Sabaste, which stands about three hours’ ride north-westward of Nabulous, was in ancient times called Samaria, the capital city of the kingdom of Israel, and was the head-quarters of the idolatry so solemnly denounced by Isaiah; and here was the scene of Elijah’s sacrifice and destruction of Baal’s prophets. It was captured after a three years’ siege and destroyed by the Assyrians, B.C. 721, and the Israelites carried away captive into that country. Seven centuries afterwards Herod the Great restored and beautified the city, and Philip preached there. The remains of a light colonnade, said to have been a thousand yards long, are still to be seen very much decayed, and may probably have been the work of Herod. There are some fine ruins (Romanesque) evidently of the age of the Crusaders, especially the Church of St. John, now a Mosque, and the Knights of St. John had a residence here. St. John the Baptist is said to be buried here, but this is uncertain. From some points of this rising ground the view of the Mediterranean is fine; numerous villages are visible, with some terebinths and a very few palm-trees, and in the district there are several places of interest, especially northwards, where are the mountains of Gilboa, also Dothan, where it is said Joseph was sold by his brethren. The soil is a rich black loam, watered by the blood of many a battle, as indeed is the great plain by which foreign foes generally invaded Palestine, and variously called the plains of Esdraelon, of Jezreel, and of Megiddo. Southward is the plain of Sharon, with an excellent soil extending as far as Jaffa, but there the sand blown from the sea-beach seems gradually encroaching upon the cultivated black soil—an evil which except under a Turkish Government might easily be prevented.
Note I, [page 199].—Turkish “Toleration”—Inevitable Decadence—Diplomacy.
The toleration secured for the Christian Faith in Syria is, if even observed in the letter, certainly not so in the spirit. From a letter, dated Damascus, 9th March, 1875, which I have seen, it may be inferred that there at least the Governors “keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope.” It may be that the Sultan believes that his government is tolerant—I think he likely does—but at Damascus “it is a far cry” to Constantinople. I annex an extract of interest:—
“Of the £6, I have given Ps. 40 to assist a converted Bedouin to escape to Egypt, and Ps. 25 each to four converted Misairiyeh, who were pressed into the army because they were converts and are not clothed and paid as the others. The remainder I shall disburse as occasion may arise.”
The religion of modern Mahomedans seems to be radically and utterly intolerant, and whatever toleration may be evinced is entirely forced from them by the exigences of government. As a nation they are evidently in their last stage of decay, and as a government only await an executioner. Without arts, manufactures, or agriculture, their revenues only another name for plunder, and all the energy and industry of the country dead, so far as the Turks are concerned, they rely solely upon the political sufferance of their subject races. The industry of the country is now dependent upon these; the Armenians and the Maronites if united could any day dissolve the Empire. Almost the only industry remaining in the land seems to rest with them, the Jews, and some sections of the Arabs. But they are without ambition, only glad to be let alone. The Druses are a very warlike sect, and seem liberally treated by the Turks, probably used to keep the Maronites, their enemies, in check. And so this overgrown Empire, although existing as formidable-looking as ever, is really incapable and without resources, except external aid. It may be again propped up for a year or two; but its rate of decadence—the inevitable and the natural result of its social system—is too rapid to enable even European diplomatists with the great powers of England at their back any longer to say, “Let us have peace in our day and after that—the deluge.” The Turkish Government plays off the Powers against each other, as it has long done the Churches; but the Turks are now otherwise utterly effete—nothing remains but their talent of diplomacy in its worst meaning, and the one great statesman who foresaw this seems to have been Prince Albert!
Note J, pages [202], [248], and [251].—New Overland Route to India—Bagdad—Trebizonde Route—Russian Trade—War.
The acquisition of the Suez Canal shares by the English Government, in itself a doubtful advantage, has been hailed with no little satisfaction by the public generally, showing, I think, how popular would be any increased facilities for connecting India with this country, and developing our trade therewith, and especially with Central Asia. Looking at the map we find the Turkish possessions extend as far as the borders of Persia, a country with which England is on friendly terms. Even in the time of the present generation a large overland trade existed between Europe and Bagdad through Syria, the centre point of the traffic being Damascus. Caravans of which we have all read, consisting of long trains of camels, carried on a large transit traffic chiefly in goods. From Bagdad as a centre access was no doubt obtained to many countries, to Persia on the east, as well as Turkestan on the north and Arabia on the south. Bagdad is situated on the Tigris, and all of us have a vivid and picturesque conception of its grandeur from reading in our younger days the “Arabian Nights’ Entertainments;” a book which, however fabulous it is, gives in the main, I think, a better description of Eastern Mahomedan manners at their best than any other with which I am acquainted. This trade has, however, during the present generation been greatly destroyed by the grasping rapacity of the Turkish Government, which, either directly or by their provincial Pashas, imposed heavy taxes upon this traffic, which seems year by year diminishing.
The Pashalic of Bagdad was the original country of the Saracens. It is 500 miles in length by 350 in breadth, containing a population of about two millions. It is watered by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, which unite their waters 150 miles south of the city, and afterwards fall into the Persian Gulf. The inhabitants of the city at the present time number nearly 50,000, principally Turks and Arabs, the others being Jews, Armenians, Afghans, Persians, and Hindoos. The city is enclosed by a wall nearly five miles in circumference, and its two parts are connected by a bridge of boats across the Tigris. There are, travellers tell us, numerous groves of date trees, and the city has a fine appearance from the outside, but inside the streets are dirty, crowded, and unpaved, somewhat like Damascus; there are few windows fronting the streets, which have a very poor appearance, while the interiors are frequently very richly decorated with mouldings and inlaid mirrors, and massive gilded ceilings, generally vaulted, and in some sense recall the glories of the good Haroun-al-Raschid. It is said to contain about one hundred mosques and religious houses with numerous khans and bazaars, besides the Palace of the Governor. The domes and minarets some travellers describe as beautifully decorated, and even finer than those of Constantinople. In the bazaars are shown the products of both Persia and Damascus, as well as various European goods. This commerce has recently decreased since Persia began to trade by direct caravans with Trebizonde, a flourishing city on the Black Sea, and by ships per the Persian Gulf on the south. Of late years Trebizonde has begun to rival even Alexandria’s commercial importance, and its position has made it a great entrepot of commerce between Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Black Sea on the one hand, and Central Asia on the other. European goods (including some English, for which, however, this route is very unfavourable) are carried by regular steamers from Constantinople and the Danube, and those from Central Asia come north by the return caravans. It is surprising that so very little is known by our Chambers of Commerce of this important commerce. Notwithstanding these facts, and the wretched Turkish Government, Bagdad still carries on a valuable trade with Aleppo and Damascus in manufactures of silks, red and yellow leather, and cotton and other goods. Several steamers ply on the Tigris to and from Bagdad, and there is one of the chief stations of the Anglo-Indian Telegraph.
If, as I have previously mentioned,[17] a railway were constructed to connect the Mediterranean Sea with Bagdad, or rather with Basra below the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, near the Persian Gulf, a much shorter route to Bombay would be secured than by the Red Sea, probably by six hundred miles, and considerably more in time would be saved in the transit, because substituting railway for steamer the heavy expenses of the Suez Canal would be avoided, as well as the dangers and discomforts of the Red Sea voyage. But irrespective altogether of Indian trade we would probably open up a valuable connexion with Arabia—that important but hitherto sealed and unknown country—as well as with Persia, Turkestan, and Central Asia generally. At present the Tigris and Euphrates are navigable for hundreds of miles, even by vessels of 500 tons, and for much greater distances by smaller steamers and other craft.