The Caravan Route between Egypt and Syria Part 3

VIII.

FROM SHEIK EL ZVOYED TO KHANYUNIS.

The meadows lay smiling in the morning sun, and their fresh pasture appeared greatly to strengthen and invigorate our animals. While the packing was being done I went to take a look round Sheik el Zvoyed. The first thing I came to was the house, built of clay and straw, similar to that described at El Harish, where the man lives who keeps the telegraph posts and wires in working order. Attached to it is a small courtyard, in the peaceable possession of fowls, turkeys, pigeons, and even ducks.

Not far off is a smaller house, where oil and various wares from Gaza are sold for the benefit of the neighbouring Bedouins, who all belong to the Zowarkas. Behind the houses are a number of slender palms, and at a short distance lies the burial-ground, containing a few graves, with numerous aloes growing between them. In the centre stands the Koubba of Sheik el Zvoyed, built of square stones, with an inscription in Arabic over the door. The interior of the Koubba is cupola-shaped, and it contains a tomb covered with green cloth stretched over a wooden frame.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OUR CAMP IN SHEIK EL ZVOYED.]

Water is procurable from the sand-hills somewhat to the west behind the houses, not saline, but not of good flavour. The Bedouins of the neighbourhood go there with their donkeys to draw it in black Gaza jars.

Both men and boys may be constantly seen threading their way along the sandy path; many of the boys have fine regular features, with sparkling eyes, but of that melancholy expression so peculiar to Bedouin children.

In many parts of the country surrounding Sheik el Zvoyed, ruins and heaps of stones are to be met with, telling of places formerly inhabited.

On returning to the camp I found the packing completed, and after shaking hands with the telegraph man we at once continued our journey.

At first we pa.s.sed through meadows, partially bordered with trees, and across sandy hills, and then descended a gra.s.sy slope called Lazga, from which we surveyed the extensive plain before us, with the sandy hills on the left projecting into the bright green surface like islets in the sea (see sketch). To the right are two large "Sidr" trees called Sager el Emir (the tree of the Emir) or Magrunte.[3] In the gently undulating plain there are many daffodils and blue-flowering Iris. The pretty meadows then alternated with barley fields, where numerous birds, such as larks, large buntings, and quails, are constantly to be seen. From a slight elevation we could overlook the whole of the plain stretching away beneath us, and in the distance we saw three Bedouin tents, and some cows grazing on the rich meadow land. We then pa.s.sed the road leading to Arfeh, about two miles distant, where good water is to be had in the very middle of the sand.

[Footnote 3: Large specimens of _Zizyphus Spina-Christi_, Willdenow, called "Sidr" in Egypt, where its fruit is called "Nabak." In Palestine, the tree is named "Doom," and the fruit "Sidr." Magrunte or Magroonat (in Syriac "Madjroonat") means "the female neighbours."]

Fragments of gray granite pillars, still standing, are here to be met with about the road, the fields, and the sand, and we saw one lying on the ground half buried. On one side stands a "Sidr" tree (see sketch), and to the right in the other hollow of the valley is another. The pillars are the remains of an ancient temple, Raphia, and are of special importance in the eyes of the Arabs, who call them Rafah, as they mark the boundary between Egypt and Syria.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SAGER EL EMIR.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: RAFAH COLUMNS.]

We took our midday meal close to the pillars, being now within the Holy Land, and after a short rest resumed our journey. Leaving a green sloping valley on the left, and pa.s.sing sandy hills, we went over gently undulating gra.s.s-land, and saw before us the township of Benishaela, situated on the flat crest of a hill. Numerous cows grazing, and flocks of kites soaring in the air, enlivened the otherwise monotonous landscape.

But here the aspect of the country suddenly changed, and we saw that we had entered the Land of Promise. Mud walls, with thorn bushes and p.r.i.c.kly pears, enclosed the fields, in which almonds, apricots, and figs, sycamores, locust, and "Sidr" trees, vied with each other in a luxuriance all the more cheering to the eyes of the traveller from the barren desert. Pa.s.sing several small houses built of clay, straw, and stones, we reached at three o'clock Khanyunis, the picturesque Kala of which seemed to invite our approach. We found that our camps had been pitched opposite to it in a field surrounded by opuntias.

