The name and position of this ancient province correspond exactly with the modern district Jedûr, which lies on the west side of the great plain of Damascus. It is bounded on the east by the Hâj road, which separates it from the plain that runs along the west side of the Lejah. On the south it has Jaulân. The mountain-range of Jebel esh-Sheikh forms its north-western border; and on the north lies Wady el-'Ajam. The whole region is a table-land, with a gently undulating surface, here and there diversified with conical tells. In a list which I possess of its towns and villages are thirty-eight names, twenty-nine of which have still a few inhabitants. Most of the ruins resemble those in the Haurân." 5 The province of Jedûr has never yet been explored, and it possesses so few objects of interest that few travellers would wish to spend time in it. The only ancient site hitherto identified within its borders is Sunamein on the Hâj route. An inscription was discovered there a few years ago, proving it to be the Aere of the Itinerary of Antonine. CHAPTER XVI. TOUR IN LEBANON, INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE CEDARS Ride from Bludân to Zahleh - Character of the Christians of Zahleh — Route over Lebanon - Wild scenery and singular caverns of Wady Tarshish The residence of the mountain princes - Beyrout - The ancient roads and sculptures of the Nahr el-Kelb - The valley of the Nahr el-Kelb - Its sources visited The great natural bridge The Temple of Venus at Apheca - Source of the river Adonis Adventure with the Metâwely - Distant view of the cedars-Scenery of Wady Kadisha - The Cedars - View from the summit of Lebanon -Topography of the eastern slopes - Bâ'albek - Ride along the Roman road to Bludân. July 29th, 1853.—I LEFT my summer residence at Bludân at 5:10 A.M. with the intention of proceeding direct to Beyrout, where business called me, and then returning by way of the cedars and Baalbek. I did not wish to follow the ordinary road, which has been often travelled, and has little of interest to divert the attention of the wayfarer; I consequently chose a route equally short with the other, and much more picturesque. I was accompanied as far as Beyrout by two young friends, besides my servant and muleteers. We rode down the ordinary Bâålbek road, along the base of the lofty cliffs that overhang the little wady of Zebdâny, and in 40 minutes crossed the rivulet which springs up at 'Ain Hauwar, half an hour on the right, and, flowing down the valley, waters Zebdâny and its lovely plain. We continued in the same northern course, ascend ing diagonally the bleak mountain-side that shuts in the vale on the west. A fine stream descending from these hills murmured along over its stony bed in a little ravine on our right; it joins the former stream a few yards above the spot where we crossed it. The view on our right, as we approached the summit of the ridge, was very grand. The sun was appearing over the lofty peaks beyond the plain of Surghâya, and their rocky, jagged summits, scantily clothed with the juniper, stood out in dark bold relief from the brilliant background, while the bright beams, like floods of light, poured through the wild ravines between. The whole, however, has a sad appearance of desolation, for, though the slopes are in part cultivated, the total absence of verdure at this season, and the want of trees on the low grounds, render the prospect bleak and dreary. At 6.35 we reached the summit, and immediately descended into a deep and picturesque valley, whose sides are clothed with the dwarf oak. It runs for a short distance north-east, in the line of the ridge, and then turning due north falls into Wady Yahfûfeh, at the distance of about a mile and a half. The head of it on our left was like a basin. Crossing it, and skirting a lofty wooded ridge beyond, we turned sharply to the left at 7.15, and entered a fine wady with gently-sloping sides thickly covered with oak and coppice. As we descended we turned again more to the northward, and the scenery became wilder and grander. The bare limestone cliffs here tower overhead, leaving between them but a narrow rugged track for a winter-torrent and summer-path. At 8-30 we entered the Bukâà. There is at this place a wide break in the line of low hills that runs along the base of the main chain, and the interval is rough, stony ground, intersected with ravines. Half a mile on our right was the village of Mâsy, and the river Yahfûfeh bursts forth from its sublime glen into the plain a short distance beyond. On the slope on our left stands Deir el-Ghuzâl, containing, as I afterwards found, the ruins of a temple. In 35 minutes more we reached the little village of Reyak, near the banks of the river, and then saw, a few minutes to the eastward, another village called 'Aly enNahry; both these stand on the left bank of the Yahfûfeh, and are encompassed by fertile fields and verdant meadows. Our course was now straight across the plain to Kerak, which we reached at 10.50, having crossed the river about half an hour previously. This village is celebrated as containing the traditional tomb of the patriarch Noah, measuring some seventy yards in length! Five minutes. afterwards we entered the large village of Muållakah, finely situated at the entrance of a sublime glen. Passing through its crowded and bustling streets, we crossed the river Berdûny, and turned up along its right bank; in 20 minutes more we reached Zahleh. We were immediately conducted to the house of an Arab lady who keeps a kind of hotel, and we found there a clean and comfortable apartment, possessing the rare luxuries of chairs and a table, in addition to the eternal divan. Zahleh is one of the largest and finest villages in Lebanon. It is said to contain, with its suburb Muallakah, about 10,000 inhabitants, and it is the principal market for the whole surrounding country. As we approached it from the Bukâa we had admired the rich vineyards that surround it, clothing the whole slopes of the mountains, and the wild glens that furrow their sides; and now, in riding through them, we were astonished at their great fruitfulness. The plain below is rich and abundantly watered. The people are not deserving of such a splendid country, for they are justly celebrated for their pride and their insolence. They are as ignorant a set of priestridden bigots as ever polluted a country, and no stranger can pass through their streets without meeting insult, and often abuse. The whole place is now swarming with monks and friars of every colour, and it is literally crowded with churches, convents, and ecclesiastical establishments. The Jesuits are building immense structures, and the whole people are ruled by the priesthood. Of the nature and effects of their government I could relate many a strange and thrilling tale, which would prove to the world that, where the Christians possess power in this land, they are as tyrannical, as unjust, and almost as bloodthirsty, as the haughty Muslems. We mounted again at 1:40, and proceeded up the steep mountain-side, along the right bank of the wild ravine. The view from this place is truly sublime. From a commanding peak, 40 minutes above the village, I took some important bearings to connect this side of the plain with several points in Antilibanus. Here a spur, like a side ridge, projects considerably into the Bukâa from Sunnîn, and is partly separated from the main chain by a rugged wady running parallel to the mountains. We soon afterwards crossed this wady, and stopped for ten minutes at a khan on its western bank. Starting again, and toiling up the steep and rough zigzag path, we reached the summit at 340, which is the watershed between the Bukâa and |