CHAPTER V.

LEAVE BAHLULEEH-ILLNESS-TOILSOME JOURNEY-DIRYOOSINTELLIGENT MEKUDDAM-WISH FOR SCHOOLS-A KNAVEHOSPITABLE MUSSULMAN-SAHIYOON-MUSSULMAN CHAMPION -MAGNIFICENT CASTLE-NARROW ESCAPE-SHEMSEEN-AN

SYREEH ROBBER-ANSYREEH TUTOR-SHEIKH HASSAN-ANSYREEH CHEATING-CHRISTIAN VILLAGE-INFIDEL PRIEST-GOOD SITE FOR SCHOOL-MUHAILBY-FINE CASTLE-KURDAHAHMERRY MEETING-ANSYREEH DANCE-CIRCUMCISION-FEAST -AIN SUKKUR-ANSYREEH BON-VIVANT.

THE time now came for my leaving Bahluleeh, where I had received the greatest civility from every one with whom I had come in contact. Wherever I went, the people saluted me, standing up as I passed, and seemed pleased at the residence of a Frank for so considerable a period among them. The evening before I left, I felt very unwell, and feared that I should not be able to start; which I wished to do, hoping that the air of Diryoos, which is high up in the mountains, would set me all right.

I slept little that night, and next morning

L

started before dawn in a pitiable plight, riding by the light of the stars, and preceded by the chief servant of the Mekuddam, a man who went by the name of the Arnaout, his father having originally come from the Arnaout country. His son, somehow or other, though a Mussulman, had been brought up in the Mekuddam's family. He was a good-tempered honest fellow, though perhaps none of the brightest.

After two hours we arrived at the village of Shereefah, where were the men who had been released, through my instrumentality, from prison in Ladikeeh. The people of course were most grateful for this, but I felt indifferent to everything, and laying my head on my saddlebags, endeavoured to sleep. They brought me some milk, but I could not manage it, it being After a two hours' rest, one of my very sour. protégés girded himself with a sword, and trudged on before me; my servant being mounted on a donkey, and my luggage, which was now reduced to the smallest possible compass, being placed on a mule. I had left my tent, and everything which I did not absolutely want, at Bahluleeh, for I had been informed that the roads were very bad. And so this day they

proved. At first the road was pretty, the villages, hills, and valleys forming a pleasing landscape. But at length we came to mountains, covered only with low brushwood, and the road was in some places nearly perpendicular, so that, being too weak to walk, the horse was at one time nearly falling over upon me. However, on we went by little and little, passing armed peasants, and others engaged at their threshing floors, situated here and there in the midst of a patch of cultivated ground.

At midday we arrived at some shady trees situated near a Sheikh's tomb, and again I lay down and slept for two hours. Again we started over the same dreary mountains, and along paths intercepted by thick brushwood, from which we had continually to guard our heads and sides, till at length, to my delight, we came in sight of the house of the Mekuddam. It was situated at the end of a large valley, along the side of which we wound as if we were never to arrive at our destination. The family of the man whom I was about to visit originally possessed little influence, but has latterly become numerous and rich, so that he has the credit of being one of the most powerful of the Ansyreeh chiefs, and his district would

be a very difficult and inaccessible one for Turkish troops to invade.

My back and limbs felt as if broken, and glad enough was I to alight. I was received most politely, and ushered into a common chamber, or divan, in the farther corner of which my bedstead was pitched. My friend, the captain of Bahluleeh, was here with some of his company, having taken up his quarters in the leewan, or recess, outside. In the room were a number of men who were disputing about the payment of the meeri, or taxes. I was glad to escape from the chamber, and went up behind the house and sat under a tree, which afforded the only shade in the place, and where a little breeze was to be felt. To my disappointment I found that the place was even warmer than Bahluleeh, being situated in a valley, on the bare sides of which the sun poured its rays, no wind finding its way to temper the heat. They brought me some goat's flesh and chicken broth, but I could not eat it, and the Christian, who had accompanied me, and ordered it for me, and whose appetite. had been sharpened by the day's march, took my place, and paid the fare ample honour When night came on I went down and lay on

my bed, and the Mekuddam kindly came to me and felt my pulse, declaring that I had got a fever; and in truth I was suffering from a low fever, accompanied by congestion of the brain.

I found the Mekuddam to be a very intelligent old man. He had lately been sent to Beyrout for some offence against the Government, and had only come off free through the kind interposition of the consuls there. He spoke with great respect of the American consul and of Dr. Smith, one of the missionaries, who had been very kind to him. He entered at once into the project of a school, and urged me to come to the mountains forthwith and build a house. He said: "We all desire it, and it would be a great act of kindness on your part." He made some very sensible remarks, but was not altogether free from superstitious credulity, firmly believing that there was a kind of grass growing in the mountains, which, when partaken of by sheep, turned their teeth into gold.

Next day, feeling still very unwell, I went up and lay under the shade of the tree, and the chief servant of the Mekuddam came up, who had been very attentive from the moment I