DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12665#0266
250
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
the gate where, for many years, a large pyramid
of sculls attested the desperate struggle of Napo-
leon ; or, in walking through the chambers of the
Greek convent, then used as a hospital for the
French, and the monks will show him an apart-
ment where, when all hearts were sinking within
them for fear, he visited and touched the sick of
the plague, restored the drooping courage of his
soldiers, and almost raised the dying from their bed
of death.
Besides the interest attached to this place by
reason of its great antiquity, and the many impor-
tant events of which it has been the scene, I re-
member it with much kindness, on account of the
American consular agent, and the cordial manner
in which he received me. He was not at home
when I arrived ; but in a few moments he came in,
and, taking both my hands in his, pointed to the
American arms on the wall, ordered the stars and
stripes to be hoisted on the top of his house, and,
with all the extravagance of the East, told me that
all he had was mine. I had a great mind to take
him at his word, and begin by appropriating a
beautiful emerald that I saw on his finger ; but for
the present I contented myself with asking merely
for a dinner, which was soon prepared ; and I sat
down to dine in the ancient city of Joppa, with my
country's arms before me, and my country's ban-
ner waving above.
The agent was an Armenian, and a strict ob-
server of all the requisitions of his exacting creed ;
INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL.
the gate where, for many years, a large pyramid
of sculls attested the desperate struggle of Napo-
leon ; or, in walking through the chambers of the
Greek convent, then used as a hospital for the
French, and the monks will show him an apart-
ment where, when all hearts were sinking within
them for fear, he visited and touched the sick of
the plague, restored the drooping courage of his
soldiers, and almost raised the dying from their bed
of death.
Besides the interest attached to this place by
reason of its great antiquity, and the many impor-
tant events of which it has been the scene, I re-
member it with much kindness, on account of the
American consular agent, and the cordial manner
in which he received me. He was not at home
when I arrived ; but in a few moments he came in,
and, taking both my hands in his, pointed to the
American arms on the wall, ordered the stars and
stripes to be hoisted on the top of his house, and,
with all the extravagance of the East, told me that
all he had was mine. I had a great mind to take
him at his word, and begin by appropriating a
beautiful emerald that I saw on his finger ; but for
the present I contented myself with asking merely
for a dinner, which was soon prepared ; and I sat
down to dine in the ancient city of Joppa, with my
country's arms before me, and my country's ban-
ner waving above.
The agent was an Armenian, and a strict ob-
server of all the requisitions of his exacting creed ;