The Damascus blades are the handsomest and best of all Syria; and it is curious to observe their manner of burnishing them. This operation is performed before tempering; and they have, for this purpose, a small piece of wood, in which is fixed an iron, which they rub up and down the blade, and thus clear off all inequalities, as a plane does to wood. They then temper and polish it. This polish is so highly finished, that, when any one wants to arrange his turban, he uses his sword for a looking-glass. As to its temper, it is perfect; and I have nowhere seen swords that cut so excellently. There are made at Damascus, and in the adjoining country, mirrors of steel, that magnify objects like burning glasses. I have seen some that, when exposed to the sun, have reflected the heat so strongly as to set fire to a plank fifteen or sixteen feet distant.
I bought a small horse that turned out very well. Before my departure I had him shod at Damascus; and thence, as far as Bursa, which is near fifty days' journey, so well do they shoe their horses that I had nothing to do with his feet, excepting one of the fore ones, which was pricked by a nail, and made him lame for three weeks. The shoes are light, thin, lengthened towards the heel, and thinner there than at the toe. They are not turned up, and have but four nail holes, two on each side. The nails are square, with a thick and heavy head. When a shoe is wanted, and it is necessary to work it to make it fit the hoof, it is done cold, without ever putting it in the fire, which can readily be done because it is so thin. To pare the hoof they use a pruning knife, similar to what vine-dressers trim their vines with, both on this as well as on the other side of the sea. The horses of this country only walk and gallop; and, when purchased, those which have the best walk are preferred, as, in Europe, those which trot the best. They have wide nostrils, gallop well, and are excellent, costing little on the road; for they eat only at night, and then but a small quantity of barley with chopped straw. They never drink but in the afternoon; and their bridles are always left in their mouths, even when in the stable, like mules. When there they have the two hinder legs tied; and they are all intermixed together, horses and mares. All are geldings, excepting a few kept for stallions. Should you have any business with a rich man, and call on him, he will carry you, to speak with you, to his stables, which are, consequently, kept always very cool and very clean. We Europeans prefer a stone-horse of a good breed; but the Moors esteem only mares. In that country a great man is not ashamed to ride a mare with its foal running after the dam. I have seen some, exceedingly beautiful, sold as high as two or three hundred ducats. They are accustomed to keep their horses very low, and never to allow them to get fat. The men of fortune carry with them, when they ride, a small drum, which they use in battle, or in skirmishes, to rally their men. It is fastened to the pommel of their saddles, and they beat on it with a piece of flat leather. I also purchased one, with spurs, and vermilion coloured boots, which came up to my knees, according to the custom of the country.
As a mark of my gratitude to Hoyarbarach, I went to offer him a pot of green ginger; but he refused it, and it was by dint of prayers and entreaties that I prevailed on him to accept of it. I had no other pledge for my security than what I have mentioned; but I found him full of frankness and good will—more, perhaps, than I should have found in many Christians.
God, who had protected me in the accomplishment of this journey, brought me acquainted with a Jew of Caiffa, who spoke the Tartar and Italian languages; and I requested him to assist me in putting down in writing the names of every thing I might have occasion to want for myself and my horse while on the road. On our arrival, the first day's journey, at Ballec, I drew out my paper to know how to ask for barley and chopped straw, which I wanted to give my horse. Ten or twelve Turks near me, observing my action, burst into laughter; and, coming nearer to examine my paper, seemed as much surprised at our writing as we are with theirs. They took a liking to me, and made every effort to teach me to speak Turkish. They were never weary of making me often repeat the same thing, and pronounced it so many different ways that I could not fail to retain it; so, when we separated, I knew how to call for every thing necessary for myself and horse.
During the stay of the caravan at Damascus, I made a pilgrimage, about sixteen miles distant, to our Lady of Serdenay. To arrive there we traversed a mountain a full quarter of a mile in length, to which the gardens of Damascus extend. We then descended into a delightful valley, full of vineyards and gardens, with a handsome fountain of excellent water. Here, on a rock, has been erected a small castle, with a church of green monks, having a portrait of the Virgin painted on wood, whose head has been carried thither miraculously, but in what manner I am ignorant. It is added that it always sweats, and that this sweat is an oil[436]. All I can say is, that when I went thither, I was shown, at the end of the church, behind the great altar, a niche formed in the wall, where I saw the image, which was a flat thing, and might be about one foot and a half high by one foot wide. I cannot say whether it is of wood or stone, for it was entirely covered with clothes. The front was closed with an iron trellis, and underneath was the vase containing the oil. A woman accosted me, and with a silver spoon moved aside the clothes, and wanted to anoint me with the sign of the cross on the forehead, the temples, and breast. I believe this was a mere trick to get money; nevertheless I do not mean to say that our Lady may not have more power than this image.
