THE SYRIAN DRAGOMAN. 
175 
French, Italian, and Arabic all in one breath; cards with 
views of splendid hotels that never have existed in Beirut and 
probably never will; private hints whispered in our ears by 
disinterested persons, and all sorts of strange things yelled at 
us by the boatmen, who crowded round the steamer. In five 
minutes I verily believe there was more talking done on that 
occasion, without a single movement being made toward dis¬ 
embarking the passengers, than one would hear during the 
whole process of clearing a California steamer. It is one of 
the peculiarities of Oriental travel that the moment a steamer 
drops her anchor the officers labor under the idea that the con¬ 
tract of transportation has been fulfilled ; that there is nothing 
more to be done but obstruct as far as practicable all attempts 
at getting ashore. Even where there is no quarantine to per¬ 
form, and no police or passport nuisance, they are so loth to 
part company with their passengers, that I have seen them 
turn in and go to sleep for the purpose of passing the time 
agreeably, leaving a man stationed at the gangway, who 
always says, “ Excuse, senor, you can’t go ashore yet.” Can 
a person of nervous temperament, who has suffered all the 
horrors of confinement for two or three days, and who feels 
certain that the authorities on shore, who are expected every 
moment, will never come, in consequence of smoking the 
chibouck till they fall asleep, and sleeping till they are ready 
to smoke the chibouck again—-can one, I say, be tried at the 
bar of public opinion and j ustly censured, under such circum¬ 
stances, for saying dammit ? 
The season was late for a tour through Syria and Palestine. 
Already the rain was a month behind the time; it might 
come to-morrow or it might not; but that it would come be¬ 
fore very long was regarded as a certainty. Travelers return¬ 
ing from the Nile usually cross the little desert to Gaza early 
in March, so as to take Palestine in the spring, or somewhat 
sooner, by Mount Sinai and Arabia Petrsea. The season is 
then delightful; the country covered with verdure ; and of 
course Palestine is seen in its most favorable aspect, before the 
earth has become parched by the scorching heat of summer. 
With us it was not a matter of choice. We had spent the 
