 “ When they came near the monastery, the Christians stood as thick as 
 possible. The reverend father had begun his sermon, and they thronged 
 
438 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 on all sides to hear him, with a great deal of attention. The young lady 
 was in the house, and her guard stood round about it, with a great many of 
 the nobility and officers richly clothed. When Abd’ollah saw this number 
 of people, he was not in the least discouraged, but turned himself about to 
 the Saracens, and said, ‘ The Apostle of God has said, that Paradise is 
 under the shadow of swords; either we shall succeed, and then we shall 
 have all the plunder, or else die, and so the next way to Paradise.’ The 
 words were no sooner out of his mouth, but he fell upon them, and made a 
 bloody slaughter. 
 
 “ When the Christians heard the Saracens make such a noise, and cry 
 out ‘ Allah Acbar !’ they were amazed and confounded, imagining that the 
 whole Saracen army had come from Damascus, and fallen upon them ; 
 which put them at first into a most terrible consternation. But when they 
 had taken time to consider and look about themselves a little, and saw that 
 there was but an handful of men, they took courage, and hemmed them in 
 round on every side, so that Abd’ollah and his party were like a white spot 
 on a black camel’s skin.” 
 
 Meanwhile, news had reached Abu Obeidah of the stress in which his 
 friends found themselves, and the gallant Caled, forgettinghis late grievance, 
 and exclaiming that, if Omar had given the command of the army to a child 
 he would have obeyed him—much more one whom he respected as having 
 embraced Islamism before himself—leapt on his horse, summoned his men, 
 “ and away they flew with all possible speed. And if we consider the cir¬ 
 cumstances, they had need make as much haste as they did; for that small 
 number of Saracens which had made the first attack, was quite drowned 
 and overwhelmed in that great multitude of Christians, and there was 
 scarce any of them but what had more wounds than one. In short, they 
 were at their last gasp, and had nothing left to comfort them but Pa¬ 
 radise. 
 
 “ Fighting in this desperate condition, about sun-set they saw the dust 
 fly and horsemen coming full speed, which did rather abate than add to 
 their courage; they imagining at first that they might be Christians. At 
 last, Caled appeared, fierce as a lion, with his colours flying in his hand, 
 and made up to Abd’ollah, who with much ado had borne up his standard all 
 this while, and was now quite spent. 
 
 “ But, as soon as they heard Caled’s voice, and saw the Mahometan ban¬ 
 ner, the sinking drooping Saracens, who were scarce able to hold their 
 swords, as if they had had new blood and spirits infused into them, took 
 fresh courage, and all together rent the skies with ‘ Allah Acbar !’ Then 
 Abd’ollah charged the guard which was round the monastery on the one 
 side, and Derar Ebn'ol Azwar on the other. The Prefect of Tripoli him¬ 
 self was engaged with Derar, and was too hard for him, got him down, 
 and lay upon him; at which time Derar secretly drew a knife, which he 
 used to carry about him against such occasions, and stabbed him. Then 
 he mounted the Prefect’s horse, and cried out ‘ Allah Acbar!’ 
 
 “ Whilst Derar was engaged with the Prefect, Abd’ollah Ebn Jaafar had 
 taken possession of the house, but meddled with nothing in it till Caled 
 
NOTES, 
 
 439 
 
 came back, who had gone in pursuit of those Christians he had beaten, 
 and followed them to a river which was between them and Tripoli. The 
 Greeks, as soon as they came to the river, took the water. Caled pursued 
 them no farther, but when he came back he found the Saracens in the 
 monastery. They seized all the spoil, silks, cloaths, household stuff, fruits, 
 and provision, that were in the fair, and all the hangings, money, and plate 
 in the house, and took the young lady, the Governor's daughter, and forty 
 maids that waited upon her. So they loaded all their jewels, wealth, and 
 furniture, upon horses, mules, and asses, and returned to Damascus, having 
 left nothing behind them in the house but the old religious. 
 
 “Whilst the Saracens were driving away the spoil, Caled called out to 
 the old Priest in the house, who would not vouchsafe an answer. When he 
 called a second time, ‘ What would you have ?’said the Priest; ‘get you 
 gone about your business, and assure yourself that God’s vengeance will 
 light upon your head for spilling the blood of so many Christians.’ ‘ How 
 can that be,’ said Caled, ‘ when God has commanded us to tight with you 
 and kill you? and if the apostle of God, of blessed memory, had not com¬ 
 manded us to let such men as you are alone, you should not have escaped 
 any more than the rest, but I would have put you to a most cruel death.’ 
 The poor religious held his peace at this, and answered him never a word.”— 
 Hist, of the Saracens, vol. i, pp. 138, sqq. 
 
 I grieve to add that the captive bride was never ransomed. She lived in 
 Abd'allah’s harem for at least forty-five years, at the expiration of which 
 time she was transferred to that of the Caliph Yezid, at the request of the 
 latter. Her charms must have been as perennial as Helen’s. 
 
 Note 57, Page 347. 
 
 The people of Bethulia, near Jerusalem, a place celebrated for a vigorous 
 stand made there by the Christians, are considered by themselves and the 
 surrounding country to be of foreign origin and to speak a dialect, which 
 is said to resemble the Maltese .—Information from Mr. Farreit. 
 
 Note 58, Page 350.—Cedars of Lebanon. 
 
 Furer, in 1565, speaks vaguely of “ about twenty-five cedars.” Rauwolff, 
 in 1575, found “ twenty-four, that stood round about in a circle, and two 
 others, the branches whereof are quite decayed with age.” What follows 
 is remarkable: “ I also went about in this place to look out for some young 
 ones, but could find none at all.” It appears, therefore, that none of the 
 secondary growth are three hundred years old.* 
 
 _* His words, in the original German, are:—“Und ob solcher Cedarbaum schon* 
 diss Gebirge vor Jaren sehr vollgestanden, so habens doch mitler zeit dermassen 
 abgenommen, dass deren nicht mehr (wie ichs gezehlet) dann nur vier und zwentzig 
 in eincm kleinen Kreyss herumb zu sehen, und under anderen noch zween, deren 
 Erste nahe gar vor alter abgefallen seind. So bin ich auch ferrner auff dem Platz 
 umbher gangen, mich naeh anderen jungen weiter umbzusehen hab aber keine, die 
 hemacher waebesen, finden mogen.”— Beschreibung der Reyss, &c., vol. ii, p. 145; 
 and the translation in Ray’s “ Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages,” vol. i, 
 p. 229. 
 
440 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 Eadziwil, in 1583, Biddulph, about the commencement of the sixteenth 
 century, De Breves, in 1005, and Lithgow, in 1612, found the same num¬ 
 ber, twenty-four. All these travellers protest against the prevailing super¬ 
 stition, that it was impossible to count them correctly, an idea accounted 
 for as follows by the narrator of De Breves’ journey:—“ Quant au nombre 
 de ceux qui restent au lieu susdit, que plusieurs veulent estre mysterieux 
 et estrange, escrivans n’avoir jamais este trouve au vray, j’en ay conte vingt 
 quatre par deux fois, et plusieurs de nostre compaguie autant, quelques uns 
 aussi moins, et d’autres plus; mais en cette variete et difference n’y a point 
 de miracle; l’erreur vient de ce qu’aucuns de ces arbres estans secs et 
 deuuez de feuilles, aucuns jettans du pied deux ou trois troncs, et aucuns 
 autres jeunes naissans de la racine des vieux, il y en a qui content ceuxcy, 
 d’autres les obmettent,—aucuns de plusieurs tronc3 n’en font qu’un arbre, 
 d’autres en font plusieurs,—aucuus laissent les secs, d’autres les nombrent, 
 et par ainsi se trouve peu de convenance aux rapports qu’on en fait .... 
 Au reste, je n’en ay veu que vingt quatre, s’entend de vieux pleins de vie 
 et de verdeur.”— Relation des Voyages, &c., p. 55. 
 
