A LADY'S VISIT TO THE EAST

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 88

A LADY'S VISIT TO THE EAST

By Charlotte Deveriix. BEYROUT AND BAALBEC. We ]&ft Haifa about 10 p.m., and early nsxt morning anchored off Beyrout, the commercial capital of Syria. This town has a. fine harbour, which was greatly improved by French engineers in 1895. It has an estimated population of 175.000 souis, and it looked a busy place with a good deal of shipping in the port. We placed ourselves in charge of Cook's agent and had ag-ain to pass through the Customs and produce our passports. By the kindness of the Rev. Mr Kinmont we had a card of introduction to Dr Mackie, who for the last 25 years has been at the head of the Presbyterian mission here. He, together with Mrs Mackie, gave us a very hearty welcome to Syria, and we were very greatly indebted to him for the excellent advice which he gave us, and, on learning that we purposed visiting Baajbec and Damascus, ne gave us cards of introduction, which enabled us to have a really good time in these places. Certainly the most prominent natural feature thgrt meets the eye from the harbour and every open space within the city is the immense ridge ol the Lebanon Mountains. I believe die highest point of the range reaches an elevation of 10,533 ft. The prominent m&ss facing Beyrout appeared as a gigantic snowfield, resplendent in the evening light. Many clusters of rock ledges on the -lower levels were seen through our | binoculars to bo villages, and on my re- ! marking to our landlady— a very fine woman, a native of the .city, educated in England — that I wondered how the country could support so many villages, she said, "Wait until you have travelled through the place, then you will understand." , Early next morning we left for Baalbec, en route, for Damascus, and we were now to sfte something of country life in this 6trange land. The railway which conveyed us wa s cor.srructed by a company of French engineers in 1898, under great engineering difficulties, on account of the steep spurs and gorges of the Lebanon range, before noted, and is built partly on the Abt system, necessitating much side-cutting and tunnelling through these spurs, and tho building up of protecting walls running parallel with the line; and no inconsiderable labour was involved in restraining and leading the water from the melting snows to the artificial watercourses or sluices built of masonry to preserve the line from land- ' slips or drifting snow during winter. The speed of the train is felt to be slow, and the clank, olank of the engine, working with its cog-wheel on the middle rail, superadded to the general desolation, and the recognition of marked features that had already been noted reminds the traveller that he is on a switchback, and considerable distances _ thus require to be traversed by the train in order to reach the higher level desired, that would be small measured by a straight line. After travelling for considerably over an hour, I looked out of the window, and saw what I thought was a large village lying on our right. When I men- j tioned this to my husband, a missionary ' ! gentleman who happeni&d to be in our car- i I riag« laughed, amil said, "I should think i it a large village, tt is the back of , Beyrout which vre now see, we have been all this time climbing the mountain. Out landlady had wisely said that I would i understand about the- villages when I passed ' through the country. In New Zealand, , j land that would be thought utterly worth- ' • leas, or ueed only to graze a few sheep, I wae here, through careful cultivation, enabled to support a considerable population. Th© etonee were carefully gathered and built into low walls, on the top of which the soil w»6 collected. At the foot . of the mountains the land thus treated ' was of some area, but as the terraces ' neared tihe mountain tops they decreased until some of them were mere patches, not ! appearing larger than an ordinary-eized dining table. Here were grown mulberry ] trees, fige, olives, and grape vines, and ' we saw some small patches of wheat, some j so very email in area that it seemed ' strange to us to think the owners had | troubled to sow it, but not one foot of land ! that can be cultivated is allowed to lie waste, and as there are no eingle houses, people being obliged to live all together for the sake of protection against robber* 1 , this accounted for the numb&r of villages. At first the mountains appeared terraced to the tops, but now the eoenery became more rugged, unti! we reached a mountain j gorge of surpassing wildness. Here the terrace gardening extended about half way up, and, towering high above this, were huge masses of gxey elate -coloured rock. { In any other country it would have formed \ a scene of wild, deaoJ&be granduer, given , over to the birds of the adr, but here on the j side of th« mountain, half way up, a village ! eesmed to he clinging to its euie, whilst ' below the village, right to the foot of tho ! Diountam, wiae a plantation of trees. One J could not help wondering how ever the in- ' habitants managed to get down to their houses, or, when once there, bow did they manog-e to get up again. Not long after this we pass our highest point, and begin slowly ito descend, noticing as v.c do so that the terraces !ow<v in their elevation, are increasing in extent, and tL^re is more wheat groiWi. We noticed th<u Me !i£<l passed several places on the lower levels. I where the- eartn was trodden down hard ' in the form of a large circle, and at last ' it dawned upon us that rhe.-,3 were the threshing- floors mentioned in the Bible. ' This surmise proved to be correct, so little do the customs of the people change :n thi* wonderful country. j We had r.ow entered a very fertile plain known as the Buka'a. Hero the crops and ; orchards were in a very thriving condition. ' So rich is the foil here that the traveller ' realises at once the truth of the Bible d-eecriptifri j "A goc<!ly land, a la.nd over-" j flowing with milk and horsey.'' Here the j villages wjre much better built, and we noticed on the outskirts of eomc of them j one or two reall> fine modern houses with i red tiled roofs, showing that some foreigner > hzß mad© his home here, or, what is moro probable, that some Syrians have made money abroad and ocme horr.e to spend the ' evening ol their days in -their native land. After passing- eeveral villages and continuing across ihe plain we at length arrived ' at Pvayak, the janction for Baalbec. ' j Here the train for Damascus waits for 20 minutes only for lunch, but as we could not leave for Baalbec for two hours, aiul it wm only 11 a.m.. we set out for a walk through the village and along- the railway line to gather wild flowers When we ie-

