I No Sooner Entered The
North Gate Of The Town, Where Is The Quarter Of The Christians, Than I
Was
Surrounded by several of these hospitable people, who took hold of
the bridle of my horse, every one insisting upon
My repairing to his
dwelling; I followed one, and the whole neighbourhood was soon
assembled, to partake of the sheep that was slaughtered in honour of my
arrival; still no one had asked me who I was, or whither I was going.
After some conversation with the priest, I thought it expedient to pay a
visit of ceremony to the Sheikh, in order to deliver my letter; I soon
however had reason to repent: he received me very politely; but when he
heard of my intention of proceeding southward, he told me that he could
not allow of my going forward with one guide only, and that as he was
preparing to visit the southern districts himself, in a few days, I
should wait for him or his people to conduct me. His secretary then
informed me, that it was expected I should make some present to the
Sheikh, and pay him, besides, the sum which I must have given for a
guide. The present I flatly refused to make, saying that it was rather
the Sheikh’s duty to make a present to the guest recommended to him by
such a person as my Damascene friend was. With respect to the second
demand, I answered that I had no more money with me than was absolutely
necessary for my journey. Our negotiations on this point lasted for
several days; when seeing that I could obtain no guide without an order
from the Sheikh, I at last agreed to pay fifteen piastres for his
company as far as Djebel Sherah. If I had shewn a disposition to pay
this sum immediately, every body would have thought that I had plenty of
money, and more considerable sums would have been extorted; in every
part of Turkey it is a prudent rule not
[p.379] to grant the Turks their demands immediately, because they soon
return to the charge. Had I not shewn my letter to the Sheikh, I should
have procured a guide with little trouble, I should have had it in my
power to see the borders of the Dead sea, and should have been enabled
to depart sooner; but having once made my agreement with him, I was
obliged to wait for his departure, which was put off from day to day,
and thus I was prevented from going to any distance from the town, from
the fear of being left behind. I remained therefore at Kerek for twenty
successive days, changing my lodgings almost every day, in order to
comply with the pressing invitations of its hospitable inhabitants.
The town of Kerek (Arabic), a common name in Syria, is built upon the
top of a steep hill, surrounded on all sides by a deep and narrow
valley, the mountains beyond which command the town.
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