The Ansyreeh and Ismaeleeh; a visit to the secret sects of Northern Syria; with a view to the establishment of schools

Preface

. The writer of a book of travels, whatever may be his native modesty, cannot help making himself sufficiently conspicuous under the / or we whose adventures form the theme of the narrative. In some cases, therefore, he may prefer to travel, as far as possible, incognito, but in the present case the author cannot a-void introducing himself to his readers. He would say, then, that he is a clergyman of the Anglican Church, whose ill-health pre vented him from exercising the duties of his profession in England, at least during the

PREFACE.

. winter months. He, consequently, for some successive winters went abroad, and during the winter of 1850-1, he made the usual tour of Egypt and Syria. Feeling more and more the duty and desirableness of being employed, if possible, in the proper work of his office, he was led to think of Syria, as a country whose climate would allow him to remain and labour the year round. The only tiling was to find a field of labour. This the providence of God seemed to present. In a conversation with Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Beyrout — Mr. Moore, — he heard of a people, called the Ansy reeh, numerous and important, but sunk, as they had been for ages, in a miserable state of ignorance and oppression, arising from the profession of a secret and effete religion. Finding, further, that the Consul had long been of opinion that there was a most favour able opening for commencing a mission among this people, and was surprised that no Christian Church had yet attempted one, he determined

PREFACE.

. V to return to Syria and judge for himself, by personal inquiries made in a tour among them. He therefore returned to Beyrout in 1851, and in the summer of last year paid a visit to the seats of the Ansyreeh in Northern Syria. This little book is a narrative of that visit, and is published in the hope of obtaining that co-operation which is necessary to the further prosecution of the object proposed, and which is fully explained in a note at the end of the volume. These pages do not pre tend to be a revelation of the secret of the Ansyreeh (which probably consists of nothing more than a few unintelligible prayers, a med ley of Christianity and Mohammedanism, and a trivial, if not obscene, rite), that could only be discovered by a lengthened residence among them. Its object is to give a faithful picture of the present state and disposition of that people, and a description of the country which they inhabit. The reader is advised to turn to the last chapter of the book for a brief

PREFACE.

. VI notice of their history and religion, which pro bably will give him all that is satisfactorily known about them. By reading that chapter first, he will be better able to understand the personal narrative of the remaining part of the book. CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Page

Plain of Ladikeeh — Tricks played on the Ansyreeh — Ansyreeh peasant — Ansyreeh village — Failure in the kitchen — Journey to Suadeiah — Cheapness of provisions — Misadventure — Suadeiah — Ansyreeh literati — Ansyreeh found at Tarsus, Seleucia, and Antioch — Proceed to Antioch — To Aleppo .... 1

Chapter II

Aleppo — Inland road to Hamah — Thievish watchmen — Bullying Kurd— Stories of the Irregular Horse — Encamp in the fields — Second Pompeii — Guardian of well — Castle of Kulat-el-Medeek — Plague of mosquitoes — Castle of Sejjar— Hamah — Mysterious Ansyreeh Sheikh — Mosquitoes again — Valley of the Orontes — Return to Antioch CONTENTS. VIII

Chapter III. Page

Antioch— Fellow-lodgers — Murder of Padre — Renewal of acquaintance — Ansyreeh geographer — Ansyreeh lying — The Deacon — Christian legend- — Whisperings of Ansyreeh — Visit to Patriarch — Antioch nobility- Bigotry of the Mahometans — Oppression of the Ansyreeh — Prospects of a school — Circumstances favourable to its formation— Cheapness of provisions— Beauty of scenery and climate 68

Chapter IV

Return to Ladikeeh — Long march — Bahluleeh — Indignation of Turkish captain — Ansyreeh fare — Sheikh Ibraheem Saeed — Troublesome curiosity — Theological conversations— Credulous Christian — Turkish colonel — Rows in the village — Pride and vices of the Turks — Site for school — Solemn confab — Exciting scene — Ansyreeh method of cure — Effects of incense — Wonderful Sheikh — Curiosity of Amazon — Legends about our Saviour 94

