DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5504#0074
162 Travels in Greece, Turkey, and the Holy Land,
I crossed groves of banana-trees, and sprang over moresquc
arch-roofs, to deliver to the aga the recommendatory letter,
or rather the orders, of Mehemet of Jaffa, his superior.
This terrible master was so well obeyed, that I met with a very
polite reception. The marble palace, built in the time of the califs,
in which the aga resides, must have been a voluptuous abode
in the time of the sultans: each object still speaks there of
these brave and gallant princes, who aided with their arms the
bewitching Armida. The governor of Gaza was wretchedly
lodged in a tattered divan, amid these magnificent ruins. The
Avails are, however, still incrusted with azure and gold; and
marble arcades, skilfully wrought, afford a passage to the per-
fumes of the adjacent forests. The illusion of the evening em-
bellishes every where that which exists, and gives a fine relief
to that which is no more: accordingly, on the following day,
I could no longer find the traces of what, on the preceding
evening, had constituted the chief allusion of my brilliant and
chivalrous reveries.
After having smoked the pipe, and taken coffee, which was
presented to us by fine youths of from twelve to fifteen years of
age, I was shown to the house of a Greek, the aga's first secre-
tary. We there selected for our quarters a court, in preference
to the interior of the house, and slept beneath thick trellises.
In the morning, I was awakened at an early hour by the arrival
of a courier from Jaffa, who brought me a present from the aga
of very rich Damascus cloths. I was not at all surprised at this,
as his munificence was, as well as his wish to make himself
agreeable to foreigners, to the French more especially, well
known to me.
Gaza at that time scarcely contained eight thousands inha-
bitants, divided between Turks, Arabs, and Greeks. The pa-
laces facing the rampart were almost entirely deserted. All
the surrounding objects bore testimony to the riches and ele-
gance of remote times, and to the bad taste and misery of the
present. The principal mosque is ornamented with four rows
of columns of African marble, surmounted by corinthian capi-
tals in the best taste: these ornaments were evidently brought
hither from Ascalon. My host pointed out to me respectfully
the remains of ancient walls on the summit of a hill: these he
would have to be the ruins of the temple which Sampson over-
threw: and, beyond these remains, he showed me the spot
where this Hercules of the Israelites deposited the gates of Ga-
za. We fell iu with the aga, who was proceeding towards the
sea side, distant about four miles, on a hunting excursion. He
was followed by a numerous retinue of mamelouks, among
whom were several of the young men whose beauty had made
I crossed groves of banana-trees, and sprang over moresquc
arch-roofs, to deliver to the aga the recommendatory letter,
or rather the orders, of Mehemet of Jaffa, his superior.
This terrible master was so well obeyed, that I met with a very
polite reception. The marble palace, built in the time of the califs,
in which the aga resides, must have been a voluptuous abode
in the time of the sultans: each object still speaks there of
these brave and gallant princes, who aided with their arms the
bewitching Armida. The governor of Gaza was wretchedly
lodged in a tattered divan, amid these magnificent ruins. The
Avails are, however, still incrusted with azure and gold; and
marble arcades, skilfully wrought, afford a passage to the per-
fumes of the adjacent forests. The illusion of the evening em-
bellishes every where that which exists, and gives a fine relief
to that which is no more: accordingly, on the following day,
I could no longer find the traces of what, on the preceding
evening, had constituted the chief allusion of my brilliant and
chivalrous reveries.
After having smoked the pipe, and taken coffee, which was
presented to us by fine youths of from twelve to fifteen years of
age, I was shown to the house of a Greek, the aga's first secre-
tary. We there selected for our quarters a court, in preference
to the interior of the house, and slept beneath thick trellises.
In the morning, I was awakened at an early hour by the arrival
of a courier from Jaffa, who brought me a present from the aga
of very rich Damascus cloths. I was not at all surprised at this,
as his munificence was, as well as his wish to make himself
agreeable to foreigners, to the French more especially, well
known to me.
Gaza at that time scarcely contained eight thousands inha-
bitants, divided between Turks, Arabs, and Greeks. The pa-
laces facing the rampart were almost entirely deserted. All
the surrounding objects bore testimony to the riches and ele-
gance of remote times, and to the bad taste and misery of the
present. The principal mosque is ornamented with four rows
of columns of African marble, surmounted by corinthian capi-
tals in the best taste: these ornaments were evidently brought
hither from Ascalon. My host pointed out to me respectfully
the remains of ancient walls on the summit of a hill: these he
would have to be the ruins of the temple which Sampson over-
threw: and, beyond these remains, he showed me the spot
where this Hercules of the Israelites deposited the gates of Ga-
za. We fell iu with the aga, who was proceeding towards the
sea side, distant about four miles, on a hunting excursion. He
was followed by a numerous retinue of mamelouks, among
whom were several of the young men whose beauty had made