NARRATIVE OF FATALLA SAYEGHIR. (continued 4)

The king appeared delighted with our conversation, and said to me,—“I see that we may always learn something. I have hitherto believed the Christians to be the most superstitious of men; but I am now convinced that they approach much nearer to the true religion than the Turks.”

Ebn Sihoud is on the whole a well-informed and very eloquent man, but fanatical in his religious opinions: he has a legitimate wife and a concubine; two sons, both married, and a daughter still young. He eats nothing but what is prepared by his wives, for fear of being poisoned. The guard of his palace is committed to a troop of a thousand well-armed negroes. He can raise within his territories fifteen hundred thousand Bedouins capable of bearing arms. When he intends to nominate the governor of a province, he invites the person on whom his choice has fallen to dinner, and after the repast they unite in ablutions and prayer; after which the king, arming him with a sabre, says to him,—

“I have elected you, by command of God, to govern these slaves: be humane and just; gather punctually the tithe, and cut off the heads of Turks and infidels who say that God has an equal—let none such establish themselves within your jurisdiction. May the Lord give victory to those who believe in his unity!”

He then delivers to him a small writing, enjoining the inhabitants to obey the governor in all things, under the severest penalties.

The next day we visited the king’s stables; and I think it would be impossible for an amateur of horses to have a more gratifying sight. The first objects of attention were twenty-four white mares, ranged in single file, all of incomparable beauty, and so exactly alike that it was not possible to distinguish the one from the other: their hair, brilliant as silver, dazzled my eyes. A hundred and twenty others, of various coats, but equally elegant in form, occupied another building; and even I, notwithstanding my antipathy to horses since the accident which had so nearly cost my life, could not help admiring the beautiful tenants of these stables.

We supped that evening with Hedal, the general-in-chief, who was reconciled with the Drayhy; and the famous Abou Nocta, who was of the party, was extremely polite to him. For several days we met in secret conclave, treating with Ebn Sihoud; but the details of the negotiation would be superfluous. It is sufficient to say, that an alliance was concluded between him and the Drayhy to their mutual satisfaction, and the king declared that their two bodies would be henceforth directed by one soul. The treaty being ratified, he invited us for the first time to eat with him, and tasted each dish before it was offered to us. As he had never seen any one eat otherwise than with their fingers, I carved a spoon and fork out of a piece of wood, spread my handkerchief for a napkin, and ate my dinner after the European fashion, which highly diverted him.

“Thanks be to God!” said he, “every nation believes its customs the best possible, and each is therefore content with its condition.”

Our departure being fixed for the following day, the king sent us as a present seven of his most beautiful mares, their bridles held by as many black slaves mounted on camels; and when each of us had made his choice, we were presented with sabres, the blades of which were very handsome, but the scabbards quite unornamented. To our servants also he gave more ordinary sabres, saddle-cloths, and a hundred tallarins each.

We took leave of Ebn Sihoud with the customary ceremonies, and were accompanied beyond the walls by all the officers of his court. Arrived at the gates, the Drayhy stopped, and turning to me, invited me to pass first, wishing, he told me, with a smile, to keep his promise. And I confess, that all the civilities we had latterly received, had not so far effaced from my mind the impression of the suspense and anguish we had previously experienced, but that I rejoiced to find myself beyond the barriers.

We took the road to Heggias, resting every night with one of the tribes which overspread the desert. The fifth day, after passing the night under the tents of El Henadi, we rose with the sun, and went out to saddle our dromedaries; but found them, to our great amazement, with their heads plunged deeply into the sand, from whence it was impossible to disengage them. Calling to our aid the Bedouins of the tribe, they informed us that the circumstance presaged the simoom, which would not long delay its devastating course, and that we could not proceed without facing certain death. Providence has endowed the camel with an instinctive presentiment for its preservation. It is sensible two or three hours beforehand of the approach of this terrific scourge of the desert, and turning its face away from the wind, buries itself in the sand; and neither force nor want can move it from its position, either to eat or drink, while the tempest lasts, though it should be for several days.

Learning the danger which threatened us, we shared the general terror, and hastened to adopt all the precautions enjoined us. Horses must not only be placed under shelter, but have their heads covered and their ears stopped; they would otherwise be suffocated by the whirlwinds of fine and subtle sand which the wind sweeps furiously before it. Men assemble under their tents, stopping up every crevice with extreme caution; and having provided themselves with water placed within reach, throw themselves on the ground, covering their heads with a mantle, and stir no more till the desolating hurricane has passed.