 Fermanel, in 1630, found twenty-two, and one lately fallen, having been 
 accidentally set fire to by some shepherds. Boger, who quitted Palestine 
 in 1634, after five years’ residence, mentions twenty-two, and two others, 
 “ de meme antiquite, qui sont 4 terre sans feuilles et sans fruit, neantmoins 
 sans corruption.” One possibly of the fallen trees is reckoned by D’Arvieux 
 in his enumeralion of twenty-three, to be seen there in 1660. La Boque, 
 iu 1688, found twenty,—Mattndrell, in 1606, only sixteen,—Pococke, 
 in 1738, fifteen, the sixteenth having been blown down shortly before his 
 visit. Two more have perished during the last century. 
 
 It is gratifying to reflect that great care is now taken of these ‘ remnants 
 of the giants.’ • The trees are accounted sacred, and the Patriarch performs 
 a solemn yearly mass under their shade on the feast of the Transfiguration. 
 
 Note 59, Page 354.—Convent of Canubin. 
 
 “Nous apprimes d’eux qu’entre plusieurs monasteres qu’il y avoitautre¬ 
 fois sur le Liban, on en comptoit trois prineipaux, du nombre desquels etoit 
 Canubin, lequel contenoit seul trois cens religieux; et parceque c’est 
 l’unique des anciens qui subsiste encore aujourd’kui avec uu nombre con¬ 
 siderable de moines, et qu’il est d’ailleurs le chef de tout 1’ordre ecclesias- 
 tique et religieux de la nation Maronite, le nom de Canubin lui a ete donne 
 du mot grec latinise Coenobium, comme qui diroit le Monastbre par excel¬ 
 lence .”—La Roque, Voyage de Syrie et du M. Liban, t. i, p. 56. 
 
 “ Ce dit monastbre de Canubin fut basty par Saladin, lorsqu'il prit ce 
 pays, a cause du bon accueil qu’il avoit receu du superieur, y passant in- 
 connu.”— Monconys, Voyages, p. 554. 
 
 Twenty thousand monks, according to La Boque, once inhabited the con¬ 
 vents and hermitages dependent upon Canubin. 
 
 Among many pleasing tributes to the hospitality and worth of the patri¬ 
 archs and monks of Canubin, I select the following from the narrative of 
 
NOTES. 
 
 441 
 
 De Breves’ travels in the Levant, in 1605, on his return from Constanti¬ 
 nople, where he had resided above twenty years as political representative of 
 France:— 
 
 “ Ils n’ont aucun revenu que leurs bras, et font profession de pauvrete, 
 non de mendicite : aux intervalles de leurs devotions, ils travaillent tous, 
 non par divertissement, comme nos religieux, mais de necessite, pour se 
 nourrir, et pour faire cbarite aux pauvres: les uns cultivent la terre afin 
 d’en tirer les grains, herbages, et legumes ; les autres font des nattes et 
 cofins de feuilles de palmiers, pour vendre, comme Sainct Hierome remarque 
 es Vies des Peres; les autres nourrissent les vers a soye et s’oecupent a 
 d’autres exercises: href, leur vie est active et contemplative ensemble; 
 jamais ne mangent chair ni poisson, ainsi vivent seulement de racines, d’lier- 
 bages, de legumes, et de fruits, dont ces montagnes sont assez fertiles. 
 
 “ Dans ledit convent, qui est la residence ordinaire du Patriarche, il a 
 pour tout logis une chambre meublee d’une chaire de bois, d’une tablette, 
 ou sont quelques livres, et de deux ou trois petits tapis estendus sur le 
 plancher, qui a la mode Turquesque luy sert de table et de lit: neantmoins, 
 parmy ceste indigence, il est ayme et revere de son peuple comme un demy- 
 dieu, a cause de la candeur et saintete de sa vie.” 
 
 De Breves found four prelates, two archbishops, and two bishops in at¬ 
 tendance on the Patriarch—“ non reluisans d’or et de pierreries, comme les 
 nostres, mais bien de sainctete et de bonne vie, et au reste couverts seulement 
 de leurs pauvres habits ordinaires." 
 
 “ Apres disne, a cause de la beaute de ces montagnes, nous allasmesnous 
 promener, et par le chemin les uns prirent plaisir a voir ces hautes mon¬ 
 tagnes, les autres admirerent la quantite des ruisseaux. et les beaux jardin- 
 ages remplis de belles fleurs. • 
 
 “ Nous nous trouvasmes, sans y penser, au dessons du convent, dans le 
 fond d’un vallon, qui d'en haut ne se peut regarder sans l’eblouisseraent, 
 paroissant comme un noir abysme effroyable, tant pour sa profondeur, qu’a 
 cause du bruit du fleuve qui coule a travers : nous y demeurasmes pen, car 
 le soleil s’abbaissant nous contraignit aussi de nous retirer et remonter au 
 convent en diligence, ou ayans soupe, nous nous couchasmes sur les ter¬ 
 races, au clair de la lune. 
 
 “ Le lendemain, a la pointe du jour, nous parlismes pour aller voir les 
 Cedres, en compagnie du Patriarche, et de l’Evesque Georges, qui par lion- 
 neur convoyerent Mousieur de Breves ; et, parvenus pres d’un grand village, 
 situe sur une belle et fertile coste, entre des vallons bien cultives, nous 
 rencontrasmes le Seigneur du lieu, suivy de deux arquebusiers, qui nous 
 attendoit au passage, ayant fait apporter quantite de vivres sur le chemin, 
 pain, vin, agnaux, clievreuils, volailles, le tout dresse a terre joignant une 
 claire fontaine a 1’ombre de liuict ou dix oliviers. Nous repeusmes la sur 
 l'herhe, puis tirasmes outre, et peu de temps apres, traversans un autre 
 village de Maronites, le Seigneur de ce lieu se joignit aussi avec quatre 
 arquebusiers, pour nous faire escorte contre les Arabes: nous vismes par les 
 rues les femmes et les filles, assemblies en troupes, faire de grandes accla¬ 
 mations de joye, fredonnant de la langue contre les dents, et ace bruit toutle 
 
442 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 peuple sortit des maisons, courir en foule autour dudit Patriarche, pourrece- 
 voir sa benediction, les uns luy baisoient les pieds, les autres les mains ou 
 la robe, et ceux qui n’en pouvoient approcber se contentaient de baiser 
 ceux qui l’avoient touche; et par la campagne encore, de tant loin qne les 
 paysans l’appercevoient, quittans les charrues, les boues, les troupeaux, 
 venoient a perte d'haleine luy faire la reverence,—tant est grand le respect 
 que ce peuple porte a ses Prelats.” 
 
 Note 60, Page 358.—Mar Elisha. 
 
 La Roque gives a charming account of the Convent of Mar Elisha, then 
 inhabited by monks of the order of Mount Carmel:— 
 
 “ Si nous fumes contens et meme touches de voir durant la nuit l’in- 
 terieur de cette solitude, nous ne fumes pas moins satisfaits d’en considerer 
 les dehors pendant le jour. On pent dire que c’est un des plus beaux 
 endroits du Liban, sur tout par cette prodigieuse abondance d’eau qui sort 
 de diverses ouvertures des rocbers aux environs, en deja et en dela du fleuve, 
 laquelle forme des napes, des cascades, et de petits torrens qui se precipitent 
 dans le vallon et grossissent le fleuve. Cela, joint a 1’agreable verdure des 
 arbres et des bocages, forme un spectacle charmant durant le jour, et la 
 nuit on est penetre, pour ainsi dire, d’une douce terreur par le bruit de ces 
 eaux qui ne tarissent jamais. 
 
