FRO^r TERUSALKM TO ALEPPO 



75 



between being a green expanse of orange 

 orchards and mulberry trees irrigated by 

 the mountain streams. The two towns 

 are connected by a primitive mule-drawn 

 street-car service (see page 74). 



RAILROAD KXPAXSIOX IX SYRIA 



About a year ago a railroad was con- 

 structed from Tripoli by a French com- 

 pany to connect with their lines running 

 from Ueirut and Damascus to Aleppo. 



Since operations have begun on the 

 Aleppo section of the German railway 

 line from opposite Constantinople to 

 Bagdad, Tripoli has become an active 

 seaport for receiving rail and railway 

 materials, wdiich are sent over the French 

 line to Aleppo, thence to be reshipped to 

 the eastern end of the line, wdiich during 

 our visit was nearing the Euphrates. 



On the coast near the railway station 

 is an ancient fort, built in the middle 

 ages and called by the Arabs Bur] es 

 Seba (Tower of the Lion). Our friend 

 the station-master, who calls himself 

 Monsieur Khies, informed us that it was 

 built by Coeur de Lion, but the style of 

 architecture is Arabic. 



It was one of a series of six forts 

 built to protect the coast, only one other 

 of which still exists, and it is in poor 

 condition. The last one destroyed was 

 to make room for the railway station. 

 A petition has been sent to Constanti- 

 nople, and, if granted, will also seal the 

 doom of Burj es Seba, which, though 

 fully worth being preserved as a relic of 

 antiquity, is thought to be an obstacle in 

 the way of the "iron road," as the na- 

 tives say (see page 80). 



The old saying, "The never-changing 

 East," should be modified to "The slowly 

 changing East." at least as far as Pales- 

 tine and Syria are concerned. One can- 

 not travel thrrnigh these countries with- 

 out constantly being struck with the inter- 

 mixture of the very old and the new side 

 by side. 



THE FAST OF RAM.\D.\X 



After two full days at Tripoli, w-e 

 were ready to start for our first goal, the 

 Cedars of Lebanon. We woke while it 

 was still dark, thinking Mohammed Ali. 

 our muleteer^ had come with the horses, 



but instead found it to be a man with a 

 drum, which is beaten with a strap to 

 awaken the sleeping fast-keepers to their 

 early morning meal. The pealing of a 

 cannon at this hour serves for this pur- 

 pose, but it is supplemented by a number 

 of poor men, each one of whom volun- 

 tarily canvasses a given district with a 

 view to receiving, on the feast at the end 

 of Ramadan, presents of food and cash. 



The night was still, and the voice and 

 drumming recalled memories of child- 

 hood when living in the Mohammedan 

 quarter of old Jerusalem. The crier 

 stopped before each door, repeating short 

 sentences, alternating them by a few flaps 

 on his drum. His verse ran something 

 like this: "det up to your morning meal" 

 (flap-flap-flap). "The Prophet has come 

 to visit you" (flap-flap-flap). "Don't be 

 lazy" (flap-flap-flap). 



Alohammed Ali came in due time, and 

 by the light of a .small oil lanij) in a 

 smoked street lantern he loaded our 

 heavy parcels on a mule, while the cam- 

 eras were put on his mount in order to 

 be more accessible en route. His small 

 nephew, a boy of about 12, was taken 

 along to drive the mule, which, however, 

 he rode when the paths were not too 

 steep. Alohammed Ali's horses could not 

 be said to be fine mounts, but they were 

 good enough, while he himself made up 

 all deficiencies by his good qualities as a 

 muleteer. L'nlike most muleteers, he ad- 

 mitted his ignorance of the roads ; but 

 since one of us had been over this route 

 once before, we were not anxious. 



In ascending the Lebanon range 

 through the valley before us to Bsherreh, 

 where we were to spend the night, we 

 followed the right-hand side of the Wadi 

 Kadisha (Sacred \'alley) along a car- 

 riage road, availi*^g ourselves of short 

 cuts now and then. The scenery was 

 most striking. The entire hillsides were 

 carefully terraced and planted with vines, 

 from which hung large clusters of ripe 

 fruit, unprotected except by a low stone 

 wall. 



"ami:ricax villac.ks" ix thk i.kiiaxox 



W'c had just lost ourselves in the 

 bcautv of our surroundings when, look- 

 ing up, we saw a native apjiroaching us. 



