great many of them were killed. But when the year 'forty-four came, they [the Christians] assailed them [the Druzes with their Arab, Kurd and Mutawaly allies] in great number, with hearts stronger than iron, and killed of them a great many persons, and dispersed them in the waste and desert lands. And after this (P. 89) the inhabitants of Zaḥlah felt big and important, and consolidated their power, and crowed over the Druzes, becoming arrogant. And their high-handed manner struck terror into the hearts of all, and their name [alone] inspired with fear the Druzes and the Mutawalies, who regarded even their unweaned babies with dread. Then [it came to pass] that a watchman of them [the Christians], who happened to be in Barītān, 120 one of the villages of the Mutawalies, was treated insolently by one of the villagers, who beat the man with such a beating that he killed him. And when news of this reached them [the Christians], a party of horsemen mounted [their steeds] and left, betaking themselves to Barītān, but the inhabitants fled, abandoning it: And the [revengeful] crowd entered it and killed whomever they got hold of and plundered the village and burned it down. And the chiefs of the country of Ba'albak and its people observed their deed but not one ventured to oppose them. And secret hatred rankled in the hearts of the Druzes and Mutawalies, and they meditated evil and resistance against the people of Zaḥlah. So when (P. 90) this commotion agitated the country and enmity and contention broke out between the Christians and the Druzes, the Sheikh 'Aly, son of the Sheikh Khaṭṭār al-'Amād, advanced with about two hundred men to Zahr al-Baydar, a hillock near Zaḥlah. And, as he met the garrison composed of its townspeople, a fight took place among them. And there were charges and countercharges. And of them [the armed townspeople] there were about four hundred men in that neighborhood. And when they heard the noise of the gunpowder they hastened thither, parties of them meeting [engaging] parties [of the enemy]. And eye encountering eye, the fires of war blazed up between the contending bands. And the Christians gained the upper hand over the Druzes and overmastered them and pitched into them and rounded them up and threw them back to the vicinity of 'Ayn Darah with vigor and daring. And the Sheikh 'Aly was hit in the foot and they carried him to his house. And (P. 91) this wound caused

120 Some five miles southsouthwest of Ba'albak, the ancient Assyrian Balbiki and Heliopolis of the Greeks.

his death. Now his father happened to pass near that place and when the news reached him, he promptly directed himself [thither] with warriors on foot and on horseback; and when he arrived at the battlefield of the alighting [where they were engaged], and saw his son in that condition, he lost no time in charging with the men and heroes who attended him. And the Christians encountered him with hearts like the mountains, a desperate fight ensuing between them. So they pressed and rushed upon one another, and collided and came to grips, and advanced and attacked, and persevered [in their struggle] for about five hours of the day. And [meanwhile] a large crowd [of the people] of the surrounding country had collected, so the Christians returned all together to Zaḥlah for fear of ruin and destruction, after their having killed about twenty men of the Druzes while their own slain numbered ten. And one of these ten (P. 92) had been killed carrying a flag of the Druzes and he carried that flag spread out [in derision] contrary to the manner in which it should be carried [according to the Druze custom]. And one of the Christians took him for a Druze and fired a bullet at him, and [so] he was killed.121 And that day was the twenty-ninth of the month of May.122 And when it was the first day of the month of June, about six hundred men of the inhabitants of Zahlah directed themselves to Kafr Silwan intending to guard [occupy] it for the protection of the Christians living in the neighborhood of that place. Their leader [in that expedition] was 'Abd'Allah Abu Khāțir, one of their chief men. And it was Yūsuf Bey Karam, 123 famous for his prowess and his high ambition, who had sent a message to tranquilise the people of Zaḥlah and the neighboring villages, making grave things easy for them [alleviating their

121 An accident which gave color to the superstition that Druze flags are better left alone. Young Mansur too, the son of Baraqat, who, in the skirmish outside the walls of Ḥāṣbayyā, had cut himself a passage through the Druze ranks to seize one of their banners, was one of their first victims when they broke into the sarai, notwithstanding that his father enjoyed the protection of Sitt Na'yfah, finally to be killed with the boy. Cf FERRETTE, op. cit., where, by the way, the number of men slaughtered at Ḥāṣbayyā, is put at one thousand and fifty.