 “ Mais le plus bel ornement de cette retraite est la sainte vie qu’y menent 
 les religieux Carmes. On pent dire que c’est parmy eux qu’on trouve 
 encore cet esprit de mortification et de detackement des choses de la terre 
 qu’on admiroit autrefois dans les Anachoretes de l’Orient. Rien n’est plus 
 edifiant que la conversation de ces bons Hermites.”— Voyage en Syrie, &c., 
 pp. 76—78. 
 
 The memory of De Ckasteuil, a Provencal gentleman—the friend of 
 Peiresc, and universally admired for his acquirements, especially in Oriental 
 learning, but who broke away from all the fascinations of society and 
 friendship to bury himself, in the flower of his age, in the wilds of Lebanon 
 —was long and fondly cherished in the sacred valley, but especially among 
 the recluses of Mar Elisha, with whom he spent the last few years of his 
 life, dying in the odour of sanctity, a.d. 1644, prematurely worn out by the 
 fasts and penances to which he subjected himself. The Maronites almost 
 adored him, and in La Roque’s time he was never mentioned by any other 
 name than that of the Happy One.* 
 
 Note 61, Page 361. 
 
 See the 2lst book of William of Tyre; speaking of Ring Baldwin, he 
 says, “ II traversa les champs de Sidon, gravit les montagnes qui separent 
 notre pays de celui des ennemis, et arriva en un lieu ou l’on trouve presque 
 
 * According to the Oriental Christians, the Sethites, or “ Sons of God,” set the 
 first example of the monastic life by retiring to Mount Hermon, in the hope of regain¬ 
 ing Paradise by the sanctity and purity of their lives; despairing, at last, of this, and 
 weary of celibacy, they descended to the plains, and intermarrying with “ the 
 daughters of men,” their kinsmen of the race of Cain, begot the Giants.— D'Herbelot. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 443 
 
 tous les biens de ce monde, un sol fertile, de belles sources, et que l’on 
 nomme Messaara; il descendit de la dans la vallee dite de Baccar, et arriva 
 dans une terre qui distille le lait et le miel, comme on lit dans les anciens 
 
 historiens.Anciennement, c’est a dire au temps des rois d'lsrael, il 
 
 etait appele la foret du Liban, parceque la vallee qui le forme se prolonge en 
 effet jusqu’au pied du Liban. Il poss£de un sol fertile, des eaux tres- 
 salubres, et se recommande en outre par l'abondance de sa population, par la 
 grande quantite des villages qu’on y rencontre, et par la douceur extreme de 
 sa temperature. On montre dans la partie la plus basse de ce vallon une 
 ville, aujourd’hui encore entouree de fortes murailles, ou l’on trouve beau 
 coup d’antiques edifices qui attestent sa noblesse, et que l’on nomme de son 
 nom moderne Amegarre. Ceux qui etudient l’antiquite pensent que c’est 
 
 la ville de Palmyre.Arrives dans ce pays, les notres se mirent a le 
 
 parcourir librement, sans que personne s’y opposat, et livrbrent tout aux 
 flammes. Les habitans s’etaient retires dans les montagnes; il n’y avail 
 pas de chemin pour aller les y chercber, et en partant, dbs qu’ils furent 
 instruits de la procbaine arrivee des notres, ils avaient conduit la plus grande 
 partie de leur gros et menu betail dans les marais situes au milieu de la 
 vallee, et qui fournissaient des paturages tr6s abondans. Pendant ce temps 
 le comte de Tripoli, ayant passe, comme il avait ete convenu, a travers les 
 champs de Biblios et aupres du chateau fort nomme Manethere, entra tout- 
 a-coup sur le territoire d’Heliopolis, et les notres apprirent bientot qu’il 
 etait avec les siens dans la meme vallee, brulant tout sur son passage. Les 
 premiers marcherent a la rencontre du comte des qu’ils furent informes de 
 son approcbe; celui-ci ne desiroit pas moins les retrouver, et ils se reunirent 
 a peu pres au milieu de la vallee,” &c .—Histoire des Croisades, &c. t. 3, 
 p. 326-7. 
 
 “ Inter Szaida et Maschgharam, quae est ex amaenissimis illius regionis 
 oppidis, secundum A1 Azizi, vallis est, cui arbores et rivi plurimum decoris 
 conciliant, ad 24 milliaria, procurrens. Maschghara vero ab urbe Khamed 
 dicta, quae olim princeps fuit illarum regionum, distat 6 milliaribus. Ab 
 hac ad vicum qui vocatur Aain al Gjarri,” (Ain al Garri, alibi,) “sunt 18 
 milliaria, et totidem ab hoc ad Damascum .”—Abulfeda Tabula Syria, 
 p. 93. 
 
 Ain al Garri is the Amegarra* of William of Tyre, now called Handjiar, 
 near Medjdel; we passed it on the left, crossing the Bekaa on our return 
 to Damascus. Abulfeda says, that in it are “ monumenta magno saxo 
 caesa.” I am informed by Mr. Farren, that traces of the walls are still 
 visible, but the materials have been carried off to build adjacent villages. 
 
 “ Monaitera,” says Abou Obeid, quoted by Scliultens, “est munimentum 
 in Syria prope Tripolin.” Its capture by Noureddiu, in 1169, is said by 
 Bohadin to have induced the retreat of the Christians from Egypt.— Vita 
 Saladini, p. 32 
 
 * Probably mistranscribed and misprinted for Ainegarra, in the original manu¬ 
 script, the dot of the i being often omitted in old writing. 
 
444 
 
 NOTES 
 
 Note 62, Page 364. 
 
 Since this was written, Mr. Farren has ceased to occupy this important 
 post; or rather the office of Consul General has been done away. Resi¬ 
 dents and travellers—all who are interested in Syria—will rue this. But 
 the poor Indian Mussulmans, whose rights, as British subjects, Mr. F. 
 asserted and established, to the astonishment of the Turks, and their own 
 inconceivable delight and happiness—will rue it most, should the tyrants of 
 the country again oppress them, and no one stand up as their friend. 
 
 Note 63, Page 364.—Beyrout. 
 
 Baumgarten has drawn a sweet picture of Beyrout:— 
 
 “ The same day we went out of the city to take a view of the situation 
 of the town, and the ground about it; we entertained ourselves with the 
 charming pleasantness of these fields; we saw many olive-yards and almond- 
 trees just in their bloom, the land very fruitful and well-watered, abounding 
 with pomegranate-trees, and trees of many other kinds, which at that time 
 were full of fruit. This prospect afforded us a great deal of pleasure, and 
 was the object of our admiration. For at the same time that in our coun¬ 
 try the ground is covered all over with hoar-frost, the rivers frozen up, and 
 the woods hardly able to sustain the weight of snow that is ready to break 
 down all their boughs, here is a charming spring, the brooks sweetly glid¬ 
 ing, and making a murmuring noise as they flow, adorned on both sides 
 with grass and flowers, the trees so loaden with fruit, that they often sink 
 and fall to the ground under their burden. And, which was still more 
 wonderful, the mountains within our view were at the same time all covered 
 with snow .”—Book 3, c. 9. 
 
 Fakr-ed-din's palace, described by Maundrell, is still to be seen at Bey¬ 
 rout, but has lately been turned into a barrack by Ibrahim Pasha. 
 
 Willibrand of Oldenborg, Canon of Hildesheim, nephew of Willibrand, 
 Count of Harlemunt, and a pilgrim to the Holy Land in 1211—describes 
 the Castle of Beyrout as very strong, defended on one side by the sea and 
 the precipice, and on the other side by a ditch, overlooked by two strong 
 walls flanked by towers, in one of which, recently built, an apartment had 
 been constructed of such beauty that he deplores his inability to do it justice 
 in description. 
 
