Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1852-05-29

Il ~ as alsv
stood by laughing evidently quite pleased with the con-
duct of the rising generation though it is due to them to
that they too lazy too eowardy to take any
part in these annoyances themselves. After passing
through several Of the quarters in which the different
scots reside, arrived at wall with door In it, upon
entering which found ourselves in the Court Of the
Hotel dc Palnyye the only tolerable place for Frank
velers in the city From the streets the houses have the
appearance Of mud FORTS Of them being bare mud
walls with holes in them presentng most forbddng and
gloomy aspect to the stranger who is not Of the
pleasant surprise that is in for him when he passes
the obscure little doorway. We quite charmed upon
entering the Court of the Hotel de Pale In TRUTH it
seemed as If we had made mistake and stumbled into
the palace Of some Pasha 1t was very ordinary house,
as we afterwards found but appeared really magnificent,
after what we had been TO- There
trees laden with tempting fruit large reservoir full Of
water with fountain in the centres paved court and
various archways leading into the different apartments
the ground floors and then there Arab and Greek
servants which were ounging about and the host with
flaming red z in his hand receiving us as yisitc of high
gratifying things to wayworn travel
ers who had been for eight days wandering about over
mountains Of Lebanon The air was fragrant with the
Of oranges and waterwe suspected the host
of having prnkled the pavement himself with altar Of
roses when he heard were coming fountains were
bubbng away in the rooms and out Of the rooms in
short without going into particulars the whole was quite
Lala Rookish-that is to say like all things Oriental
the first sight was full Of enchanment 1t was SO strange
and snowy every thing fashioned out to captivate the
the rooms extending clear up to the top Of the
house. with domes above the walls cornered and curved
into all sorts of shapes and painted with brilliant colors
IN stripes and grotesque devices marble Aoors acoyes
Tor the beds running gauze curtains drawn across to
keep OF the spray Of the fountains dvans to lounge and
smoke upon with pleasant mngng of the useful in the
of narguas and chbouks OH you have no idea how
luxurious it was Such was the effect Of these gloomy
features Of Eastern life upon my nervous system aided
BY two cups Of excellent black from box
to the host as he soeny declared by Milford Bath that
lost all sense Of the dignity of Oriental travel in the
enthusiasm Of the OCCASION and gave vent my joy in
such extraordinary fourshes on the flute as to arouse
every smoking Arab and of Arab about the estab
shment They pronounced it, as solemny aver on the
responsibility Of our dragoman the most 7al music that
ever was heard within the walls Of Damascus not except
ing the famous dead march of the Turkish band consist
ing Of three notes, with variations That beautiful air
called Ezepa Kouna by the Arabs and SO much admired
by them whenever played it, rolled magnifcently round
the dome of chamber and reverberated with ten-od
effect throughout the Court the great establishment of
two English gentlemen who had just returned from Pal
myra and who had probably it before or only
knew it by the vulgar of Zip Coon My friends
the Captain and the Southerner-were quite charmed,
but none so delighted was myself. We all declared
1t was glorious life, this riding, and smoking, and
utng way through the land of turbans and went to
bed as jolly possible, to dream our first dream in Da
mascus.
What we dreamed it would be impossible to say with
any degree Of accuracy. If remember right the Eng.
ish Captain was troubled about getting all his coal By
r. NJ, at which hour the steamer was to sail the
Southerner slept soundly in cane-brake and it fell t
my lot to dream that the grand Caph of Damascus ha6
ordered me to be bastnadoed for msrepresentng him m
the report Of speech which he had just delivered in thu
United States Senate the subject of freeso At al
events, whatever our troubles were land youou
nghtcaps had nothing to do with them) all woke NJ
next morning in very serious frame Of mind and upo
ascertaning that we had bad colds and our boards we
dripping wet and heads ached we arrived at the fo
lowing conclusions: That, however charming fountai
may be in bedroom in summer it is apt to be damp
the month of December that cold marble floors are NOR
pleasant in August than in midwnter and the tot. al
sence of chimneys, stoves, and all means warming
room, except miserable pot of charcoal is not produc
tive Of comfort however pretty and Oriental the who'll
thing may be- All the glitter of ccors the walls locke
very tawdry this morning tbs fountain sent colohud
der through the Arab lomestics looked lazy an
filthy ever and in SPITE of the repeated
my landlord that ndeed MILFORD Bath had slept in th
very chamber changed quarters for another
less snowy but much more comfortable.
We took for guide through the city mehodical Of
gentleman called Solomon. In his book of recommend
tons he is represented to be Irregular old Jew, g"
honest any body could expect" "not the brigh
est guide in the world the best in Damascus and
who knows the way through the city" and in justice
him. must say that he deserved these testimonials,
that his knowledge Of the languages equal to his kno
ledge of the antiquities Of Damascus. |
The old gentleman flor he claimed to be Res)
very slow and dgnifed in his movements and wore
long beard and large turban, that gave him most il
posing aspect; we called him Solomon the solemn
showed the bazaars, and told with great solemn
that they were bazaars the mosques too he pointed
usthat they we're mosques some old walls
wise he showed us and said they were walls after wl
satisfied that he had impaired to us much vausSle info
nation he took us 10 native smoking house and with
permission called for coffee and narguss for the whf
party which he paid for out Of his owl purse, charg
afterwards only double the amount according to
tom prevalent among guides all over the world
Actuated by the purest motives chiefly by the dcs
TO dssipate the mists Of fancy you know has been
object all along-T took the liberty Of asking Solomon
solemn il the ladies Of Damascus were pretty; to VIII
he replied by throwing up both hands in horror and
ng - God forbid that / should know. People say u
arc but don't knew !, never saw them in my life" N
gave Solomon credit for sincerity in good many thin
Tor instance being in earnest when he smoked the narg