THE

TRAVELS,

ETC.

THE FIRST CHAPTER, CONCERNING ALEXANDRIA.

THE same desire to behold the various kingdoms of the world which has urged on others, excited me also to a similar enterprise; and inasmuch as all countries have been very much laid open by our people, I deliberated in my own mind that I would see those which had been the least frequented by the Venetians. Wherefore spreading our sails to a favourable wind, and having implored the Divine aid, we committed ourselves to the sea. When we came to Alexandria, a city of Egypt, I, longing for novelty (as a thirsty man longs for fresh water) departed from these places as being well known to all, and, entering the Nile, arrived at Cairo.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING CAIRO.

On my arrival in Cairo I, who had been previously much astonished at the account of its size, came to the conclusion that it was not so large as it had been reported to be. But its size in circumference is about equal to that of Rome. It is true, however, that it contains very many more habitations than there are in Rome, and that the population is larger. The mistake which many have made is this, that there are several hamlets outside the walls of Cairo which some believed to be within the circuit of Cairo itself; this,

however, cannot be the case, for they are distant some two or three miles, and are distinct villages.' I shall not enter into any long account of their faith and manners, because everyone knows that they are inhabited by Moors and Mamelukes. The lord over them is the Grand Sultan,3 who is served by the Mamelukes, and the Mamelukes are lords over the Moors.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING BARUTI, TRIPOLI, AND

ALEPPO.

I say nothing about the riches and beauty of the aforesaid Cairo and of the pride of the Mamelukes, because they are well known to all our countrymen. I sailed thence into Syria; and first to Baruti, the distance from the one place to the other by sea is 500 miles. In that Baruti I remained several days. It is a country thickly inhabited by the Moors, and is well supplied with everything. The sea breaks against the walls, and you must know that the district is not entirely surrounded by walls, but only in some parts, that is to say, towards the west and towards the sea."

1 Misr el-'Ateekah or Old Misr, corrupted by Europeans into "Old Cairo," and the large suburb of Boolâk, are probably the "distinct villages" indicated.

The author frequently uses this term as laxly as we do that of "Arabs," and sometimes as synonymous with "Mussulmans."

3 As Varthema commenced his travels A.D. 1503, Egypt was still under the rule of the Borjeëh or Circassian Mamlûks, and the "Grand Sultan" of the text must have been Sultân el-Ghôree of that dynasty. Contemporaneous with him in Egypt was the Khalifa el-Mustansik b'Illah of the 'Abbasîeh or Abbaside Caliphs, who, however, had long ceased to exercise more than a nominal sovereignty over the country. 4 Beyroot is still written and pronounced as above by the Levantines and Italian residents in Syria.

• Until very recently Beyroot was completely enclosed on the land side by a wall, whereas there is only a small extent of wall" towards the sea." Possibly, at the period of our author's visit, some parts of the

I did not see anything there worthy to be recorded, excepting an ancient building, which, they say, was inhabited by the daughter of the king when the dragon wanted to devour her, and where St. George killed the said dragon.1 This ancient building is all in ruins; and I departed thence, and proceeded in the direction of Tripoli in Syria, which is two days' journey towards the east. This Tripoli is subject to the Grand Sultan,2 and all are Muhammedans, and the said city abounds in everything. And I departed thence and went to Aleppo, which is eight days' journey inland, which said Aleppo is a very beautiful city, and is under the Grand Sultan of Cairo, and is the mart [scala] of Turkey and Syria, and they are all Muhammedans. It is a country of very great traffic in merchandize, and particularly with the Persians and Azamini,3 who come as far as there. This

former had been levelled, and were subsequently restored by the Ameer Fakhr ed-Dîn, who repaired and strengthened the fortifications in the beginning of the seventeenth century; and he may have mistaken for a wall the numerous ancient columns which form the foundation of the quay, and against which the sea frequently beats with great violence.

1 The legend of St. George and the Dragon has been attached to this locality since the Crusades, and the remains of an old brick building, situated about two miles from Beyroot, on the road to Jebail, are still pointed out as occupying the exact site of the renowned encounter. Varthema describes it as it is now, 66 an ancient building in ruins," though d'Arvieux, in 1660, speaks of a chapel of St. George in this neighbourhood which had been converted into a mosque, and Pococke repeats the same in 1738. If a Christian chapel ever existed here, the Muhammedans, in converting it into a mosque, would not scruple to retain the original dedication, as the Nabi Jergees (the Seer George) is regarded as an orthodox saint by all Mussulmans.