 The pavement was a mosaic, most delicately imitating water agitated by 
 the breeze; the walls were lined with marble slabs; while, depicted on the 
 vaulted roof, (the result of the friendly emulation of the Syrians, Saracens, 
 and Greeks, in their respective arts,) might be seen the clouds careering 
 through the sky, zephyrs puffing and blowing, and the sun measuring out 
 the months, weeks, days, hours, and minutes of the year, by his course 
 through the zodiac. 
 
 In the centre of the hall was a marble cistern, paved with a mosaic of 
 flowers of every hue, so smoothly united and polished as not to offend the 
 touch by the slightest inequality of surface. A dragon, elevating its head 
 
NOTES. 
 
 445 
 
 ia the middle of the pool, disgorged a copious fountain, which cooled and 
 freshened the warm breezes admitted freely bv the windows disposed in 
 beautiful order around the apartment, while the soft murmuring of the 
 water lulled one insensibly to slumber—a luxury which the worthy Canon 
 concludes by telling us he went there to indulge in, every day he sojourned 
 at Beyrout.— Ilirt. Terra Sancta, ap. L. Allatii Symmicta, pp. 126-7, 
 Willibrand’s narrative, though written in barbarous Latin, contains much 
 information as to the state of the castles and fortresses of Syria, at the 
 commencement of the thirteenth century. His honesty in declining to 
 speak of places he had not seen with his own eyes is as commendable as his 
 constant practice of giving the Arabic names of those he did visit. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
CHEAP [EDITION OF MISS BURNEY’S DIARY. 
 
 In Seven Volumes, small 8 vo, Embellished with Portraits, 
 Price only 3s. each, elegantly hound, 
 
 DIARY AND LETTERS 
 
 OP 
 
 MADAME D’ARBLAY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF “EVELINA,” “CECILIA,” &c. 
 
 INCLUDING THE PERIOD OF 
 
 HER RESIDENCE AT THE COURT OF QUEEN CHARLOTTE. 
 
 In announcing a new and cheap edition of Madame D’Arblay’s 
 celebrated Diary, tbe publishers cannot convey a better idea 
 of the nature of the work, to those who are unacquainted with 
 it, than by extracting the opening passage of Miss Burney’s 
 Journal, which was commenced in 1768, and continued, with 
 but few interruptions, during the greater portion of the writer’s 
 long and eventful life:— 
 
 “ To have some account of my thoughts, actions, and acquaintance, when 
 the hour arrives when time is more nimble than memory, is the reason which 
 induces me to keep a Journal —a Journal in which I must confess my every 
 thought—must open my whole heart." 
 
 When we call to mind that the person who formed this resolu¬ 
 tion, and adhered to it during the most important period of her 
 brilliant career, was one of the most remarkable and justly cele¬ 
 brated women, not merely of her own, but of any time or country 
 —that her family position, no less than her celebrity, commanded 
 for her an intimate intercourse with all who were illustrious in 
 English Literature and Art during their most illustrious era, 
 and that the results of such resolution are here given to the 
 world precisely as they left the hand of them writer (the omis¬ 
 sions required by personal and family considerations being alone 
 excepted), the interest this work must excite, can scarcely be 
 increased; yet it ought to be stated, that, shortly after the 
 publication of her second work, “ Cecilia,” she was spon¬ 
 taneously offered by Queen Charlotte a situation about her 
 Majesty’s person, which brought her into daily intercourse with 
 every individual forming the Court of George IH. During 
 
MISS BURNEY’S DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 this remarkable period of her life, Miss Burney never omitted 
 to note in her Journal such events and conversations of the 
 past day as she deemed worthy of record, and might be given 
 without any violation of confidence; and these sketches of the 
 Court of George III. during the important era in question form 
 part of the work here announced. 
 
 The Correspondence, which takes its place chronologically 
 with the Diart, includes, besides a large number of Madame 
 D’Arblay’s own Letters, a selection from those addressed to her 
 by the various distinguished literary and other persons with 
 whom she was intimate. 
 
 OPINIONS 0E THE PEESS. 
 
 EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 “ Madame D’Arblay lived to be a classic. Time set on her fame, before 
 she went hence, that seal which is seldom set except on the fame of the de¬ 
 parted. All those whom we have been accustomed to revere as intellectual 
 patriarchs seemed children when compared with her; for Burke had sat up 
 all night to read her writings, and Johnson had pronounced her superior to 
 Fielding, when Rogers was still a schoolboy, and Southey still in petticoats. 
 Her Diary is written in her earliest and best manner; in true woman’s Eng¬ 
 lish, clear, natural, and lively. It ought to be consulted by every person who 
 wishes to be well acquainted with the history of our literature and our 
 manners.” 
 
 TIMES. 
 
 “ Miss Burney’s work ought to be placed beside Boswell’s 1 Life,’ to which 
 it forms an excellent supplement.” 
 
 LITERARY GAZETTE. 
 
 “ This publication will take its place in the libraries beside Walpole and 
 Boswell.” 
 
 NAVAL AND MILITARY GAZETTE. 
 
 “ A work unequalled in literary and social value by anything else of a similar 
 kind in the language.” 
 
 MESSENGER. 
 
 “ This work may be considered a kind of supplement to Boswell’s Life of 
 Johnson, It is a beautiful picture of society as it existed in manners, taste, 
 and literature, in the reign of George the Third, drawn by a pencil as vivid 
 and brilliant as that of any of the celebrated persons who composed the circle.” 
 
 POST. 
 
 “ Miss Burney’s Diary, sparkling with wit, teeming with lively anecdote 
 and delectable gossip, and full of sound and discreet views of persons and 
 things, will be perused with interest by all classes of readers.” 
 
CHEAP EDITION OF THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS. 
 
 Now in course of Publication , in Eight Volumes, post octavo (com¬ 
 prising from 6C0 to 700 pages each), Price only 7s. Qd. per Volume, 
 elegantly bound, either of which may be had separately, to complete 
 sets, 
 
 LIVES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 QUEENS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 BY AGNES STRICKLAND. 
 
 iBctficatel) fig IStprcss permission to tier JHajestp. 
 
 EMBELLISHED WITH PORTRAITS OF EVERY QUEEN, 
 
 BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED FROM THE MOST AUTHENTIC SOURCES. 
 
 In announcing a cheap Edition of this important and inte¬ 
 resting work, which has been considered unique in biographical 
 literature, the publishers again beg to direct attention to the 
 following extract from the author’s preface :—“ A revised 
 edition of the 1 Lives of the Queens of England, embodying 
 the important collections which have been brought to light 
 since the appearance of earlier impressions, is now offered to 
 the world, embellished with Portraits of every Queen, from 
 authentic and properly verified sources. The series, com¬ 
 mencing with the consort of William the Conqueror, occupies 
 that most interesting and important period of our national chro¬ 
 nology, from the death of the last monarch of the Anglo-Saxon 
 line, Edward the Confessor, to the demise of the last sovereign 
 of the royal house of Stuart, Queen Anne, and comprises therein 
 thirty queens who have worn the crown-matrimonial, and four 
 the regal diadem of this realm. We have related the parentage 
 of every queen, described her education, traced the influence 
 of family connexions and national habits on her conduct, both 
 public and private, and given a concise outline of the domestic, 
 as well as the general history of her times, and its effects on 
 her character, and we have done so with singleness of heart, 
 unbiassed by selfish interests or narrow views. Such as they 
 were in life we have endeavoured to portray them, both in 
 
good and il], without regard to any other considerations than 
 the development of the facts. Their sayings, their doings, their 
 manners, their costume, will be found faithfully chronicled in 
 this work, which also includes the most interesting of then- 
 letters. The hope that the ‘ Lives of the Queens of England’ 
 might be regarded as a national work, honourable to the 
 female character, and generally useful to society, has encou¬ 
 raged us to the completion of the task.” 
 
 OPINIONS OE THE PRESS. 
 
 PROM THE TIMES. 
 
