When I had left Lady Hester, in whom Nasar’s conduct on the preceding evening had caused some diminution in the confidence which had previously been reposed in him, the conversation after dinner naturally turned upon what should be done in case he was guilty of any treachery. In the midst of the conference, Pierre came in to say that some of the Bedouin mares had been stolen, and that it was supposed there were some of the Faydân Arabs lurking about the encampment. Soon after, other servants came running to say that enemies had been seen; and that all the Bedouins, whose mares were yet safe, were mounting, and going to reconnoitre; and, in fact, much noise of horses and much bustle were heard.
It is necessary to observe that, when encamped, each Bedouin usually ties the halter of his mare to her hind-leg, and then turns her loose to graze, excepting when an enemy is supposed to be near. To have a mare stray in the night was therefore no extraordinary thing; and at first it was conjectured that this was another of Nasar’s tricks to breed alarm. But when it was evident that he and his people had armed and mounted, and had ridden off, Mr. B. and Lady Hester knew not what to think of it. They immediately gave orders that every person should take his pistols and musket, with which all were provided; and they stationed them at different points; she herself, as I was afterwards assured by Mr. B., remaining as calm as if in a ball-room. Some readers will say, “And what was there to frighten her?” But let them rest assured that the stoutest heart might tremble under the conjoined circumstances of being in a Desert, among freebooters, treble in number to one’s own people, and charged with luggage most tempting in their eyes. In about twenty minutes the horsemen returned, and Nasar among them. They pretended that there had been a small party of the enemy, which had fled.
It was afterwards conjectured that Nasar had only withdrawn a few hundred yards from the encampment, and there waited to discover what effect the alarm would have on Lady Hester, in order to act as he might think expedient; but, finding that he should have some trouble to do mischief, he probably judged it better to leave it alone.
About twelve o’clock, I rode by myself out of Palmyra to meet Lady Hester. I traversed the Valley of the Tombs, and, at the extremity, I ascended to the summit of a small mountain on the south side of the valley, overlooking the plain, some miles in length, through which runs the aqueduct of Abu el Fewàrez. The day was hot and fine. I was surprised, on casting my eyes in the direction in which Lady Hester was to come, to see an appearance of a great cloud of dust. It was at first too far for me to distinguish objects, but, after waiting about an hour, I could plainly observe horsemen riding to and fro, and the smoke of firearms, of which sometimes I could hear the report. I knew not what to imagine; but my mind misgave me, and I thought that Lady Hester and her party were attacked by the enemy. As they approached nearer, I could distinguish more plainly the same skirmishing, but I thought I could descry pretty clearly that they advanced steadily, and that no dead or wounded were left by the way. I descended into the plain to meet them, and my apprehensions did not subside until I joined them; I then understood the reason of the skirmishing and of all the bustle that had taken place at Palmyra in the morning.
The inhabitants had resolved on welcoming Lady Hester in the best manner they could, and had gone out in a body to meet her. There might be altogether fifty men on foot, who, naked down to the waist, without shoes or stockings, and covered with a sort of antique petticoat, ran by the side of as many horsemen, galloping in all directions, with rude kettle-drums beating and colours flying. The tanned skins of the men on foot formed a curious contrast with the cowry shells, or blackamoor’s teeth, studded on the two belts which crossed their shoulders, and to which were suspended their powder-flasks and cartouch-boxes. These Palmyrenes carry matchlocks, slung across their backs, and are very skilful in the use of them. They are huntsmen by profession, and they are often engaged in petty warfare with the Bedouins, for the protection of their caravans.
For the amusement of Lady Hester and Mr. B., they displayed before them a mock attack and defence of a caravan. Each party, anxious to distinguish itself in the eyes of the English lady, fought with a pretended fury that once or twice might almost have been thought real. The men on foot exhibited on the person of a horseman the mode of stripping for plunder, and no valet de chambre could undress his master more expeditiously.
On entering the Valley of the Tombs, Lady Hester’s attention was absorbed in viewing the wonders around her, and the combatants desisted. But another sight, prepared by the Palmyrenes, here awaited her. In order to increase the effect which ruins cause on those who enter them for the first time, the guides led us up through the long colonnade, which extends four thousand feet in length from north-west to south-east, in a line with the gate of the temple. This colonnade is terminated by a triumphal arch. The shaft of each pillar, to the right and left, at about the height of six feet from the ground, has a projecting pedestal, called in architecture a console, under several of which is a Greek or Palmyrene inscription; and upon each there once stood a statue, of which at present no vestige remains excepting the marks of the cramp-iron for the feet. What was our surprise to see, as we rode up the avenue, and just as the triumphal arch came in sight, that several beautiful girls (selected, as we afterwards learned, from the age of twelve to sixteen) had been placed on these very pedestals, in the most graceful postures, and with garlands in their hands; their elegant shapes being but slightly concealed by a single loose robe, girded at the waist with a zone, and a white crape veil covering their heads. On each side of the arch other girls, no less lovely, stood by threes, whilst a row of six was ranged across the gate of the arch, with thyrsi in their hands. Whilst Lady Hester advanced, these living statues remained immoveable on their pedestals; but when she had passed they leaped on the ground, and joined in a dance by her side. On reaching the triumphal arch, the whole in groups, together with men and girls intermixed, danced around her. Here some bearded elders chanted verses in her praise, and all the spectators joined in chorus. The sight was truly interesting, and I have seldom seen one that moved my feelings more. Lady Hester herself seemed to partake of the emotions to which her presence in this remote spot had given rise. Nor was the wonder of the Palmyrenes less than our own. They beheld with amazement a woman, who had ventured thousands of miles from her own country, and had now crossed a waste where hunger and thirst were only a part of the evils to be dreaded. The procession advanced, after a pause, to the gate of the Temple, being by this time increased by the addition of every man, woman, and child, in the village. At length she reached the cottage which had been prepared for her.
The next day her ladyship gave to repose, but Mr. B. devoted it to walking over the ruins. He had brought with him Wood and Dawkins’s plates. Fifty years had made little difference in Palmyra, excepting that a column or two, then standing, were now fallen down. The keystone of the triumphal arch likewise was loose, and seemed as if it would fall. In looking about among the fragments which lie towards the north-west extremity of the colonnade, I found a portion of a statue, in alto relievo, represented as sitting in a chair. With the exception of this, of the heads on a ceiling in the sanctuary and on some of the sepulchres, and of a small bas-relief of a naked woman reclining on a sofa, which is on one of the walls of an old mosque about five hundred feet from the Temple, and which is not mentioned by Wood and Dawkins, I know of no other figures that have been discovered in or about Palmyra.
March the 29th, Lady Hester mounted her horse, and went to see the ruins. She knew the report that was current of her being in search after treasures, and took an ingenious mode of curing the shaykh of the village of such a belief. She told him she would have him go with her; and she, being on horseback, led him, who was on foot, such a round, that the poor man, little curious about places in which he had lived all his life, begged her at last to excuse him, as he could walk no farther.
To examine the interior of the sanctuaries which compose the centre building of the Temple, and where are two beautiful ceilings of the zodiac, and several bas-reliefs, torches were made; and by the help of these we were enabled to see them with a stronger light than I suppose any other travellers had done; for there is no window whatever to let in the day, and only a low hole to crawl in by.