Chapter V

Leave Bahluleeh — Illness — Toilsome journey — Diryoos — Intelligent Mekuddam — Wish for schools — A knave — Hospitable Mussulman — Sahiyoon — Mussulman champion — Magnificent castle — Narrow escape — Shemseen — Ansyreeh robber — Ansyreeh tutor — Sheikh Hassan — Ansyreeh cheating — Christian village CONTENTS. IX PAGE — Infidel priest — Good site for school — Muhailby — Fine castle — Kurdahah — Merry meeting — Ansyreeh dance — Circumcision — Feast — Ain Sukkur — Ansyreeh bon-vivant 145

Chapter VI

Important visit — Sheikh Hhabeeb Eesa — Jocular old Sheikh — Theological discussions — Transmigration — Want of retirement— Scene for a sketch — Posed by old Sheikh — Castle of Beni Israel — Leave the Sheikh — Simt Kublee — Courtesy and intelligence of Mekuddams — Blood feud — Conversations on religion — Desire for schools — Crusty old Sheikh — Delightful ride — Forced levy of donkeys — Return to Ladikeeh . . 192

Chapter VII

Greek priest — Answer to objections to schools — Gebilee — Castle of Merkab — Effects of earthquake — Courteous governor — Colony of old Mahometans — Castle of Kadmoos — Ismaeleeh, or Assassins — Dreary country — Corrupt faith — Ismaeleeh churlishness — How to find one's way — Bivouac — Battle — Saffeeta — Sheikh Muhammed Yoosef — His harshness and conceit — Abundance of game 220

Chapter VIII

Trouble with guides — Monastery of St. George — River of Josephus — Trickery of monks — Ansyreeh pilgrims b X CONTENTS. PAGE — Castle of el-Husn — Affable governor — Image of gold — Breakfast with wandering tribe — Plain of Horns — Horns — Violent dervishes — Ancient threshing in strument — Obstinacy of jackass — Ribleh — Amiable colony — Talkative priest — Hermel — Source of Orontes — Remarkable monument — Illness of muleteer — Miss the Cedars — Metawalee Sheikh — Tears of a mother — Return to Beyrout 250

Chapter IX

Report to H. L. Dr. Gobat, Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem — History of Ansyreeh — Religion — Present state — Results of visit — Desire for schools — Expenses of a school — Reasons for hoping for success . . . AND ISMAELEEH.

Chapter I. Plain Op Ladikeeh

— TRICKS PLATED ON THE ANSYREEH — AN- SYREEH PEASANT ANSYREEH VILLAGE — FAILURE IN THE KITCHEN — JOURNEY TO SUADEIAH CHEAPNESS OP PROVISIONS —MISADVENTURE — SUADEIAH — ANSYREEH LITERATI ANSY- REEH FOUND AT TARSUS, SELEUCIA, AND ANTIOCH — PROCEED TO ANTIOCH — TO ALEPPO. At the latter end of April I left Beyrout for Ladikeeh. I was naturally anxious to have my first look at the little capital of the district which, God willing, was to be the scene of my future life and labours. On the morning of the third day we anchored outside the ancient port which, though small, must have been for the navies of old both safe and commodious. Its present appearance, commanded by an B old fort at the entrance, and backed by gardens stretching up to the town, is very picturesque. Ladikeeh and its port are still decaying, and present a striking contrast to the bustling and rising town of Beyrout.

It is surrounded by a vast plain, stamped by all the loneliness of depopulation ; and the olive groves in its imme diate vicinity, seem to partake far more of the desolate stillness of the plain on which they verge, than of the cheerfulness of the city whose walls they skirt. Early on the morning after my arrival, I ascended the mount behind the town, once the castle hill, but now crowned by a mosque, recently erected to the memory of a Mussul man Sheikh, from Northern Africa. This mosque attracts the eye, not only as a con spicuous object to be seen for a distance of many miles, but because it appears as the last effort of the decaying religion of a declining country and town. From the top of the mount there is a fine view of the plain, extend ing for many miles north, south and east, and in the distance gradually breaking into hills, themselves giving way to mountain ranges.