122 This second battle of 'Ayn Darah in which six hundred Druzes routed three thousand Christians, took place not on the 29th but on the 27th of May, 1860.

123 The Yusuf Bey Karam here spoken of and also called Yusuf Karim, seems by some authors to have been confounded with Yusuf Khawan, a godson of the Prince of Joinville, who received his education at the French Lazarist (formerly Jesuit) College of Antūra, the only military leader of consequence whom the Christians of Mount Lebanon possessed.

worry], [telling them] that they were perfectly safe and secure because he had made up his mind (P. 93) to come to them [and to remain] near at hand with a fully equipped armed force. And he had sent word to the aforesaid 'Abd'Allah Abū Khāțir, requesting his presence in order that he might consult him concerning [the measures] appropriate for the [then existing state of] affairs. And when the written letter reached him ['Abd'Allah Abū Khāṭir], he sent a message to excuse himself from going. And meanwhile a force of Druzes from Qurnayil and that region had collected and driven back with strength and might the people of Zaḥlah. And the fighting between them was desperate for about seven hours of the day. And of the Druzes about fifteen men were killed and of the Christians up to nine men. Then the Christians retraced their steps to Zaḥlah for fear of being assailed by the foes around them. And some of its inhabitants went out to the plain of al-Buqā'a to watch and observe; and some of them patrolled (P. 94) the country [also] to watch and observe. And an encounter took place between them and parties of the multitude of Druzes [that were steadily] gathering, and they routed them and took as spoils many of their horses and weapons and accoutrements. And when the Druzes had finished [accomplished their design] with the places whose inhabitants they had dispersed, and saw that the remaining Christians did not move away from the rest of the districts adjoining them, their minds concentrated upon the smiting [reduction] of Zaḥlah, which was their principal concern and greatest of objectives and necessities. They collected therefore armed bands and troops, and sent [for assistance] to the Mutawalies of the country of Ba'albak and their 'amīrs of the Banu al-Ḥarfūsh who were joined by a rabble of Arabs and stragglers and Kurds. [These] were led by Isma'īl al-Atrash and the 'Amir Ḥamūd Raslān and the Sheikh Khaṭṭār al-'Amād. And they drove with them a party (P. 95) of Christians who were powerless to disobey or resist. And in foot-folk and horsemen they surpassed [the number of] ten thousand. 124 And with this awe inspiring force they made for Zaḥlah and deployed in the plains

124 An exaggerated estimate for it "would appear that there were collected before Zahleh only about 1800 or 2000 Druzes and probably about 1000 more of other races, as Kurds, Arabs, Metwalehs and Anserians, joined them, attracted by the hope of plunder." Letter of June 26, 1860, from Mr Jas Brant, British consul at Damascus, to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer.

around it.

And the inhabitants of Zaḥlah, including strangers and allies, numbered only about five thousand. 125 And when they saw those enormous numbers [of enemies] that did not cease to come on, [filling] the country all around, they knew for sure that they would not be able [to put up a firm defence]. So they sent a message to the French consul at Bayrūt, imploring [his] assistance to support their request to the Pasha that he might turn the Druzes away from them or despatch an army to guard the town against them [those invaders]. Seeking to obtain this from him, he answered that he would command the Druzes to desist from [waging] war [upon the people of Zaḥlah] and also would despatch an army to guard the town (P. 96) with orders to strike at them if they did not stop striking. And that he [Khurshid Pasha] himself would follow the army and would not permit the Druzes to interfere with them [the Christians] [doing] worse harm, but on condition [stipulating however] that the Christians should forbid [their people] to flock to Zaḥlah, assembling there, in order that the way might be open to him to restrain the Druzes in their wish [to attack the town]. And it was Yusuf Bey Karam, mention of whom has been made before, who arrived with troops and halted in the district of al-Matn in the proximity of the town. And Yusuf Agha ash-Shantiry collected likewise from among the men of [the town of] al-Matn and the whole district an armed troop large in number. And the consuls wrote them to remain there to see how matters stood. So they waited in their place [the positions which they had taken] watching [events]. And as regards Khurshid Pasha, he despatched Nūry Bey with a detachment (P. 97) of the regular army and ammunition and stores and other material for use in war.

