CHAP.

III.

Friday, June the 26th. At ten this morning a strange sail appeared, bearing s. E. and by south; the Romulus then steering east, and half south. At eleven, bore up, and made sail towards her. Ship's latitude at noon 31°. 48'. At half-past one fired a gun, and brought-to the strange vessel. At two o'clock boarded her. She proved to be a Turkish brig from Gaza, bound to Damiata, with ammunition, &c. for the Turkish army. At half past two dismissed her, and bore up again.

Saturday, June the 27th. At five this morning discerned the haze over the coast of Syria, and at seven A. M. made the land from the mast-head, bearing east and by south. At eight, light breezes and clear weather; observed two strange sail bearing s. E. At noon, saw the town of Jaffa, bearing east, distant five or six miles. Latitude observed, 31°.59′. Found no bottom in seventy-five fathoms water. At one P. M. the extremes of the land visible bore N. E. and by north, and s. w. and by south. At five, Jaffa lay to the s. E. distant four leagues and an half. At half past seven the northernmost extremity of the land bore N. E. half east, distant seven leagues.

Sunday, June the 28th. At half past five this

III.

morning saw the land in the s E. quarter. At CHAP. ten made the coast more distinctly. At noon, the extremes visible bore north-east and south. A sail appeared close in with the shore. Latitude 32°. 40′. At sun-set, observed the point of Mount Carmel, called Cape Carmel, bearing east by south, half south, distant six leagues. Also Cape Blanco', bearing north; the extremes of the land being north-east and south. Stood off and on all night.

Monday, June the 29th. At six A. M. Cape Carmel bore s. E. by east, distant only four leagues. At half past eight, a calm; let down the boats to tow the ship a-head. Sent the jolly-boat, and master, to take the soundings. At half past nine A. M. came to anchor in the Bay of Acre, in five fathoms water; Cape Carmel bearing s. w. and by south; and the town of Acre, north. Fired a salute of twenty one guns, which was returned from the fort in a most irregular manner. At noon, got out the launch, and moored with the current to the northeast. Coming into the bay, we found a shoal; soundings varying instantly from eleven to five fathoms. The town of Caïpha s. w. and by south, distant five miles; Cape Blanco N. N. E.;

(1) A part of Mount Libanus.

CHAP. and the centre of the town of Acre N. E. by south.

III.

ACRE.

Djezzar
Pasha.

Soon after we arrived, we went on shore with the Captain, to visit Djezzar Pasha, whom Baron de Tott found at Acre, and described as a horrible tyrant1 above twenty years prior to our coming. Having acted as interpreter for Captain Culverhouse, in all his interviews with this extraordinary man, and occasionally as his confidential agent, when he was not himself present, the author had favourable opportunities of studying Djezzar's character. At that time, shut up in his fortress at Acre, he defied the whole power of Turkey, despised the Vizier, and derided the menaces of the Capudan Pasha; although he always affected to venerate the title and the authority of the Sultan. His mere name carried terror with it over all the Holy Land, the most lawless tribes of Arabs expressing their awe and obeisance whensoever it was uttered. His appellation, Djezzar, as explained by himself, signified butcher; but of this name,

(1) De Tott says, that he entombed alive a number of persons of the Greek communion, when he rebuilt the walls of Berytus, now called Berooty, to defend it from the invasion of the Russians. The heads of those unfortunate victims were then to be seen. Memoirs, vol. II. p. 316. ed. Lond. 1785.

III.

notwithstanding its avowed allusion to the CHAP. slaughters committed by him, he was evidently vain. He was his own minister, chancellor, treasurer, and secretary; often his own cook and gardener; and not unfrequently both judge and executioner in the same instant. Yet there were persons who had acted, and still occasionally officiated, in these several capacities, standing by the door of his apartment; some without a nose, others without an arm,

with one ear only, or one eye; "marked men," as he termed them; persons bearing signs of their having been instructed to serve their master with fidelity. Through such an assemblage we were conducted to the door of a small chamber, in a lofty part of his castle, over-looking the port. A Jew, who had been his private secretary, met us, and desired us to wait in an open court or garden before this door, until Djezzar was informed of our coming. This man, for some breach of trust, had been deprived of an ear and an eye at the same time. At one period of the Pasha's life, having reason to suspect the fidelity of his wives, he put seven of them to death with his own hands. It was after his return from

(2) Many wretched objects, similarly disfigured, might be observed daily in the streets of Acre.

86

CHAP.
III.

ACRE.

a pilgrimage to Mecca; the Janissaries, during
his absence, having obtained access to the
charem. If his history be ever written, it
will have all the air of a romance. His real
name is Achmed. He is a native of Bosnia,
and speaks the Sclavonian language better
than any other. It is impossible to give
here a detail of his numerous adventures. At
an early period of his life, he sold himself to
a slave-merchant at Constantinople; and being
purchased by Ali Bey, in Egypt, he rose
from the humble situation of a Mamluke slave,
to the post of Governor of Cairo. In this
situation, he distinguished
distinguished himself by the
most rigorous execution of justice, and realized
the stories related of Oriental Caliphs, by
mingling, in disguise, with the inhabitants
of the city, and thus making himself master
of all that was said concerning himself, or
transacted by his officers1. The interior of

(1) The author received this information from Djezzar himself; together with the fact of his having been once Governor of Cairo. He has generally been known only from his situation as Pasha of Seide and ACRE. Volney described his Pashalic, in 1784, as the emporium of Damascus and all the interior parts of SYRIA. (See Trav. in Egypt and Syria, vol. II. p. 181. The gates of his frontier towns had regular guards. His cavalry amounted to nine hundred Bosnian and Arnaut horsemen. By sea, he had a frigate, two galiots, and a xebeck. His revenue amounted to four hundred thousand pounds. (Ibid. p. 182.) His expenses were principally confined to his gardens, his baths, and his women. In his old age he grew very avaricious.

Lond. 1787.) (Ibid. p. 183.)