William Francis Lynch

“ Behind us was the great plain of Acre. While thus engaged, some Arab fellahin (peasants) passed us, their appearance wild, and their complexions of the negro tint.
With conflicting emotions we saw the Supply, under all sail, stand out to sea. Shall any of us live to tread again her clean, familiar deck? What matters it! We are in the hands of God, and, fall early, or fall late, we fall only with His consent.
AUDIENCE AT THE GOVERNOR’S
Late in the afternoon, I received an invitation from Sa’id Bey to come to the palace. ”

“ It is most important to ascertain whether birds live on the shores, or fish within the depths, of the Dead Sea; and not less, to not carefully every stream and fissure, their direction and their depth, and to ascertain, if possible, whether the former are perpetual, or only temporary, torrents. ”

“ An English party having been recently attacked, in attempting to descend the Jordan, the tribes might yet be in an exasperated state, and in the event of gun-shot wounds, surgical aid would be indispensable. Lieutenant Molyneux, Royal Navy, the commander of that party, having, like Costigan, the only man who preceded him, perished of fever caught on the Dead Sea, I felt it a duty to secure the valuable services of Dr. Anderson. I directed him to proceed across the country, to make a geological reconnoissance, and to join us, if he could, on the route from Acre to Tiberias. ”

“ It was amusing to see the shifting of postures on the entrance of a visitor of a higher rank than any present; — when the squatters, drawing themselves up, assumed a more reverential attitude, and they who had been supported on one knee, found it necessary to rest upon two. ”

“ This Sa’id Bey is an instance of the vicissitudes of fortune in the Ottoman empire. Holding an office under Ibrahim Pasha, when the Egyptians were in possession of the country, he was detected in malpractices; and at the restoration of Acre to the Turks, was found in chains, condemned to labour for life. He now walks as master through the streets which he formerly swept. When the company had retired, the consul, “on hospitable cares intent,” being a bachelor, superintended in person the preparation of my bed. ”

“ Determined, therefore, not again to have recourse to the grasping governor, I contracted with Sa’id Mustafa, a resident of the town, for the necessary number of camels and horses.
The first attempt to draw the trucks by camels was a novel sight, witnessed by an eager crowd of people. The successful result taught them the existence of an unknown accomplishment in that patient and powerful animal, which they had before thought fit only to plod along with its heavy load upon its back. ”

“ Here and there, scattered upon the plain, were conical-shaped green tents, with tethered horses feeding near them; some of the last, belonging to the Pasha, were beautiful Arabians, exceedingly quick and graceful in their movements.
Just without the town we met the Bedawin sheikh ‘Akil , who handed me a letter sent by express from our consul at Beïrût. The sheikh, on his way to Abelin, one of his villages, was kind enough to be the bearer of the letter. It contained the required firman from the Pasha of Damascus. ”

“ We then chartered an Arab boat, to convey the boats, sails, and heavier articles, across the bay to Acre. Still, the horses could not, or would not, budge; so that we were compelled to re-launch the boats, and send them to the ship, which had sailed over, and was then blazing away, returning a salute of the town. With a sailor mounted on each of the trucks, the horses were at length made to draw them, by dint of severe beating. The road along the beach was as firm and hard as a floor. ”

“ With great difficulty I landed through the surf, in company with our dragoman and our vice-consul at Acre, who had come with us from Beïrût. We were in danger of perishing, and were only rescued by the Arab fishermen who came to our assistance. They are bold and dexterous swimmers, as much at home in the water as the natives of the Sandwich Islands. ”

“ This idea strengthened with reflection, until I had reached a state of mind exactly the reverse of what Sa’id Bey anticipated.
The discussion lasted for some time, the governor, the cadi, the sheikh, and others, whose names and rank I did not know, urging me to accept the offer. This I positively declined, stating that I was not authorized, and if I were would scorn to buy protection: that if draught horses could be procured or oxen furnished, I would pay fairly for them and for a few soldiers to act as scouts; but that we were well armed and able to protect ourselves. ”

“ Sa’id Bey, the governor, is about forty-five years of age. He is a Syrian by birth, an Egyptian by descent, and almost a mulatto in complexion. He was dressed in plain blue pantaloons and a long blue surtout, and wore a black beard and the red tarbouch. His countenance indicated cunning, if not treachery. The crowd seemed to be on such familiar terms with their superiors as would have been edifying to the citizens of some of our own states at home. ”

“ Specimens of mud from various parts of the sea, river and lake should be collected and placed in air-tight vessels.
“It is said that the mountains of the west coast consist principally of a bituminous limestone, which inflames, smokes, and is fetid. Lumps of sulphur as large as a walnut have been found at Ain el Feshkha. On the west coast small fragments of lint, flesh red and brown, have also been found; and on the banks of the Jordan, nearly opposite Jericho, rolled pebbles of white carbonate of lime with thin veins of quartz. ”

“ The increasing surf preventing further communication with the ship, we proceeded first to Haifa and thence to the convent for a bed, for in the village there was no accommodation. The first thing in Syria which strikes a visitor from the western world, is the absence of forest trees. Except the orchards, the mountains and the plains are unrelieved surfaces of dull brown and green. ”

“ Within the convent is the celebrated grotto of Elias, with a beautiful marble rotundo in front, and a chaste and richly decorated chapel above it. In front of the main building is a tent-shaped mausoleum, erected over 2,000 Frenchmen, who, sick, and unable to defend themselves, were massacred by the Turks. The convent was then used as a hospital. The word “Carmel” means garden. ”

“ H.B.M. Consul-General, Colonel Rose, was kind and obliging. Besides partaking of his hospitality, I was indebted to him for a letter to Mr. Finn, H.B.M. Consul at Jerusalem, — rendered the more acceptable, as our country has no representative there.
Beïrût is a Franco-Syrian town, with a proportionate number of Turkish officials. The customs of the east and of the west are singularly blended, but the races remain distinct, separated by difference of complexion and of faith. The most striking peculiarity of dress we saw, was the tantur, or horn, worn mostly by the wives of the mountaineers. ”

“ It is desirable to obtain mineralogical specimens, to ascertain if the surrounding regions be volcanic, and for the future purpose of comparing them with similar specimens from Vesuvius or some modern active volcano, in order to ascertain whether or not modern volcanic productions differ from more ancient ones. ”

“ AMERICAN TRAVELERS
Without the court I overtook the sheikh, who had preceded me, and asked him many questions about the tribes of the Jordan. In the course of the conversation showed my sword and revolver — the former with pistol barrels attached near the hilt. He examined them closely, and remarked that they were the “devil’s invention.” ”

“ They thought that they were gold. Great fun to our sailors putting together the carriages, which with the harness were made in New York for the transportation of the boats. The men were full of jokes and merriment, at beginning camp life. Mustafa, the cook, prepared our first tea in Palestine.
We had two tents made of American canvass. They were circular, so constructed that the boats’ masts answered as tent-poles to them. The officers occupied the small and the men the large one. ”

“ Perhaps no other town in the world could have stood the hurtling of the iron hail-storm as well. In some places, but comparatively few in number, there were chasms, showing where a cannon-shot had passed; in others, the shot had formed a lodgment, and remained a fixture ”

“ It is worn only by married women, or by unmarried ones of the highest rank, and once assumed, is borne for life. Although the temple may throb, and the brain be racked with fever, it cannot be laid aside. ”