DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11448#0446
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
[CHAr. XIV
and now we mount for Lebanon. Before we revisit Beyrout, we
shall have bivouacked on the plains of Baalbec, trodden the
snows of Mount Hermon, quaffed the waters of Abana and Phar-
phar, and shared the hospitalities of the Princes of the Mountain.
I was awakened, one morning, by the sounds of sword and spur
upon my staircase, and two young officers of the Vernon burst
into my room, equipped for the mountains, and eager for the ex
pedition.
The bustle of preparation is always an amusing excitement to
witness, but it is more especially so previous to a Syrian expedi-
tion. A number and variety of necessaries is required for the
journey : tents, carpets, arms, and cooking materials lie strewn
about beneath the mulberry-trees ; turbaned and scimitared ser-
vants are hurrying to and fro, pouring forth torrents of impreca-
tions and directions on the Arab guides and muleteers : the garden
is full of horses and mules, neighing, snorting, and ringing their
bells. Here a bottle of brandy is being carefully filled, there
pistols are being loaded. Now an Arab gallops off on some er-
rand to the city, and now a band of men and boys endeavours to
load a kicking mule, with a chorus of execrations.
At length we are all mounted ; the mules and guides move off,
escorted by our three servants; and we only linger to take our
" stirrup cup" of coffee. Now the portly and long-bearded An-
tonio holds the stirrup, while Yussef hangs upon the Mameluke
bit that scarcely controls the eager horse whose expanded nostrils
seem to snuff the desert air. The beautiful little Salome hovers
round the impatient brute, with pistols that have just received
their last polish from her delicate fingers. And now we are off!
Beware, ye grave citizens—ye sedate travellers, of those wild
sailors !—a cloud of sand rises up among the cactus that over-
hang the narrow lane ; it runs like the roll of musquetry along
the beach; now, it subsides at the city-gates, and three young
cavaliers emerge from it at a gentler pace as their cavalcade is
overtaken.
After passing through the Pine Forest, we turned off to the
left, and were soon climbing what resembled rather the dry bed
of a mountain torrent than the high road to the capital of Syria.
As we advanced, the variety and extent of the view rapidly in-
[CHAr. XIV
and now we mount for Lebanon. Before we revisit Beyrout, we
shall have bivouacked on the plains of Baalbec, trodden the
snows of Mount Hermon, quaffed the waters of Abana and Phar-
phar, and shared the hospitalities of the Princes of the Mountain.
I was awakened, one morning, by the sounds of sword and spur
upon my staircase, and two young officers of the Vernon burst
into my room, equipped for the mountains, and eager for the ex
pedition.
The bustle of preparation is always an amusing excitement to
witness, but it is more especially so previous to a Syrian expedi-
tion. A number and variety of necessaries is required for the
journey : tents, carpets, arms, and cooking materials lie strewn
about beneath the mulberry-trees ; turbaned and scimitared ser-
vants are hurrying to and fro, pouring forth torrents of impreca-
tions and directions on the Arab guides and muleteers : the garden
is full of horses and mules, neighing, snorting, and ringing their
bells. Here a bottle of brandy is being carefully filled, there
pistols are being loaded. Now an Arab gallops off on some er-
rand to the city, and now a band of men and boys endeavours to
load a kicking mule, with a chorus of execrations.
At length we are all mounted ; the mules and guides move off,
escorted by our three servants; and we only linger to take our
" stirrup cup" of coffee. Now the portly and long-bearded An-
tonio holds the stirrup, while Yussef hangs upon the Mameluke
bit that scarcely controls the eager horse whose expanded nostrils
seem to snuff the desert air. The beautiful little Salome hovers
round the impatient brute, with pistols that have just received
their last polish from her delicate fingers. And now we are off!
Beware, ye grave citizens—ye sedate travellers, of those wild
sailors !—a cloud of sand rises up among the cactus that over-
hang the narrow lane ; it runs like the roll of musquetry along
the beach; now, it subsides at the city-gates, and three young
cavaliers emerge from it at a gentler pace as their cavalcade is
overtaken.
After passing through the Pine Forest, we turned off to the
left, and were soon climbing what resembled rather the dry bed
of a mountain torrent than the high road to the capital of Syria.
As we advanced, the variety and extent of the view rapidly in-