The history of Signor Ducci and that of the other apostate prove that the lot of such persons is not enviable. Indeed, the Turks, as far as I could learn, never overlook a recantation: but, as a set-off to this, they are never very severe with their new converts, if they will only preserve the external forms of their religion; but such as are really sincere in their conversion they will assist on every occasion. Thus, at Jaffa, as will be mentioned hereafter, I saw a venerable shaykh, who, from a Christian wallet-maker, had become a reverend ulemá among the Mahometans. The Scotch private soldier, who, under the name of Yahyah, became physician to the son of Mohammed Ali, certainly gained by the change; and, for the general indulgence which converts to Mahometanism are allowed, the whole troop of French Mamelukes in Egypt were standing examples; for they had nothing of Turks about them but the name. To say how far a man may be excused for changing his religion, and whether, upon any grounds, he can be excused at all, is a matter upon which we do not pretend to speak. Pearce, who resided in Abyssinia, seems to have acted on motives of expediency. The groom of Captain H., who purchased horses for the English army, was probably a man of no religion: he became a Mahometan for the sake of gain, and would have made himself pagan for the same reason. Burckhardt had a nobler object in view in his simulation—the advancement of knowledge: yet even his motives have not escaped censure.
We quitted Botrûn on the 19th; and, still keeping the sea-coast, arrived, after five hours’ travelling, at Gebayl. Through the whole of this distance Mount Lebanon came down to the water’s edge, scarcely leaving a mule-path between its foot and the surf of the sea. About two hours before reaching Gebayl, the soil is rocky beyond any part of the coast we had yet passed; but still it was covered with mulberry grounds. The cultivation of these grounds is lucrative, no doubt, but they are disagreeable objects to the eye, as the trees look like so many tall posts; being every year stripped entirely of their branches.
Gebayl was anciently called Byblus.[27] It is now a walled town, containing within its circuit perhaps 300 houses, half of which were at this time in ruins. It has a castle, apparently the work of the Saracens or Crusaders, for Gebayl was taken by them. Over one of the gates was an heraldic shield, with a motto or inscription beneath, but too disfigured and too high up to be legible. The castle is square, with ramparts, and a citadel with double walls. It was repaired by the Emir Abd-el-dyn. Hassan, the last emir but one, resided here, and the two sons of Emir Yusef, successor to Hassan, had their eyes put out here by order of their uncle, the Emir Beshýr, who dispossessed them of the sovereignty. It had one piece of ordnance broken in half. There were also two standards preserved here—white, with a green band in the middle. The walls of the town consist of curtains and bastions. The port is very small, capable of sheltering coasting boats only. By means of a mole it might, as could almost all the ports of Syria, be made fit for large vessels. There is also a church, which I went to see, but found nothing remarkable in it. At a subsequent period, the emir of the Drûzes presented Lady Hester with a figure of Isis on her knees, holding before her, and between her hands, an altar, on which was a scarabæus. This perfect piece of sculpture was presented to the late Lord Lonsdale, and is now in England. It was found at Gebayl, by some workmen whilst turning up the soil. Adonis had temples in the city, but I know not of any Egyptian worship having existed here.
STATUE FOUND AT GEBAYL.
Gebayl had a motsellem, but his power hardly exceeded that of an English constable. He was a Turk, which, considering that the place belonged to the emir of the Drûzes, and that almost all the inhabitants were Christians, was somewhat extraordinary; but the presence of a Turkish governor was in some degree necessary, as many Capugi Bashis and emissaries of the Porte were continually passing this road. The rocks round the town were every where full of excavated sepulchres; and, in Abulfeda’s time, Gebayl had a port, a bazar, and a mosque.
We remained here the 20th and 21st of January, on account of the weather, which was exceedingly tempestuous: on the 22nd we again moved, although the rain fell in torrents. The road was still uneven and stony. From Tripoli, Lady Hester had adopted the plan of breaking the day’s journey by an hour’s rest at some spot halfway; and, for this purpose, it was generally necessary to cause a peasant’s cabin to be emptied and swept: but the fleas sometimes swarmed to such a degree, that it was impossible to get rid of them. On these occasions the practice of the servant employed on this duty was to go into the middle of the room, bare his leg, and watch how many fleas jumped on him from the floor. Sometimes they might be seen like iron filings drawn to a magnet, blackening the skin. This day the resting-place was on the banks of Nahr Ibrahim, the ancient river Adonis, in a small public-house, close by the bridge. These public-houses, for no more precise name can be given them, generally consisted of small sheds, the walls of which were bare rough stones or mud, no better materials being used in their construction. Adjoining was another large shed, to afford shelter for beasts of burden. Corn, straw, coffee, and tobacco, were sold in them as well as wine and brandy, this being in the territory of the emir of the Drûzes, where Christians might do with impunity what they dared not do in other provinces of the Ottoman Empire; nor is there any road, that I recollect, where these places of entertainment are so numerous as on the coast road from Tripoli to Beyrout.
Nahr Ibrahim is two hours’ distance from Gebayl. Its stream was, at this time, about as large and as deep as the river Cherwell, where it empties itself into the Isis at Oxford; but we were now in the very height of the rainy season; the stream, therefore, would probably be very much less in summer. It had over it a light elegant bridge of three arches.
One mile and a half more brought us to Taberjeh,[28] where it was intended to pass the night. Whilst Lady Hester was resting at the bridge, I rode forward, and was told by the servant that the cottagers, with tears in their eyes, begged that they might not be turned out of doors in the wet and cold. This hamlet consisted of a few cottages, and, as usual, we were furnished with an order to select the most convenient for our lodging. Upon these occasions the tenants were sent for the night to the houses of their friends and relations. But we were so many in number, and the cottages so few, that, the rain falling in torrents, a removal seemed an act of cruelty; this, however, I was reluctantly obliged to enforce. In one cottage a young woman had lain-in five days only, but was up, and, though she did not seem to consider her case peculiarly hard, an exemption was made in her favour: thus, by degrees, and from the hope of a handsome recompense, the cottages were vacated, and contentment was restored. So incessant was the rain, that, for this night, it was fortunate we were not sleeping under tents instead of mud roofs.
Taberjeh is a fishing hamlet by the sea-side, close to a small creek, in which were anchored two or three fishing-boats.