CHAPTER XXIV.
Sunrise on the plain of Damascus. Mountain Mosque. Superstition of the natives of Damascus. Mountain course of the Barrady. Tomb of Abel. Fountain of Rosalyn. Toils of travel. Comforts on the road to Pompeii. Ruins of Balbec. The great Temple and its courts. Stones of prodigious size. A gem in Architecture. The circular Temple. Gleanings with regard to their history. Pasha of Balbec. Marshal Bourmont. Cedars of Lebanon. Town of Zahle. Night in our tents on Lebanon. Attack by the natives. Return to the ship.
Early dawn on the 6th of September found us prepared for our journey. We took an early breakfast, and then, accompanied by our kind host and his lady, began to wind up the steep ascents that lie just back of his house. The scene was strikingly oriental. Two negro lads, attendants of Mr. Farran, dressed in the gay and fanciful costume of this region, and mounted on spirited animals, were amusing themselves with making their horses fly at full speed up the precipices, and with darting to and fro across our path. The air was perfumed with the odors of the orange and jessamine: the gardens had been steeped in dew, and seemed to welcome the god of day, which now rising on the edge of the boundless plain, filled it all with glory, and hung the mountain sides with splendid purple and roseate hues.
At the summit of the eminence, we passed a little out of our way, to examine a religious edifice of the Moslems, erected, I think, on the spot where Mahomet is said to have alighted to take once more a look at Damascus, while on his way to heaven. In the estimation of Mahommedans, Mecca is first in sanctity: next is Jerusalem; and next is Damascus, which they call the Prophet’s Heel: the plain adjoining this city is the rendezvous for the great northern caravan of pilgrims for Mecca, and in the gains which the citizens draw from this source, together with the fresh and ardent zeal which the pilgrims bring with them and diffuse around, we may find the cause of the proverbial fanaticism of this city.
I saw a curious specimen of their superstitions the second day of our visit, while I was traversing one of the principal bazaars. The street had been well filled, but it suddenly became thronged; and turning to see the cause of this, I found a party of them leading a horse, on which was seated a young man, without any clothing, looking around him with a wild and vacant stare. He was an idiot, and was regarded by them as a saint; and they were leading him about to receive the homage of the people. As he passed slowly along, all treated him with, the highest respect.
At the Mountain Mosque we took leave of Mr. and Mrs. Farran, with many sincere thanks for their kindness; and then set ourselves adrift once more on the broad range of Anti-Libanus: the relative of our Armenian host, however, still keeping us company and acting as a guide. Our road was considerably to the northward of the one by which we had come to Damascus; and followed up the course of the Barraday, which here, far down in a narrow glen, was spluttering impatiently among the rocks. At intervals the precipices receded from its banks, and left a level spot, which was always occupied by cottages and trees. This route across the mountain was, indeed, in fertility and beauty, the very reverse of the one by which we had come; and our ride was far more pleasant than we had anticipated. At the distance of five or six miles from Damascus we came to the green valley which had attracted our attention a few days before, and we found here a large village quite imbedded in verdure. By noon the river had lost three fourths of its magnitude; but it still kept up a streak of verdure and of profitable cultivation amid the mountain solitudes.
The route which we were following no doubt passes over the ground occupied by the ancient highway from Damascus to Balbec, and must have been once much travelled. We passed, about noon, along the sides of a romantic and deep ravine, where the road had been cut with great labour among the rocks of calcareous tufa; and here we had for our contemplation and antiquarian speculations an ancient aqueduct, carried among and sometimes through the precipitous rocks. In the face of the opposing cliffs were a great many openings to artificial subterranean chambers, probably in old times the dwellings of anchorites, to whose taste the wild and desolate grandeur of the place must have been well adapted. After passing several villages during the day, we came, after dark, to another at the side of a large and beautiful fountain; and here, amid the barking of dogs and the jabbering of the wondering natives, we stopped and pitched our tents under some venerable looking olive trees. The reader may form some idea of the security which we felt in these exposed encampments, when I mention that we never set a guard, or took any particular precaution with regard to our baggage; nor was a single article ever stolen.