The governor Chaker Effendi, whose family were still in El Halil (Hebron), where he formerly resided, came to welcome us. He was very friendly, and ordered our camp to be guarded by three cavalry and four infantry soldiers, who relieved each other every two hours. There were one or two negroes amongst them, but the greater number were slim and muscular Arabs, and some of them remarkably handsome men. The governor personally conducted us afterwards over the Kala. Before describing this, however, I must give the reader some general account of Khanyunis.

IX.

KHANYUNIS.

Khanyunis (or Khan Yunas) is the furthest Syrian place in the direction of Egypt, and in some respects the last outpost of the immediate authority of the Porte, as El Harish is of that of the Khedive. Between the two lies that desert tract in which the Rafah pillars stand, indicating the supposed boundary between the two countries. The Bedouin, however, wanders at will over the waste land, caring little whether he happens to be in Egypt or Syria.

As in El Harish, the Kala const.i.tutes the castle of the place, and is at the same time the nucleus around which the other buildings have gradually cl.u.s.tered.

Khanyunis is now a pleasant village, but does not at present contain more than 1000 inhabitants. Formerly the population was larger, having reached 1800, but it has decreased owing to the frequent inroads of the Tarabin Bedouins, who only three years ago set fire to the crops of the poor villagers. All the Bedouins who haunt the neighbourhood are Tarabins. They are generally well provided with horses and a.s.ses, some of the former being fine animals, of great powers of endurance. Since Khanyunis has been supplied with a stronger garrison, they are kept in check, and the state of affairs is consequently much improved. There are now fifty foot and fifty horse soldiers, almost exclusively sons of the desert, who look quite picturesque with their Koufi as head-dress, and Arabian costume. They are fine muscular fellows, and extremely courteous in manner. The villagers wear the usual South Syrian costume, and are of fairly strong build. Some of the boys have two ringlets hanging at the sides of their heads,--a fashion not uncommon among the Bedouins. There are two schools for the instruction of youth, and, judging from the fact that nearly every one can read, they must be well attended.

[Ill.u.s.tration: KALA OF KHANYUNIS.]

The interior of the village presents but a poor appearance, the streets being dirty and disfigured by numerous trenches for carrying off the rain. The houses, between which lofty palms raise their towering heads, are built of mud and stone. The inferior quality of stone consists of sh.e.l.l detritus and shale conglomerate from the neighbouring sea-sh.o.r.e, and the better material is brought from different ruins, sometimes from a distance of ten to twelve hours' journey. The roofs of the houses are flat, and over many of the entrances, which have wooden lintels, a piece of bone is fixed as a protection against the influence of the Evil eye. For the better defence of the inhabitants against the incursions of the Bedouins, the houses have loopholes; ventilation is provided for by a number of round holes arranged either in rows or tasteful designs. As has been said, the princ.i.p.al feature of Khanyunis is its Kala (see sketch), which abuts on a broad place or square, the left side of which still shows traces of a former enclosure. On either side of the entrance is a hall, with a fragment of a pedestal. That on the left contains the modest dwelling of the governor, who lives quite alone here, with but one servant. The Kala, which is 850 years old, once formed a square, at the corners of which were circular towers, with oval cupolas, and three embrasures. The two front towers only now remain, the back wall having been quite destroyed, and the once enclosed square is now filled with a wild confusion of wretched houses, half in ruins, which serve the soldiers as a place of habitation. In the centre of the front side is a gate with loopholes within the pointed arch, above which is a Moorish frieze crowned with lilies. On both sides of the gate, and on the broad front wall, are pyramidical battlements with tapering ends. Inside the archway is an inscription of Sultan Bargut of Cairo, and either side is ornamented with a lion, rudely sculptured in relief. Arabic inscriptions are cut in the walls on both sides of the gate, and in the gateway itself; no regard having been paid to keeping within the stone rows. To the right of the gate, within the Kala, rises the octagonal minaret of the mosque, from which is obtained a fine view of the ruinous interior, with its labyrinth of dilapidated houses, as well as of the whole village. From here four roads can be seen diverging from Khanyunis, namely the El Harish road, the road leading to Suez _via_ Akaba, the Benishaela road, and lastly, the Gaza road. At the entrances to these roads are grouped the houses of the village. Raising our eyes towards the horizon we saw the yellow sand-hills which bound the plantations towards the sea, strikingly contrasting with the bright green trees, and on the other side the rich verdant plain stretching away towards Gaza, which may be discerned in the distance. The numerous p.r.i.c.kly-pear bushes surrounding the village on the Gaza side are a conspicuous feature in the landscape.

