Pliny and Wood agree in thinking that from Emesa to Palmyra the name of desert was always applicable, and that, from the days of Abraham up to our times, the face of it has not changed. We would not oppose our judgment to theirs, and yet a contrary opinion might surely be entertained, when ruins are found at every step, and an aqueduct that indicates the height of civilization.
April 9th, we halted at Salamyah, and took this opportunity of viewing the ruins of the city; for such it appears to have been, and of Saracen origin. Salamyah is described by Abulfeda as an agreeable place, with aqueducts conveying water to it, and with many gardens around it. It was built by Abdallah ben Salah, a descendant, in the fifth generation, from Abd el Motalleb. In the time of El Azyzy, it was on the skirts of the desert;[52] now it is fairly in it. Around it, there was a well-built wall. Over the gate by which we entered, to the south, was a long inscription in Arabic, which we did not copy for want of time. Within we found the remains of two or three mosques, with their cupolas yet upon them, and of a public bath; also the walls of houses, and some wells, which contained water, and from one of which we drew our supply. It did not appear to me that this place had been inhabited during the last forty or fifty years.
At Menghiazy, at Rekhym el Khanzýr, and here, the Bedouins emulated each other in the reception they gave Lady Hester. At her request, the finest mares were brought for her to look at. Several Arabs offered them as presents to her; but made it understood that they valued them at a price so enormous, that, to make a present in return as an adequate recompense, would have been paying too dear. Her ladyship, therefore, declined accepting them. Bedouins, on such occasions, are extremely mercenary, and strangely overrate their property.
Lady Hester having expressed a desire to ride on a dromedary, one of their best, which they call hejýn, and which are used for expeditious journeys, was selected, and dressed up with an ornamental saddle and housings. She rode for a short distance, and probably found the motion very unpleasant, which it must necessarily be at first to every one.
As soon as we had come to the west of the Beláz, we were supplied very constantly with clotted cream (kymàk) and sour milk, (leben), than which the dairy can produce nothing better; and it will raise the latter cooling preparation in the estimation of some, to know that it has been used, time immemorial, in these countries, and is spoken of in Xenophon as ὀξύγαλα. The finest mutton was never wanting at our table; for, although the true Bedouin scorns to pasture any animal but camels, still there are certain bastard tribes, such as the Mowâly, and a few more that we saw, which are mere graziers, and paid tribute to Emir Mahannah for the protection he afforded them.
As the Castle of Shumamys, built on a mountain, was distant only about a league from the encampment, I was inclined to ride over to examine it; but the direction of our march lying close to the foot of it, I executed my project on the following morning. Before the camels were loaded, Hassan and I rode forward, and, arriving in an hour, by a very steep ascent reached the summit of the mountain. At the foot of the castle walls the rock is cut into a glacis with a considerable slope, within which is a deep ditch hewn out of the solid stone. Facing the gate of the castle, a buttress or pier still left in the centre of the ditch served for the support of the drawbridge, now entirely fallen. Leaving Hassan to take care of the horses, I descended into the ditch, and climbed up on the opposite side, which was not so difficult to do as I had found it at Palmyra. The two castles resembled each other exactly, and of course may be supposed to be of the same date, either of Saracen or Frank construction.
We descended into the plain, and joined the party who had just cleared the foot of the mountains, which is one extremity of the chain called Gebel el Aâleh. This chain, taking a semicircular direction, finishes at Gebel Abd ed dyn two leagues N. by E. of Hamah, and encloses one of the richest plains it is possible to see. At Tel el Byrûth, we encamped for the night, and found there the Emir Mahannah el Fadel, who received Lady Hester with every testimony of respect and joy for her safe return, which was now in a manner effected, as we were only three or four leagues from Hamah.
We halted the next day. An accident happened at this place, which nearly cost the loss of an eye to one of the bards who had accompanied us hitherto. Farez, second son of Mahannah, was throwing, as he would throw a javelin, the stalk of an astragalus, (with which flower the place was thickly set, and the stalks of which are firm and reedy at this season) when he struck one of the bards on the lid and brow of the eye. The man was in great pain, and the swelling was instantaneous and considerable: but a leech which I applied set all to rights; yet the bard was by no means pleased with Farez’s exploit. The astragalus and squill plants were so abundant, that their long sword-like leaves obstructed the paths in every direction. Upon their leaves I found a beautiful fly, much like the lytta.
In the afternoon Lady Hester wished to try Shaykh Hamud’s white mare, and she mounted it. In putting her into a gallop, the mare, aware of some difference in the rider’s management of her, or from some other cause, ran away with her ladyship, who, however, contrived at last to pull her up, without any mischief, to the admiration of the Bedouins who were looking on.
It must not be supposed that, during the whole of this journey, the Arabs had suffered me to remain quiet in my professional capacity. Knowing the frequent applications I should have, previous to quitting Hamah, I had put up a large stock of pills and powders, as of easiest administration; and I could have used the contents of an apothecary’s shop had I been so disposed. But a serious call was made upon me whilst in camp, by a horseman who came over from the tents of Shaykh Casem, to entreat me to make but a short journey thither, to save the son of their chief, who had been transfixed by a spear, in a skirmish with the Faydân; and Lady Hester thought it better that I should go.