DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0158
HOLY LAND, AND CYPRUS. 125
Levantines. As this, in which I entered, will give some idea
of the mode of life amongst this class of people in the East,
I shall describe it. On entering the gateway, which was
almost blocked up by piles of goods, a small door on the
right hand side opened to a dirty stone flight of steps, which
I ascended, and found nryself at the end of a long narrow
dark passage, on one side of which -were doors opening to
the apartments of different inhabitants of the okellah. At
the extreme end of the passage, the English arms, barely
distinguishable in the gloom, showed me I had attained my
destination; a respectable looking Greek servant opened the
door, and I was ushered into a large saloon, one end of which
was elevated above the rest, and fitted up with ottomans;
the remainder with projecting benches for common visitors,
who seat themselves without ceremony in the presence of all,
excepting their immediate superior. The vice-consul was
not up; I waited for some time, and was enabled to contem-
plate the other ornaments of the room. These consisted of
two old Trieste chandeliers, suspended from the ceiling, and
covered with dust; three or four shabby looking glasses, in
gilt frames, placed on the walls that were once white-washed ;
and two drawings of ships in water colours, such as would be
drawn by a school-boy, were fixed on the walls of the room
with wafers. The flooring was of stone, that seemed never to
have been scoured.
Levantines. As this, in which I entered, will give some idea
of the mode of life amongst this class of people in the East,
I shall describe it. On entering the gateway, which was
almost blocked up by piles of goods, a small door on the
right hand side opened to a dirty stone flight of steps, which
I ascended, and found nryself at the end of a long narrow
dark passage, on one side of which -were doors opening to
the apartments of different inhabitants of the okellah. At
the extreme end of the passage, the English arms, barely
distinguishable in the gloom, showed me I had attained my
destination; a respectable looking Greek servant opened the
door, and I was ushered into a large saloon, one end of which
was elevated above the rest, and fitted up with ottomans;
the remainder with projecting benches for common visitors,
who seat themselves without ceremony in the presence of all,
excepting their immediate superior. The vice-consul was
not up; I waited for some time, and was enabled to contem-
plate the other ornaments of the room. These consisted of
two old Trieste chandeliers, suspended from the ceiling, and
covered with dust; three or four shabby looking glasses, in
gilt frames, placed on the walls that were once white-washed ;
and two drawings of ships in water colours, such as would be
drawn by a school-boy, were fixed on the walls of the room
with wafers. The flooring was of stone, that seemed never to
have been scoured.