We now descended to complete our inspection of the Kala. In the interior the mosque, with its oval dome, has almost gone to ruin; but the fine though simple marble pulpit still stands in good preservation. In the midst of the ruins, which have a somewhat picturesque appearance, is a house in a very dangerous condition, in consequence of a considerable portion of the mosque having fallen on it a short time since.

Notwithstanding this, however, the people are heedless enough to continue occupying it. Only a few steps' distance a lofty palm was recently blown down by a violent storm. Thus the works both of man and nature meet with a common destruction, the inhabitants not thinking it worth while to do the least in the way of repair, or to make the slightest attempt to protect themselves against impending danger.

Lethargy and nonchalance are the leading characteristics of Eastern nations, and a certain evidence of the gradual decay of their religion and race.

There is another mosque in the village opposite the Kala, but without a minaret. From its exterior it is scarcely to be recognised as a Jama.

Near one of the ruined towers of the Kala's outer enclosure, and at the corner of a house on the road to Gaza, stand ancient pedestals, serving as seats for the Mayor, Sheik el Beled.

The Souk or Bazaar of Khanyunis is formed by two streets lined with wretched Turkish shops, with mud or clay projections for seats. The doors are made to flap upward, but they close imperfectly; the roofs are, as usual, made of the Artemisia shrub. The goods exposed in these shops come for the most part from Gaza and Jaffa; but the caps of camel's hair and of cotton, as well as the white and black Syrian mantles, are made by the villagers themselves. At the end of the village, near the Souk, and on the road to El Harish, is the second public well, about 18 fathoms deep, and built entirely of ancient marble fragments. At the side is a cistern with cattle-troughs of the same material, which evidently belongs to a more flourishing period than the present. Somewhat further on, behind a slight hollow with stagnant water and a few palm trees, in the Akaba and Suez road, is the burial-ground, containing a few whitewashed tombs of step-like construction. At the opposite end of the village, where the road is open to the surrounding country, we came upon a hollow with embankments, and then took the road leading to Benishaela.

In the neighbourhood of Benishaela there are many gardens, which bear witness to the extreme fertility of the soil; though unfortunately there is not a single well among them. Almonds and apricots are the chief productions, and the raised ground enclosing them is often covered with small branches of the th.o.r.n.y "Sidr." Near the village we saw several "Sidr" trees, as well as tamarisks (Atel) and sycamores. The most numerous cla.s.s are the th.o.r.n.y Opuntias, which grow round some of the gardens in rank luxuriance.

The people of Khanyunis do not live exclusively from the cultivation of the ground; they are also largely engaged in cattle-breeding, and a great many cows are to be seen in the neighbourhood. Of camels there are but few; horses, on the other hand, are numerous. I also saw four greyhounds of the Syrian breed. As is well known, it is Richard Coeur de Lion to whom is ascribed the introduction into the Holy Land of the greyhound, which, crossing with the ordinary street dog, originated the above-mentioned breed. These dogs were not of pure blood; they were spotted white and yellow, with s.h.a.ggy hair and blue stripes, studded with cowries, on their haunches. They are used for hunting gazelles, which are frequently caught alive when very young. One of these graceful creatures was brought to us and offered for a sum equal to six shillings; it was very tame, and we carried it for some distance. But at length it died, in consequence, as was said, of having eaten bread, which, according to Abou Nabout's a.s.sertion, is very unwholesome for these animals. The more probable cause was the trying journey it made in a basket on a camel's back. There are only a few street dogs in Khanyunis; but, as a compensation, any quant.i.ty of kites, kestrels, and crows, which alight in hundreds on the loftier sidr or sycamore trees in the neighbourhood, and may often be seen hovering over the village on the look-out for prey and carrion.

