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nuts, and sweetmeats; in their hands they hold little rods to beat off flies, and they vend their commodities to the passengers by measure, having a little scale and weights for that purpose. are also all sorts of pastry-cook shops, piled with pans and kettles, in which hot cakes, stuck with bits of almonds or parched seeds, sour curds, and hot tarts are sold; the number of these pastrycooks made me call to mind the comic story of Buddin ad Deen Hussein, the pastry-cook of Damascus in the Arabian Nights, who, when Agib and the black eunuch approached his shop, thus addressed them :

"I was making (said the pastry-cook) cream tarts, and you must, with submission, eat them. This said, he took a cream-tart out of the oven, and after strewing upon it some pomegranate kernels and sugar, set it before Agib, who found it very delicious. When they had done he brought them water to wash, and a very white napkin to wipe their hands. Then he filled a large china cup with sherbet, and put snow into it, and offering it to Agib, This, said he, is sherbet of roses."

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Sherbet of roses is the pink sherbet, kept in tins, and still sold to the thirsty inquirer in round cups with a lump of snow in it. The piles of

VOL. II.

I

pots and pans too still seen in these shops, call to mind the scene when the men with sticks, under the guidance of the black eunuch, and by the order of Shumsee ad Deen, " broke in pieces the plates, the kettles, the copper pans, and all the other moveables and utensils they met with, and inundated the sherbet shop with cream and comfits. Was it not you, said they, that sold this eunuch the cream-tart? Yes, replied Buddin ad Deen, and who says any thing against it? Instead of giving him an answer, they continued to break all around them, and the oven itself was not spared.

"Shumsee ad Deen called for Buddin ad Deen, and gave orders in his presence to prepare a stake. Alas! said Buddin ad Deen, what do you mean to do with a stake? Why, to impale you, replied Shumsee ad Deen, and then to have you carried through all the quarters of the town, that the people may have a spectacle of a worthless pastrycook, who sells cream-tarts without pepper."

Seeing so much around that reminded me of the delightful stories in the Arabian Nights, I went into the book bazaar close to the mosque, and inquired for an original copy of them; at the first two or three book-stalls I was unsuccessful, and was told they were very scarce and very dear;

BOOK-BAZAAR. KORAN.

115

but we presently found an old man, with a long pale face and a long grey beard, who said he would procure me a copy, beautifully written, on the following day. We asked about other books, and then inquired for a copy of the Koran-that instant his eyes flashed fire, his beard wagged with indignation, and he shouted at the pitch of his voice, Yallah, yallah! "Go, go, get you gone!" with sundry uncourteous expressions and rude epithets, among which that of "Infidel dogs" was more than once repeated.

Finding all further negotiation broken off for the present, and a crowd gradually collecting, we made as decent a retreat from the spot as we were able. It is considered sinful by these Mussulmen to allow the sacred book to be profaned even by the touch of an Infidel, and no strict Mussulman, unless bribed, will sell a Koran to a Frank; but it may generally be obtained through a third person, who will buy it for you.

The Koran is written in pure Arabic, and is not allowed to be written or circulated in any other language-nor is it touched with unwashed hands, or without a solemn obeisance. The purest Arabic is considered to be that of the Arab tribes in the neighbourhood of Mecca and Medina; its pronunciation varies among different tribes, and

in the large cities and towns of Syria, it is more corrupted perhaps by the admixture of other languages than elsewhere.

We dined in the refectory of the convent, and were attended upon by some of the good friars, who are kind hospitable people. These worthy fathers keep a school, and bastinado the boys with great effect; every now and then we are regaled with the noise of the instrument and the roaring of some youngster. These boys, I am told, are taught at the expense of the convent, but those parents who can afford it are naturally expected to contribute towards their education. The quantity of wasps at present harboured on the premises is quite terrific. They are attracted by the heaps of grapes piled upon the pavement ready for wine making. Attached to this establishment is an old dusty library, and a tattered, moth-eaten collection of books in Spanish, French, Latin, and Italian, chiefly theological. There are some French romances, and some elementary works in Arabic for the use of the monks studying that language.

Oct. 14th. The consul has procured us a new residence a country villa close to his own house at the village of Salahieh, to which we are to re

move to-morrow.

I went this morning into a large open space

SADDLE HORSES.-ENVIRONS.

117

surrounded by green trees, fruit-stalls, and pedlars' stalls, in which a number of horses and mules are kept for hire and for sale. We found some tolerable saddle horses, and took a ride in the environs.

Matters are now much changed from what they were when Maundrell visited Damascus in 1697. "In visiting these gardens," says he, "Franks are obliged to walk on foot or ride on asses,-the insolence of the Turks not allowing them to mount on horseback. It is apt sometimes to give a little disgust to the generous traveller to be forced to submit to such marks of scorn; but there is no remedy, and if the traveller will take my advice, the best way will be to mount his ass contentedly, and to turn the affront into a motive of recreation, as we did."

The former insolence of the Damascenes is now, fortunately for travellers, effectually curbed.

The mud walls that border the roads and lanes on every side of Damascus sadly interfere with the prospect of those on foot; but on horseback we can look over them into the luxuriant orchards and gardens on either side, where the cultivators of the soil may be seen hard at work, gathering the fruit or sowing the seed.

Green foliage and a beautiful face, say the

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