183
ANTOURA.
turned up the mountain to the left. At the end of five hours an
three quarters I came to a wood of firs, which trees are very common ¬
in these parts ; to the right is the village Haret el Bottne (5
). Six hours and three quarters Zouk Mykayl (), the
principal village in Kesrouan, where resides the Sheikh Beshera,
of the family of Khazen, who is at present the governor of the
province. The inhabitants of Zouk consist, for the greater part, of
the shopkeepers and artizans who furnish Kesrouan with articles
of dress or of luxury. I observed in particular many makers of
boots and shoes. Seven hours, is Deir Beshara, a convent of nuns.
At the end of seven hours and a quarter, Iarrived at Antoura, a
village in a lofty situation, with a convent, which formerly belonged
to the Jesuits, but which is now inhabited by a Lazarist, the
Abbate Gandolfi, who is the Pope’s delegate, for the affairs of the
eastem church. I had letters for him, and met with a most friendly
reception : his intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the mountain, ¬
and of the Druses, which his residence of upwards of twelve
years, and a sound understanding, have enabled him to acquire,
renders his conversation very instructive to the inquisitive traveller.
March 15th.—I left Antoura in the evening, to visit some convents ¬
in a higher part of the mountains of Kesrouan. Passed Wady
Kheredj (), and at three quarters of an hour from Antoura, the
ruined convent of Bekerke (6), once the residence of the famous ¬
Hindye, whose history Volney has given. Now that passions -
have cooled, and that the greater part of the persons concerned -
are dead, it is the general opinion that Hindye’s only crime
was her ambition to pass for a saint. The abominable acts of debauchery ¬
and cruelty of which she was accused, are probably imaginary ¬
: but it is certain that she rigorously punished the nuns of
her convent who hesitated to believe in her sanctity, or who doubted
the visits of Jesus Christ, of which she boasted. Hindye died about