 “ These volumes have the fascination of romance united to the integrity of 
 history. The work is written by a lady of considerable learning, indefatigable 
 industry, and careful judgment. All these qualifications for a biographer and 
 an historian she has brought to bear upon the subject of her volumes, and from 
 them has resulted a narrative interesting to all, and more particularly interest¬ 
 ing to that portion of the community to whom the more refined researches of 
 literature afford pleasure and instruction. The whole work should be read, 
 
 I and no doubt will be read, by all who are anxious for information. It is a lucid 
 arrangement of facts, derived from authentic sources, exhibiting a combination 
 j of industry, learning, judgment, and impartiality, not often met with in bio¬ 
 graphers of crowned heads.” 
 j MORNING HERALD. 
 
 “ A remarkable and truly great historical work. In this series of biographies, 
 
 I in which the severe truth of history takes almost the wildness of romance, it is 
 i the singular merit of Miss Strickland that her research has enabled her to throw J 
 ' new light on many doubtful passages, to bring forth fresh facts, and to render I 
 | every portion of our annals which she has described an interesting and valuable I 
 study. She has given a most valuable contribution to the history of England, | 
 and we have no hesitation in affirming that no one can be said to possess an j 
 accurate knowledge of the history of the country who has not studied this truly | 
 national work, which, in this new edition, has received all the aids that further 
 research on the part of the author, and of embellishment on the part of the pub¬ 
 lishers, could tend to make it still more valuable, and still more attractive, than 
 it had been in its original form.” 
 
 MORNING CHRONICLE. 
 
 “ A most valuable and entertaining work. There is certainly no lady of our ; 
 day who has devoted her pen to so beneficial a purpose as Miss Strickland. Nor ! 
 is there any other whose works possess a deeper or more enduring interest.” 
 
 MORNING POST. 
 
 “ We must pronounce Miss Strickland beyond all comparison the most en¬ 
 tertaining historian in the English language. She is certainly a woman of power- ' 
 ful and active mind, as well as of scrupulous justice and honesty of purpose.” 
 
 QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 “ Miss Strickland has made a very judicious use of many authentic MS. au¬ 
 thorities not previously collected, and the result is a most interesting addition 
 to our biographical library.” 
 
 ATHENJ3UM. 
 
 “ A valuable contribution to historical knowledge. It contains a mass of every 
 kind of historical matter of interest, which industry and research could collect. ! 
 We have derived much entertainment and instruction from the work.” 
 
CHEAP EDITION OF 
 
 PEPYS’ MARY AMD CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 Now ready, a New and Cheap Edition, printed uniformly with the 
 last edition of Evelyn’s Diary, and comprising all the recent 
 Notes and Emendations , Indexes, Sfc., in Four Volumes, post octavo, 
 with Portraits, price 6s. per Volume, handsomely bound, of the 
 
 DLAS.Y AND CORRESPONDENCE OP 
 
 SAMUEL PEPYS, F.R.S., 
 
 SECRETARY TO THE ADMIRALTY IN THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II. 
 AND JAMES II. 
 
 EDITED BY RICHARD LORD BRAYBROOKE. 
 
 The authority of Pepys, as an historian and illustrator of 
 a considerable portion of the seventeenth century, has been 
 so fully acknowledged by every scholar and critic, that it 
 is now scarcely necessary to remind the reader of the ad¬ 
 vantages he possessed for producing the most complete and 
 trustworthy record of events, and the most agreeable picture 
 of society and manners, to be found in the literature of any 
 nation. In confidential communication with the reigning 
 sovereigns, holding high official employment, placed at the 
 head of the Scientific and Learned of a period remarkable 
 for intellectual impulse, mingling in every circle, and ob¬ 
 serving everything and everybody whose characteristics were 
 worth noting down; and possessing, moreover, an intelli¬ 
 gence peculiarly fitted for seizing the most graphic points in 
 whatever he attempted to delineate, Pepys may be considered 
 the most valuable as well as the most entertaining of our 
 National Historians. 
 
 A New and Cheap Edition of this work, comprising all the 
 restored passages and the additional annotations that have 
 been called for by the vast advances in antiquarian and his¬ 
 torical knowledge during the last twenty years, will doubtless 
 be regarded as one of the most agreeable additions that could 
 be made to the library of the general reader. 
 
OPINIONS OP THE PRESS ON PEPYS’ DIARY. 
 
 FROM THE EDINBURGH REVIEW. 
 
 “ Without making any exception in favour of any other production 
 of ancient or modern diarists, we unhesitatingly characterise this journal 
 as the most remarkable production of its kind which has ever been 
 given to the world. Pepys’ Diary makes us comprehend the great 
 historical events of the age, and the people who bore a part in them, 
 and gives us more clear glimpses into the true English life of the times 
 than all the other memorials of them that have come down to our own.” 
 
 FROM THE QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 “ There is much in Pepys’ Diary that throws a distinct and vivid 
 light over the picture of England and its government during the period 
 succeeding the Eestoration. If, quitting the broad path of history, we 
 look for minute information concerning ancient manners and customs, 
 the progress of arts and sciences, and the various branches of antiquity, 
 we have never seen a mine so rich as these volumes. The variety of 
 Pepys’ tastes tad pursuits led him into almost every department of 
 life. He was a man of business, a man of information, a man of whim, 
 and, to a certain degree, a man of pleasure. He was a statesman,' a 
 bel-esprit, a virtuoso, and a connoisseur. His curiosity made him an 
 unwearied, as well as an universal, learner, and whatever he saw found 
 its way into his tablets.” 
 
 FROM THE ATHENJEUM. 
 
 “ The best book of its kind in the English language. The new 
 matter is extremely curious, and occasionally far more characteristic 
 and entertaining than the old. The writer is seen in a clearer light, 
 and the reader is taken into his inmost soul. Pepys’ Diary is the ablest 
 picture of the age in which the writer lived, and a work of standard im¬ 
 portance in English literature.” 
 
 FROM THE EXAMINER. 
 
 “ We place a high value on Pepys’ Diary as the richest and most 
 delightful contribution ever made to the history of English life and 
 manners in the latter half of the seventeenth century.” 
 
 FROM TAIT’S MAGAZINE. 
 
 “We owe Pepys a debt of gratitude for the rare and curious informa¬ 
 tion he has bequeathed to us in this most amusing and interesting work. 
 His Diary is valuable, as depicting to us many of the most important 
 characters of the times. Its author has bequeathed to us the records of 
 his heart—the very reflection of his energetic mind; and his quaint but 
 happy narrative clears up numerous disputed points—throws light into 
 many of the dark corners of history, and lays bare the hidden substratum 
 of events which gave birth to, and supported the visible progress of, the 
 nation.” 
 
 FROM THE MORNING POST. 
 
 “ Of all the records that have ever been published, Pepys’ Diary 
 gives us the most vivid and trustworthy picture of the times, and the 
 clearest view of the state of English public affairs and of English 
 society during the reign of Charles II. We see there, as in a map, 
 the vices of the monarch, the intrigues of the Cabinet, the wanton follies 
 of the court, and the many calamities to which the nation was subjected 
 during the memorable period of fire, plague, and general licentiousness.” 
 
IMPORTANT NEW HISTORICAL WORK. 
 
 Now ready, in 2 vols. post 8vo, embellished with Portraits , price 21s. bound, 
 
 THE QUEENS 
 
 BEFORE THE CONQUEST. 
 
 BY MRS. MATTHEW HALL. 
 
 7 
 
 OPINIONS OF TEE PRESS. 
 
 FROM THE LITERARY GAZETTE. 
 
 “ Mrs. Hall’s work presents a clear and connected series of records of the early 
 female sovereigns of England, of whom only a few scattered anecdotes have 
 hitherto been familiarly known to general readers. The book is of great interest, 
 as containing many notices of English life and manners in the remote times of 
 our British, Koman, Saxon, and Danish ancestors.” 
 
