El Fureidis

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Excerpt from El Fureidis

The dim and wavy outline of a distant mountain chain, the almost invisible Specks upon its sides, and the crest of what seemed at first an airy, ﬂoating cloud, are gradually assum ing form and color as the slow-moving vessel draws nearer and nearer to the shore; - and now the cedar-crowned heights of Lebanon stand boldly out to view, clothed in the deep purple light of the descending sun, white monasteries with lofty towers here and there crown the beetling cliffs, and Mount Carmel rears its cone-like peak in a majesty solemn and sublime, while the gilded waters of the Medi terranean fold the whole in a sheet of living ﬂame.

Now feasting his eager eye upon the harmonious picture, then lifting it with equal wonder and delight to the deep blue canopy of sky above, and anon gazing into the fiery depths below, through which the bark is cutting its trackless way, and all the while breathing in an atmosphere whose purity and fragrance are nowhere else inhaled, the Eastern bound traveller acknowledges all his longings satisfied, all his day-dreams realized.

The little merchant-vessel, bound from Cyprus to Bey rout, boasts but scanty accommodations, - a circumstance of which its solitary passenger is far from being disposed to complain, since he owes to it the exclusive occupancy of both deck and cabin. More especially, as he nears the shore of Palestine, and his soul drinks in the inspiration of the scene and hour, does his English reserve find subject for congratulation in the absence of the restless movements, the jargon of tongues, and the inquisitive eyes, which in recent journeyings have often broken in upon and marred the subjects of his reverie.

The breeze is so light and soft, the air so balmy with a thousand sweets, the sky so serene and cloudless, and the stillness so unbroken, that, lulled into a species of trance, midway between sleep and ecstasy, he experiences, even before setting his foot on land, something of the luxury of Oriental repose.