Tobacco, when exported to Egypt, is always carried in open boats, for fear of heating. May not this be one of the reasons why the tobacco brought to England resembles so little the same plant when smoked in Syria?
Tobacco must be gathered in the decline of the moon, say the Syrian planters.
It was on the 29th of July that we departed for Dayr el Kamar, the residence of the Emir Beshýr. About one mile and a half from Sayda, the delightful gardens which surround it terminated at a river, before mentioned, of some size called Nahr el Ewely. Here we began to ascend Mount Lebanon, its foot touching the seashore; at Sayda it is only half a mile distant from it; and we were now on the territory of the Drûzes. To our party were added two dragomans, by name Bertrand, and both medical men, but who resigned the advantage of their practice for a consideration which they judged paramount to it.[80] There was likewise a cook of the name of Stefano, a Georgian; who, being carried from his own country as a slave to Constantinople, had somehow obtained his liberty, and resumed the religion of his parents.
To look at the soil, as we ascended the narrow paths of the mountain, one would have thought that no culture could have made it productive: yet industry had surmounted every obstacle; for vines, olive, mulberry, and fig-trees, tobacco, and some other productions, bore evidence of its richness.
We proceeded for three hours, having passed the village of Jûn,[81] and encamped for the night at Masbûd. The Shaykh (for so the bailiff or chief of a village is called) had received orders to supply us with provisions, and we wanted for nothing. An unpleasant occurrence, however, retarded us some hours the next morning. We had always found difficulty in obtaining money, owing to the want of respectable European merchants in the southern part of Syria, and to the distrust excited by the frequent visits which adventurers from Christendom pay to those countries. Lady Hester had drawn a bill on the English vice-consul at Beyrout, Mâlem Messâad, which was refused, on account, as he alleged, of his inability to raise the sum drawn for. The Syrian Christian, who had cashed it at Sayda, came riding post after us; and, as we were on the point of quitting Masbûd, demanded back his money, which was forthwith counted out to him.
From Masbûd, a march of five hours brought us to Dayr el Kamar, having halted by the way at a river, Nahr el Hamam, to refresh ourselves and our horses. It was quite dark when we arrived. We were received in a residence or palace of the Emir’s, which had been prepared for our reception. The constant repetition of the terms prince and minister, which were used by the new interpreters when speaking of the Emir and his principal secretary, had raised ideas of the grandeur of these people and their state, which the sight of our new residence first weakened, and subsequent knowledge of them entirely overthrew.
The next morning we viewed, from the terrace of the house, the whole of the burgh of Dayr el Kamar. It may contain four thousand souls. The houses are none of them more than two stories high, built of rough hewn stones, oftener cemented with mud than mortar. The only good residence in the place was that destined for us, which had been built by a person named Girius Baz, who had figured a great deal in the politics of the mountain not long before. He had been strangled by the order of the Emir, and his property confiscated. The palace of the Emir, and which from its size deserves the name, is at a distance of one mile from Dayr el Kamar, nearly on the summit of a small mountain, like every part of Mount Lebanon, not accessible but by the most rugged paths, such as would be considered impassable in England. The general character of the Emir, as described to us by persons at Sayda, was comprehended in a few prominent features. He was born of Mussulman parents, but was supposed to have apostatized to Christianity. He had mounted his throne in blood; had put out the eyes of his three nephews, fearing they would aspire to it, and had reigned a tyrant and a hypocrite.
The people, of whom this Emir is the head, as was said above, are called Drûzes, and the territory which he rules obtains the name of Beled el Drûz, or the Drûze country. This territory lies chiefly on Mount Lebanon, and is comprehended between 33° 20´ and 30° 10´ north latitude, including a breadth of not more than twenty-five or thirty miles.
The religion of the Drûzes is a mystery among historians and travellers, and their tenets are so cautiously concealed from all but certain persons of their own sect that little credit is to be given to the relation of any author on the subject.[82] Some general facts, however, are known; as that they owe their origin to Hakym be Omrhu, Caliph, or Sultan of Egypt, in an early year of the Hegira, and that they are divided into two bodies, called the Initiated and Non-initiated, or Jahel and Aâkel. The Jahel are those who follow the common pursuits of mankind, and acknowledge, as the rules of society, the received customs of the country, putting no more restraints on their conduct than what these and the laws impose. Their sabbath is on Friday. The Drûzes have, at times, been totally independent, as during the reign of Fakr ed dyn; and are, in a certain degree, always so, from the nature of their mountains. To become an Âakel, it is necessary for a Jahel to go through a probation of some years; when, if thought worthy, he is admitted to a participation in the rights of the adepts. The deportment of these is grave, and they are tied down to a plainness of dress and a sanctity of manners which give them a look that necessarily imposes somewhat on the beholder. One unvarying part of it is the white turban, made of a long band of linen or cotton, repeatedly folded around the tarbûsh (or red skull cap.). They likewise affect the black abah or cloak. An Âakel holds himself bound to the performance of all moral duties, so that the institution is in itself meritorious.