In the north rises Mount Cassius, its bare head wrapped round with clouds; on the south appeared the mountain of the cedars, the northern termination of Lebanon, still " in wintery grandeur towering," although it was the end of April. But what to me possessed more interest than all besides, was the range to the east, inhabited almost exclusively by the mysterious race which I intended to visit. The plain itself appeared dotted here and there by their villages, for they are its sole cultiva tors. It was the time of spring, before the grain had been reaped and the fierce suns of the almost cloudless Syrian summer had scorched its treeless plains ; and the patches of verdure seen at a distance, gave the eye a false impression of the amount of labour be stowed upon them by the wretched peasantry.

On a nearer view, are perceived whole tracts of ground lying fallow or producing scanty crops, notwithstanding the fertility of the soil and the numerous rivers which might be made use of to irrigate it. Although, as I have said, the Ansyreeh, or Fellaheen, i.e. peasantry, are the sole inhabi tants of the plain, their nearest village is about half an hour distant, none residing in the town, or coming into it, except to bring wood or other articles for sale, and for such like b necessary business. They are too much op pressed by the inhabitants of towns to have any great love for them ; not to speak of the contempt in which they are held, and the practical jokes that are played upon them. To these they are particularly subjected in Tripoli, the Mussulmans of which are more bigoted than those of Ladikeeh.

In the neigh bourhood there is a large number of Fellaheen, and occasionally they are obliged to enter the town on errands. On such occasions, the facetious shopkeepers suspend hooks in the shop windows, which they cause to dangle till they become entangled with the turban of an Ansyreeh, and then, by a sudden twitch, raise it into the air, to the astonishment of the wearer. At other times they put a match within the ample folds of the white cotton liff'eh, or turban-wrapper, and set it in a blaze. A respectable Mussulman informed me that he was one day sitting with a shopkeeper, when an Ansyreeh presented himself and asked change for a piece of money worth about 3s. 6d. The shopkeeper took it, put it secretly in a bag and returned a piece of false coin like that he had received, saying, " This piece is a bad one, I cannot change it."

I remonstrated with him afterwards, said my informant, but what was I to do ? But all this is better treatment than that which this poor people experienced some thirty years ago, when whole batches were impaled by the then governor of the town, the notorious Pasha Berbers, who died about the time of the invasion of Ibrahim Pasha. I had determined to leave my ascent of the mountains till the last, and during the cooler months to visit Antioch and the country to the north of them and the plains of Hamah on their eastern side. While I was preparing for my journey, I saw one morning, in our Arab consul's house, a tall gaunt peasant, who proved to be one of those whose acquaintance I was desirous of making. I eyed him with I know not how much interest. As I wished to see what an Ansyreeh village was like, the consul proposed my taking this man as my guide, and, accordingly, I mounted a donkey, and the huge fellow trudged on before.

He looked a thorough clodhopper in his high sheepskin boots, though a white wrapper of vast dimensions round his head, as well as the other articles of his dress, proved him to have but a distant relationship to his brethren in England. On the way, he condescended to address me, and in a hoarse voice to ask several questions about a matter still fresh in his recollection, for it had left an impression even on his heavy mind. It is a subject which, though it formed no small part of my conversation with the Fellaheen of the mountains and elsewhere, I have thought it right not to speak of more explicitly, and now allude to it once for all. He expressed his own opinion on the question, and then relapsed into his usual state of mental quietude. The first sight of the village was not pre possessing.

