Hems is the ancient Emesa. It is a neat, compact town,[16] with streets paved, and wider than is customary in Turkey. It contains fourteen or fifteen mosques, and is about a mile and a half in circumference. It is said to contain 15,000 souls, about 300 of whom are Christians. Just outside the town there is a ruinous piece of ancient masonry, square at the base, which is surmounted by a pyramid. It has probably served for a mausoleum. The pyramid was supported by pilasters, and the frieze shows the remains of the festoons which once ornamented it. On one side is an inscription, which was too high to be read by me. This mausoleum contained two chambers, one over the other, with small windows. It is built of brick, and faced with gray stones, lozenge-shaped.
Without the walls, also, is the tomb of Khaled Sayf Allah, one of Mahomet’s first disciples, his relation, and the conqueror of Syria. In riding out on the 26th, I was tempted to try the experiment of passing for a Turk; and, dismounting from my horse at the door of the mosque, I walked boldly in, and requested to see Khaled’s tomb, which is an object of great veneration to those who perform pilgrimages to the shrine. My bad Arabic went for nothing; for the doorkeeper had only to suppose me to be an Albanian, or some native of the European provinces of Turkey. I saw the tomb, which, similar to other Mahometan tombs of ancient date, was shaped like the roof of a house. He gave me some holy water to drink, and threw over me a veil, or scarf, during which ceremony he pronounced a long prayer, whilst I felt somewhat alarmed at the risk I ran in assuming a feigned character. In going out, the unusual present which I gave him of two piasters and a half was enough to betray me; for a devout Mussulman probably never exceeded twenty paras, or half a piaster.
I visited the citadel of the town, which seemed to have been the work of the Saracens, or crusaders, but was now altogether in ruins. It stood on a truncated mound, the sides of which were faced with neat gray stone from top to bottom. Round it was a ditch from twenty to thirty yards broad, with a counterscarp faced also in stone. On the table of the eminence there appeared the remains of a series of vaults that had gone round the circumference of the citadel, and communicated with each other by small doors. There had been towers at equal distances. Fragments of granite and stone pillars were lying about, and in one place some of these were let into the walls.
On approaching Hems, when coming from Damascus, the rising sun was reflected strongly on a lake, to the left of the road, formed by the waters of the Orontes, not far from where it takes its rise. As I proposed remaining a day or two at Hems, I resolved to visit it, and for the value of eighteen pence a guide conducted me thither.
After passing through Katâny, a miserable village, not unlike a nest of hogsties in England, and about half a mile from the lake, I soon reached the margin of the water, and beheld before me an expanse, apparently about three miles across in its broadest part, but in most places less, and about twelve long, or perhaps much more; for a sheet of water is liable to deceive the eye greatly.[17] It narrows at the Eastern extremity, where I was, and is banked in by a dyke about a quarter of a mile long,[18] appearing not of very ancient construction, although Abulfeda attributes it to Alexander the Great. I walked on the dyke, and the first outlet for the waters that presented itself was a small stream that I had crossed in my way: then came the mouth of the aqueduct for supplying Hems. This aqueduct is of rough workmanship, and it seems to have been constructed in the place of one now dilapidated, but of equally indifferent construction. But, from the sight of this aqueduct and the elevation of the embankment, it may be concluded that the object, or the principal object, of it was to raise water to a sufficient height to enable it to flow to Hems.
At the northern extremity of the dyke stands a ruined tower, and, between it and the aqueduct, about half way, the lake runs over, and falls down in cascades to form the river Orontes. A meadow beneath the dyke, and much below the level of the lake, shows where once the waters ran unchecked: a small mulberry plantation now occupies its place. Wild fig trees grew out of fissures of the dyke. Close to the tower a small aqueduct commences, by which a village two hundred yards off is supplied with water. Under the dyke, and at the foot of the tel or mount, are many loose stones, but none of them seemed to be of a Grecian or Roman character: nor were there any fragments of pillars or of buildings of ancient date.
I returned to Hems much pleased with my excursion, having first followed the course of the Orontes for some distance, until I came to a very large Persian waterwheel, and a mill; both put in motion by the stream, which was nearly dammed across to give it a greater impetus. This place was called El Memas, and here are the gardens of Hems, which, for want of water for irrigation, cannot thrive close to the town. But this, although a privation, contributes greatly to the salubrity of the place, the air of which is much superior to that of Hamah.
Having seen everything worthy of curiosity at Hems, I left it on the 28th of October, accompanied by the same man as guide who had before conducted me from Hems to Hamah.
Here I staid the whole of the 30th, in consequence of the marching of some troops. The inhabitants were apprised of the coming of these troops, who were a corps of Deláti, mercenaries in the pay of Hamed Bey: and, from the conversation of the villagers, I could easily perceive that their passage was exceedingly dreaded. I therefore requested Masûd Aga to grant me a soldier, to remain at my door and protect me from insult. He candidly told me that his soldiers could do nothing at such a moment, when even his own house would be scarcely exempt from intrusion. I therefore resolved to depend on my own scheming. I dressed myself in my smartest clothes, with a cashmere shawl round my head and one round my waist, girded on my sabre with its silver scabbard, and, seating myself in the corner of the cottage, on my travelling carpet, I assumed an air of importance as great as I could put on. My host, I had observed, had removed out of the way every thing that could serve as fuel or food, and then went out, leaving the soldiers to expend their fury on the bare walls; “for, if they get hold of me,” he said, “it will be in vain to declare that I have nothing to give them: they will beat me until I produce my all.”
About ten o’clock, I heard the noise of horses and the clamour of many voices. Presently a soldier alighted at my door, and said—“Holloa, rascal; come here and take my horse:” then, thrusting his head in, and seeing me seated, he begged my pardon and moved on to the next cottage. Another came; I kept my seat, and telling him “This is my house, friend,” he too went away. A third and a fourth presented themselves, and fortunately no one, in the hurry of the moment, discovered me to be a Frank. My groom Ibrahim was of great service, who, leaning negligently against the outer door, told every one not to enter or shout so, as there was an Aga within.