On the 23d we loaded our mules, and continued our journey over a rocky soil, and along a most difficult road. In three quarters of an hour we came to Nahr Mahameltayn, over which was a bridge, the work of the ancients. The river was scarcely knee-deep, and, like many others which obtain that name in sultry countries, was, properly speaking, no more than a watercourse. After Mahameltayn, the soil became sandy. Here began the district of Keserwàn (falsely spelt by many authors Castervan), the most populous, it is said, of all Lebanon. The villages certainly stood very thick, with hamlets and cottages at small intervals between them. The monasteries, also, with their belfries, denoted the liberty which the Christians here enjoyed, a bell being in Turkey a distinctive emblem of their religion, which (as prohibited by the Mahometans) they take more pride in erecting than they would an hospital.
Gûnyh (pronounced Jewny), an hour and a half from Taberjeh, is a hamlet by the sea-side, with a small pavilion or pleasure-house to which the emir sometimes resorted. Half an hour farther is a small rocky cape. Passing this, the strand is again sandy, during one hour, as far as Nahr el Kelb, the ancient Lycus, a river somewhat larger than Nahr Ibrahim, and with a bridge over it the precise counterpart of the other, but of a later date. Here commenced the district of Metten. Ascending a rocky cape, which is close to the river on the south side, several inscriptions were seen on the faces of the rock, which had been smoothed for the purpose; but, as it was nearly dark when we passed, I had no time to read or try to read them, and they are very fully described in other books of travel. They are said to relate to the road,[29] which bears marks of having been anciently cut, with great labour, in the solid rock; for in the middle are still seen steps, eight or ten feet broad, each step jagged, to prevent beasts of burden from slipping. There seemed also to have been a causeway on each side, and a parapet on the side next the sea.
After crossing the promontory we again found ourselves on the sandy strand; and, at the distance of one hour and a half from the river Kelb, diverging from the sea-side somewhat into the mountain, we stopped at a village called Kunet Elias, in a small Maronite monastery. The shafts of two granite pillars lay at the entrance; but I am not aware what ancient edifice occupied this spot.
On the 24th, we quitted Kunet Elias, and, in one hour and three quarters, crossed the bridge of Beyrout,[30] distant from the city more than a league. The river, which runs beneath it, is the ancient Magoras.[31] Numerous mulberry plantations in every direction denoted the principal product of the district. To cross the bridge we had been led considerably to the W. of our direct road; and, when over it, we inclined to the S.E., and, leaving Beyrout on our right, in three hours, reached Shuifád, a large burgh on the first rise of Mount Lebanon.
Lady Hester’s purpose in going thither was to visit the Syt Habûs,[32] a celebrated Drûze lady, sprung from a noble family, who had in her own hands the administration of several villages, which she farmed from the Shaykh Beshýr;—a singular thing in this country, where the women seldom take upon themselves or have any other duties but such as are domestic. Shuifád, where she resided, was a populous burgh, consisting of three large parishes, separated from each other by deep water ravines, worn by the mountain torrents descending through the burgh. It is distant from Beyrout one league, and commands a fine view both of the forest of olive trees which covered the plains of Beyrout, and of the sea beyond.
If the Syt Habûs was an object of curiosity to Lady Hester, the latter was not less so to the Syt. But their meeting did not take place until the 26th, as her ladyship was much fatigued, and wished to enjoy a little repose. The habitation assigned to her in the first instance was so indifferent that her health would have suffered unless a better could be provided: accordingly we were desired to choose one wherever we liked.
It was at this place that Sir S. Smith gave the meeting to the Emir Beshýr (in the year in which the French retreated from Acre), upon occasion of some festivities which the emir made in his honour. With Sir S. landed a corps of marines, who performed the military exercise of the musket, to the great amusement of the spectators, some of whom spoke to me of that event as a very remarkable one; for at that period disciplined troops had not been seen on Mount Lebanon.
In the evening I paid a visit to the Emir Yunez, brother-in-law to Syt Habûs, a talkative old man, but apparently well read in Arabic literature. He showed me some common English pocket-handkerchiefs, whereon battles and figures were printed, which he seemed highly to value. There were present the Emirs Hyder, Emin, and Ali, who were all dressed in gaudy silks.
On the 26th of January, M. Beaudin rode down to Beyrout; and, in the afternoon, returned with the news that a Capugi Bashi was at that town on his road to Sayda, who, it was reported, was going to arrest Lady Hester, and carry her prisoner to Constantinople.
My servant, Giovanni, who had been sent with M. B., coming back late, I questioned him on the reason of his delay, when, to excuse himself, he said, as he was riding through the streets, his mule was pressed by a Tartar, to carry the luggage of a Capugi Bashi, going to Sayda from Constantinople. It is usual for all persons travelling on the service of government to have a Tartar with them, who presses horses and mules for the service of his masters as they go along. The muleteer, with Giovanni, deplored the lot of his poor animal, and entreated him to liberate it: for the Tartars have no compassion, and greatly maltreat the animals furnished them. With tears in his eyes, he begged him to go to the governor’s, where, he assured him, the bare mention of my lady’s name would be sufficient. Giovanni accordingly went, and, on mentioning Lady Hester’s name, was immediately questioned by the great Turk himself (who was sitting with the governor), as to where the English lady could be found, for he had urgent business with her.