 SUNDAY TIMES. 
 
 “ These volumes open up a new and interesting page of history to the majority 
 of readers. What Miss Strickland has achieved for English Queens since the 
 Norman era, has been accomplished by Mrs. Hall on behalf of the royal ladies 
 who, as wives of Saxon kings, have influenced the destinies of Britain.” 
 
 SUN. 
 
 “ Mrs. Hall may be congratulated on having successfully accomplished a very 
 arduous undertaking. Her volumes form a useful introduction to the usual 
 commencement of English history.” 
 
 CRITIC. 
 
 “ The most instructive history we possess of the prse-Conquest period. It 
 should take its place by the side of Miss Strickland’s ‘ Lives of the Queens.’ ” 
 
 OBSERVER. 
 
 “Of all our female historico-biographical writers, Mrs. Hall seems to us to be 
 one of the most painstaking, erudite, and variously and profoundly accomplished. 
 Her valuable volumes contain not only the lives of the Queens before the Con¬ 
 quest, but a very excellent history of England previously to the Norman 
 dynasty.” 
 
 bell’s MESSENGER. 
 
 “These interesting volumes have been compiled with judgment, discretion, 
 and taste. Mrs. Hall has spared neither pains nor labour to make her history 
 worthy of the characters she has essayed to illustrate. The book is, in every 
 sense, an addition of decided value to the annals of the British people.” 
 
 NEW QUARTERLY REVIEW. 
 
 “ These volumes have long been a desideratum, and will be hailed as a useful, 
 and indeed essential, introduction to Miss Strickland’s world-famous biographical 
 history.” 
 
TIIE PEERAGE MD BARONETAGE 
 
 OE THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 
 
 BY SIR BERNARD BURKE, 
 
 ULSTER KING OF ARMS. 
 
 A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED FROM 
 THE PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS OF 
 THE NOBILITY, &c. 
 
 With 1500 Engravings of ARMS. In 1 vol. (comprising as much matter 
 as twenty ordinary volumes), 38s. bound. 
 
 The following is a List of the Principal Contents of this Standard Work:— 
 
 I. A full and interesting history of 
 each order of the English Nobility, 
 showing its origin, rise, titles, immu¬ 
 nities, privileges, &c. 
 
 II. A complete Memoir of the Queen 
 and Royal Family, forming a brief 
 genealogical History of the Sovereign of 
 this country, and deducing the descent 
 of the Plantagenets, Tudors, Stuarts, 
 and Guelphs, through their various 
 ramifications. To this section is ap¬ 
 pended a list of those Peers and others 
 who inherit the distinguished honour 
 of Quartering the Royal Arms of 
 Plantagenet. 
 
 III. An Authentic table of Precedence. 
 
 IV. A perfect History of All the 
 Peers and Baronets, with the 
 fullest details of their ancestors and 
 descendants, and particulars respecting 
 every collateral member of each family, 
 and all intermarriages, &c. 
 
 V. The Spiritual Lords. 
 
 VI. Foreign Noblemen, subjects by 
 birth of the British Crown. 
 
 VII. Extinct Peerages, of which 
 descendants still exist. 
 
 VIII. Peerages claimed. 
 
 IX. Surnames of Peers and Peeresses, 
 with Heirs Apparent and Presumptive. 
 
 X. Courtesy titles of Eldest Sons. 
 
 XI. Peerages of the Three Kingdoms 
 in order of Precedence. 
 
 XII. Baronets in order of Precedence. 
 
 XIII. Privy Councillors of England 
 and Ireland. 
 
 XIV. Daughters of Peers married to 
 Commoners. 
 
 XV. All the Orders of Knight¬ 
 hood, with every Knight and all the 
 Knights Bachelors. 
 
 XVI. Mottoes translated, with poeti¬ 
 cal illustrations. 
 
 “ The most complete, the most convenient, and the cheapest work of the kind 
 ever given to the public.”— Sun. 
 
 “ The best genealogical and heraldic dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage, 
 and the first authority on all questions affecting the aristocracy.”— Globe. 
 
 “ For the amazing quantity of personal and family history, admirable arrange¬ 
 ment of details, and accuracy of information, this genealogical and heraldic 
 dictionary is without a rival. It is now the standard and acknowledged book of 
 reference upon all questions touching pedigree, and direct or collateral affinity 
 with the titled aristocracy. The lineage of each distinguished house is deduced 
 through all the various ramifications. Every collateral branch, however remotely 
 connected, is introduced; and the alliances are so carefully inserted, as to show, 
 in all instances, the connexion which so intimately exists between the titled and 
 untitled aristocracy. We have also much most entertaining historical matter, 
 and many very curious and interesting family traditions. The work is, in fact, a 
 complete cyclopaedia of the whole titled classes of the empire, supplying all the 
 information that can possibly be desired on the subject .”—Morning Post. 
 
CHEAP EDITION OF THE 
 
 DIARY AND CORRESPONDENCE OE 
 
 JOHN EVELYN, F.R.S. 
 
 Now completed, with Portraits, in Four Volumes, post octavo (either of 
 which may be had separately'), price 6s. each, handsomely bound, 
 
 COMPRISING ALL THE IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTES, LETTERS, AND OTHER 
 ILLUSTRATIONS LAST MADE. 
 
 “ We rejoice to welcome this beautiful and compact edition of Evelyn. It is 
 intended as a companion to the recent edition of Pepys, and presents similar claims 
 to interest and notice. Evelyn was greatly above the vast majority of his con¬ 
 temporaries, and the Diary which records the incidents in his long life, extending 
 over the greater part of a century, is deservedly esteemed one of the most valuable 
 and interesting books in the language. Evelyn took part in the breaking out of 
 the civil war against Charles L, and he lived to see William of Orange ascend the 
 throne. Through the days of Strafford and Laud, to those of Sancroft and Ken, he 
 was the steady friend of moderation and peace in the English Church. He 
 interceded alike for the royalist and the regicide; he was the correspondent of 
 Cowley, the patron of Jeremy Taylor, the associate and fellow-student of Boyle; 
 and over all the interval between Vandyck and Kneller, between the youth of 
 Milton and the old age of Dryden, poetry and the arts found him an intelligent 
 adviser, and a cordial friend. There are, on the whole, very few men of whom 
 England has more reason to be proud. He stands among the first in the list of 
 Gentlemen. We heartily commend so good an edition of this English classic.”— 
 Examiner. 
 
 “ This work is a necessary companion to the popular histories of our country, 
 to Hume, Hallam, Macaulay, and Lingard.— Sun. 
 
 LIYES OF THE PRINCESSES OF ENGLAND, 
 
 By MBS. EVERETT GREEN, 
 
 EDITOR OF THE “ LETTERS OF ROYAL AND ILLUSTRIOUS LADIES.” 
 
 5 vols., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 10s. 6d. each, bound. 
 
 *** One Volume more will complete the Series. 
 
 “ This work is a worthy companion to Miss Strickland’s admirable 1 Queens 
 of England.’ That celebrated work, although its heroines were, for the most 
 part, foreign Princesses, related almost entirely to the history of this country. 
 The Princesses of England, on the contrary, are themselves English, but their 
 lives are nearly all connected with foreign nations. Their biographies, conse¬ 
 quently, afford us a glimpse of the manners and customs of the chief European 
 kingdoms, a circumstance which not only gives to the work the charm of variety, 
 but which is likely to render it peculiarly useful to the general reader, as it links 
 together by association the contemporaneous history of various nations. We 
 cordially commend Mrs. Green’s production to general attention; it is (neces¬ 
 sarily) as useful as history, and fully as entertaining as romance.”— Sun. 
 
10 INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 SIE B. BURKE’S DICTIONARY OF THE 
 
 EXTINCT, DORMANT, AND ABEYANT PEERAGES 
 
 OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. 
 
