They
Are Well Worth The Attention Of Any Ambassador At The Porte, Whose
Government Is Desirous Of Maintaining An Influence In Syria, For They
Command The Consciences Of Upwards Of Eighty Thousand Souls.
When the French invaded Syria, Nazareth was occupied by six or eight
hundred men, whose advanced posts were at Tabaria and Szaffad.
Two hours
from hence, General Kleber sustained with a corps not exceeding fifteen
hundred men, the attack of the whole Syrian army, amounting to at least
twenty-five thousand. He was posted in the plain of Esdrelon, near the
village of Foule, where he formed his battalion into a square, which
continued fighting from sun-rise to mid-day, until they had expended
almost all their ammunition. Bonaparte, informed of Kleber’s perilous
situation, advanced to his support with six hundred men. No sooner had
he come in sight of the enemy and fired a shot over the plain, than the
Turks, supposing that a large force was advancing, took precipitately to
flight, during which several thousands were killed, and many drowned in
the river Daboury, which then inundated a part of the plain. Bonaparte
dined at Nazareth, the most northern point that he reached in Syria, and
returned the same day to Akka.
[p.340] After the retreat of the French from Akka, Djezzar Pasha
resolved on causing all the Christians in his Pashalik to be massacred,
and had already sent orders to that effect to Jerusalem and Nazareth;
but Sir Sidney Smith being apprized of his intentions reproached him for
his cruelty in the severest terms, and threatened that if a single
Christian head should fall, he would bombard Akka and set it on fire.
Djezzar was thus obliged to send counter orders, but Sir Sidney’s
interference is still remembered with heartfelt gratitude by all the
Christians, who look upon him as their deliverer. “His word,” I have
often heard both Turks and Christians exclaim, “was like God’s word, it
never failed.” The same cannot be said of his antagonist at Akka, who
maliciously impressed the Christians, certainly much inclined in his
favour, with the idea of his speedy return from Egypt. On retreating
from Akka he sent word to his partizans at Szaffad and Nazareth,
exhorting them to bear up resolutely against the Turks but for three
months, when, he assured them upon his honour, and with many oaths, that
he would return with a much stronger force, and deliver them from their
oppressors.
The inhabitants of Nazareth differ somewhat in features and colour from
the northern Syrians; their physiognomy approaches that of the
Egyptians, while their dialect and pronunciation differ widely from
those of Damascus. In western Palestine, especially on the coast, the
inhabitants, seem in general, to bear more resemblance to the natives of
Egypt, than to those of northern Syria. Towards the east of Palestine,
on the contrary, especially in the villages about Nablous, Jerusalem,
and Hebron, they are evidently of the true Syrian stock, in features,
though not in language. It would be an interesting subject for an artist
to pourtray accurately the different character of features of the Syrian
nations; the Aleppine, the Turkman, the native of Mount
[p.341] Libanus, the Damascene, the inhabitant of the sea-coast from
Beirout to Akka, and the Bedouin, although all inhabiting the same
country, have distict national physiognomies, and a slight acquaintance
with them enables one to determine the native district of a Syrian, with
almost as much certainty as an Englishman may be distinguished at first
sight from an Italian or an inhabitant of the south of France.
The Christians of Nazareth enjoy great liberty. The fathers go a
shooting alone in their monastic habits to several hours distance from
the convent, without ever being insulted by the Turks. I was told that
about thirty years ago the padre guardiano of the convent was also
Sheikh or chief justice of the town, an office for which he paid a
certain yearly sum to the Pasha of Akka; the police of the place was
consequently in his hands, and when any disturbance happened, the
reverend father used to take his stick, repair to the spot, and lay
about him freely, no matter whether upon Turks or Christians. The
guardian has still much influence in the town, because he is supposed,
as usual, to be on good terms with the Pasha, but at present the chief
man at Nazareth is M. Catafago, a merchant of Frank origin, born at
Aleppo. He has rented from the Pasha about twelve villages situated in
the neighbourhood of Nazareth and the plain of Esdrelon, for which he
pays yearly upwards of £3000.[The villages in the Pashalik of Akka are
all of the description which the Turkish law calls Melk. They are all
assessed at certain yearly sums, which each is obliged to pay, whatever
may be the number of its inhabitants. This is one of the chief causes of
the depopulation of many parts of Syria.] His profits are very
considerable, and as he meddles much in the politics and intrigues of
the country, he has become a person of great consequence. His influence
and recommendations may prove very useful to travellers in Palestine,
especially to those who visit the dangerous districts of Nablous.
NABLOUS
[p.342] It happened luckily during my stay at Nazareth, that two petty
merchants arrived there from Szalt, to take up some merchandize which
they sell at Szalt on account of their principals at this place. Szalt
was precisely the point I wished to reach, not having been able to visit
it during my late tour in the mountains of Moerad; on their return
therefore I gladly joined their little carayan, and we left Nazareth at
midnight, on the 1st of July.
July 2d.—Our road lay over a mountainous country. In two hours from
Nazareth we passed a small rivulet. Two hours and a half, the village
Denouny (Arabic), and near it the ruins of Endor, where the witch’s
grotto is shewn.
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