It was small, its houses built of rough stones, their walls plastered with cow dung, which was being dried in the sun for fuel. I contented myself with inspecting the interior of one or two of the better houses, and found them to consist of one room, of which the ceiling was supported by pillars formed of stones belonging to some ancient buildings. The roofs were constructed of timbers loosely placed together, and covered with dried brushwood, which again was covered with earth and mud of a foot or two in thickness. Little light found its way through the single aperture or window, and almost the only article of furniture I saw was a handmill. I have been thus par ticular in my description, for the houses of these people in other parts, though sometimes some what larger, consisting of one or two rooms, were built in the same way.

The most agreeable residences, in summer, are small huts, built on poles, and walled and roofed with the dried branches of trees. I often afterwards found a pleasant shelter, and had a cool night's rest, under canopies thus constructed, and open at the sides so as to allow the breezes to have full play. I compared what I had seen in this village with the mud villages of the Egyptian peasantry, and I gave the preference to the former, in as much as stone is better than mud. On my return, 1 asked the consul if the village which I had seen was not a small one, and whether there were not better houses elsewhere. He said that the houses in the mountains were somewhat better, but that this village was, in comparison with others, a large one. And so I afterwards found, for in most places the houses were scattered here and there over a valley, or on a hill side, and I saw no village of any size ; and this has led me to propose that a boarding-school should be the first to be established, in order that the most intelligent boys may be collected from among the scattered population.

Having left Beyrout without a servant, I had to provide myself with one from Ladikeeh, and chose a young fellow who had been with the consul for some time, but had been brought up in the mountains at the back of Mount Cassius. His only recommendation was that he knew nothing, but being of a tractable disposition, might be taught anything. As, at all events, cooking was not one of his accomplishments, I determined at once to commence his education, and a fowl was purchased, which I instructed him how to roast or bake. Fortunately the consul invited me on that day to dinner, and suggested my bringing my dinner with me. Accordingly, the fowl was produced, and looked tolerably brown and tempting ; but it soon appeared that through a defect in my own scientific directions, the labours of a raw cook had turned out a nearly raw chicken, and I was glad to fall back on the stuffed cucumbers of my host.

As the reader is generally supposed, by the traveller, to take an interest in his kitchen arrangements, it may be gratifying to him to know that my new cook, after many a failure, at last acquired the art of boiling a fowl (I never again hazarded a roasted one), and subsequently I learnt to appreciate his merits, when condemned, for a long period, to partake of the productions of Ansyreeh artistes. As the Government was seizing all the horses and mules it could lay its hands on, for the service of the troops, who were taking conscripts in the mountains, I found con siderable difficulty in obtaining beasts of bur den, but at last procured three, on one of which I placed part of my luggage, and perched myself on the top, a situation which proved more elevated than secure. The first day we made little progress, the muleteers declaring that their beasts had become weak from being shut up in dark places, out of sight and almost without food, the secret of the matter being that after four hours or so we arrived at a valley where there was rich pasturage to be had gratis ; no wonder, therefore, that they wished to avail themselves of it.

As the place was a pretty one for encamping in, I was not unwilling to spend the night there, and pitched my tent under the shelter of a high bank, by the side of a clear little fountain, THE ANSYREEH and on the verge of a river running through the valley. On the other side was a hill, beautifully enamelled with the wild flowers of spring. The land by the side of the river was very rich, and without the hand of man pro duced, as I have said, a rank, but rich pasturage. Here the horses of the people of Ladikeeh were collected and supported for a month or more, at the expense only of the trifling hire of those who tended them. Some of these came to me, and urged me to pitch my tent near theirs, for, they said, " the valley is continually visited by the Ansyreeh from the mountains, and we lost two horses only a night or two ago."

