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MAY, 1907.] THE TRAVELS OF RICHARD BELL (AND JOHN CAMPBELL).
Padre & I sculkt. The Guide got of them 40 Cakes of bread, Cost 2 Dollers, weh served vs to an old Citty cald Tyabe [Taiyibeh, Taiba]. We travelled 14 days, day and Night, ere we could reach it, and iudge it from Hanna 130 Leagues, for ye Certan Leagues in that Contrey is not knowne, but they recken days iurney accordinge as they & horsses are hable.
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When wee caime to Tyabe, theire weere we heart broken, haueing neither meate, money, nor freinds, And must pay head money, 10 Dollers a heade. ffor want of it, we weere put in preson & wecre 3 Days theire, but they sent vs meate, & cared for or horsses. The 4th day caime A merchant from Alleppo, And caime to vs, & askt me wt I was. Is a Christian. Sd he, theire are of That Cast seuerall, As Ittall [Italians], Spanyards, fir: [French] and others, of wch are yu. I Sd, An English man. She, give me a note vnder yor hand & I will give yu ye Money yu desire, weh was 24 Dollers, & take it Att Alleppo. I tooke ye Money & gaue ye Note as he desired. Wee pd or (paid our) heade money And tooke Our Jurney ffrom Tyab towards Alleppo, esteemed 40 Leagues or 4 days Jurney. Its all a hard sand. In the Midest of or way Mett vs a partie of Arrabs, wch fyred at vs before we caime wthin shot of them. Wee sent a yong man, woh caime from Tyab wth vs (ye Marchants sarvt yt lent me ye money). He returning, Sa, they are Rogues, yu haus nothing to loose but yor horsses, & if yu will give me 2 Dolls a man, I will secure them. We did, by parroll.
These Arrabbs had taken a Caffeloe of 16 or 17 Cammells and some 20 small assenegers of theire owne Contrey mens. Wee askt the reason why they robbd theire neighbors. He Sd, theire was an Arrabb Kinge in the Hills yt the Marchants had agreed to give him soe much pr Cammell for fre passage, but had not ptormed; Soe he made bold with ye first he mett. Its common to agree thus in those parts for every carrier, wth ye Arrabbs that lie in his way, ffor they say, when Jacob had gott all the blessings, Esau caime & askt; soe his father told him he had given. Jacob all & he must take what he could get. They owne them selues of that race, and Soe soone as vp in yo morninge, doe pray a good prize may come in theire way, as we doe for our dayly breade, & take it with as much fredome as if really it had beene sent them.
The first towne we caime at from Tyab was Sallammity, Two Leagues from Alleppo.55 We rested theire a night. 84 I to ye Padre, now we are out of all Dainger. But ye people where we lay had sent to ye Kinge of the Arrabbs, not far from them, and told him for 58 Dollers they would Deliver two Xpians into his hands. We had not gon a league but we Overtook a drove of Laded Oxen. Sd ye Guide, come lets put on; Now wee are out of Dainger. We put a head of these Carriers or markett people, Arrabbs too, and psently I espied twenty (20) horssmen comeinge easily downe a hill. When they see vs get a head, beinge 4 horssmen, They caime poweringe downe vppon vs. Sd I to ye Guide, who are these. Sa he, Rogues. We made all speede back we could, to gett amongst the Oxen, But they weere vppon vs. I left my horsse and [rar] into the thronge of ye Carriers, & gott behinde an Old Arrabb weomen for shelter. She Cald them Rogues, and railed at them for hindering travellers, but Carried I was to theire Kinge, but did not part wth my Old Arrabb weoman. Comeinge before him, ye Kinge askt what I was. I said, a pooreman, Robd comeinga from Babilon. Well, Sd he, thou lookest like noe richman. He caused ye weoman, by whome I held by, to serch me. Fyndeinge noethinge, Sd he, my luck is nought, yt I mett not with yu before yu weere Rob1, And askt me wheere I had yt horsse. The weoman S4, he is mine. I haue lett him ride, he beinge foot sore. He Sd in Arrabb, Gome Gidde [qumi jiddah]57 web is get ya gon, yu Cuckold. Att last we pted, & I gaue ye poore weoman a Doller, woh made ye teares start out of hir eies for joy of it.
Att 12 Clock the 58 day of August 1669 I caime into ye Consulls In Alleppo, Rich. Bells then at Dinner with him, & saw in wit a Ragged & weather beaten Condition I caime thether in ; And of or [? after] Examition of or Guide, whose life I had offerd me by ye Caddie [gāzt] in
5 This place does not appear in the modern maps.
54 Asinego (Fort.), a young ass. 56 Hiatus here in the MS.
et Qumi jiddah, vulgarly pronounced gumi giddah get up grandmother, and was addressed to the old
woman.
Hiatus in the MS. here.
59 This is the first mention of him, although he figures as the author of the MS.
=
