588 



DAMASK DAMON. 



if the Jews. The castle, situaled towards the south- 

 west part of the city, ami about three quarters of a 

 mile in circuit, is a fine rustic edifice, with three 

 square towers in front, and five on each side. This 

 city is the seat of a considerable trade. It was cele- 

 brated for the manufacture of sabres, of such .peculiar 

 quality as to be perfectly elastic and very hard. Ex- 

 tensive manufactures are carried on in silk and cotton 

 Mulls. Leather is likewise an article of manufacture 

 here, but no linen is made. A great quantity of soap 

 is fabricated, and exported to Egypt. Dried fruits 

 ; iul sweetmeats are sent to Turkey. Cotton cloths, 

 liandkerchiefs, slippers, copper kettles, horse-shoe 

 nails, tobacco-pipes, and spiceries, shawls, and 

 the rich fabrics of Surat, are brought through 

 Bagdad ; iron, lead, tin, cochineal, broadcloth, sugar, 

 ana such other European articles as are required in 

 the city, come through Saida, Bairout, and Tripoli. 

 Commerce is carried on chiefly by caravans, of which 

 the principal is that in which the pilgrims annually 

 proceed to Mecca. Three caravans besides, each 

 accompanied by above 2500 armed men, go thrice a- 

 year to Bagdad, the journey occupying thirty days ; 

 those to Aleppo travel twice or thrice a-month; 

 besides which, there are many to different parts of 

 Syria. Damascus is a place of great antiquity, and 

 is alluded to in the account of the time of Abraham. 

 The population amounts, according to Burckhardt, 

 in' his Travels through Arabia, to 250,000, including 

 many Catholics and Jews ; the remaining inhabitants 

 are .Mohammedans. 136 miles N. Jerusalem. Lon. 

 36" 3ff E. ; lat. 38" 30* N. 



DAMASK ; an ingeniously manufactured stuff, 

 the ground of which is bright and glossy, with vines, 

 flowers, and figures interwoven. At first, it was 

 made only of silk, but afterwards of linen and wool- 

 len, as, for example, damask table-cloth. According 

 to the opinion of some, this kind of weaving was 

 derived from the Babylonians ; according to others, 

 invented at a later period, by the inhabitants of Da- 

 mascus, from which latter place it is thought to have 

 derived its name. The true damasks are of a single 

 colour. If they consist of variegated colours, they 

 are called ras de Sidle. The gauze damask also be- 

 longs to the silk damask. In modern times, the 

 Italians and Dutch first made damask ; and Europe 

 was supplied, as late as the seventeenth century, from 

 Italy alone, chiefly from Genoa. But the French 

 soon imitated it, and now surpass the Italians. 

 Damask is also brought from India and China, which 

 is very well imitated by the British. At present, 

 damask is made in great quantities in Germany, of 

 three different kinds, Dutch, French, and Italian. 



DAMASKEENING, or DAMASKING, the art of 

 inlaying irou or steel with other metals, especially 

 gold and silver, is of great antiquity. It is princi- 

 pally used at present for sword-blades, guards, 

 gripes, cocks of pistols, &c. Herodotus mentions a 

 saucer so ornamented : as also were the shields of 

 some of the forces of the Samnites which fought 

 against Rome. It was a favourite manufacture with 

 the ancients. We know not at what time it so 

 flourished at Damascus as to have derived its name 

 from this city. 