However, we had no night visitors, and started next morning on our ascent of the mountains at the back of Mount Cassius. The scenery which we passed this day and the following was very beautiful, and superior to any I had seen in other parts of Syria. On the left, as we rode along an elevated platform, the Mediterranean was seen in the distance, the eye first resting on valleys stretching to the shore. On the right were hills, continually varying in appearance, clothed with forests of oak and pine, into which at times we entered, passing by many a pleasant spot, where the water and shade invited a rest during the noon day heat. These mountains are at times the resort of the Ansyreeh, though they are in habited principally by Moslems. Travellers have encountered them before now, but it would be seldom that Franks would have any thing to fear.

In the afternoon we passed near a village lying high up on the side of Mount Cassius, called Casab. It is inhabited by a large colony of Armenians, and the well-cultivated fields, which have been reclaimed on the hill-sides, testify to their habits of industry. As I wished to push on, I did not go up to the village, which lay a little out of the road, but spread my carpet under a walnut-tree for a little rest. As I was about to start again, a fat personage, who has been honoured by an appointment as English consular-agent, came to press me to spend the night in the village. As he could not prevail on me to do so, he contented him self with getting me to write my name in his book. This village is deserving of remark; for, out of the way as it is, it has been reached by that most important movement which has lately arisen in the Armenian church, through the instrumentality of the American missionaries, THE ANSYREEH and many of the inhabitants have seceded from their church, and that in the face of persecu tion.

This was not the only place where I found traces of this movement. After toiling up ascents and along roads, bad enough, though good compared with others which I afterwards encountered in more unfrequented parts of the mountains, and after looking out for that indispensable requisite of a night's encamping ground, water, we at length arrived after nightfall in sight of a village, near which we halted, sufficiently far off to be secure from watchmen and thieves. Here next morning we made a purchase, which will give an idea of the cheapness of this part of Syria, namely sixteen fresh eggs for little more than a penny. In the villages of the Lebanon, near Beyrout, only four are procur able for the same sum, and all the necessaries of life are cheaper in the north than in the south, though perhaps in a somewhat smaller proportion.

In consequence, a mission among the Ansyreeh would be supported, ceteris pari bus, at a much less cost than a mission among the Druses, for instance, especially since those employed in it would be removed from any large town, and would be able to exercise an economy in dress and other matters, which would not be so easy or desirable in the neighbourhood of Damascus and Beyrout. Next day the road was still a trying one, rendered more so by some rain which had fallen and made it muddy in many places ; moreover, our beasts were becoming tired, and the consequence was, that we had not proceeded far, before the studies I was prosecuting on the top of my luggage were interrupted by the fall of my steed, which, as there was nothing to keep me on, necessarily led to my own over throw also. However, I mounted again in good spirits, and for a short time everything went on well, till, in one of the muddiest parts of the whole road, my steed began to stick and flounder, and at last down he came, and this time I found myself on my back, with my leg entangled in the folds of rope which had been made to form a kind of stirrup.

As I could not extricate myself, and not only myself but my book was becoming saturated with mud, I was naturally anxious for my companions to interpose as soon as possible in my behalf. This they did leisurely enough, and not before they had exclaimed, " There is no might nor power but in God the High, the Great," the pronouncing of which, and of " Verily we are God's, and verily to God do we return," are said to secure every true believer from confusion in the most trying circumstances. How ever that may be, it is not calculated to allay the irritation of the victim of the supineness of his muleteers, at the very moment when he is sprawling in the mud. To day the road lay down gorges clothed to the bottom with trees of the richest foliage. We rested for a little to shoe one of our animals, at a small village, the inhabitants of which were clearly of Turcoman origin.

It is singular, in passing through Syria, to encounter in a day's journey, and perhaps in passing from one village to another, races en tirely distinct in origin, and kept so by religion or language. We had now entered on the country where Turkish and Arabic contend for the mastery. Towards the afternoon we gained the brow of the hills looking down on the wide plain of Suadeiah. 1 was disappointed in the first view, for instead of flowing between lofty banks, I found the Orontes to be a muddy stream, running as far as could be seen through a perfectly flat plain, and forming a delta or marsh, near the sea. As this was a place where I intended to stop three or four days, I was anxious to find a good position for my tent, and at length pitched it on a hill com manding a view of the whole valley, and a pretty view it was at the time I was there.

