In Three Hours And A
Quarter From Meysera We Passed Near The Top Of Mount Osha (Arabic), Our
General Direction Being Still S.S.E. The Forest Here Grows Thicker; It
Consists Of Oak, Bouttom, And Balout (Arabic) Trees.
The Keykab is also
very common.
In three hours and three quarters we descended the southern
side of the mountain, near the tomb of Osha, and reached Szalt (Arabic),
four hours and a half distant from Meysera. Near the tomb of Osha was an
encampment of about sixty tents
SZALT
[p.349] of the tribe of Abad (Arabic); they had lately been robbed of
almost all their cattle by the Beni Szakher, and were reduced to such
misery that they could not afford to give us a little sour milk which we
begged of them. They were still at war with the Beni Szakher, and were
in hopes of recovering a part of their property; but as they were too
weak to act openly, they had encamped, for protection, in the
neighbourhood of their friends the inhabitants of Szalt. They intended
to make from hence some plundering excursions against their enemies, for
they had now hardly any thing more to lose in continuing at war with
them. I alighted at Szalt at the house of one of my companions, where I
was hospitably entertained during the whole of my stay at this place.
The town of Szalt is situated on the declivity of a hill, crowned by a
castle, and is surrounded on all sides by steep mountains. It is the
only inhabited place in the province of Belka, and its inhabitants are
quite independent. The Pashas of Damascus have several times endeavoured
in vain to subdue them. Abdulla Pasha, the late governor, besieged the
town for three months, without success. The population consists of about
four hundred Musulman and eighty Christian families of the Greek church,
who live in perfect amity and equality together: the Musulmans are
composed of three tribes, the Beni Kerad (Arabic), the Owamele (Arabic),
and the Kteyshat (Arabic), each of which has its separate quarter in the
town; the principal Sheikhs, at present two in number, live in the
castle; but they have no other authority over the rest than such as a
Bedouin Sheikh exercises over his tribe. The castle was almost wholly
rebuilt by the famous Dhaher el Omar,[See the history of Sheikh Dhaher,
the predecessor of Djezzar Pasha in the government of Akka, in Volney.
Voyage en Egypte et en Syrie, vol. ii. chap. 25. Ed.] who resided here
several years. He obtained possession by the assistance of the weakest
of the two parties into which the place
AIN DJEDOUR
[p.350] was divided, but he was finally driven out by the united efforts
of both parties.
The castle is well built, has a few old guns, and is surrounded by a
wide ditch. In the midst of the town is a fine spring, to which there is
a secret subterraneous passage from the castle, still made use of in
times of siege.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 230 of 453
Words from 119381 to 119891
of 236498