I returned to Damascus, and, on the evening of the departure of the caravan, settled my affairs and my conscience as if I had been at the point of death; for suddenly I found myself in great trouble. I have before mentioned the messenger whom the sultan had sent with orders to arrest all the Genoese and Catalonian merchants found within his dominions. By virtue of this order my host, who was a Genoese, was arrested, his effects seized, and a Moor placed in his house to take care of them. I endeavoured to save all I could for him; and, that the Moor might not notice it, I made him drunk. I was arrested in my turn, and carried before one of their cadies, who are considered as somewhat like our bishops, and have the office of administering justice. This cadi turned me over to another cadi, who sent me to prison with the merchants, although he knew I was not one; but this disagreeable affair had been brought on me by an interpreter, who wanted to extort money from me, as he had before attempted on my first journey hither. Had it not been for Antoine Mourrouzin, the Venetian consul, I must have paid a sum of money; but I remained in prison; and, in the mean time, the caravan set off. The consul, to obtain my liberty, was forced to make intercession, conjointly with others, to the governor of Damascus, alleging that I had been arrested without cause, which the interpreter well knew. The governor sent for a Genoese, named Gentil Imperial, a merchant employed by the sultan to purchase slaves for him at Caiffa. He asked me who I was, and my business at Damascus. On my replying that I was a Frenchman returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he said they had done wrong to detain me, and that I might depart when I pleased.
I set off on the morrow of the sixth of October, accompanied by a moucre, whom I had first charged to carry my Turkish dress out of the town, because a Christian is not permitted to wear a white turban there. At a short distance a mountain rises, on which I was shown a house said to have been that of Cain. During the first day we travelled over mountains, but the road was good. On the second day we entered a fine country, which continued cheerful until we came to Balbeck. My moucre there quitted me, as I had overtaken the caravan. It was encamped near a river, on account of the great heat in these parts; the nights are nevertheless very cold, which will scarcely be believed, and the dews exceedingly heavy. I waited on Hoyarbarach, who confirmed the permission he had granted me to accompany him, and recommended me not to quit the caravan. On the morrow morning, at eleven o'clock, I gave my horse water, with oats and straw, according to the custom of our countries. This time the Turks said nothing to me; but at six o'clock in the evening, when, having given him water, I was about fastening the bag, that he might eat, they opposed it and took off the bag; for they never suffer their horses to eat but during the night, and will not allow one to begin eating before the rest, unless when they are at grass.
The captain of the caravan had with him a mameluke of the sultan, who was a Circassian, and going to Caramania in search of a brother. This man, seeing me alone and ignorant of the language of the country, charitably wished to serve me as a companion, and took me with him; but, as he had no tent, we were often obliged to pass the nights under trees in gardens. It was then that I was obliged to learn to sleep on the ground, to drink nothing but water, and to sit cross-legged. This posture was at first painful, but it was still more so to accustom myself to sit on my horse with such very short stirrups,—and I suffered so much that, when I had dismounted, I could not remount without assistance, so sore were my hams; but after a little time this manner seemed even more convenient than ours. That same evening I supped with the mameluke; but we had only bread, cheese, and milk. I had, when eating, a table-cloth, like the rich men of the country. These cloths are four feet in diameter, and round, having strings attached to them, so that they may be drawn up like a purse. When they are used they are spread out; and, when the meal is over, they are drawn up with all that remains within them, without their losing a crumb of bread or a raisin. But I observed that, whether their repast had been good or bad, they never failed to return thanks aloud to God.
Balbeck is a good town, well inclosed with walls, and tolerably commercial. In the centre is a castle, built with very large stones. At present it contains a mosque, in which, it is said, there is a human skull, with eyes so enormous that a man may pass his head through their openings. I cannot affirm this for fact, as none but Saracens may enter the mosque.
From Balbeck we went to Hamos[437], and encamped on the banks of a river. It was there I observed their manner of encamping and pitching their tents. The tents are neither very high nor very large, so that one man can pitch them, and six persons may with ease repose in them during the heat. In the course of the day they lay open the lower parts, to give passage to the air, and close them in the night time. One camel can carry seven or eight with thin poles; some of them are very handsome. As my companion, the mameluke, and myself, had no tent, we fixed our quarters in a garden. There we were joined by two Turcomans of Satalia, returning from Mecca, who supped with us. These men, seeing me well clothed and well mounted, having a handsome sword, and well furnished tarquais, proposed to the mameluke, as he afterwards owned when we separated, to make away with me, considering that I was but a Christian, and unworthy of being in their company. He answered that, since I had eaten bread and salt with them, it would be a great crime; that it was forbidden by their law; and that, after all, God had created the Christians as well as the Saracens. They, however, persisted in their design; and as I testified a desire of seeing Aleppo, the most considerable town in Syria after Damascus, they pressed me to join them. I was ignorant of their intention, and accepted their offer; but I am now convinced they only wanted to cut my throat. The mameluke forbade them to come any more near us, and by this means saved my life.