[79] One motive for going to Sayda was to prosecute a search for hidden treasures at Sayda and Ascalon, of which an account will be given in its proper place.
[80] We had been out shooting francolins two days before, and, after being much heated with walking, I had seated myself on the edge of the river to wait for Mr. Barker, whom I saw coming up. I there received a check of perspiration, to which I attributed my illness.
[81] This gentleman afterwards changed his name to Kinneir, and is author of a volume of travels in Asia.
[82] Hadj, a pilgrim; hadjy, feminine.
[83] Mount Cassius, near to Seleucia.—Str. l. xvi.
[84] Of all the maps of Syria which I have yet seen, that of d’Anville, or more particularly that portion of it which he calls the map of Phœnicia, is the one chiefly to be relied on. Recent maps have generally been drawn up, with supposed corrections after late travellers; d’Anville seems to have drawn up his from a comparison of both modern and ancient authorities, and no subsequent geographer has equalled him.
[85] There is another Nahr el Kebýr close to Laodicea, which must not be mistaken for this, situated a little to the north of Tripoli.
[86] For the truth of this, I appeal to those letters written by her to Mr. Coutts, the banker, at this period; to his grace the late Duke of Buckingham; to the Honourable General R. Grenville; and to others.
[87] Upon some occasions, where land was newly appropriated for tillage, it was customary for the peasants to draw lots for particular parcels, these having been first staked out by the head men of the village.
[88] Tanûr, in Arabic, means a large earthenware jar, as big as a barrel, but deeper, which, let into the ground up to the rim, is heated within by brushwood or brambles, and serves to bake bread. It is generally covered with a shed, and serves for the use of all or a portion of the village, according as there is one or more. It is in this way I conceive that the passage “or ever your pots be made hot with thorns” is to be explained, by brambles thrown into the tanûr.