ACRE. 237 
He was degraded from his rank as an officer, and we heard of 
him no more. 
The next morning, an Albanian genera! was ordered into 
the mountains, with a party of cavalry, to act against the 
Druses. Djezzar, who sent for us to inform us of this circum¬ 
stance, further told us, that he entertained some apprehensions 
on account of our journey to J erusalem ; but, said he, “ I have 
already sent messengers into the country, that every precau¬ 
tion may be used among the chiefs in the villages.” He 
spoke also of the news he had received from Egypt, whereby 
he understood that the Yi-zier had retreated from before 
Cairo, on account of the plague. 44 This conduct,” said he, 
44 might be justifiable in a Christian general, but it is disgrace¬ 
ful in a Turk.”* He then informed us that upon Mount Car® 
me! he had found several thousand large balls,f and never 
could discover a cannon to fit them; but that a peasant had 
found a fieldpiece, which Buonaparte had concealed previous¬ 
ly to his leaving the country, capable of receiving every one 
of those balls. During this conversation, which lasted about 
an hour, interlarded, on the part of Djezzar, with a more than 
ordinary allowance of aphorisms, truisms, and childish stories, 
he was occupied, as usual, in cutting paper into various shapes; 
such as those of coffee pots, pipes, cannon, birds, and flowers. 
At last, his engineer comihg to consult him concerning the im¬ 
provements he imagined himself making in the fortifications of 
Acre, we took that opportunity to retire. Some notion may 
be formed of his talents in fortification, by simply relating the 
rnanner in which those works were carried on. He not only 
repaired the memorable breach caused by the French, and so 
ably defended by Sir Sidney Smith, but directed his engineers 
to attend solely to the place where the breach was effected, re¬ 
gardless of all that might be wanted elsewhere. 46 Some per¬ 
sons,” said he, putting his finger to his forehead, 44 have a head 
for these matters, and some have not. Let, us see whether or 
* Alluding to the predestmarian doctrines of the Mahometans, who consider all 
endeavours to escape coming events us impious and heretical. 
f We supposed that, by these baits. Djezzar alluded to mineral concretions, of a 
spheroidal form, found in that mountain As the Turks make use of stones instead of 
cannon shot, it is probable that Djezzar., w ho was in .great want of ammunition, had 
determined upon using the stalagmites of Carmel for that purpose. Maundreil,.how¬ 
ever, speaks of having seen, in the fields near Acre, large bails of stone, of at least 
thirteen or fourteen inches diameter, which were part of the ammunition used in bat¬ 
tering the cityguns being then unknown.” SeeJourn. from Aleppo to Jerusalem, 
p. 54. Oxf. 1721. Egmont and Hey man saw, within the wails of the castle,. “ 'sevemi 
large stone bullets, thrown into it by means of' some, military engine ma unknown” Ti'&v. 
through part of Europe, &c. to!, L pksss* Load. 1751b 
