Caravan travel - J.S. Buckingham - circa 1816

 Salvete Omnes,

with the post today I would like to bring to your attention the writings of James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855) who in the 1810s made a longish, because it was divided into longer and shorter side trips and excursions, journey starting by ship from Cairo, Egypt, arriving in Ottoman Palestine and then across Western Asia on horseback to Calcutta et al., in British-occupied India. 

Master James was a polyglot, fine horseman and  brave man, curious about the country and people, and for our purpose also a prolific & willing  writer, and thus he wrote numerous pages about his long and adventurous journey across the Western Asia, and had them published in many volumes (all available on Archive world library). So the volume these excerpts come from it titled Travels in Mesopotamia et al, in two volumes, published in 1827. 

I decided to bring you, fellow net traveler, to this book first as it contains interesting fragments about the timeless caravan journey across the land we all know as the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia. 
In the Spring of 1816 our 'Traveller' (original spelling in the book) was in Aleppo, then part of Ottoman Syria, having traveled across Palestine and  visited the Arab Bedouin tribes of the Syrian desert,  when he decided to join a  caravan from Aleppo going southerly to Mosul on the Tigris River  in Ottoman Iraq and further down into the Persian realms. In that Spring there was but one 'small' caravan going there, as the big annual caravan was scheduled to leave in September of that year. 

So our 'Traveller' was introduced to a merchant from Mosul one Hadjee Abd-el-Rakham, freshly in Aleppo from a pilgrimage cum trading to Mecca. Master Hadjee admitted our James into his party, on one condition that 'he should conform himself, in very respect, to Hadhee's advice and direction, and to take no servant,' just one horse and necessities: like money, arms, personal  native costume & other needful things - see below:

James had to pay a sum certain to the chief camel-driver of the Hadjee's party, 'who would put his small portion of baggage among the merchandize of his master, to be free from examination and prying curiosity.' So James had only his horse and arms to look after himself. 

fountain near Aleppo 

On the morning of May 28th the caravan camp moved away on their journey across Ottoman lands from Syria to Iraq, with Mount Taurus range visible on their left, to the north-west. According to James -  'perhaps  of four hundred camels, which was thought rather a small caravan: the asses, mules, and horses that accompanied it, might amount to another hundred; the whole number of persons, including men, women, and children, were about three hundred at least.'
In this passage James explained why he joined the caravan mode of travel across the Ottoman country, instead of going individually.

Ten to fifteen miles per day, 4-6 hours a day or so, two miles per hour speed must have been difficult, but Mr Buckingham went on explaining his mode of coping with the slowness, - 

and in such manner they went on day after day, allowing James Buckingham to observe, take notesand have adventures along the way.

to be continued ..

Valete