That morning all was tumult in the camp; every one endeavouring to provide for the safety of his beasts, and then precipitately retiring under the protection of his tent. We had scarcely time to secure our beautiful Nedgde mares before the storm began. Furious gusts of wind were succeeded by clouds of red and burning sands, whirling round with fierce impetuosity, and overthrowing or burying under their drifted mountains whatever they encountered. If any part of the body is by accident exposed to its touch, the flesh swells as if a hot iron had been passed over it. The water intended to refresh us with its coolness was boiling, and the temperature of the tent exceeded that of a Turkish bath. The tempest lasted ten hours in its greatest fury, and then gradually sunk for the following six: another hour, and we must all have been suffocated. When at length we ventured to issue from our tents, a dreadful spectacle awaited us: five children, two women, and a man were extended dead on the still burning sand; and several Bedouins had their faces blackened and entirely calcined, as if by the action of an ardent furnace. When any one is struck on the head by the simoom, the blood flows in torrents from his mouth and nostrils, his face swells and turns black, and he soon dies of suffocation. We thanked the Lord that we had not ourselves been surprised by this terrible scourge in the midst of the desert, but had been preserved from so frightful a death.

When the weather permitted us to leave the camp of Henadi, twelve hours’ march brought us back to our tribe. I embraced Sheik Ibrahim with true filial love, and several days elapsed in the mutual recital of our adventures. When I had perfectly recovered my fatigues, M. Lascaris said to me:

“My dear son, we have no longer any business here. Thanks be to God, all is accomplished! and my enterprise has succeeded beyond my most sanguine hopes: we must now return to give an account of our mission.”

We quitted our friends in the hope of soon seeing them at the head of the expedition to which we had opened and smoothed the way. Passing through Damascus, Aleppo, and Caramania, we reached Constantinople in the month of April, after ninety days’ travelling, frequently across tracts of snow. In the course of that fatiguing journey I lost my handsome Nedgdian mare, the gift of Ebn Sihoud, which I had calculated on selling for at least thirty thousand piastres: but this was only the forerunner of the misfortunes which awaited us. Constantinople was ravaged by the plague; and General Andreossi lodged us at Keghat-Kani, where we spent three months in quarantine, and, during that time, were informed of the fatal catastrophe of Moscow and the retreat of the French army upon Paris. M. Lascaris was in despair, and for two months his plan of proceeding was quite undecided. At length, determining to return into Syria, and there wait the issue of events, we embarked on board a vessel freighted with corn; but a violent storm drove us to Chios, where we again encountered the plague. M. de Bourville, the French consul, procured us a lodging, in which we remained for two months closely shut up; and there, our property having become a prey to the tempest, while contagion cut us off from all external communication, we were nearly without clothing, and exposed to the greatest privations.

Communications were at length restored; and M. Lascaris having received a letter from our consul-general at Smyrna, inviting him to a conference there with the Generals Lallemand and Savary, determined to comply, and allowed me meanwhile to visit my poor mother, whom I had not seen for six years.

My travels no longer offering any thing of interest to the public, I shall pass over the interval which elapsed between my separation from M. Lascaris and my return to Syria, and hasten to the melancholy conclusion.

While staying at Latakia with my mother, and daily expecting the arrival of a ship that might transport me to Egypt, where I had been ordered by M. Lascaris to rejoin him, I saw a French brig of war enter the port, and hastened to inquire for letters. Alas! those letters brought me the afflicting intelligence of the decease of my benefactor at Cairo. My grief baffled description: I entertained a filial affection for M. Lascaris; besides which, all my future prospects had expired with him. M. Drovetti, French consul in Alexandria, wrote to desire I would come to him as soon as possible; but it was forty days before I could find an opportunity of embarking, and when I reached Alexandria, M. Drovetti had set out for Upper Egypt; thither I followed, and overtook him at Asscout. He informed me that M. Lascaris having entered Egypt with an English passport, Mr. Salt, the English consul, had taken possession of all his effects. He persuaded me, therefore, to apply to that gentleman for payment of my stipend of five hundred tallarins per annum, which was nearly six years in arrear; and especially recommended me to insist strongly on the restitution of M. Lascaris’s manuscript journal, a document of vast importance.

I immediately returned to Cairo; but Mr. Salt received me very coldly, and told me that M. Lascaris having died under English protection, he had transmitted his property and papers to England. All my attempts were therefore futile; and after a long detention at Cairo, in the vain hope of obtaining either payment of my arrears or the papers of my patron, Mr. Salt at last menaced me with procuring my arrest by the Egyptian authorities; and to the protection of M. Drovetti alone I owe my escape from this new peril. Weary of so profitless a struggle, I returned to Latakia and my family, more unhappy and less rich than I had at first quitted it on my expedition to Aleppo.

END OF FATALLA SAYEGHIR’S STORY.

NOTE.

It was my intention to have added here a few translations, for the purpose of giving the reader some idea of modern Arabian poetry; but I understand that an able hand, and one more practised than mine, is already employed on the task. A volume, entitled A Miscellany of French and Oriental Literature, by J. Augoub, will appear in a few days.[U] I was acquainted with the author, a young poet of the highest promise, prematurely snatched from his family and his fame. He was born in Egypt, and had been educated in France. The original fragments which he has left behind, and doubtless also these translations, breathe the deep and ardent colouring of his native skies, combined with the purity of French taste. These works, published by his widow, are the only legacy he has bequeathed to his family and his country.

I have inserted in these volumes a few fragments extracted from the publication here announced, assured that they will but stimulate the reader’s desire for a further acquaintance with them.

A. de Lamartine.

15th April, 1835.