THE

ANSYREEH AND ISMAELEEH.

CHAPTER I.

PLAIN OF LADIKEEH-TRICKS PLAYED ON THE ANSYREEH-ANSYREEH PEASANT ANSYREEH VILLAGE - FAILURE IN THE KITCHEN-JOURNEY TO SUADEIAH-CHEAPNESS OF PROVISIONS -MISADVENTURE-SUADEIAH-ANSYREEH LITERATI-ANSY

REEH FOUND AT TARSUS, SELEUCIA, AND ANTIOCH-PROCEED TO ANTIOCH-TO ALEPPO.

Ar the latter end of April I left Beyrout for Ladikeeh. I was naturally anxious to have my first look at the little capital of the district which, God willing, was to be the scene of my future life and labours. On the morning of the third day we anchored outside the ancient port which, though small, must have been for the navies of old both safe and commodious. Its present appearance, commanded by an

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old fort at the entrance, and backed by gardens stretching up to the town, is very picturesque. Ladikeeh and its port are still decaying, and present a striking contrast to the bustling and rising town of Beyrout. It is surrounded by a vast plain, stamped by all the loneliness of depopulation; and the olive groves in its immediate vicinity, seem to partake far more of the desolate stillness of the plain on which they verge, than of the cheerfulness of the city whose walls they skirt.

Early on the morning after my arrival, I ascended the mount behind the town, once the castle hill, but now crowned by a mosque, recently erected to the memory of a Mussulman Sheikh, from Northern Africa. This mosque attracts the eye, not only as a conspicuous object to be seen for a distance of many miles, but because it appears as the last effort of the decaying religion of a declining country and town. From the top of the mount there is a fine view of the plain, extending for many miles north, south and east, and in the distance gradually breaking into hills, themselves giving way to mountain ranges. In the north rises Mount Cassius, its bare head wrapped round with clouds; on

the south appeared the mountain of the cedars, the northern termination of Lebanon, still "in wintery grandeur towering," although it was the end of April. But what to me possessed more interest than all besides, was the range to the east, inhabited almost exclusively by the mysterious race which I intended to visit. The plain itself appeared dotted here and there by their villages, for they are its sole cultivators. It was the time of spring, before the grain had been reaped and the fierce suns of the almost cloudless Syrian summer had scorched its treeless plains; and the patches of verdure seen at a distance, gave the eye a false impression of the amount of labour bestowed upon them by the wretched peasantry. On a nearer view, are perceived whole tracts of ground lying fallow or producing scanty crops, notwithstanding the fertility of the soil and the numerous rivers which might be made use of to irrigate it.

Although, as I have said, the Ansyreeh, or Fellaheen, i.e. peasantry, are the sole inhabitants of the plain, their nearest village is about half an hour distant, none residing in the town, or coming into it, except to bring wood or other articles for sale, and for such like

necessary business. They are too much oppressed by the inhabitants of towns to have any great love for them; not to speak of the contempt in which they are held, and the practical jokes that are played upon them. To these they are particularly subjected in Tripoli, the Mussulmans of which are more bigoted than those of Ladikeeh. In the neighbourhood there is a large number of Fellaheen, and occasionally they are obliged to enter the town on errands. On such occasions, the facetious shopkeepers suspend hooks in the shop windows, which they cause to dangle till they become entangled with the turban of an Ansyreeh, and then, by a sudden twitch, raise it into the air, to the astonishment of the At other times they put a match within the ample folds of the white cotton liffeh, or turban-wrapper, and set it in a blaze, A respectable Mussulman informed me that he was one day sitting with a shopkeeper, when an Ansyreeh presented himself and asked change for a piece of money worth about 38. 6d. The shopkeeper took it, put it secretly in a bag and returned a piece of false coin like that he had received, saying, "This piece is a bad one, I cannot change it." I remonstrated

wearer.

with him afterwards, said my informant, but what was I to do?

But all this is better treatment than that which this poor people experienced some thirty years ago, when whole batches were impaled by the then governor of the town, the notorious Pasha Berbers, who died about the time of the invasion of Ibrahim Pasha.

I had determined to leave my ascent of the mountains till the last, and during the cooler months to visit Antioch and the country to the north of them and the plains of Hamah on their eastern side. While I was preparing for my journey, I saw one morning, in our Arab consul's house, a tall gaunt peasant, who proved to be one of those whose acquaintance I was desirous of making. I eyed him with I know not how much interest. As I wished to see what an Ansyreeh village was like, the consul proposed my taking this man as my guide, and, accordingly, I mounted a donkey, and the huge fellow trudged on before. He looked a thorough clodhopper in his high sheepskin boots, though a white wrapper of vast dimensions round his head, as well as the other articles of his dress, proved him to have but a distant relationship to his brethren in