These Sheikhs Affect All The Pomp Of The Turks;
Surpass Them In Family Pride, And Equal Them In Avarice, Low Intrigue,
And Fanatism.
The governor of the province of Zawye is also a Christian,
of the family of Dhaher.
Instead of descending towards the sea shore, which is the usual route to
Batroun, I preferred continuing in the mountain. At an hour and a
quarter from Amyoun, after having twice passed the Beshiza, or, as it is
also called, the Nahr Aszfour, which runs in a very narrow Wady
descending from the district of Laklouk, we reached the village of
Keftoun, where is a convent. Above it lies the village of Betaboura, and
in its neighbourhood Dar Shemsin and Kferhata. West of Amyoun is the
village of Kfer Hasir [Arabic]. The industry with which these
mountaineers cultivate, upon the narrow terraces formed on the steep
declivity of the mountain, their vines and mulberry trees, with a few
acres of corn, is really admirable. At two hours the village of Kelbata
was on our right; a little farther, to the right, Ras Enhash. [Arabic];
below on the sea shore, at the extremity of a point of land, is a large
village called Amfy [Arabic], and near it the convent Deir Natour. It is
with great difficulty that a horse can travel through these mountains;
the roads are abominable, and the inhabitants always keep them so, in
order to render the invasion of their country more difficult. The
direction of Batroun, from the point where the road begins to descend,
is S.W.b.W.
We descended the mountain called Akabe el Meszabeha, near the Wady
Djaous, which lower down takes the name of Nahr Meszabeha. Two hours and
a half from Amyoun, on the descent, is a fine spring, with a vaulted
covering over it, called Ayn el Khowadja [Arabic]. At the end of three
hours we reached
BATROUN.
[p.178] a narrow valley watered by the last mentioned river, and bounded
on the right hand by Djebel Nourye, which advances towards the sea, and
on the left by another mountain; upon the former stands the village
Hammad, and on the point of it, over the sea, the convent of Mar Elias.
At three hours and a quarter, and where the valley is scarcely ten
minutes in breadth, a castle of modern construction stands upon an
insulated rock; it is called Kalaat Meszabeha [Arabic], its walls are
very slight, but the rock upon which it stands is so steep, that no
beast of burthen can ascend it. This castle was once in possession of
the Metaweli, who frequently attacked the passengers in the valley. Near
it is a bridge over the Wady. At three hours and three quarters, where
the valley opens towards the sea, is the village Kobba [Arabic], at the
foot of the Djebel Nourye, with an ancient tower near it. At the end of
four hours and a quarter we reached Batroun [Arabic], where I slept, in
one of the small Khans which are built by the sea side.
Batroun, the ancient Bostrys, contains at present three or four hundred
houses. Its inhabitants are, for the greater part, Maronites; the rest
are Greeks and Turks. The town and its territory belong to the Emir
Beshir; but it is under the immediate government of two of his
relations, Emir Kadan and Emir Melhem. The principal man in the town is
the Christian Sheikh, of the family of Khodher. The produce of Batroun
consists chiefly in tobacco. There is no harbour, merely an inlet
capable of admitting a couple of coasting boats. The whole coast from
Tripoli to Beirout appears to be formed of sand, accumulated by the
prevailing westerly winds, and hardened into rocks. An artificial
shelter seems to have been anciently formed by excavating the rocks, and
forming a part of them into a wall of moderate thickness for the length
of one hundred paces, and to the height of twelve feet. It was probably
behind this wall that the boats of Bostrys anciently found shelter
DJEBAIL.
[p.179]from the westerly gales. I saw but one boat between the rocks of
Batroun.
March 14th.--Our road lay along the rocky coast. In three quarters of an
hour we came to a bridge, called Djissr Medfoun [Arabic], which crosses
a winter torrent. The territory of Batroun extends to this bridge; its
northern limits begin at the village of Hammad, upon the Djebel Nourye,
which terminates the district of Koura; beyond the bridge of Medfoun is
the village Aabeidat [Arabic] to the left. The mountain reaches quite
down to the sea shore. The direction of our road was S.b.W. At two
hours, upon a hill to the left of the road, called Berdj Reihani
[Arabic], stands a ruined arched building; on the road below it are
three columns of sand stone. Up in the mountain are the Greek villages
of Manszef [Arabic], Berbar [Arabic], Gharsous [Arabic], and Korne
[Arabic]. In three hours and a quarter we passed a Wady, without water,
called Halloue [Arabic]. At every three or four miles on this road small
Khans are met with, where refreshments of bread, cheese, and brandy are
sold. Close to the sea shore are many deep wells, with springs of fresh
water at their bottom. Three hours and a half is Djebail [Arabic], the
ancient Byblus. Above it, in the mountain, is the convent Deir el Benat,
with the village Aamsheit [Arabic]. I passed on the outside of Djebail
without stopping. The town is enclosed by a wall, some parts of which
appear to be of the time of the crusades. Upon a stone in the wall I saw
a rose, with a smaller one on each side. There is a small castle here,
in which the Emir Beshir keeps about forty men. A few years ago Djebail
was the residence of the Christian Abd el Ahad; he and his brother
Djordjos Bas were the head men of the Emir Beshir, and in fact were more
potent than their master.
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