ACRE. 
were characteristic of his former life. The per- chap. 
son whom he fixed upon for his successor was ^ .y. • 
gain information with respect to the commerce and condition of 
Syria. These circumstances are related in Colonel Squire's AIS. 
Journal, from which the following is an Extract. — The party sailed 
from Alexandria, on Monday, April the 5th, 1802; and came to 
anchor oflF the town of Caiffa on the morning of April the 9th. 
At noon {April 9th) we went on shore, and endeavoured to 
see the Sheik {Governor) of Caiffa. At this moment we could not see 
him ; for the day {Friday) being the Mohammedan Sabbath, he was 
engaged at theMosque. In the interval, we proposed to make a small 
tour without the town ; but we were told that the gates were then 
shut, and that they would not be opened until the prayers at the 
Mosque were ended : this, as it appears, is a custom in many parts of 
the East ; for they fear that while the Mussulmen are engaged in the 
duties of their religion, the Christians may enter secretly, and take the 
place by surprise : — indeed, they have a tradition to this effect. 
After the noon-prayer was concluded, we had an audience of the 
Sheik, in a miserable smoked chamber ; the key of which, after a great 
search and inquiry, was with some difficulty procured. He regaled us 
with coffee ; and as there was only one extra pipe for the accommo- 
dation of his guests, it was passed from one person to another ; and 
we smoked alternately. During our conference, an unfortunate 
swallow, which had taken up its abode in the Sheik's mansion, was 
constantly hovering over our heads*. In the course of conversation, 
the Sheik observed, that he was born near England, as he was a 
native of Algiers: he alluded to our fortress of Gibraltar; for the 
Turks consider all our foreign possessions as England. Ismael Pasha, 
a respectable Turk, declared he had been in England, because he had 
once visited Gibraltar. After coffee and pipes, we proceeded towards 
Mount Carmel. This mountain, which may perhaps be two hundred 
feet above the level of the sea, is covered with a variety of shrubs and 
aromatic plants, which may render the air as wholesome as it is fra- 
grant and agreeable : the ascent was by a slope ; and this, although 
now covered with weeds and brambles, appears to have been, formerly, 
a regular 
• For the universality of the superstition with regard to the swallow, the Reader is 
requested to refer to p. 265, and Note, of Vol. II. of these Travels, 8vo. edition : also 
to V. 149 of the Electra of Sophocles, where the same bird is called Aior aiy^Xo!- See 
the end of Chap. vii. Vol. IV. 