 Beautifully printed, in 1 vol. Svo, containing 800 double-column pages, 
 
 21s. bound. 
 
 This work connects, in many instances, the new with the old nobility, and it 
 will in all cases show the cause which has influenced the revival of an extinct 
 dignity in a new creation. It should be particularly noticed, that this new work 
 appertains nearly as much to extant as to extinct persons of distinction; for 
 though dignities pass away, it rarely occurs that whole families do. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY. 
 
 E Genealogical HHcttonarg 
 
 OF THE WHOLE OF THE UNTITLED AEISTOCEACY 
 OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND. 
 
 By SIR BERNARD BURKE. 
 
 A new and improved Edition, in 1 vol., uniform with the “ Peerage.” 
 
 (5aP The Purchasers of the earlier editions of the Dictionary of the Landed 
 Gentry are requested to take notice that 
 
 A COPIOUS INDEX 
 
 has been compiled with great care and at great expense, containing references 
 TO THE NAMES OF EVERT PERSON (upwards of 100,000) MENTIONED IN THE 
 WORK, and may be had bound uniformly with the work: price, 5s. 
 
 ROMANTIC RECORDS OF THE ARISTOCRACY. 
 
 By SIR BERNARD BURKE. 
 
 Second and Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, 21s. bound. 
 
 “ The most curious incidents, the most stirring tales, and the most remarkable 
 circumstances connected with the histories, public and private, of our noble houses 
 and aristocratic families, are here given in a shape which will preserve them 
 in the library, and render them the favourite study of those who are interested 
 in the romance of real life. These stories, with all the reality of established fact, 
 read with as much spirit as the tales of Boccaccio, and are as full of strange 
 matter for reflection and amazement.”— Britannia. 
 
PUBLISHED EOR HENRY COLBURN. H 
 
 MEMOIRS OF HORACE WALPOLE. 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 ELIOT WARBURTON. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, in 2 Yols. 8vo, with Portraits, 16s. bound. 
 
 “ These Memoirs form a necessary addition to the library of every English 
 gentleman. They nearly complete the chain of mixed personal, political, and 
 literary history, commencing with ‘Evelyn’ and 1 Pepys,’ and ending almost in 
 our own day with the histories of Mr. Macaulay and Lord Mahon.”— Standard. 
 
 THE LIFE AND REIGN OF CHARLES I. 
 
 By I. DISRAELI. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. REVISED BY THE AUTHOR, AND EDITED BY 
 HIS SON, THE RT. HON. B. DISRAELI, M.P. 2 vols., 8vo, 28s. bound. 
 
 “ By far the most important work on the important age of Charles I. that 
 modern times have produced .”—Quarterly Review. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF SCIPIO DE RICCI, 
 
 LATE BISHOP OF PISTOIA AND PRATO; 
 
 REFORMER OE CATHOLICISM IN TUSCANY. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, 12s. bound. 
 
 The leading feature of this important work is its application to the great 
 question now at issue between our Protestant and Catholic fellow-subjects. It 
 contains a complete expose of the Romish Church Establishment during the 
 eighteenth century, and of the abuses of the Jesuits throughout the greater 
 part of Europe. Many particulars of the most thrilling kind are brought to 
 light. __ 
 
 II J S T O II I C SCENES. 
 
 By AGNES STRICKLAND. 
 
 Author of “ Lives of the Queens of England,” &c. 1 vol., post 8vo, 
 elegantly bound, with Portrait of the Author, 10s. 6d. 
 
 “ This attractive volume is replete with interest. Like Miss Strickland’s 
 former works, it will be found, we doubt not, in the hands of youthful branches 
 of a family as well as in those of their parents, to all and each of whom it 
 cannot fail to be alike amusing and instructive.”—• Britannia. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF LADY JANE GREY. 
 
 By SIR HARRIS NICOLAS. 1 vol. 8vo, bound, 6s. 
 
INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 12 
 
 MEMOIRS OF PRINCE ALBERT; 
 
 AND THE HOUSE OF SAXONY. 
 
 Second Edition, revised, with Additions, by Authority. 
 
 1 vol., post 8vo, with Portrait, bound, 6s. 
 
 REVELATIONS OF PRINCE TALLEYRAND. 
 
 Second Edition, 1 volume, post 8vo, with Portrait, 10s. 6d. bound. 
 
 “ We have perused this work with extreme interest. It is a portrait of Tal¬ 
 leyrand drawn by his own hand .”—Morning Post. 
 
 “ A more interesting work has not issued from the press for many years. It is 
 in truth a most complete Boswell sketch of the greatest diplomatist of the age.” 
 —Sunday Times. 
 
 MADAME CAMPAN’S MEMOIRS 
 
 OF THE COURT OF MARIE ANTOINETTE. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, 2 vols. 8vo, with Portraits, price 7s. 
 
 “ We have seldom perused so entertaining a work. It is as a mirror of the 
 most splendid Court in Europe, at a time when the monarchy had not been shorn 
 of any of its beams, that it is particularly worthy of attention.”— -Chronicle. 
 
 LIFE AND LETTERS OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 
 
 3 vols., small 8vo, 15s. 
 
 “ A curious and entertaining piece of domestic biography of a most extra¬ 
 ordinary person, under circumstances almost unprecedented .”—New Monthly. 
 
 “ An extremely amusing book, full of anecdotes and traits of character of 
 kings, princes, nobles, generals,” &c .—Morning Journal. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF A HUNGARIAN LADY. 
 
 MADAME PULSZKY. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 2 vols., 12s. bound. 
 
 “ Worthy of a place by the side of the Memoirs of Madame de Stael and 
 Madame Campan.”— Globe. 
 
 MEMOIRS OF A GREEK LADY, 
 
 THE ADOPTED DAUGHTER OF THE LATE 
 QUEEN CAROLINE. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 2 vols., post 8vo, price 12s. bound. 
 
PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 1 3 
 
 Now ready, Part XL, price 5s., of 
 
 M. A. THIERS’ HISTORY OF FRANCE 
 
 UNDER NAPOLEON. 
 
 A SEQUEL TO HIS HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. 
 
 As guardian to the archives of the state, M. Thiers had access to diplomatic 
 papers and other documents ot the highest importance, hitherto known only to a 
 privileged few. From private sources M. Thiers has also derived much valuable 
 informafion. Many interesting memoirs, diaries, and letters, all hitherto unpub¬ 
 lished, and most of them destined for political reasons to remain so, have been 
 placed at his disposal; while all the leading characters of the empire, who were 
 alive when the author undertook the present history, have supplied him with a 
 mass of incidents and anecdotes which have never before appeared in print. 
 
 N.B. Any of the Parts may, for the present, he had separately, at 5s. each; 
 and subscribers are recommended to complete their sets as soon as possible, to 
 prevent disappointment. 
 
 *»* The public are requested to be particular in giving their orders for 
 “ Colburn’s Authorised Translation.” 
 
 RUSSIA UNDER THE AUTOCRAT NICHOLAS I. 
 
 By IVAN GOLOVINE, a Russian Subject. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., with a full-length Portrait of the 
 Emperor, 10s. bound. 
 
 “ These are volumes of an extremely interesting nature, emanating from the 
 pen of a Russian, noble by birth, who has escaped beyond the reach of the Czar’s 
 power. The merits of the work are very considerable. It throws a new light on 
 the state of the empire—its aspect, political and domestic—its manners; the 
 employes about the palace, court, and capital; its police; its spies; its depraved 
 society,” &c .—Sunday Times. 
 
 JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE, 
 
 Comprising the Narrative of a Three Years’ Residence in Japan, with 
 an Account of British Commercial Intercourse with that Country. 
 
 By CAPTAIN GOLOWNIN. 
 
 New and Cheaper Edition. 2 vols. post 8vo, 10s. bound. 
 