X.

FROM KHANYUNIS TO GAZA.

The broad sandy road from Khanyunis to Gaza pa.s.ses for some distance through gardens with Opuntia hedges, and embankments crowned with thorn bushes. To the left, the gardens extend to sandy hills; and to the right as far as Benishaela, a village standing on an elongated hill, and containing 500 inhabitants. Behind this is another village called Abansan, with many cultivated tracts in the neighbourhood. On the uniform hill-range on which Benishaela is situated, and which bounds the valley on the land side, is the grave of Sheik Mohammed, at the foot of an old tree, and adjoining a small house which serves as the Koubba. To the right are the tents of the Bedouins, who are numerous here, and are the sole proprietors of the rich meadow lands.

After keeping for some distance to the telegraph posts across the sand, we again pa.s.sed through meadows, and then reached the dry sandy bed of a brook called Wadi Selga, bordered on the left by earth banks and on the right by meadows. After heavy rainfalls the stream of this brook extends from the mountains to the sea.

On the left hand, about half-an-hour's ride from the main road, is the village of Der el Belah (enclosure of date-trees), the only one we met with before reaching Gaza. It lies in a valley, on a Melleha, which is only separated from the sea by a rather low sh.o.r.e, and bounded at the lower end by sand and clay hills. The village is recognised from a distance by the numerous slender palm trees, which give it a particularly charming and picturesque appearance. It contains about 100 inhabitants, and consists of a few ruinous houses, the mud roofs of which are covered with gra.s.s. Between the buildings are cultivated pieces of ground, fenced with mud walls. Here and there we met with fragments of ancient pillars. There is also a rudely-built and dilapidated tower, tapering upward, and provided with loopholes, which is occasionally occupied by soldiers. To the north of the hamlet there is another Melleha, enclosed by beautiful groups of palms, and on the seaside by sandy hills. Not far from this a direct road leads from Der el Belah to Gaza, but we wished to follow the main road, and therefore crossed the hills behind Der el Belah, over green meadows, where we saw plenty of daffodils and squills. From the top of the hills we had a view of the luxuriant meadows of the valley, where many cows of the small South Syrian breed were grazing, and in which we observed an old "Sidr" tree, called El Jemeter, near which there are said to be some ruins. On the other side we had before us the wide sea, separated from the meadows by sand-hills only, on which is a group of trees called Em Maharnes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NEIGHBOURHOOD OF GAZA.]

Having reached the road, we continued to advance across the plain, where we met with numerous tents of Tarabin Bedouins and several head of cattle. We remained but a short time for breakfast on the open meadow land, being anxious to get to Gaza. Soon after we came to the dry sandy bed of the Wadi Gaza, and, climbing the low hills lying behind it, we could see in the distance the minarets and palms of Gaza, the sight of which cheered the last steps of our journey. The town is situated to the right, commanded by the Mountar Hill, so called from the Sheik who is buried there. This hill is the princ.i.p.al feature in the landscape.

Leaving to the left the path which we have mentioned as joining the main road from Der el Belah, we followed the sandy path along the telegraph posts. We then pa.s.sed through fields and gardens fenced by th.o.r.n.y Opuntias, and planted with almonds, figs, olives, sycamores, and a few tamarisks, and finally reached the Quarantine Building of Gaza by half-past two o'clock.

Here we had to take leave of our camel-drivers; and not without regret did I grasp the hand of honest old Daud, who had accompanied me the whole distance from El Kantara.

All our superfluous luggage was here disposed of, for we were now in the Holy Land, the land of Plenty and Wealth. After a few days' rest in Gaza we started again with our horses and mules to make for the third time the pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ENTRANCE TO BAZAAR, GAZA.]

THE END.