f turned, in about an hour, we entered the dining room of the fin© cafe attached to the railway station here for the first time. We found ourselves in a place where we ■were the only English-speaking persons. Seating ourselves at one of the tables, the waiter brought two cups of coffee — most ! delicious coffee, but served in cups ' about the size of our eggeups. My husband said : " Oh. n6w I wish I could get a decent-sized cupT" I said: "I'll try if I can manage it. :> So smiling at this waiter and beckon i jig him to follow m-s, I led the way to a dresser at the other end of the room, and pointed to a top shelf, on which stood breakfast cups and sauosre. He reached down a plate, but I shook my head, and pointed again to tho top elielf, when he handed down a cup and saucer. I held up two fingers, when he got down another, and I then went round the room and found bread, soir.e native cheese, dates, and fige. I returned to our table, and setting down th>» cups and saucers poured the contents of the two tiny cups which he had previously brought into one of the laTge ones, and then pointed to the empty on-e. He now understood what we wanted ; so taking both cups away he brought them both back full. Something in the proceedings seemed to amuse him, for whenever I gianoed at him I found him smiling to himcelf. Having finished, my haisbaud called him over and showed him a franc, which he glanced at, and then held up two fingers, showing that his j charge was twice that amount, which we j gladly paid, for we had enjoyed our coffee < ' thoroughly. ' I We now strolled over to the other side of the room to examine a shield, battle- ' axe, and helmet which were suspended on , the- wall — the armour of some ill-starred j Orusader. I immediately lost my he-art to these, for they were the most beautiful 1 t specimens of inlaid metal work I had ever seen. The battleaxe- I took down and handled. How beautifully it and the other parks of the outfit were inlaid with ' gold, and the ohain work depending from the back of the helmet was as flexiKe as lace. I could not help wondering to whom thoae t-hinge originally belonged, with what j high hop-33 did he first don them, and on what battlefield had he met his end. Did some noble lady pine in solitude all the remaining days of her life vainly expecting his return, or did she. like fair Imogens, soon console herself with another? Vain guesses, but in all probability they were the property of some old crusading knight of high degree. Out train now started for Baalbeek, and in the carriage- with ye were six men, the most conspicuous of whom was a Bedouin eheik, who my husband declared was th* handsomest man he had ever seen He was tall, apparently about 30 years of age, clad in his native costume of rioh ei.lk of a subdued colour; face and figure both expressive of great dignity, and when spoken to by the others we noticed that he answered with courtesy, and was evidently much respected by the others. Each of the men carried a string of either blue or ambercoloured beads in his hand, which he mechanically counted aill the time he- was i talking. One ferret -faced, truculent-look-ing individual I could easily imagine a? capable of planning a murder and counting his beads at the same time. Baalbec, which we are now approaching, was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. What it was in its prime we can now form some slight concep- [ tion by viewing- the ruins, which remain at the present day. It seems almost impos- ' sible to imagine such beanty and grandeur gathered together in such a small space. The origin of the plage is lost in antiquity, and it is not known for a certainty when, or by whom, the mighiy ruine were first erected. We are told that at the height of its prosperity Baalboc hod a population of 260,000. Now it is something about 2COO, and tho inhabitants seem mostly very poor, living in low, flat-roofed mud huts. We reached the hotel about 3 p.m., and on securing a guide immediately made our ' way to the ruins. The Turkish Govern- '• ment has appointed a caretaker, and a charge for admission is made. After procuring our tickets, our guide led us through a long semi-dark passage, which pat-ses under the -walls of the fortress, for this has been not only a thrine, but also a place of defenc-e, and on coming again to the light the glory of the enelosme suddenly burst upon us, so dazzliiigly beauti- | ful that we almost gasped for breath, and I could only stand and stare in speechless , wonder and awe. Well <lid the ancients ' understand this effect of sudden light — hence tho long, dirk passage the worshippers were obliged to traverse before they could reach the courtyard of the temples — ' for there is not one temple, but several grouped around. The first which we will notice presents objects of large proportions and great beauty; these are the six standing columns and portion of +he cornice—all that now remains of the once gigantic Temple of the Sun. , Major Oonder, in his report on thf> ruins to the Palestine Exploration Fund. gi\"s the dimensions of the pillars as follow: — Height 75ft, diameter 7£ft, and he adds that the entablature. 15ft in height, which the* support, has a weight of nearly .tour tons to the square foot. The lesser temple of Bacchus, which stands in front of the Sun temple, remains to some extent intact, and bewildering with its sculptured ornament. Conder gives the length of this building as 118 ft long, and 65ft broad in the mtarior ; the doorway, 21ft broad, wa« spanned by a lintel in three pieces, and , he mentions that the central block, or kes- j 6tone, weighing 60 ton", had slipped down, j and was supported on a wall built by the | Turks. The view of the doorway and facade of this temple is believed to \m ire finest thp aneient3 have produced. 1 Since Conner's % isit the German Empeior has had a body of men working at Baalbeo for nearly four years, and among oih-T restorations they ha\e succeeded in getting this large 6*021^ I'atk into ir- original place. The buildings aye of white n 1 durated limestone of a creamy rint, which on the weather side has turned to a rich orange colo'jr. The temple of Bacchus has { a fine flight of «tone steps, the whole , width of the build/ing, leading up to the entrance, nAd inside thero are similar etep.3 leading up to the a.ltar. which stood at the extreme end opposite th-s doorway The waills are most beautifully ornamented with a carved stone fr'eze. and ins'de an-^1 outside there are carved alcoves, in which once stood statues representing the different gods and qodosecs, which ha\e no">v 1 di<wppeared. Tho doorway is one mass of carving, almost in a> good a sta.e of p>"v j ecrvaticn aa wlv»n it left the scjl^cor's

