On the following day Mr. B. and myself, accompanied by one of the Mamelukes, set off early to announce Lady Hester’s approach to Mr. Catafago, to whose house, as we have mentioned above, she had been invited. Her ladyship and the luggage were to follow us later. We traversed the town of Häyfa, and, going out at the eastern gate, crossed a Turkish burying-ground: then, following the sands of the seashore, we pursued an E. and by N. and then a Northerly direction. In about an hour we came to a river, which we forded. It is called in Arabic Mkutta (the Kishon[46] of the Bible); in the summer an inconsiderable stream, but in the winter a dangerous torrent, as is the case with most of the rivers of Syria. To the right of us were sand hillocks which obstructed the view, and prevented us from observing the face of the country in the interior, but which, we were informed, consisted of fertile plains. The mountains seemed to be four or five leagues off.
We had not proceeded a great way farther when we met two young gentlemen mounted on beautiful Arabian mares and followed by a groom, who made themselves known to us as the son[47] and nephew of Mr. Catafago, come to meet us. As they were lively boys and good riders, they continually exhibited their skill, in the Eastern way, by starting forth from the party on a sudden at a full gallop, and then by pulling up as suddenly. From the violence of this exercise, their horses’ mouths were besmeared with a mixture of blood and foam, whilst their sides were gashed with the cuts of the stirrups. This seemingly cruel practice is common, and passes unnoticed.
We soon beheld the palm-trees of Acre, rising above the walls. A quarter of an hour before reaching Acre, we forded a second river, called in Arabic El Naâmány,[48] whose source is from a lake some miles inland, called in d’Anville’s map Cenderia Palus. Our direction had been N. W.; and, after fording the river, became W. A burying-ground, with its white grave-stones, was, as is usual, the first thing we encountered in the suburbs; then skeletons of horses and asses and camels, whose carcases had been dragged a small distance from the town to be devoured by the dogs.[49] These animals would not let us pass peaceably, as if apprehensive that we should rob them of their carrion. The road seemed much frequented, as loaded camels and asses in numbers were going out and in; which appearance of bustle was afterwards accounted for by the circumstance that Acre has but one gate. We entered it before noon. Many well dressed Turks, seated under the gateway, demonstrated the presence of a Pasha. About two hundred yards farther on we passed through a second gateway; and, entering into some narrow and badly paved streets, where our heads were every moment in danger of striking against the frames of the matting, which is suspended over the shops for the sake of shade, we arrived at a quadrangular court, in which was Mr. Catafago’s house, considered, as we afterwards learned, one of the best in Acre.
The friendly and hospitable reception which that gentleman and his lady gave us was highly pleasing. When Lady Hester arrived in the evening, it was repeated to her with increased warmth, and was succeeded by offers of service, which, however dependent on received usages of civility and good breeding, set the courteousness of the Syrian Christians in a most favourable light.
CHAPTER XII.
Increased illness of Yusef—Servants leave—Visit to Mâlem Haym, minister of the pasha—His history—Description of Acre—Visit to the pasha—Hospitality of M. Catafago—Disposal of time—Excursion to Nazareth—Franciscan convent—Residence and family of M. Catafago—Villages and lands farmed out by him—The Convent library—Arrival of Shaykh Ibrahim (Burckhardt), the celebrated traveller—Visit to the plain of Esdraëlon—Fûly—Battle of Fûly—Departure of Shaykh Ibrahim for Egypt—Excursion to Segery—Visit to the Shaykh—Bargain for a horse—Accident to Lady Hester.
It was on the 15th of June that we reached St. Jean d’Acre, after having been nine days on the road. We sat down to dinner in a large saloon, and after a cheerful evening retired to our chambers. The following day was given up to rest and domestic arrangements. The two Egyptian sayses, or grooms, who had walked by the side of the horses every day through the whole journey, were, beside their wages, rewarded with a present. Yusef, the sick man, received one hundred piasters for his trouble, and the tent-man and janissary were also recompensed, after their wages were paid, in proportion to their services. Yusef was put to bed in the house of his sister, wife of one of the clerks of the public secretary; and the fatigue which he had undergone brought on such an increase of his fever that, on the next day, he was in a strong delirium.
It is the custom in the Levant, whenever a person is ill, and more especially when it is thought he will die, for all those who are relations or acquaintances of the family to visit him, and offer their condolence on the occasion. Accordingly, Yusef’s room was crowded; and, as I judged his case to be dangerous, and apprehended that the presence of so many people would disorder his brain still more, I resolved to break through so troublesome a custom, and to exclude every one but the necessary attendants. This was done forthwith; and, placing a servant at the chamber-door, where he remained sentry, I gave orders to admit nobody.
No sooner had our Cypriote servants gratified their curiosity at Jerusalem, than they had sought excuses to quit, and would have left us even at Ramlah to shift as we could in a country where it is not easy to supply one’s wants immediately, had it not been resolutely insisted on that they should remain as far as St. Jean d’Acre. We were now there, and one of the very first things done was to dismiss them. This was one of many other examples, showing how little reliance can be placed on the servants of the country, who know not what fidelity or attachment to Europeans is, whom they serve for gain only, and quit for convenience.[50]
Lady Hester on the second day signified her intention of paying a visit to the rich Jew, Mâlem Haym Shâady,[51] the banker and the minister of the pasha, and the same evening was fixed on for their meeting. We went after dinner, and were received at the street entrance by Mâlem Haym himself, a man without a nose, with one eye, and with one ear, who conducted us into a small room with a raised divàn at one end, and on either side chairs, in the European fashion. Mr. Catafago acted as interpreter, and, with the nephew of the minister, named Solomon, was the only person present besides ourselves. The conversation was lively, and probably laid the ground for that friendly correspondence which afterwards existed between Lady Hester and Mâlem Haym until his death. This man’s history has something too curious to be passed over in silence.