My pedestrian exertion brought on an intolerable erysipelatous heat and itching in both my feet, which nothing could appease but sitting with my naked feet in the stream, just where it issued quite cold from the rock,—a dangerous mode of cure, only to be justified by the necessity I was under of pursuing our journey on the morrow. We passed the whole of the 19th at this spot, while Pierre went back to recover the luggage which had been left at Meshmûshy.
On the 20th, we ascended the last ridge of Lebanon, and, when at the summit, enjoyed that fine prospect which has been described in a former place. We descended into the Bkâ, and passed the hamlet of Aâney, a few miserable cottages, whither the husband-men of Barûk go in the summer to plough and sow, and, having finished these operations, quit them for their homes until harvest time.
One mile farther we planted our tents. Here we remained two nights, waiting for the return of M. Beaudin; but, not being come back on the 22d of October, in the morning, the tents were struck. We took a northerly direction, along the plain close to the foot of Mount Lebanon, and passed some small villages part on our left in the mountain, and part on our right in the plain.
After a march of about three leagues we came to Bur Elias, a small village with a castle of modern construction overhanging it. It was watered by a rivulet, which ran with a smart stream through it. This stream was made to irrigate several well cultivated gardens and orchards, which so much embellished the spot, that, until our arrival at Bâlbec, we saw no place to compare with it. There were also the remains of an old mosque, with other evidences that the village was once more populous than at present. In a rock on the south-west side are several ancient caverns, which served as tombs, with sarcophagi hewn in the stone; and, at one part, on the face of a small precipice, chiselled smooth for the purpose, was a square portion of ten or fifteen feet, cut deep enough to admit of a layer of stucco or marble with which it seemed to have been coated, having in its centre, towards the bottom, three recesses, which had probably been filled up with votive tablets, or basso-relievos, there not being depth enough for statues.
Leaving Bur Elias, we came next to Malaka, a large village of two hundred houses, where terminates what is called the district of Bkâ,[3] and begins the Bâlbec territory, which is, however, but a continuation of the same plain. This village, although so large, is but of two years’ date, and was transferred from about three hundred yards off to its present situation, by the emir of the Drûzes, who, having taken, by force of arms, from the Emir Jahjáh, the governor of Bâlbec, the village of Khurby, which was just beyond the line of demarcation of his domain, destroyed it, and made the inhabitants build Malaka.
The houses in the Bkâ were not of stone, as on the mountain, but of mud bricks dried in the sun. They were low, and had the appearance of much misery on the outside, although, as we were told, very comfortable within. This we had no opportunity of ascertaining, as the plague reigned about us, and it was by no means prudent to approach, much less to enter, any habitations. The dress of the people was different from that of the mountaineers. No horns were now to be seen on the heads of the women, who likewise wore red aprons, which were universally seen towards the Desert, but never near the sea-coast. The Palma Christi was cultivated very generally for the sake of the oil, which is used for lamps. As harvest was now over, we could not see what were the particular productions of the plain; it seemed, however, highly fertile, being of that fine snuff-coloured mould which, at Hamah and elsewhere, had been pointed out to us as most useful to the husbandman for agricultural purposes.
We encamped near Khurby, which yet had some cottages among its ruined walls. Our water was drawn from a spring which, from its vicinity to an ancient sepulchre assigned by tradition to the patriarch Noah, is called Ayn Nûah. His body is said to occupy a length of forty cubits, and his feet, for want of room, to hang down in the well.
Our appearance here and elsewhere in the Bkâ excited much curiosity. Without guards from the emir or pasha, demanding provisions nowhere, and boldly encamping in the open plain away from every habitation, we perhaps awed the very people who would have attacked others marching with more caution. For the Bkâ is entirely open to the incursions of the Arabs, who overrun the tract of country between Bâlbec and Hems, where no mountain interposes to obstruct them, although many maps falsely lay one down.
The cûby (or dumplings), which have been mentioned in setting out on this journey, were now become so dry and hard that the servants and muleteers refused to eat them. I felt that they were justified in their refusal; for I, who, for the sake of example, was obliged to enforce the order for their consumption by eating them myself, never suffered more from bad food than on this occasion: but no representations could make Lady Hester abate one tittle of her resolution. The maids cried, the men grumbled and rebelled, and the fatigue of keeping order among Christians, Drûzes, and Mahometans, was more than I had hitherto experienced: yet no one fell ill. This day Pierre joined us here, and brought with him the luggage which had been left behind.
On the 23d we continued our route. The villages in the territory of Bâlbec were much less numerous, and much more miserable, than those in the Bkâ. Such as were on the side of the mountain were built higher up than they had been, as if the inhabitants feared to be exposed to depredations from the plain. No gardens or orchards were to be seen. After five hours’ march we arrived at a Tel, where was a fine rivulet, which, running from the mountain, turned a mill wheel, and then flowed towards the river in the centre of the plain, the ancient Leontes or Litanus, called the Bâlbec river by our muleteers, and which becomes the Casmia before it empties itself into the sea. Here we encamped, in a still more dangerous situation than hitherto.