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MAHOMET AND HIS COMMENTATORS.

opportunely revealed to him the order to turn towards Mecca.

Accounting for his former order as a desire to prove their faith, he goes on to say-"Turn therefore thy face towards the holy temple of Mecca; and wherever ye be, turn your face towards that place," &c. The prophet also asserted, and the learned Jallalo'ddin so translates it, that the Caaba of Mecca was the point toward which Moses commanded the Jews to turn. Many long passages might be quoted, which would perhaps prove little more than the clever mode Mahomet had of escaping from any doctrinal mess he got into, by an opportune revelation.

On most points, also, Mussulman commentators have almost superseded the Koran, and as with various sects of Christians, legendary tradition or abstruse explanations have taken the lead of the original revelation. Credit, however, must be given to Mahomet, that he gave a purer, better religion to his followers than the absurd, idolatrous corruption of Christianity they possessed before: Nulla falsa doctrina est quæ non aliquid veri permiscuit.

Leaving the pleasant valley, we breasted a high

FIRST VIEW OF DAMASCUS.

87

and barren hill, and were all eager for the first view of the heavenly-smiling Damascus-Sham Geneth Mesham, as it is styled. My eyes had feasted on it before, years gone by, when youth and boundless enthusiasm filled my veins. Not so my companion, though much travelled. This was new, and had been praised by me with all the force of language. A fear now came over me lest my description should have exceeded its deserts; lest, having seen it through the eye of youth, his keener judgment should view it less brightly.

We urged our horses up the ascent, crossed its plateau, and entered the road cut in the solid rock; -a few yards further it burst on us in all its mighty beauty. Well might the Damascene love his city; far may her sons journey; well may they explore earth's utmost bounds, they will after all return and find the scene our eyes feasted on more beautiful than all. Well may the prophet say that Damascus is the head of Syria; well may the faroff Persian poet extol it as one of the earthly paradises. I dare not sully it with my description -it is lovely, all lovely.

The four Paradises of Persian poetry are the

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ARRIVAL AT DAMASCUS.

Valley of Soghd, at Samarkand; Sha Abi Bowan, Kaleh Sojid, in Fars; Masham Jud, at Hamadan ; and the Ghutchah (or plain) of Damascus, (see Nozhetu-E-Kolub). We descended the hill, and, finding a guide, after skirting the wall, entered at

the gate of the Christian quarter, crossing the Barrada, "the golden stream," which has here for very delight divided itself into three branches, the more lavishly to extend its fertilisation. We passed the suburb of Salakie, and rode along a broad paved causway.

Water flowed on every side, as eager as ourselves to enter El Sham Shereef, the noble Damascus. Fanaticism has dropped its head now in Turkey : exist it does, but they know the power and dread the vengeance of the Frank. The hat may be

turban, but we are

fearlessly flaunted before the doomed to another scourge. All eastern towns abound in dogs; these are of a cowardly disposition, and belonging to nobody, live in and eat the garbage of the streets. As drains are unknown they are a useful evil: sets of these belong to every street, and if an unlucky dog wanders beyond his station the intruded upon attack him

RECEPTION THERE.

89

in a body and generally add him to their evening meal. No sooner did Zea, therefore, appear, than the whole pack assailed him, and he wisely retired between us. Each step was now contested, and it was as much as four stout fellows of us could do

to get him and ourselves into the Locanda alive. Under cover of the night I used a huge bowieknife on them with great effect, but it was no small relief when we were safely housed and the battle over. Times are changed: Damascus, however, unchanged in her beauty, must advance too, and an inn, the Hotel de Palmyra, profanes the classic town.

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THE INN OF DEMITRII.

CHAPTER VII.

Description of Damascene Inns-The Leewan-Luxury of FountainsA Saunter about the Streets-Bazaars-Vendors and their GoodsVaried Dresses and Appearance of those who frequent the Bazaars— The Women-Distinctions of Dress in Damascus-The Term Hadgi -Mode of wearing the Hair-The Beard-How the Beard was regarded by the Jews-Dresses of the Women particularly described -Veils-Their Origin-Dress of the Men described-MosquesChristian Churches-Mosque of the Dancing Dervishes-Probable Population of Damascus, and of whom composed-The Castle.

THE inn lately established by Demitrii, an old acquaintance of mine, is a fine large Damascene house, and as a fair sample of them generally, one description will do for all.

The walls are built of rammed mud, and present nothing towards the street but a bare continued wall with, perhaps, one lofty window, a species of balcony closely latticed. The door, a wretched illfitting affair, opens on a small court, with one or two small rooms for servants and dirt. In it another door admits you to the principal court, called Dar; many of the finer houses have two or three: it is usually of from thirty to fifty feet square, paved with marble or stone, and often laid out