Ever yours most sincerely,
H. L. S.
Your Vino d’Oro is now waiting near the coast, and, as soon as a good opportunity offers, it shall be sent. Hope was to have taken it, but he is gone; but I trust I may hear of other good captains upon the coast in the spring: in a Greek ship it would be all drunk. I am trying to get some wild boar hams prepared for you, but I am yet uncertain how I shall succeed. We want strong dogs here very much, for the boars are very savage. I must not forget to tell you that the Chevalier Lascaris is become deranged. He goes about, however, but is, nor never will be, fit for anything; but as being employed and having money from Malta is always uppermost in his thoughts, it would be a charity to put him out of suspense by some formal letter—that is to say, if you think it quite proper.
It was necessary to make a total alteration in my dress previous to setting off; for anything that could excite the cupidity of the Bedouins was to be considered as unnecessarily smart. I therefore purchased two very coarse cotton shirts, with long sleeves tapering to a point; a white cotton kombaz; a pair of cotton drawers, which were to serve as breeches; worsted socks; uncouth red boots; two tanned sheepskin pelisses, one long and one short; a red skull cap, to be covered with a silk handkerchief, called a keffýah, green and orange-coloured, the corners of which, drawn across the lower part of the face, leave only the eyes visible. As Bedouins have little to do with the washtub, these different articles were thought abundantly sufficient for an entire wardrobe. The cost of them was about two pounds sterling. A second-hand abah, striped blue and white, was the ragged covering of the whole. (See engraving.) M. Lascaris was attired nearly in the same manner. It was on the 2nd of January, 1813, that we left Hamah, and this accounts for the anticipation of some details in the latter part of Lady Hester’s letter, which is dated the 25th.
The curious reader is requested to compare these dates with the history of this same M. Lascaris, as related by M. de Lamartine in his “Souvenirs du Levant.”
CHAPTER IV.
The author enters the Desert—Hostile tribes of Bedouins—Beni Khaled Arabs—Their tents, manners, &c.—Arabian hospitality—Tels or Conical mounds—Aspect of the Desert—Want of Water—Hadidýn Arabs—Mountains of Gebel el Abyad—Bedouin horsemen—Bedouin encampment—Mahannah, the Emir—Bedouin repasts—Character of Mahannah—Nature of his authority—His revenue—Means used by the Bedouins to obtain gifts—March of a Bedouin tribe—Contrivance for mounting camels—Gentleness of the camel—Snow—Search for Water—Detention of the author by Mahannah—He is suffered to depart for Palmyra—Encounter with robbers—Plain of Mezah—Disappointment at the distant sight of Palmyra—Arrival there.
We were mounted on stallions well conditioned. Each was provided with a wallet, containing three feeds of barley, twenty bread-cakes, three pounds of raisins, a provision of coffee, a bag of tobacco, and with a leathern water-bottle. We had no arms but my carbine, which Hassan carried; M. Lascaris not choosing to be burdened with any, and I following the advice of Lady Hester, who desired me to show no mistrust of my guide; and Hassan received to the value of four guineas at parting, which sum was to be doubled at my safe return.
After travelling two hours, the marks of cultivation ceased, and we might be said to have entered the Desert. Here we passed a small rivulet, that empties itself into the Orontes, where we watered our horses, and, after drinking ourselves, filled our water-bottles, there being no other running stream in the intermediate space until our arrival at Palmyra. At a quarter to two we came to a ruined village, where, in the year 1811, was fought a battle between the tribes of the Anizy and the Faydân, in which the latter were completely routed, their wives, their camels, and their tents, falling into the hands of the victors. To the north of the field of battle, on the summit of a conical mountain, stands a castle in ruins, called Calâat Shumamys. Passing it at the distance of half a league, we inclined to the north, and came abreast of Salamyah, one mile off. Salamyah, once a populous Arab town, but now without an inhabitant, was destroyed by the grandfather of Mahannah, the emir I was about to visit.
Our course was now due east, as far as could be judged by the sun, for we were not furnished with a compass. On our right we observed a conical mound, with heaps of stones on its summit, apparently relics of an old building. As soon as the view opened beyond it, Hassan espied some smoke, which he knew to proceed from Arab tents. We made towards it, and reached a circular encampment of about forty tents. They were those of the Beni Khaled, a tribe who live by their flocks.[26] Such Arabs as these would seem to form the connecting link between the Bedouins and the husbandmen of the villages; living under tents, and shifting from place to place in search of pasture, like the former, but, like the latter, paying tribute to the pasha of the district. Their tents are more comfortable than those of the Bedouins; they are more civilized, and, in their dress and food, are on a par with the peasantry.