280 
CLARKE 9 $ TRA T:ELS. 
There is nothing more remarkable than their physiognomy 
which is not that of an Arab. From this circumstance alone* 
we were, at any time, able to select one of the Druses from the 
midst of a party of Arabs. A certain nobleness and dignity of 
feature, a marked elevation of countenance, and superior de¬ 
portment, always distinguished them; accompanied by open¬ 
ness, sincerity, and very engaging manners.* With this brief 
account of a people, concerning whom we would gladly have 
contributed any satisfactory information, we must now turn 
our attention to other subjects; confessing, that on leaving the 
Druses, we w ere as ignorant of their real history as when we 
entered the country of their residence.! 
As we rode from this village toward the sea of Tiberias, the 
guides pointed to a sloping spot from the heights upon our 
right, whence we had descended, as the place wlifere the mira¬ 
cle was accomplished by which our saviour fed tire multitude : 
it is therefore called the multiplication of bread; as the mount 
above, where the sermon was preached to his disciples, is called 
the mountain of beatitudes , from the expressions used in the be¬ 
ginning of that discourse.^ This part of the Holy Land is very 
full of wild animals. Antelopes are in great number. We had 
the pleasure of seeing these beautiful quadrupeds in their na¬ 
tural state, feeding among the thistles and tall herbage of these 
plains, and bounding before us occasionally, as we disturbed 
them. The Arabs frequently take them in the chase. The 
lake now continued in view upon our left. The wind rendered 
its surface rough, and called to mind the situation of our sa¬ 
viour’s disciples, when, in one of the small vessels which traverse 
these waters, they w ere tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus, in the 
nation, but in writing they use the Syriac and Chaidaic. characters. It does not there¬ 
fore follow, from their Arabic language alone, that the maronites of Syria, any more 
than the Druses, are necessarily Arabs. “ I! s par lent Arabe; mais leur caractSres 
sent Syriaques ou ChaldaXques Voyage de Sieur Paul Lucas, tom. i. p. 304, Amst. 
'1744. 
k I have seen nothing to remind me of the appearance presentedby the Druses, 
excepting an engraving in Lord Valentia’s Travels, from a drawing by Mr. Salt, re¬ 
presenting Abyssinians resting on a march. (See vol. iii p. 109. Lon cl. 1809.) The 
two figures, seated upon the right hand of that groupe, in white cloaks, whose faces 
•are exhibited in profile, beat* a striking resemblance to the Druses we saw in 
Syria. 
“ The country of Castravent, a part of Mount Lebanon which looks toward the 
Mediterranean sea, is inhabited, in preference to any other spot, by the Druses, who 
gavetneir name to this southern district. They occupy also the rest of Mount Le¬ 
banon, Anti-Lebanon, the narrow plains which lie between C'astraventand the sea and 
all that extent of shore from Gibaii , otherwise called Byblus, as far as the ri ver Evl, 
near the ancient Sidon, at present called Sayd. The ancient Heliopolis, now known 
by the name of Balbec, is peopled by this nation, as well as the neighbouring coun¬ 
try. In short, families of the Druses may be found scattered here and there, through¬ 
out every part of Syria and Palestine.” Mariti’s Travels, vol. ii. p. 23. 
| Blessed are the poor in spirit .... Blessed are they that mourn,” &e* 
