I Had Reason To Congratulate Myself On The Determination, For
If I Had Staid A Day Longer, I Should Have Been Compelled To Await My
Recovery At Some Village On The Road.
Add to this, I had only the value
of four shillings left, after paying my guide:
This alone, however,
should not have prevented me from proceeding, as I knew that two days
were sufficient to enable me to gratify my curiosity, and a guide would
have thought himself well paid at two shillings a day; as to the other
expenses, travelling in the manner of the country people rendered money
quite unnecessary.
There are two roads from Banias to Damascus: the one lies through the
villages of Koneitza and Sasa; the other is more northly; I took the
latter, though the former is most frequented, being the route followed
by all the pilgrims from Damascus and Aleppo to Jerusalem; but it is
less secure for a small caravan, owing to the incursions of the Arabs.
The country which I had visited to the westward is perfectly secure to
the stranger: I might have safely travelled it alone unarmed, and
without a guide. The route through the district of the Houle and Banias,
and from thence to Damascus, on the contrary, is very dangerous: the
Arabs as well as the Felahs, are often known to attack unprotected
strangers, and
DJOUBETA.
[p.44]a small body of men was stripped at Koneitza during my stay at
Banias.
As soon as I declared my wish to return to Damascus, I was advised by
several people present to take a guard of armed men with me, but knowing
that this was merely a pretext to extort money without at all ensuring
my safety, I declined the proposal, and said I should wait for a Kaffle.
It fortunately happened that the Sheikh of the village had business at
Damascus, and we were glad of each other's company. We set out in the
afternoon, accompanied by the Sheikh's servant. The direction of the
route is E.b.S. up the mountain of the Heish, behind the castle of
Banias. We passed several huts of Felahs, who live here the whole
summer, and retire in winter to their villages. They make cheese for the
Damascus market. At the end of an hour and a half we came to Ain el
Hazouri, a spring, with the tomb of Sheikh Othman el Hazouri just over
it; to the north of it one hour are the ruins of a city called Hazouri.
The mountain here is overgrown with oaks, but contains good pasturage; I
was told that in the Wady Kastebe, near the castle, there are oak trees
more than sixty feet high. One hour more brought us to the village of
Djoubeta, where we remained during the night at the house of some
friends of the Sheikh of Banias. This village belongs to Hasbeya; it is
inhabited by about fifty Turkish and ten Greek families; they subsist
chiefly by the cultivation of olives, and by the rearing of cattle. I
was well treated at the house where we alighted, and also at that of the
Sheikh of the village, where I went to drink a cup of coffee. It being
Ramadan, we passed the greater part of the night in conversation and
smoking; the company grew merry, and knowing that I was curious about
ruined places, began to enumerate all the villages and ruins in
MEDJEL.
[p.45]the neighbourhood, of which I subjoin the names.[The ruins of
Dara, Bokatha, Bassisa, Alouba, Afkerdouva, Hauratha (this was described
as being of great extent, with many walls and arches still remaining,)
Enzouby, Hauarit, Kleile, Emteile, Mesherefe, Zar, Katloube in the Wady
Asal, Kseire, Kafoua, Beit el Berek. The villages of Kfershouba, Maonyre
in the district Kereimat, Ain el Kikan, Mezahlak, Merj el Rahel, Sheba,
Zeneble, Zor or Afid, Merdj Zaa. In the Houle, Amerie, Nebi Djahutha,
Sheheil.] The neighbouring mountains of the Heish abound in tigers
([Arabic] nimoura); their skins are much esteemed by the Arab Sheikhs as
saddle cloths. There are also bears, wolves, and stags; the wild boar is
met with in all the mountains which I visited in my tour.
October 16th.--The friends of the Sheikh of Banias having dissuaded him
from proceeding, on account of the dangers of the road, his servant and
myself set out early in the morning. In three quarters of an hour we
reached the village of Medjel, inhabited by Druses, with four or five
Christian families. The Druses who inhahit the country near Damascus are
very punctual in observing the rites of the Mohammedan religion, and
fast, or at least pretend to do so, during the Ramadan. In their own
country, some profess Christianity, others Mohammedism. The chief, the
Emir Beshir, keeps a Latin confessor in his house; yet all of them, when
they visit Damascus, go to the mosque. Medjel is situated on a small
plain high up in the mountain; half an hour further on is a spring; and
at one hour and a quarter beyond, is a spacious plain. The mountain here
is in most places capable of cultivation. In one hour more we reached
the top. The oak tree is very frequent here as well as the bear's plum
[Arabic] (Khoukh eddeb), the berries of which afford a very refreshing
nourishment to the traveller. The rock is partly calcareous, and partly
of a porous tufa, but softer than that which I saw in the Houle. At one
hour and a quarter farther is the Beit el Djanne (the House of
Paradise), in a narrow Wady, at a
REITIMA.
[p.46]spot where the valley widens a little. On its western side are
several sepulchral caves hewn in the chalky rock. Another quarter of an
hour brought us to the Ain Beit el Djanne, a copious spring, with a mill
near it; and from thence, in half an hour, we reached the plain on the
eastern side of the mountain.
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