It would be inexcusable in me to omit mentioning honey, an article still to be obtained in abundance, and which deserves notice for its delicious flavour. Bees are kept in various parts of the country. Milk can generally be obtained without much difficulty, although it may be said of it, as of honey, that the land does not literally "flow" with it. The Arabs, I think, do not often use milk in a fresh state: they convert it into an article called lebban, not unlike bonny-clabber, and eat it with rice, bread, &c. Some cheese is made, but of an inferior kind; it is generally white, and made in small pieces. A considerable quantity is imported from Cyprus. The process of churning in skins I have before alluded to; most of the butter thus produced is boiled, and thereby converted into more of an oily substance. It is much used in cooking, but the Arabs do not spread it upon their bread, as is our custom. In the spring, the produce of the churn can be procured in Jerusalem and its vicinity without having been boiled; this, by picking out the hairs, washing thoroughly, and salting, can be made very palatable.
The Irish potato, as it is usually called, is grown about Tripoli, and succeeds well. It is of a good size, dry, and of a good flavour. The sweet potato is not known in this country; this is much to be regretted, as there is reason to believe that the soil and climate would suit it, and it would be a most valuable addition to the vegetables already cultivated. I hope that some one will make an effort to introduce it. The principal vegetables are the cabbage, cauliflower, onion, cucumber, lettuce, and radish, which are all of an excellent quality; the coosa, a small kind of squash; beans of an inferior kind; bammey, a mucilaginous pod, which, when cooked with butter and the juice of a lemon or pomegranate, forms a very pleasant article; addice, a kind of bean much used in a dried state; turnips of a diminutive size and an inferior quality; bateinjan, a kind of egg-plant much esteemed by the natives; beets of a superior kind, and tomatoes of a rich and fine flavour. The first notice that I ever met with of the sugar-cane was in the account of the crusaders, who found it on this coast, and it is here yet. Below Sidon, there are places where it is cultivated, but not for making sugar. When ripe, it is cut and brought from time to time into the towns, and sold in the stalk. The people buy it and chew the stalk; children especially are fond of it. Boat-loads of it are brought up to Beyroot, and sold in the market. Much of the sugar used here comes from France, and is the fine loaf-sugar made from the beet, and is sold cheap; brown sugar, the product of the West Indies, may be occasionally procured. The flour which is used here comes in part from Damascus, but more from the plain that lies between the Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon. Some of the wheat is grown on the mountains, and a good deal comes from about Acre, and from some other quarters. Much of the flour, however, is ground in the neighbourhood, and the bran separated from the flour with a common sieve. I know not that there is such a thing as a bolting-cloth in the whole country. Meal made of Indian corn is usually found in the market at Beyroot, and is called smeed. It is much used in the Frank families, not, however, in the form of bread, but in that of hasty-pudding, here called smeed. Very good French flour may at times be had, and sometimes wheat is brought from Constantinople, raised probably about the Black Sea. Rice forms a considerable article of diet, and is brought from Egypt.
The principal meat used is mutton, which is certainly the best I have ever eaten. The beef is poor, and is not much prized by the natives; and pork is an abomination to most of the people in this land. I have seen a few swine, but am told they are kept by foreigners. The chickens are mostly small, and not much encumbered with fat. Geese and turkeys are exceedingly rare. Great quantities of sparrows are found in the towns, and they sometimes visit the houses, and build about them to such a degree as to become an annoyance. The singing of birds is not often heard in Palestine; there are a few species of birds with a gaudy plumage, but their notes are not melodious. The sweet, plaintive note of the nightingale is sometimes heard, but oftener the harsh cawing of the crow. But few wild animals are now found in the country, excepting the jackals, immense numbers of which are found in this vicinity. They are gregarious, and a most noisy animal. They are like a small dog, with short, upright ears, and a short tail; all that I have seen were of a light-brown colour. We often hear them in the gardens and near our houses.
The natives have a taste for flowers; the females cultivate a variety in pots, and are fond of ornamenting their turbans with them. They are generally decked with a profusion of them on their bridal days. They also place them about and upon the dead bodies of their friends, as mementos of affection. It is a common saying, that, in making their visits, they never go empty-handed. At such times, it is not uncommon for them to take from their pockets, an appendage with which each person seems to be furnished, either an orange, a sweet lemon, a few nuts, a piece of sugar-cane, or something of the kind, and present the person visited. At other times, they will bring you a beautiful nosegay of rosebuds, carnation pinks, geraniums, jessamines, &c., which they arrange and tie together very tastefully. A rich profusion of wild flowers are found in the spring.
It is amusing to one not accustomed to the sight, to observe how partial the people are to a sitting posture. You may see the blacksmith sitting and hammering his iron; the carpenter sitting and hewing his wood, or planing his plank; the merchant sitting and selling his goods; and the women sitting and washing their clothes,—not sitting on chairs, or on benches, but á-la-turque, with their feet folded under them.
Having remained in Palestine as long, and even longer than I originally intended, I was about preparing to leave this place for Egypt, when Mr. W. M. Thomson, one of the missionaries, called on me as a committee, in behalf of the station. He informed me that he had held a consultation with Mr. Hebard about carrying on the mission work, and had come to the conclusion that part of it must be suspended for the present, unless I remained to assist them. They had little expectation that Mr. Bird, then in America, from the peculiar circumstances of his family, would be able to return; that Mr. Smith, then in Smyrna, would probably visit the United States before his return to Beyroot, and could not be expected back under a year or two; that he himself had just begun to preach in Arabic, and that the labour of preparing for it, superintending the press, with other necessary calls, gave him full employment; that Mr. Hebard had the High School to superintend, and wished much to give a course of lectures on natural science, which the opposition now made to the school made it very important he should do; but that he could not do this, and keep up the English preaching, which many circumstances rendered it important should not be suspended; and in this state of things, they laid the case before me, to see if I would not remain and assist them. I considered the case as a strong one; and after looking at the whole matter, I have concluded that I will remain for a time. I may, therefore, write you again from this place.
[LETTER XVIII.]
Beyroot, May 29th, 1837.
On the first day of the new year, (the orientals follow the old style, which is twelve days later,) about four o'clock P.M., while we were assembled at the Mission-house, and engaged in celebrating the Lord's Supper, there was a very severe earthquake; at first a sudden shock, then a momentary pause, then a rocking motion, so that the arms of nearly every person were involuntarily extended to preserve their balance. It was preceded by a dull murmuring sound. The sound and motion seemed to proceed from the north. There had been for several days a haziness of the atmosphere which is unusual; no rain had fallen since the first of December, and the ground had become dry for this season of the year. The haziness increased considerably about the time of the first shock, and part of the sky was covered with a fleecy cloud, in some places of a dark appearance. This was very unusual in the region. There were several slight shocks during the night. It did not do much injury in Beyroot, excepting cracking some of the houses; but Safet, Tiberias, and many other villages were almost entirely destroyed, and many lives lost. A meeting of the Franks was held, to see what could be done for these suffering villages; a collection was made, and Messrs. Thomson and Calman appointed as a committee to visit and aid them. I would gladly have accompanied them, and made observations for myself, but the circumstances of the mission rendered it inexpedient for Mr. T. and myself to be absent at the same time. Slight shocks of earthquakes were frequent for ten or twelve days, and the people were much alarmed. Many have feared to sleep in their houses. A Jew at Damascus prophesied that the whole coast from Sidon to Antioch would be destroyed. The governor, believing, very properly, that he was an impostor, had him confined, and threatened to punish him if his predictions were not fulfilled. Most of the Jews left their houses, and encamped without the city.