T hands ; and on one side of tlie temple the peristyle and roof are etill standing, the. latter at such a height that one is in danger of getting a crick in ths neck from looking up at it, and it is as handsomely and carefully carved as if it were for close inspection. W>6 noticed with some sur- , pries in the midst of all this beauty a j marble tablet covered with small me?h-:d wire netting, to protect it frgin the bird's, fixed into the interior wail of the temple, recording the work which the Germai.s have accomplished. This tablet, we were I told, was placed here by order of the Ge-r- --' man Emjjeror, and we could not help thinking that a greater man would have been more mod-esfc. The Emperor's workI men had left Baalbec shortly before our visit, but a German professor of Arabic, who was writing up a report, was staying , at the same hot-el as ourselves, and in , conversation with him we learned that I there had been very few " finds " in connection with th,3 work of excavation. One would naturally expect to find ancient. coins, | perhaps jewellery, etc.. in such a place, but in this they were disappointed. They have cleared away the fallen masonry from ! tho entrance, and, with their other work, they have excavated and re-crested a small temple of exquisite beauty, which was dedicated to Venus. My husband now started to photograph, and whilst lie was looking out for the beat position from which to obtain a picture a native dressed in European clothing accosted me thus : — '" Good morning, ma'am." '"Good morning." "Where are you from?" " New ZeaJand." '"New 1 Zealand?" "Yes: away beyond Australia." Ah, yes; I am just home from 1 Sjdney." After a slight pause, with a comprehensive sweep of his hand, which j included the whole ruins, he said very earnestly, "Do you think the Sydney Post Office is as good as this?" I said [ '' No ; it is absurd to make any comparison ; no other country in the world can show anything to equal this." He said, " That is what I tell them, but they only laugh at me." I said, " You will have to excuse them — it is ignorance on their part ; no one could imagine a place like this, end no description you could give would make them understand." But I am digressing. The mechanical method of erecting these gigantic masses of masonry 13, of course, a mystery. We took an early opportunity of inspecting the basement and high walls of the temples from the orchard grounds outs ds of the ruins, and here we wore able to approach and closely view the massive drafted stones, known to the ancient Greeks as the " Trilithon." These are no less than 63ft in length and 14ft in elevation. Reverting again to my notebook. I recall with real pleasure a visit on the morrow to the interiors of the several temples, and of the pleasure experienced in a more careful examination of the fallen masses of sculptured rock material. Immense in their proportions, possessing forms best known to the architect, they combine to impede the progress of the visitor. Masses oblong in form exhibited beautiful friezes, and many designs in arabesque, so striking and in such high relief as to furnish beautiful objects for any drawings, and some of these were R&i/Cid upon as foreground for my husband's photographs. Our guide, fully alive to his calling, had more than once evinced a desire to take us to see some of the lesser features of the village, and, above all, to see the quarries from which fhe stone was obtained for the building of the temples. One of these quarries we visited, and there saw a colossal stone nearly 7Cft in length, whilst its transverse section is a square 14ft wide. This stone is finished, and is lying ready to be transferred to the temple area; and this fact, together with a massive column which we were shown — the carving almost completed, — would tend to show that the inhabitants were still building when some awful convulsion of Nature destroyed their temples and city. After one last look at such beauty as we never expect to see again we resumed our train journey to Rayak, en route for Damascus.