 “ No European has been able, from personal observation and experience, to com¬ 
 municate a tenth part of the intelligence furnished by this writer .”—British 
 Review. 
 
 MEMOIRS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF 
 
 SIR ROBERT MURRAY KEITH, K.B., 
 
 Minister Plenipotentiary at the Courts of Dresden , Copenhagen, and Vienna, 
 from 1769 to 1793 ; with Biographical Memoirs of 
 
 QUEEN CAROLINE MATILDA, SISTER OF GEORGE III. 
 
 Cheaper Edition. Two vols., post 8vo, with Portraits, 15s. bound. 
 
14 INTERESTING WORKS 
 
 THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS; 
 
 OR, ROMANCE AND REALITIES OF EASTERN TRAVEL. 
 
 By ELIOT WARBURTON, Esq. 
 
 Cheap Edition, revised, In 1 vol, with numerous Illustrations, 6s. bound. 
 
 “ A book calculated to prove more practically useful was never penned than 
 the ‘ Crescent and the Cross’—a work which surpasses all others in its homage 
 for the sublime and its love for the beautiful in those famous regions consecrated 
 to everlasting immortality in the annals of the prophets—and which no other 
 modem writer has ever depicted with a pencil at once so reverent and so pic¬ 
 turesque.”— Sun. 
 
 LORD LINDSAY’S LETTERS ON THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 Fourth Edition, Revised, 1 vol., post 8vo, with Illustrations, 6s. bound. 
 
 “ Lord Lindsay has felt and recorded what he saw with the wisdom of a philo¬ 
 sopher, and the faith of an enlightened Christian .”—-Quarterly Review . 
 
 NARRATIVE OF A 
 
 TWO YEARS’ RESIDENCE AT NINEVEH; 
 
 With Remarks on the Chaldeans, Nestorians, Yezidees, &c. 
 
 By the Rev. J. P. ELETCHER. 
 
 Cheaper Edition. Two vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound. 
 
 ADYENTHRES IN GEORGIA, CIRCASSIA, AND RUSSIA. 
 
 By Lieutenant-Colonel G. POULETT CAMERON, C.B., K.T.S., &c. 
 
 2 vols., post 8vo, bound, 12s. 
 
 CAPTAINS KING AND FITZROY. 
 
 NARRATIVE OF THE TEN YEARS’ VOYAGE ROUND 
 THE WORLD, 
 
 OF H.M.S. ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, in 2 large vols. 8vo, with Maps, Charts, and upwards 
 of Sixty Illustrations, by Landseer, and other eminents Artists, 
 price 1/. 11s. 6d. bound. 
 
 “ One of the most interesting narratives of voyaging that it has fallen to our 
 lot to notice, and which must always occupy a distinguished space in the history 
 of scientific navigation .”—Quarterly Review. 
 
PUBLISHED FOE HENRY COLBUEN. 15 
 
 THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON’S CAMPAIGN 
 
 IN THE NETHERLANDS IN 1815. 
 
 Comprising the Battles of Ligny, Quatre Bras, and Waterloo. Elustrated by 
 Official Documents. 
 
 By WILLIAM MUDEOED, Esq. 
 
 1 vol., 4to, with Thirty Coloured Plates, Portraits, Maps, Plans, &c., bound, 21s. 
 
 LIGHTS AND SHADES OF MILITARY LIFE. 
 
 Edited by the late Lieutenant-General Sir CHARLES NAPIER, G.C.B., 
 Commander-in-Chief in India, &c. 1 vol., 8vo, 6s. bound. 
 “Narratives of stirring interest, which should be in the hands of every 
 officer in her Majesty’s service.”— Globe. 
 
 STORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR. 
 
 A COMPANION VOLUME TO MR. GLEIG’S 
 
 “STORY OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO.” 
 
 With Sis Portraits and Map, 5s. bound. 
 
 THE NEMESIS IN CHINA; 
 
 COMPRISING A COMPLETE 
 
 HISTORY OF THE WAR IN THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 From Notes of Captain W. H. HALL, E.N. 
 
 1 vol., Plates, 6s. bound. 
 
 “ Capt. Hall’s narrative of the services of the Nemesis is full of interest, and 
 will, we are sure, be valuable hereafter, as affording most curious materials for 
 the history of steam navigation .”—Quarterly Review. 
 
 CAPTAIN CRAWFORD’S NAVAL REMINISCENCES; 
 
 COMPRISING MEMOIRS OP 
 
 ADMIRALS SLR E. OWEN, SIE B. IIALLQWELL CAEEW, 
 AND OTHEE DISTINGUISHED COMMANDEES. 
 
 2 vols., post 8 vo, with Portraits, 12s. bound. 
 
 ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 Being the Memoirs of EDWAED COSTELLO, of the Eifle Brigade, 
 and late Captain in the British Legion. Cheap Edition, with 
 Portrait, 3s. 6 d. bound. 
 
 “ An excellent book of its cbiss. A true and vivid picture of a soldier’s life.”— 
 Athenaeum. 
 
 “ This highly interesting volume is filled with details and anecdotes of the most 
 startling character, and well deserves a place in the library of every regiment 
 in the service .”—Naval and Military Gazette. 
 
16 WORKS PUBLISHED FOR HENRY COLBURN. 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE LIFE OF 
 
 MRS. MARGARET MAITLAND, OF SUNNYSIDE. 
 
 WRITTEN BY HERSELF. 
 
 Third and Cheaper Edition, 1 vol., 6s. bound. 
 
 “ Nothing half so true or so touching in the delineation of Scottish character 
 has appeared since Galt published his ‘ Annals of the Parish,’ and this is purer 
 and deeper than Galt, and even more absolutely and simply true .”—Lord Jeffrey. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, in 3 vols., price 10s. 6d., half-bound, 
 
 FORTUNE: A STORY OF LONDON LIFE. 
 
 By D. T. COULTON, Esq. 
 
 “ A brilliant novel. A more vivid picture of various phases of society has not 
 been painted since ‘ Vivian Grey’ first dazzled and confounded the world; but it 
 is the biting satire of fashionable life, the moral anatomy of high society, which 
 will attract all readers. In every sense of the word, ‘ Fortune’ is an excellent 
 novel.”— Observer. 
 
 “ ‘ Fortune’ is not a romance, hut a novel. All is reality about it: the time, 
 the characters, and the incidents. In its reality consists its charm and its 
 merit. It is, indeed, an extraordinary work, and has introduced to the world 
 of fiction a new writer of singular ability, with a genius more that of Bulwer 
 than any to whom we can compare it.”— Critic. 
 
 ZOOLOGICAL RECREATIONS. 
 
 By W. J. BRODERIP, Esq., F.R.S. 
 
 Cheaper Edition, 1 vol., post 8vo, 6s. bound. 
 
 : “ This work abounds in the most delightful records of animal life. It is just 
 
 j the book we should like to see in the hands of youth; nor could a teacher make 
 j his pupil a more acceptable present.”— Kidd's Journal of Natural History. 
 
 THE HALL AND THE HAMLET. 
 
 By WILLIAM HOWITT. 
 
 Author of “ The Book of the Seasons,” “ Rural Life in England,” &c. 
 Cheaper Edition, 2 vols., post 8vo, 12s. bound. 
 
 “ This work is full of delightful sketches and sweet and enchanting pictures 
 of rural life, and we have no doubt will be read not only at the homestead of the 
 farmer, hut at the mansion of the squire, or the castle of the lord, with gratifica¬ 
 tion and delight .”—Sunday Times. 
 
 PUBLISHED EOE HENRY COLBURN, 
 
 BY HIS SUCCESSORS, HURST & BLACKETT, 
 
 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 / 
 
 
Date Due 
 
 Mr 2 Q 
 
 
 
 
 Mr 3 0 1 
 
 
 
 
 !vir 3i * 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <f>