In the foreground were the houses of the peasantry, interspersed among the trees, with their high slanting roofs, reminding one of our English homesteads. In fact, the whole valley had a singularly English aspect. In the distance was the majestic form of Mount Cassius running sheer down into the sea from a height of 5000 feet, and forming one of the most magnificent headlauds in the world. As the peasantry here and as far as Antioch are principally Ansyreeh, I wished to remain a short time, with the view of considering how far the place might be a desirable one for the establishment of a school for the northern section of that people. There are some reasons which would give it a preference to Antioch, which will appear when I come to speak of that place, but there are others which would render the establishment of a school here less desirable than I had thought when at a distance.

In the first place provisions are dear, and the people have learnt to be exorbitant in their demands from the residence of some English families among them. The climate also, as far as I could hear, is on the whole, not healthy. Though the weather was delight ful when I was there, in the summer there is great heat, and in the winter a nearly continu ous blustering wind ; and though the people have had the credit of being well disposed and not given to the thieving practices of the majority of their tribe, this year, as I was after wards informed by an English lady, who spent the summer there, the place forfeited its good character for security. Numerous robberies took place, and the house where she resided and most others were visited. In one case they were carrying off a horse, which was rescued from them, and in another they seized the treasury of a poor woman, by cutting off those plaits of hair hanging down the back, in which the Syrian women carry no small amount of property, making a jingling as they go, which is doubtless most soothing to their money loving husbands and lovers.

And the wretches were not content with robbery ; no less than three murders were committed in the country between Suadeiah and Antioch, and as the lady passed, on her way to Scanderoun, the spots where the poor men had been buried were only too evident from the horrible stench that was emitted. I heard of robberies, also, when staying at Antioch, and for a long time the country has not been in such a disturbed and unsatisfactory state as at present. Franks have to be thankful that their dress is generally sufficient to secure them from all molestation. At Suadeiah there are few of the literati of the Ansyreeh. I was told of one who knew Hebrew, &c, but I believe that I saw him after wards at Antioch, and as usual found that his fame outstripped his deserts a hundredfold. For the fact is that the Ansyreeh, like most ignorant people, have the greatest conceit about the little knowledge they possess, and a man may easily become a star in the literary world, without any fear of having his splendour eclipsed by a brighter luminary.

Two of them came to my tent, one of whom had just returned from Crete. In the time of Ibrahim Pasha, he and two brothers had been seized by a well-planned expedition, and sent to different parts. He was an intelligent man, and, as I observed was the case with all who had had an opportunity of seeing some little of c the world, he had profited by doing so. He had some knowledge of reading, and gladly availed himself of a copy of the Psalms lying in my tent, to practise himself in that art. Wherever I went I found, both among young and old, the greatest desire, not only to show off, but to improve the little knowledge of reading which they possessed. In the case of this man that knowledge was but small, and though he stumbled over the words in a manner not pleasing to his hearers, he persisted in doing so for a long time, apparently much to his own satisfaction.

He spoke of a Padre in Antioch, whose unhappy fate I shall speak of hereafter, as havingbeen a man of the highest attainments, and, indeed, the poor man seems to have made himself respected and beloved, not only by the Fellaheen, but also by the Greeks. In Suadeiah there are many members of the Greek church, and when I spoke of the project of establishing schools for the Fellaheen, they expressed a wish to avail themselves of any which should be formed near them, for at present there is no school ; and I may say, once for all, that whatever might be thou°-ht of the propriety of confining any mission which might be formed exclusively to the Ansyreeh, a prosperous school among them would not fail of acting as a spur to others. One poor Greek complained to me bitterly of the hardness of the times, and the twenty piasters (3s. 6d.) which the Sultan had been compelled to impose this year, as an additional poll-tax on all his subjects.