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24 September 1879 — Beirut | |
Wednesday. 24th September [1879]. We got up at 4 & at 5 were en route. Alice had been unwell all night. Capt. Wingfield had been taken with gout & we left him behind. Alice, Henry & I started in a light kind of basket carriage covered with a linen awning. Poor Alice was very ill all the day. The servants & the rest who went with us went in the dilligence. The road & dilligence belong to a French Col.; we went a great pace & changed horses about every hour. We went thro’ a lovely country altho’ burnt up with the sun. We went over the Lebanon at a great pace and arrived in the plain between it & the Ante Lebanon at a place called Staura at abt 12. There we found the authorities of Damascus waiting for us & tents pitched in a pretty spot in a field & an excellent breakfast was served wh we had to eat in a nest of wasps. I think I never saw so many. As we went over the Ante Lebanon the heat diminished & Alice began to get better. Just before sunset we got down to the plain where Damascus is—& the sudden change from burning heat to a watered valley was very remarkable. We stopped at the entrance of the town at a garden belonging to Abdul Kadr of [illegible word] where we were recd by Midhat P. & Abdul Kadr &c &c They took us in the garden & gave us refreshments & after a few compliments we went on. Midhat P. insisted on taking me in his open phaeton. Henry came in a carriage next & we made a long procession with troops & gendarmes. There was a dense crowd waiting for us & the scene was like an Arabian nights tale—the varied costumes, the Oriental architecture, running water, & trees & over it the mists of evening. We got in just at sunset. To our surprise we found the troops moving off as we approached & we found out that the military Govr Ahmed Eyub P. in order to spite Midhat had ordered the troops to retire at sunset & as we arrived two minutes after they were disappearing as we arrived. We were taken to a splendid big house, belonging to one Said P. the Pasha who had the yearly caravan to Mecca who every year has the charge of the pilgrimage to Mecca. He was a big stout kind looking old man—the approach to his house was up a lane & it looked mean outside—inside it was very fine. Midhat took me upstairs & waited till we all arrived when he left us to rest. We dined & went early to bed. We had very pretty rooms in the harem wh looked onto a court yard paved with marble—having orange & lemon trees, fountains of waters & cushioned recesses to rest in. | |
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