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BIBLICAL ASSOCIATIONS.

61

The

fro of the great caravan from Constantinople to Mecca. number of Armenian and Greek Christians is about 11,000, and of the Jews about 5,000. It will, no doubt, be in the recollection of many, that a persecution of the latter people, on the old and absurd charge of sacrificing a Christian boy at their festivals, took place a few years back, when Sir Moses Montefiore went over from England in order to obtain immunity for his brethren from similar outrages in future.

The most interesting biblical associations connected with this city are, that it is mentioned as already in existence when Abraham migrated from Ur of the Chaldees into Palestine, his steward being one Eliezer of Damascus; that here was the residence of Naaman the Syrian; that the Abana and Pharphar which he so patriotically deemed better than all the waters of Jordan, and whose names ring so euphoniously in the stately verse of our great poet,* here unite in the modern Barrada; and that, as every one knows, it was the scene of St. Paul's conversion at a period when Syria had fallen under the Roman sway. Tradition has preserved the memory, and has pretended to identify the localities connected with this critical period in the life of the Apostle. The alleged spot where he fell from his horse is pointed out, about two miles from the city on the direct road leading towards Palestine, and by which road he must almost necessarily have approached. One of the streets still retains the name of "Straight," a main avenue, but rebuilt very probably over and over again since the Apostle's days. There is here some degree of probability; but this ceases altogether when the houses of Ananias and Naaman are pointed out, and the place where Paul was let down in a basket from a house overhanging the city wall. The "Arabia" into which he retired on this occasion was probably Haouran, the district eastward and southward of the plain.

I returned to Beyrout by a more direct road, through Barouk

*Paradise Lost. Book I.

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and Deir el Kamar. The journey to Damascus had proved extremely interesting, but the state of the country was still so unsettled, that it was deemed exceedingly imprudent, especially with limited time and resources, to attempt penetrating the disturbed district. To give up Jerusalem when within a few days' journey, was most distressing, but none of my companions, nor any other traveller, had succeeded in getting there; and I was therefore reluctantly compelled to renounce the long-cherished hope of visiting it, with not the slightest expectation moreover of being able to redeem such a disappointment at any future period.

CHAPTER II.

FROM BEYROUT TO SELEUCIA, ANTIOCH, TARSUS, ETC.-COASTING VOYAGE TO

RHODES.

HAVING decided, with many a pang, to turn my back upon the Holy City, and to proceed into the north of Syria, it was some indemnification, at least, for the bitterness of my disappointment, that the region I was about to visit was less hackneyed by travellers than the ordinary routes through Palestine. Antioch, the queen of the East, had been comparatively little explored. The city "where the disciples were first called Christians,"—the seat of one of the earliest churches, proverbial for the luxury of its inhabitants and the magnificence of its edifices, of which latter considerable remains were said to exist,-presented itself to my imagination in the most attractive colours.

Having hired one of the very smallest barks that ply along the coast, I took leave one evening of my kind friends at the British consulate, and, favoured by the land breeze, ran so rapidly along the coast, that long before noon on the following day we reached the little island of Ruad, many miles to the north of Beyrout, where, the wind entirely failing, we were compelled to wait until the evening. This island, under the name of Aradus, formed a part of the commercial confederacy of the Tyrians, and after the revolutions of so many ages, seems at the present day a humble maritime republic, in which all the inhabitants are seamen or shipwrights. Some small vessels were on the stocks, and a considerable number of fishing-boats at anchor; and we

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even hunted out an English vice-consul, who, but rarely troubled with the visits of travellers, gave us a hospitable reception; nevertheless, time hung so heavily on hand, that a boat was hired to row across to the neighbouring town of Tortous, or Tortosa, near which we could discern at this distance the remains of some considerable edifice.

Having reached the deserted strand, we found it was but a short walk up to the building, which proved to be the ruins of a large church, apparently, from its pointed arches, the work of the Crusaders. The spot had long since been abandoned; the roof was entirely gone, the walls rent, and a few goats were browsing upon the long rank grass that grew where once had been the altar. We then walked on to Tortosa, another ruin, with the remains of strong fortifications, also erected during the brief existence of the Latin kingdom. These memorials of the stirring and romantic ages of the Crusades can never, at least by me, be beheld without a feeling of peculiar interest. Tortosa was one of the last strongholds which yielded to the arms of Saladin, and here the Christian knights took their final leave of the land they had so long and so gallantly struggled to maintain.

We returned to Ruad, and, favoured again by a fair and pleasant breeze, set sail, and soon lost sight of that ancient. commercial island, amidst the light vapours that rose after sunset from the cerulean sea. There were no berths in this diminutive bark; as before, a carpet spread upon the sand which served as ballast, saddle-bags for pillows, and a cloak for a coverlet, made up the accommodation; I slept soundly, and had the pleasure, on awaking, to find that we were proceeding with the same rapidity as before. The coast scenery was growing bolder as we advanced. Beyond the lofty headlands which dropped into the sea, was seen the stupendous cone of Mount Casius, isolated like Vesuvius, its summit bare and white, but its flanks, which rose directly from the waves, covered with magnificent forests, apparently in a state of nature. We flew rapidly along past this magnificent object,

VISIT TO SUWADIYEH.

65 and in the afternoon entered the Orontes. At the mouth of this river is a bar upon which the surf was breaking roughly, and in crossing this, we were at one moment very near being capsized among the breakers, the next, our bark was in still water and quietly moored to the shore.

Near the landing-place, in a village called Suwadiyeh, or as Europeans call it, "Suadéa," is the residence of Mr. Barker, formerly our consul at Alexandria, who having retired from active life, has here purchased an estate, and devoted himself to his favourite pursuit of horticulture. A letter of introduction to this gentleman had been furnished me, which I sent forward. while I waited; and soon, "on hospitable thoughts intent," a member of his family rode down, bringing a led horse upon which I was to accompany him to the house. Whether the having passed two nights in an open boat, or the evident cordiality of my reception had influenced me, I know not, but when I saw the white walls and shady verandahs of the building peeping up among luxuriant gardens, it struck me as the prettiest and most English looking place I had seen in the whole of Syria. Nor can I ever forget how I was welcomed by this estimable gentleman and his lady. In a word, I felt on this remote and unvisited corner of Syria, at home. There was all that goes to make up the precious significance of that word to a wayworn traveller in the manner of my host and hostess. That night I laid my head on my pillow with an unwonted feeling of mental and bodily luxury.

Next morning I was abroad before breakfast, with Mr. Barker, inspecting his gardens, in which he might well take pride. The soil of Syria is most prolific, but the art of gardening has long been forgotten, and the fruits obtainable in the country, grapes and figs excepted, are of poor quality. My host had introduced varieties of the apricot, vine, and other trees, and the products of which under his system of horticulture were so delicious, that I have heard a captain of a man-of-war on the Syrian station declare,

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