125 "Zahle is said to contain 7000 fighting men and abundance of stores and ammunition." Letter of June 16, 1860, from Mr N. Moore, British consul-general at Bayrūt, to Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer. The inhabitants of Zaḥlah had, furthermore, "a kind of federal alliance with the Christians of Deir-el-Kamar for the general protection of Christian interests, if seriously menaced by the Druzes;" CHURCHILL, The Druzes and the Maronites, pp. 107/8. But the trouble was that, while the Druzes acted together in perfect discipline, the Christians neither would nor could trust one another: "Après avoir été pendant plusieurs années le fléau des autres sectes, même catholiques, les Zahlides trouvèrent le moyen d'envelopper tous les chrétiens dans leur propre querelle avec les Druses. La guerre commença; mais au lieu de porter secours comme ils le pouvaient, à leurs coreligionnaires menacés, ils s'enfermèrent dans leurs murs. Au moment où ils se virent eux-mêmes assiégés par les Druses, l'armée Maronite vint à leur aide: ils refusèrent de la laisser entrer, attribuant au général Joseph Karim des projets de conquête.” FERRETTE, op. cit.

And as regards the inhabitants of Zaḥlah, they exerted themselves to prepare and make ready for battle, and asked the people of Dayr al-Qamar and the other [Christian] towns to come to their aid, but [no help] came except from the people of al-Arqūb. And as regards Nury Bey, his march to Zaḥlah took him three days. And on his arrival outside the town he commanded his troops to pitch their tents, and he displayed flags and standards while the crowd of Druzes remained thronging around. But he did not oppose them either with signs [actions] or words. So when the inhabitants of Zaḥlah saw their enemies pressing them and the perfidy of Nury Bey126 in front of them [right before their eyes], they sent three (P. 98) of the notables of the town to Yusuf Bey Karam, requesting that he should come to them since no [other chance of] succour was left to them. And he promised them to come on the second day, which was a Sunday. So the next morning a party went out to meet him on the road near the Ḥajar al-Atrash [Deaf Rock]. And they [the townspeople] killed animals [of their flocks] and cooked food for him and his army and remained waiting for him with burning hearts. And when the appointed time passed and he failed to come, their anxiety and vexation increased, 127

126 Afterwards put on trial, Colonel Nūry Bey pleaded in his defence "that, on the day of his arrival at Makseh about two hours before sunset, he summoned from fifty to sixty of the Druse Chiefs and minor Sheikhs, read to them the buyuruldi he held and gave them the necessary advice. They all replied, “We have heard and we obey;" and engaged, unless the Christians of Zahleh attacked them, they, on their part, would not attack the people of Zahleh; and withdrew. That on the morning of the following day he commissioned the regimental secretary, Ali Effendi, to proceed on his part to Zahleh, in order to inform the inhabitants that he, Nuri Bek, had arrived with troops to protect them and the town. But the Zahleh outposts, stationed about Malaaka, refused to allow the said secretary to pass them, treated him with contumely and drove him back. Hardly had he reached head-quarters before the people of Zahleh and the Druses commenced fighting. Nuri Bek's intention then was to march to the scene of action with his troops in order to disperse the combatants and fall upon the Druses, but owing to the numerical strength of the Druses and to the smallness of the forces at his disposal, and to the fact that both Christians and Druses were now intermingled, he did not consider himself able to carry his intention into execution and, therefore, could not carry out his orders to their full extent." See the minutes of the evidence adduced at the trial of Colonel Nury Bey, Correspondence relating to the Affairs of Syria, 1860–61, p. 302. Colonel Nury Bey was condemned to the punishment next after that of death, namely confinement for life in a fortress.

127 Yusuf Bey Karam's dilly-dallying or the townspeople's interfering with his plans for their relief, see Note 125, is another instance of the imperfect understanding and mutual distrust among the Christians who, for the rest, instead of applying to the proper authorities when they had got themselves into trouble, preferred consular interference with the calamitous results shown in this narrative.