74

THE WARY CHIEF.

on his arrival in revenge went over to the camp of the Sultan's general and brought their followers with them. The number of Ibrahim's troops now amounted to twenty thousand horse.

Two chiefs still remained in their mountain strongholds. Tempted by a hope of pardon and favor and influenced by fear, one of the two came down from the mountains bearing valuable presents and with his people surrendered at the tent of Ibrahim. But the memory of the old feud led him to accuse the three Druze chiefs who were then sitting in Ibrahim's tent. They repelled his charges, and he was immediately made a prisoner. One yet remained in the mountains, who called himself the "Son of Man." He declined with great cunning all the summons and promises of Ibrahim, returning a letter couched in submissive terms, and pleading an oath he had taken when almost a child never to put himself in the power of a Turk, as his father had been murdered when relying upon similar promises. The letter was a shrewd compound of cunning, pathos, and determination not to submit. Ibrahim then mounted the rocks of Lebanon, destroyed twenty-four towns, and encamped not far from Andera,1 the town of the rebel Druze, but could proceed no farther. In the mean time, the "Son of Man," falling upon a detached part of Ibrahim's company, boldly attacked them, and put five hundred to the sword, escaping with much of the wealth and armor of the Turks. Ibrahim tried every effort

1Or Andrea. In Knolles's History of Amurath III. both names are used.

CRUELTY OF IBRAHIM.

75

to draw out the wary chief, who sent him his mother to act the part of an ambassador, with a present of three hundred and twenty guns, twenty packs of Andarine silks, and fifty thousand ducats; and afterward, the pasha sending yet another message to the Druze chief, inviting him to his tent and making many fair promises, he sent back by the messenger four hundred and eighty guns and fifty thousand ducats more, adding one hundred and fifty camels and one thousand oxen, besides one thousand goats and other animals. This exhibits the resources of a single Druze chief. Ibrahim, in hopes of additional gain, forced his messenger once more to return, who, at the risk of his life and by promises, gained some further presents of guns and swords, gilt daggers, silver belts, and ten packs of silk. Supposing he had now drained the Druze chief of his money and his arms, he ravaged the valleys, destroying nineteen towns, and burning every thing in his way; then, sending messages to four thousand troops riding at anchor in the Bay of Sidon, he commanded them to ravage the country as far as Cæsarea, on the coast; and the whole country belonging to the two chiefs, with towns and castles, was laid waste. In the mean time, by stratagems and promises, he got the rebel Druze into his hands, putting him to a cruel death. He was now ready to return to

1 The ducat at this time was equal to 3s. 4d. sterling. Hence 50,000 ducats would have been £7583, or about $37,000. Vide Rees's Encyclopedia, art. "Money."

* He was flayed alive, and died under the cruel operation, uttering curses against the Turks, Mohammed, and especially Ibrahim, accusing him of

76

SUBJUGATION OF THE DRUZES.

Constantinople, to the Sultan and to his affianced bride; and, wishing to appoint one of the chiefs as king or emir of the Druzes, Ali ibn Carsus, the most obedient and the richest of the three who resigned to him at his first arrival, was chosen. To him he intrusted the sole government, clothing him with kingly garments of cloth and gold, extorting 100,000 ducats ($75,000) from him previously. Wresting further sums out of the inhabitants at Damascus, he returned to Beirût, where by his secret orders his galleys were in waiting. Sending off his treasures to Constantinople and pitching his tent alone on one of the hills of Beirût, he invited at midnight another of the three chiefs, on pretence of obtaining him as a guide; and, failing to get additional gold from the affrighted chief, he seized him and started for Constantinople, having previously robbed the town and country of Beirût, which belonged to this Druze and contained a surpassing amount of wealth in money, cloths, silks, and gold. Thus the Druzes, who at that time were described as warlike and resolute, and who up to this time held authority and land even to Joppa, were, through division, subdued, although had they remained united they would probably have been able to resist victoriously even the Sultan himself. They were now reduced, and have never since recovered their former wealth and extent of authority and territory.

Descriptions by

perjury and ridiculing him even during the execution of his cruel orders. -Knolles's History of Turkey, p. 985.

writers at this time-A.D. 1638-represent them as religious observers of their superstitions, and in battle using a short hand-gun (the arquebus) and the scimetar, and occasionally lances and darts, wearing turbans and long coats buttoned up in front.1 They abhorred the Turks and their faith, lived uncircumcised, used wine, and were permitted to marry their daughters. For a time these conquered chiefs remained quietly recovering their strength, until about the commencement of the next century, when they made rapid progression under the ambition and talents of Fakir ed Din. Becoming the king or emir, under the plan adopted by Ibrahim, he cunningly gained possession of Beirût, turning the aga out of his office, yet actually pleasing the Sultan with increased tribute, though he had appointed the aga himself. At length, gaining great power and becoming an object of suspicion to the surrounding chiefs, and even to the Sultan, who saw with fear the growth of the Druzes, he left his son as chief, and, embarking at Beirût, sailed for Italy, waiting upon the

'The turbans worn by the Turks about the year 1630 were of enormous size, so that an historian of that day (Knolles) says "being so great that they can scarce therewith come in at a dore," especially the better sort of them,-viz., the Turks. At the same time he mentions that Othoman, their founder, lies buried at Prusa, in a little chapel "in an old monastery in a castle standing in the midst of the city, covered with a mantle of green chamlet and a little tulipant or Turkish hat, such as he used to wear, differing from those which the Turks now wear.” This was seen in

Knolles's time,-1638,-though Othoman died in 1328. He was sixty-nine years of age at his death, and gave a title to his linear descendants, who are called the Othoman Turks,-by alteration, Ottoman Turks.-Knolles's History of the Turks, p. 177, 1638.

2

This at the present day is denied, whatever might have been the case formerly. Probably allowable under perfect secrecy. (See page 82, note 1.)

78

ORIGIN OF THE NAME DRUZE.

court of the Medici at Florence for help against the Sultan. Here and at this time originated the notion that the Druzes were descendants from the French Crusaders under one Count de Dreux, who after the Crusades settled in the mountains of Lebanon with a remnant. Many formed the opinion from the similarity of the words Druze and Dreux that this was the origin of the name and tribe. But since, as has been shown,1 they were spoken of as Druzes at the commencement of the Crusades, the count's claim falls to the ground; and their name is rightly shown to be derived from Mohammed ben Ismael, of whom we have spoken above, who was called El Dorzi and was their instructor. Hence their present name, "Druze," from Derûz, a plural form in the Arabic, a pure dialect of which they speak,-which would not have been probable had they been foreigners confined amid the mountains. Fakir ed Din remained nine years in Italy,-long enough to acquire a taste for all its elegance,—and, on his return, his son having settled all trouble, ruled well, and kept the Turks at bay, he introduced many of the Italian luxuries, even in painting and sculpture, erected villas, planted gardens, without any regard to prejudices or complaints. Rousing the jealousies of the pashas around him, heavier tributes were levied, and war broke out. The Druzes, under the Emir Fakir ed Din, defeated the

1Volney's Egypt and Syria, p. 285, Dublin, 1793, says that the name of the Druzes "is to be found in the Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela, who travelled before the times of the Crusades," 1160-1173,-i. e., too early in the Crusades for such an origin.-Biblical Researches, vol. iii. p. 467.