Page:The Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier.djvu/99
some Ambuscade, rode thither before to view the place, but finding it empty and free, we rested there that night, and the next night came to lye at Mezara, which is only a small Village without an Inn: Neither was there any thing remarkable upon that Road. Only that near the Cave, in the Mountain, there is very good Water: And formerly upon the Mountain stood a Castle, of which some ruines are still remaining. From the top of the Mountain there is a fair Prospect as far as you can see, over very fair Plains on every side, and in several places very good Land, water'd by divers Channels which are brought from the River Euphrates. All the Rivolets also that you cross from Aleppo to Bir come from the same River.
The fourth day after we parted from Aleppo, being the ninth of March, we came to the banks of Euphrates. Bir is on the other side of the River; and because that sometimes the Goods cannot be unladen all in a day; there is a fair and large Inn, to defend the Merchants from the Bedoüins, which would else disturb and rob them, were not they and their Goods in that manner secur'd.
You cross the Euphrates in large Ferry Boats, and as soon as you are got over the other side of the River, the Customer and his Officers comes and tells the Bales, and writes down the names of the Merchants to whom they belong. The Caravan does not lye in the Town, which is built like an Amphitheatre upon the brow of a very craggy Mountain, but passes forward over a scurvy Road to an Inn upon the top of the Mountain. Near the Inn there are several Chambers cut out of the Rock, where they that cannot get room in the Inn are forc'd to lye. That Evening the Custom-Officer comes to receive his duties, being two Piasters upon every load of Goods, whether upon Horse or Mule, though the Mules carry more than the Horses; and half a Piaster for every Beast that carries Provisions. But for Saddle Horses or Mules there is nothing demanded.
The Bir, or Berygeon, as the Natives call it, is a large City for an Eastern City, situated upon the brow of a Hill. Below upon the River stands a Castle that declares its Antiquity; it is half as long as the City, but narrow, and without any other Fortification, having only a Tower that scours the River, in which there are eight or nine pitiful Culverins. In the highest part of the Town stands another Castle where the Governour resides, who is an Aga, whom some call a Basha, having under him two hundred Janizaries, and four hundred Spahi's. The City is ill built, as are the most part of the Cities of Turkie: But there are an extraordinary plenty of all things, excellent Bread, good Wine, and great store of the best sort of Fish.
The tenth day after we had travel'd elev'n hours in the first Lands of Mesopotamia, that lyes between the two Rivers Euphrates and Tigre, which at present they call Diarbek, we came in the evening to Sharmely. This is a very good Town, with a fair Inn, and Baths round about it. About twice Musquet Shot from thence, stands a Mountain alone by it self, like Montmartre near Paris: Round about it are Plains, and at the top of it stands a Fortress, with a Garrison of two hundred Spahi's, by reason that the Arabs sometimes cross Euphrates, and make incursions upon that side. In the year 1631, the Grand Vizier returning from Bagdat, where he had lost the greatest part of the Grand Signor's Army, not being able to take the City; fearing the loss of his head if he return'd to Constantinople, and knowing himself to be in great esteem among the Souldiers, resolv'd to quarter himself upon this Mountain, and to erect a Fortress to secure himself from the tempest that threaten'd him. No doubt but if he could have brought about his design, he might have made himself Master of all Mesopotamia, and would have put the Grand Signor to a great deal of trouble. For if you intend for Aleppo, whither it be from Tauris, Mossul, or Bagdat, unless you travel thorough the Desert, you must pass through Sharmely, under the command of this Fortress, for Provision and Waters sake. The work was gone so far forward, that there was a good defence rais'd, and the Vizier had already enclos'd all the Mountain together with the Inn, with a Wall almost twenty foot thick, and three fathom high, when he was strangl'd by those in whom he most confided, the Grand Signor having gain'd them either by threats or by rewards.
The eleventh, after a Journey of ten hours we came to Ourfa, where the Caravan usually stays eight or ten days; for here it is that they live that hire the Horses and the Mules, who have always some business in this place. We lay at an Innthree