2 Of Cairo, of course, as the whole of Syria at the time was subject to the Mamlûk sovereign of Egypt.

3 This is, doubtless, a distorted plural form of 'Ajami, a Persian, the Italian initial z being used to express the j sound of the Arabic, just as in the sequel we find "Zida, cioè porto della Meccha," where Juddah (Jiddah) is obviously indicated. Also "xii zornate," for xii giornate. The phrase "Persians and Azamini," moreover, is not altogether a pleonasm; since the latter term, in the original, has a wide signification, and denotes the natives generally of all the countries comprehended

is the route which is taken to go into Turkey and Syria by those who come from Azemia.

THE CHAPTER CONCERNING AMAN' AND MENIN.2

And I departed thence and went towards Damascus, which is distant ten short days' journey. Midway there is a city which is called Aman, in which there grows a vast quantity of cotton, and very good fruit. And near to Damascus, sixteen miles distant from it, I found another district called Menin, which is situated on the summit of a mountain, and is inhabited by Christians of the Greek Church, who are subjects of the lord of Damascus. In this place there are two very beautiful churches, which are said to have been erected by Helena, the mother of Constantine. Very excellent fruits grow there, and most especially good grapes; and here also there are very beautiful gardens and fountains. I departed thence, and went to the most noble city of Damascus.

THE FIRST CHAPTER CONCERNING DAMASCUS.

Truly it would not be possible to describe the beauty and the excellence of this Damascus, in which I resided some

under the Persian empire. Besides which, the word "'Ajami" conveys the same idea among the people of the East as "Barbarian" did with the ancient Greeks, and "Gentile" among the Jews.

1 The modern town of Hamah, the Hamath of Scripture, the Epiphania of the Greeks and Romans, and the birthplace of Abu'l-Feda, the eminent Arabian geographer and historian, which lies midway on the caravan route between Aleppo and Damascus, is obviously indicated. It is somewhat surprising that Varthema does not mention the river Orontes, which bisects the town.

2 Menîn is situated ten miles from Helbon, still famous, as of old, for the quality of its grapes. (See Ezek. xviii. 28.) The vine is the chief

months in order to learn the Moorish language, because this city is entirely inhabited by Moors and Mamelukes and many Greek Christians. Here I must give an account of the government of the lord of the said city, which lord is subject to the Great Sultan of Cairo. You must know that in the said city of Damascus there is a very beautiful and strong castle, which is said to have been built by a Florentine Mameluke at his own expense, he being lord of the said city. And, moreover, in each angle of the said castle, the arms of Florence are sculptured in marble. It is surrounded by very wide fosses, and has four extremely strong towers and drawbridges, and powerful and excellent artillery are constantly mounted there.' Fifty Mamelukes, in the service of the Grand Sultan, are constantly quartered with the governor of the castle. This Florentine was a Mameluke of the Grand Sultan; and it is reported that in his time the Sultan was poisoned, and could find no one who could relieve him of the said poison, when it pleased God that this Florentine should cure him. For this service he gave him the said city of Damascus, and thus he came to build the castle. Afterwards he died in Damascus; and the people held him in great veneration as a holy man, possessing great knowledge, and from that time forward the

product of the district, which abounds also in fountain-streams tributary to the Barada. One of these streams takes its rise at Menîn. Christians of the orthodox Greek rite are more numerous in this neighbourhood than in any other part of Syria.

1 The citadel of Damascus is an extensive quadrangular fortress, with towers, surrounded by a deep fosse. I remember noticing several sculptured escutcheons built into the exterior wall of the city during my visit in 1835, when a portion of the same was being demolished by Ibrahîm Pasha to furnish materials for a military hospital; but the tradition of the Florentine is quite new to me, neither do I find it alluded to by any of the older or more recent travellers in Syria. In its present form the castle is evidently of Saracenic origin, though its foundations probably date from a very early age. There is nothing improbable, however, in the story of a renegade Christian having rebuilt or restored it.