some wrong which he thought she had done him.

For these her good qualities she was held in high regard by all
classes of society, not only in Syria, but also among all the nomadic
tribes of the desert. Any traveller wishing to proceed to Palmyra
unmolested by the marauding Bedouins of the desert, had only to
provide himself with a tezkeree (kind of passport) from Lady Hester
Stanhope, and he was not only at liberty to move about safely in any
direction he pleased, but was welcomed with the utmost cordiality by
every chief on the road.

Lady Hester was very fond of Biblical studies, and of entering into
discussions on these matters, although very few of those who visited
her were competent to guide her in these studies. In consequence of
this she imbibed some strange notions, among others, the belief that
there existed only three correct Bible manuscripts in the world;
unfortunately of the three she believed in, one is of doubtful
authenticity, and one contains only the New Testament. She was greatly
astonished when I told her that many correct Bible manuscripts exist,
and on hearing my description of the celebrated Farkhi Bible
manuscript at Damascus, which has been valued at L1000, she became
quite excited, and declared her intention of going as soon as possible
to Damascus to inspect this treasure. When conversing with her on
religious subjects, her ideas at first appeared peculiar, but on
hearing the reasons she gave for them, one could not but appreciate
her noble intentions. She abhorred the idea of cruelty to any dumb
creature. Having convinced herself that the Jewish mode of
slaughtering animals for consumption is less cruel than any other, and
that the examination of the meat prescribed by the Jewish law is most
beneficial from a sanitary point of view, she adopted both, and kept
for the purpose a person at Djouni, competent to perform these duties
in her household.

One day she invited me to accompany her to her stables; here two
beautiful horses, one grey, and the other chestnut, came towards her,
and laid their heads on her shoulder. She called my attention to the
peculiar formation of their backs, which showed a tendency to rise in
two places at a slight distance from each other, leaving room for the
rider to sit between them as in a Turkish saddle. According to the
certificate she held from the person who sold them, they were
descended from a famous sire in a stud belonging to one of the
Kaleefahs. "On