[18] His name was Sulimán, the son of Ibrahim, katib of Hussn and Safýna, which is an adjoining district, and where he lived.
[19] It would appear that this is the place described by Abulfeda (page 102), under the name of Hussn el Keràd. His words are: “Hussn el Keràd is a fortified castle, facing Hems to the west, upon the mountain. This castle is a day’s journey from Hems, and the like distance from Tripoli.”
[20] One of Selim’s horses continually moved his head up and down. This is esteemed, in the East, a mark of a high-bred horse, and is supposed to have something holy in it, I believe because it resembles the motion which learned and devout Mahometans put on when reading the Corân.
[21] It perhaps may amuse some persons to know that parasites, or toadies, as they are now called, are as common in Syria as in other countries. Selim, wherever he went, was generally accompanied by a man, to whom, upon all occasions, he was accustomed to appeal for a confirmation of his assertions. This man accordingly would attest, with violent asseverations, anything, however hyperbolical or exaggerated, that Selim advanced.
[22] Räys means a captain of a vessel, or the superior of a community, or the head of any body of persons.
[23] Burkhardt spells it Amfy. His words are, “Below, on the sea-shore, at the extremity of a point of land, is a lone village, called Amfy, and near it the convent Dair Natour.”
[24] Jos. Antiq. Jud. l. viii. c. 13.
[25] This kind of marriage is called in Arabic El Menmah—conjugium temporarium.
[26] About £3 sterling. Roubles, rupees, rubías, are all the same word in different tongues.
[27] Strabo, xvi. 755. 1 Kings, v. Josh. xiii. 5. Ezekiel, xxvii. 9. Ptolemy places Byblus ten miles south of Botrus; this agrees very nearly with five hours’ march, ass’s pace.