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FROM NAZARETH, THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE JORDAN, TO ASSALT.

NAZARETH, Tuesday, February 20. 1816.- My previous excursions in Syria had so impressed me with the difficulty of getting to Damascus or Aleppo from hence, in the present state of the country, and the consequent delay I should experience in the prosecution of my intended journey to India (by the route of the caravans from the latter city), that I thought it best to ascertain if there were any hopes of my being able to proceed from hence to Assalt, a town on the east of the Jordan; from thence to Karak, on the east of the Dead Sea; and so on through the Bedouin tribes that encamp on the Desert from the borders of Palestine to the banks of the Euphrates, and from that stream to the Tigris and the neighbourhood of Baghdad.

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As the town of Nazareth is constantly frequented by persons from Assalt, who come here to purchase many of their supplies, there happened to be a party just now on the point of setting out on their return to that place; which furnished an excellent opportunity of journeying thus far in their company. To render myself as secure of accomplishing this as possible, I sought after a guide, and succeeded in procuring a Christian Arab of Nazareth, named Georgis, who had often been at Assalt, and knew most of the residents there, and who consented to accompany me on very easy conditions: I therefore closed with him, as my enquiries had been answered in a manner that strengthened my hopes of being able to accomplish the ultimate object of my wishes in getting to Baghdad by the route proposed. As, however, caution and secrecy are necessary to be observed by those who study their safety on journies in the East, I abstained from communicating to any one, in direct terms, the full extent of my intended progress in this direction, leaving this until I should be able to ascertain at Assalt or Karak how far it was certain of being successfully attained.

Mr. Bankes, my former companion in our journey from Jerusalem to Jerash, had a great desire to accompany me as far as Assalt; but an excursion to Nablous, for which he had made some engagements that could not well be put off, rendered this impracticable, without involving a further delay on my part, which my desire to get to my destination as speedily as possible would not permit. I accordingly began to prepare for this new and hazardous journey, among the people of a country hitherto untravelled by Europeans. My Turkish clothes were laid aside, and their place supplied by a Bedouin Arab dress of the meanest kind; as it was thought safest and best to assume the appearance of extreme poverty, in order to lessen, as much as possible, the temptation to robbery or molestation on the way. The few papers that I possessed were rolled up in a small and dirty sack, or purse, of coarse cloth, and the little money that I intended to take with me on my way was concealed in the keffeah, or Arab handkerchief, which covered my head. My

only arms were an old crooked yembeah, or dagger, and a common musket, with a few ball cartridges and a leathern bottle of priming powder. My letter of credit, being on Aleppo, had not yet been made use of for the defraying my expences; but as the wants of my intended route across the Desert were likely to be supplied without either frequent or large demands for money, I had still enough with me to meet all probable charges that might occur before I reached my journey's end. The horse on which I rode, with all its furniture, was my own; of clothes, I considered that I should require little or none; and a scanty supply of provisions was all that could be needed: so that, under all the circumstances of the case, I felt myself as well prepared for the journey as the occasion demanded, or as prudence would permit. It was right, however, in undertaking a route of such uncertainty and risk, that I should calculate on the possibility of a failure at least; and to provide against this, I entrusted all that I was obliged to leave behind me at Nazareth, in the form of baggage, to the care of Mr. Bankes, who undertook to have it conveyed to Damascus; to which city, if I should be unable to penetrate across the desert beyond Karak, it was my intention to return by the shortest route, which would be through the Hauran, and from thence proceed as circumstances might direct: this, however, for the reason before mentioned, I refrained from communicating to others, as the knowledge of my intentions might impede their accomplishment, while it could answer no beneficial purpose, either to myself or others.

When I retired to repose, it was not without many reflections and apprehensions, suggested by the unknown state of the road on which I was about to enter, with a conjectural estimate of obstacles, which, as they could not be clearly foreseen, could not be fitly provided against. My determination, however, was fixed; and having already well weighed and considered the subject in all its bearings, it would have been weakness to suffer any considerations of apprehended danger to shake my resolution.

Wednesday, February 21.-My guide, Georgis, who was a petty trader in every description of goods, had determined to make this journey to Assalt a source of profit to himself, by taking a small supply of portable articles with him; and, with a view to buy them at a cheaper rate (as I afterwards learnt), had suffered the Assalt party of traders to set out without us, that he might remain behind to take advantage of the dull morning's market, and get his articles at a less price than could have been done while they were here; hoping, at the same time, by quickening his speed, to overtake them at their halting place for the night. The first intelligence that reached me in the morning was, that the party returning to Assalt had set out soon after sun-set on the preceding evening. I sent off immediately for my guide, who, keeping himself purposely out of the way till the end of his detention should be fully answered, was no where to be found. About ten o'clock, however, he made his appearance at the convent, out of breath from hurry, and hardly able to tell his excuses, so many were they, and so little breath had he to utter them. When he became more composed, he expressed his belief that we should not be able to overtake our intended companions, an apprehension that was but too well founded, as they had already gained upon us by a long night and the better part of a day. It was an ominous commencement of a journey, but there was no remedy. It only called for an exercise of greater patience, and created a necessity for greater perseverance, both virtues of which we stood eminently in need, and which it was doubly incumbent on me to exercise on this occasion.

It was a little after ten o'clock when we mounted our horses at the convent-gate, and receiving the benedictions of the friars, we quitted Nazareth and proceeded on our way.

Our course was directed to the south-east, over the hills which environ the valley of Nazareth, or the hollow of the mountain in which that town is seated; and descending over these hills on the

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outer face, we came out at the foot of Mount Tabor, rising from the plain below. *

At noon we passed over a portion of the great plain of Esdraelon, having Daborah on our left, and Nain and Endor on our right; the two last being seated on the slope of Hermon, at a distance of about three miles from our path. The plain was in a great measure waste, and the aspect of the scenery forbidding; but

this was counterbalanced by the agreeable associations necessarily created by the sight of so many places celebrated in holy writ as could be seen from this spot.

At half-past one we passed a ruined building, of very rude construction, resembling an old fort. The name given to it by the people of the country is Dabboh; but I could learn no further particulars regarding its history or former condition.

At two o'clock we reached the village of Tayeby, consisting of twenty or thirty houses only, and inhabited wholly by peasants or cultivators. There were in this village the remains of a large edifice, apparently of Roman construction; the blocks of mouldings, cornices, and friezes, that lay scattered about, were of a large size, some smoothly hewn and others sculptured; but no tradition had been preserved respecting the building to which these belonged. We halted here at the house of the Sheikh, and were served with coffee by his youngest daughter. During our conversation, the Sheikh could not contain his surprise at finding we we were going alone to Assalt through the dangerous valley of the Jordan, and among the thieves of Jericho. The heavy rain that fell detained us here for about half an hour, during which time the good old man said every thing he could think of to dissuade us from our purpose, and after exhausting all his arguments, appeared sorrowful, as well as disappointed, to find that all his friendly admonitions were in vain.

We quitted Tayeby at half-past two, and going still towards the south-east, passed, at about three o'clock, near to a ruined site of a See the Vignette at the head of this Chapter.

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