قصة الكتاب :
by Isabel BurtonrnrnThis book contains little History, Geography, or Politics; nornScience, Ethnography, Botany, Geology, Zoology, Mineralogy,rnor Antiquities.rnExploration and the harder travels, such as the Tullul es Safa,rnthe Hauran, the Leja\'a, the Alah, and other wilder parts of Syria,rnhave been described by Captain Burton and myself in \"Unexplored Syria ; \" but for all that, this book contains things womenrnwill like to know.rnI have followed my husband everywhere, gleaning onlyrnwoman\'s lore, and I hope that the daily jottings of my privaternjournal will yield a sketch of the inner life of the Holy Landrnin general, and of Damascus in particular. I wish to convey anrnidea of the life which an Englishwoman may make for herself in the East. In so doing I have found it difficult to avoid being toornpersonal, or egotistical, or too frank, but I do not know how to tell my story in any other way, and I hope that in exchange for myrnexperiences my readers will be indulgent. I have been oftenrnaccused of writing as if it were intended as an address for thernRoyal Geographical Society, that is, in a 2\'Mas^\'-professional way.rnI conclude that this happened because I always wrote with andrnfor my husband, and under his direction. This is my first in- dependent publication, and I try the experiment of writing as ifrnviii Preface.rntalking with friends. I hope not to err too much the other way,rnand, in throwing off the usual rules of authorship, to gain byrnamusing and interesting those who read me, what I may lose inrnstyle. The British reading public, nay, all the world, likesrnpersonal detail. I trust, therefore, that they will excuse thernincessant Ego of one who was only allowed to take a part in thernevents which happened during our residence in Syria ; and if this book proves to be the humble instrument that launches andrnprospers any one of my philanthropic projects for the Land ofrnmy heart, I shall have lived for some good purpose, and when Irnlie upon my death-bed I shall not be haunted by that nightmarernthought—\" I have never been of any use.\"rnIsabel Burton.rn14, Montague Place, Montague Square, London,rnApril, 1875.rn