It Happened That I Was Rather Unwell At This Time, So That I Named
A More Distant Day For My Visit Than I Should Otherwise Have Done,
And After All, I Did Not Start At The Time Fixed.
Whilst still
remaining at Beyrout I received this letter, which certainly
betrays no symptom of the pretensions to divine power which were
popularly attributed to the writer:-
"SIR, - I hope I shall be disappointed in seeing you on Wednesday,
for the late rains have rendered the river Damoor if not dangerous,
at least very unpleasant to pass for a person who has been lately
indisposed, for if the animal swims, you would be immerged in the
waters. The weather will probably change after the 21st of the
moon, and after a couple of days the roads and the river will be
passable, therefore I shall expect you either Saturday or Monday.
"It will be a great satisfaction to me to have an opportunity of
inquiring after your mother, who was a sweet, lovely girl when I
knew her.
"Believe me, sir,
"Yours sincerely,
"HESTER LUCY STANHOPE."
Early one morning I started from Beyrout. There are no regularly
established relays of horses in Syria, at least not in the line
which I took, and you therefore hire your cattle for the whole
journey, or at all events, for your journey to some large town.
Under these circumstances you have no occasion for a Tatar (whose
principal utility consists in his power to compel the supply of
horses). In other respects, the mode of travelling through Syria
differs very little from that which I have described as prevailing
in Turkey. I hired my horses and mules (for I had some of both)
for the whole of the journey from Beyrout to Jerusalem. The owner
of the beasts (who had a couple of fellows under him) was the most
dignified member of my party; he was, indeed, a magnificent old
man, and was called Shereef, or "holy" - a title of honour which,
with the privilege of wearing the green turban, he well deserved,
not only from the blood of the Prophet that flowed in his veins,
but from the well-known sanctity of his life and the length of his
blessed beard.
Mysseri, of course, still travelled with me, but the Arabic was not
one of the seven languages which he spoke so perfectly, and I was
therefore obliged to hire another interpreter. I had no difficulty
in finding a proper man for the purpose - one Demetrius, or, as he
was always called, Dthemetri, a native of Zante, who had been
tossed about by fortune in all directions. He spoke the Arabic
very well, and communicated with me in Italian. The man was a very
zealous member of the Greek Church. He had been a tailor. He was
as ugly as the devil, having a thoroughly Tatar countenance, which
expressed the agony of his body or mind, as the case might be, in
the most ludicrous manner imaginable. He embellished the natural
caricature of his person by suspending about his neck and shoulders
and waist quantities of little bundles and parcels, which he
thought too valuable to be entrusted to the jerking of pack-
saddles. The mule that fell to his lot on this journey every now
and then, forgetting that his rider was a saint, and remembering
that he was a tailor, took a quiet roll upon the ground, and
stretched his limbs calmly and lazily, like a good man awaiting a
sermon. Dthemetri never got seriously hurt, but the subversion and
dislocation of his bundles made him for the moment a sad spectacle
of ruin, and when he regained his legs, his wrath with the mule
became very amusing. He always addressed the beast in language
which implied that he, as a Christian and saint, had been
personally insulted and oppressed by a Mahometan mule. Dthemetri,
however, on the whole, proved to be a most able and capital
servant. I suspected him of now and then leading me out of my way
in order that he might have the opportunity of visiting the shrine
of a saint, and on one occasion, as you will see by-and-by, he was
induced by religious motives to commit a gross breach of duty; but
putting these pious faults out of the question (and they were
faults of the right side), he was always faithful and true to me.
I left Saide (the Sidon of ancient times) on my right, and about an
hour, I think, before sunset began to ascend one of the many low
hills of Lebanon. On the summit before me was a broad, grey mass
of irregular building, which from its position, as well as from the
gloomy blankness of its walls, gave the idea of a neglected
fortress. It had, in fact, been a convent of great size, and like
most of the religious houses in this part of the world, had been
made strong enough for opposing an inert resistance to any mere
casual band of assailants who might be unprovided with regular
means of attack: this was the dwelling-place of the Chatham's
fiery granddaughter.
The aspect of the first court which I entered was such as to keep
one in the idea of having to do with a fortress rather than a mere
peaceable dwelling-place. A number of fierce-looking and ill-clad
Albanian soldiers were hanging about the place, and striving to
bear the curse of tranquillity as well as they could: two or three
of them, I think, were smoking their tchibouques, but the rest of
them were lying torpidly upon the flat stones, like the bodies of
departed brigands. I rode on to an inner part of the building, and
at last, quitting my horses, was conducted through a doorway that
led me at once from an open court into an apartment on the ground
floor. As I entered, an Oriental figure in male costume approached
me from the farther end of the room with many and profound bows,
but the growing shades of evening prevented me from distinguishing
the features of the personage who was receiving me with this solemn
welcome.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 23 of 87
Words from 22941 to 23978
of 89094