DAMIENS, ROBERT FRANCIS; notorious for his 

 attempt to assassinate Louis XV. ; was the son of a 

 poor farmer, and born in 1715, in the village of 

 Tieulloy, in the former province of Artois. His 

 vicious inclinations early obtained him the name o 

 Robert-le-diable. He twice enlisted as a soldier, anc 

 was afterwards a servant (cuutre) in the college o: 

 the Jesuits at Paris, but, in 1738, left this service in 

 order to marry. Heathen served in different houses 

 of the capital, poisoned one of his masters, stole 240 

 louis-d'or from another, and saved himself by flight, 



le then lived five months at St Omer, Dunkirk, and 

 Brussels, and expressed himself in the most, violent 

 nanner concerning the dissensions between the king 

 and the parliament. At Poperingue, a little village 

 near Ypres, he was heard to say, " If 1 return to 

 France, I shall die ; but the first of the land will die 

 also, and you will hear of me." His mind was dis- 

 ordered when he returned to I'aris, at the end of 

 L756. In the beginning of the next year, he went to 

 Versailles, took opium Tor two or three days, and 

 prepared for the crime, which he attempted January 

 5th. As Louis XV. was on the point of getting into 

 lis carriage, to return from Versailles to Trianon, 

 Damiens stabbed him, although he was surrounded 

 by his train, in the right side with a knife. The as- 

 sassin was seized. The most cruel tortures he bore 

 with resolution, and could not be induced to confers 

 that he had any accomplices. He asserted that he 

 should not have committed the act liadhebeen bled, 

 as he requested, and that he thought it meritorious. 

 He was condemned to be torn in quarters by horses, 

 and the sentence was executed, March 28, 1757, on 

 the Place de Greve at Paris. 



DAMIETTA, or D AMI AT ; a large city of Lower 

 Egypt, first built at the east mouth of the Nile, and 

 called Thamiatis, under the government of the Lower 

 Empire; 85 miles N. N. E. Cairo; Ion. 51 49' 45" 

 E. ; lat. 31 25' N. : population, according to Binos, 

 30,000 ; according to Savary, 80,000. Damietta daily 

 increased as Pelusium declined. The chief disadvan- 

 tage of Damietta is the want of a harbour ; yet it is 

 the emporium of commerce between Egypt and 

 Syria, situated on the Phatmetic branch of the Nile. 

 The city is without walls, built in the form of a cres- 

 cent, on the winding bank of the river, six miles from 

 the sea. It is larger and not less agreeable than 

 Rosetta, and lias several squares. Bazaars filled 

 with merchandise, okals, or khans, under the porti- 

 coes of which are Indian stuffs, silks from mount Le- 

 banon, sal ammoniac, and quantities of rice, bespeak 

 it a commercial place. The houses, especially near 

 the river, are very high. Most of them liave plea- 

 sant saloons built on the terraces ; from which 

 charming places, open to every wind, there is a view 

 of the grand lake lying on the other side, and of the 

 Nile, which traverses a rich country between them 

 both. Various grand mosques, witli high minarets, 

 ornament the city. The public baths, faced with 

 marble, are similar to those of Cairo. Multitudes of 

 boats and small vessels incessantly fill the port of 

 Damietta. Some, named sherm, serve to load and 

 unload ships that anchor in the road ; others are 

 coasting pilot-boats. There is a great trade between 

 this city and Syria, Cyprus, and Turkey. 



DAMON and PYTHIAS ; two illustrious Syra- 

 cusans, celebrated as models of constant friendship. 

 Pythias had been unjustly condemned to death by 

 Dionysius, tyrant of Sicily, but obtained permission 

 to arrange his affairs in a neighbouring place, on 

 condition that his friend should remain as a pledge 

 of his return. Damon surrendered himself at the 

 prison, ready to suffer death instead of Pythias, if he 

 did not return at a fixed time. Unexpected impedi- 

 ments detained him. Damon, still fully convinced of 

 the faithfulness of his friend, is already on the way 

 to the place of execution; already the people 

 begin to murmur, and to pity his credulity, when 

 Pythias suddenly rushes through the crowd into the 

 arms of his friend. While they demand each to die 

 for the other, the spectators melt into tears, and 

 Dionysius himself approaches, pardons them, and en- 

 treats them to admit him a third in their friendship. 

 Schiller has described this adventure in an excellent 

 ballad (Die Bttergschafs), and it is the subject of a 

 popular English tragedy. 



