Mr. Catafago, who knew what slender accommodation Fûly afforded, had ordered a tent to be brought with us, which was immediately pitched. Coffee was made; the chief peasantry soon collected; and, whilst Mr. Catafago was arranging his farming concerns with some of them, we listened to the history of the battle of Fûly, given us by several of the natives who had witnessed it, and whose story, where not quite true, was corrected by Joseph and Selim, the latter having accompanied General Buonaparte’s army on that expedition.
It will be recollected that Buonaparte, having made himself master of Egypt, invaded Syria. A rapid march brought him, by uninterrupted successes, under the walls of Acre, to which he laid siege, and was vigorously opposed by the Turkish garrison, assisted by Sir W. Sydney Smith, who threw reinforcements into the place, and continually found means of annoying the French from the sea. Upon the alarm which pervaded Syria at Buonaparte’s progress, a body of troops had been raised at Damascus, from different corps, principally of cavalry, collected from all the garrison towns of that country. This army, consisting of ten thousand men, was defeated at the village of Fûly by General Junot with a corps of only six thousand.
Some anecdotes were related of the French which are too trifling to be introduced here. The following, however, is illustrative of the character of Junot, who commanded the division at Nazareth. A French officer, mortally wounded, expressed a desire to confess, and sent for a priest from the monastery. A certain Père Hilarion went to him: he administered his ghostly consolation, and the officer breathed his last. On the following morning Junot heard of this. He went over to the monastery, called for Père Hilarion, and, seizing him by the beard, swore, with a tremendous oath, that he would cut his throat for having dared to introduce priestcraft among his soldiers, in order to make cowards of them. Having frightened him greatly, he let him go; but afterwards, wherever he met him, he drew his sabre and pretended to sharpen it, as if going to put his threats into execution.
After spending a delightful day, we mounted to return home, and lengthened the way by a circuitous route through another of Mr. Catafago’s villages. We arrived late at Nazareth. It was at this time that Mr. Pearce, whom we left at Jaffa ill, joined our party again. He had been to Jerusalem, and had passed through the district and burgh of Nablûs (the ancient Samaria) to Nazareth. This addition to the party, which was now numerous, rendered the stay there very agreeable.
After two or three days, Shaykh Ibrahim took his departure for Egypt, to which country he intended to make his way at the back of the Dead Sea, which design he afterwards executed, and crossed the desert el Ty to Cairo. Mr. Pearce likewise left us, and directed his steps to another part of the country.
We had regretted much not having purchased horses in or about Jerusalem. Nazareth, however, and its environs, boast a very fine race of what in England would be called half-bred. It happened that a Jew, on his way from Acre to Suffad, passed a night at Nazareth, and, hearing of my wish to buy a horse, invited me to accompany him as far as Segery, a village halfway from Nazareth to Tabariah, where he assured me I should easily suit myself.
The first village we saw proved to be Cana. A spring, or conduit, attracted my attention, and recalled the miracle that has rendered the name of Cana sacred. Arrived at Segery, I was taken to the house of the bailiff, or shaykh of the village, who was known to have a young horse for sale. The shaykh, as it happened, was ill in bed. He entertained us with coffee and pipes; and, having touched slightly on the merits of his colt, which was led out for me to look at, he talked at large of his malady, and earnestly solicited my advice respecting it. He had already discovered that I was eager to purchase, and he now perceived that the colt had met my fancy. He asked me, with a seeming air of friendly consideration, a price, which, by the kind interference of the Jew, whose regard for me would not allow me to be imposed upon, was diminished to one half, and I was pleased to think what an excellent bargain I had made. The Jew pursued his journey, and I bent my way back, with my new purchase ridden by the shaykh’s servant, who was commissioned to receive the money. I had read much of the pedigrees of Arab horses, and the shaykh (who saw my foible) supplied me with one sufficiently long to gratify my utmost ambition.
On my arrival at Nazareth, I went to the cadi, and stated to him the nature of the purchase I had made, with my desire that his name should be affixed to the pedigree, together with the seals of two witnesses, as the proof of its authenticity. He read the pedigree, put his name to it, and, instead of two, procured the signature of five witnesses. The servant received the money (£13), and I thought I had made a bargain at once advantageous and complete in every single circumstance. At this distance of time, I laugh to think how much I was duped in the whole proceeding; for, putting out of the question the price which I paid, much more than the value of the horse, I subsequently knew that a cadi, and more especially a cadi of a country burgh, would not scruple to put his hand to a document of much more importance than this without believing one word of its contents.[57]
Lady Hester, having now seen what was worthy of notice in and about Nazareth, prepared to quit it. On the 5th of July, when the necessary number of camels had been provided and loaded, they were sent off about four in the afternoon for Acre. About an hour or two after sunset we followed. The evening was dark, and the priests, both to do honour to their departing guests, and because the street is tortuous and the road uneven, accompanied us two or three hundred yards with lanterns, and then left us. It would appear that the horses experienced the effect common on the sudden disappearance of light, and for a moment could not see. Lady Hester’s horse trod on a large stone lying in the road, and slipped upon his side. The thing was instantaneous, and her ladyship was thrown with her horse partly upon her. We all dismounted, and extricated her; dismay seized every one, when it was found that one leg was severely hurt. She was carried back to the monastery and put to bed. A messenger was immediately despatched to bring back the baggage; and, as we were in a manner in want of many most essential articles until its return, the delay was very distressing. To the merriment and bustle of a departure had now succeeded solicitude and anxiety. Each person again took up his old quarters, but with very different feelings from those with which he had left them.
Lady Hester’s leg, however, was only bruised, and not fractured; and, at the end of a week, she was so far recovered, that we again departed: but it was thought better to avail ourselves of daylight; and on the 13th, in the evening, we arrived at Acre a second time, having been obliged, on account of her ladyship’s weakness, to make the journey in two days.