to be on the point of disappearing entirely, when an aged chief, who ruled in this district, and who had witnessed the great change effected even in his own lifetime, chose to say that some sign or memorial should be left of the vast woods with which the mountains had formerly been clad, and commanded accordingly that this group of trees (a group probably situated at the highest point to which the forest had reached) should remain untouched. The chief, it seems, was not moved by the notion I have mentioned as prevailing in the Greek Church, but rather by some sentiment of veneration for a great natural feature, a sentiment akin, perhaps, to that old and earth-born religion which made men bow down to creation, before they had yet learnt to know and worship the Creator.

The chief of the valley in which I passed the night was a man of large possessions, and he entertained me very sumptuously. He was highly intelligent, and had had the sagacity to foresee that Europe would intervene authoritatively in the affairs of Syria. Bearing this idea in mind, and with a view to give his son an advantageous start in the ambitious career for which he was destined, he had hired for him a teacher of Italian, the only accessible European tongue. The tutor, however (a native of Syria), either did not know, or did not choose to teach, the European form of address, but contented himself with instructing

his pupil in the mere language of Italy. This circumstance gave me an opportunity (the only one I ever had, or was likely to have *) of hearing oriental courtesies expressed in a European tongue. The boy was about twelve or thirteen years old, and having the power of speaking to me without the aid of an interpreter, he took a prominent part in the hospitable duties of the day. He did the honours of the house with untiring assiduity, and with a kind of gracefulness which by mere description can scarcely be made intelligible to those who are unacquainted with the manners of the Asiatics. The boy's address resembled a little that of a highly-polished and insinuating Roman Catholic priest, but had more of girlish gentleness. It was strange to hear him gravely and slowly enunciating the common and extravagant compliments of the East in good Italian, and in soft, persuasive tones. I recollect that I was particularly amused at the gracious obstinacy with which he maintained that the house and the surrounding estates belonged, not to his father, but to me. To say this once, was only to use the common form of speech, signifying no more than our sweet word "welcome;" but the amusing part of the matter was that whenever, in the course of conversation, I happened to speak of

* A dragoman never interprets in terms the courteous language of the East.

his father's mansion or the surrounding domain, the boy invariably interfered to correct my pretended mistake, and to assure me once again with a gentle decisiveness of manner that the whole property was really and exclusively mine, and that his father had not the most distant pretensions to its ownership.

I received from my host some good information respecting the people of the mountains, and their power of resisting Mehemet Ali. The chief gave

me very plainly to understand that the mountaineers being dependent upon others for bread and gunpowder (the two great necessaries of martial life), could not long hold out against a power occupying the plains and commanding the sea; but he also assured me, and that very significantly, that, if this source of weakness were provided against, the mountaineers were to be depended upon. He told me that, in ten or fifteen days, the chiefs could bring together some fifty thousand fighting men.

360

CHAPTER XXIX.

SURPRISE OF SATALIEH.

WHILST I was remaining upon the coast of Syria, I had the good fortune to become acquainted with the Russian Sataliefsky,* a general officer who in his youth had fought and bled at Borodino, but was now better known among diplomats by the important trust committed to him at a period highly critical for the affairs of Eastern Europe. I must not tell you his family name: my mention of his title can do him no harm, for it is I, and I only, who have conferred it, in consideration of the military and diplomatic services performed under my own eyes.

The General, as well as I, was bound for Smyrna, and we agreed to sail together in an Ionian brigantine. We did not charter the vessel, but we made our arrangement with the captain upon such terms that we could be put ashore upon any part of the coast that we might choose.

* A title signifying Transcender or Conqueror of Satalieh.

We sailed, and day after day the vessel lay dawdling on the sea with calms and feeble breezes for her portion. I myself was well repaid for the painful restlessness occasioned by slow weather, because I gained from my companion a little of that vast fund of interesting knowledge with which he was stored,-knowledge a thousand times the more highly to be prized, since it was not of the sort that is to be gathered from books, but only from the lips of those who have acted a part in the world.

When after nine days of sailing, or trying to sail, we found ourselves still hanging by the mainland to the north of the Isle of Cyprus, we determined to disembark at Satalieh, and to go on thence by land. A light breeze favoured our purpose, and it was with great delight that we neared the fragrant land, and saw our anchor go down in the bay of Satalieh within two or three hundred yards of the shore.

The town of Satalieh is the chief place of the pashalik in which it is situate, and its citadel is the residence of the Pasha. We had scarcely dropped our anchor, when a boat from the shore came alongside with officers on board. These men announced that strict orders had been received for maintaining a quarantine of three weeks against

*

Spelt "Attalia" and sometimes "Adalia" in English books and maps.