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From Ribleh we would gladly have extended our journey northward to Hums, Hamah, and even to Antioch. But the season of heat was already at hand, and, under existing circumstances, it was advisable for me to leave Beirût by the steamer of June 22nd. Very reluctantly, therefore, on my part, we turned next day towards the coast, by way of the great fortress el-Husn, bearing from Ribleh about N. 30 W.

Having crossed the great plain of the Orontes, we ascended very gradually the low broad slope here running down northward from the end of Lebanon. Further N., about opposite the lake of Hums, the ground is much lower. We struck at length the right bank of Wady Khâlid, a deep ravine coming down on our left from the S.E. with a stream, the remotest source of Nahr el-Kebîr. Following down this valley it brought us to the southeastern part of the beautiful oval basin, called el-Bŭkei'a, three hours or more in length from N.E. to S.W., and an hour and a half in breadth. It is skirted on the S.E. by the last low points of Lebanon, and the west side of the great slope we had crossed; and on its N.W. side by a ridge running S.W. from the Ansarîyeh mountains. At its S.W. end this ridge sinks to low hills, and here the river el-Kebîr breaks through into the western plain. In the northern part of this ridge there is a gap, formed by two Wadies running out one on each side, with a low water-shed between, affording a very convenient and easy passage for a road. Here is still the road from Hamah to Tripoly and the south, and it must always have been a pass of much importance. Above it, on the S. side, stands the fortress el-Husn, completely commanding it. The castle has no very definite mark of high antiquity, yet we can hardly doubt that so important a position was very early occupied. From the castle there is a view of the waters on both sides-the lake of Hums on the E., and the Mediterranean on the W.

A little more than half an hour down the western valley stands the great Greek convent of Mâr Jirjis (St. George), where we stopped for a few minutes, and were very courteously received. Twenty minutes further westward down the valley is the great intermitting fountain. This is unquestionably the Sabbatical river described by Josephus, which Titus saw on his march from Arca to Raphanæa towards Hamath. The Roman general naturally led his army through this pass. According to Josephus, the fountain ceased to flow on the Jewish Sabbath; the present popular belief of Muslims regards it as resting on the Muslim Sabbath, or Friday. It was first identified by Mr. Thomson.

Our wish had been to proceed from el-Husn to Ehden and the cedars of Lebanon, by some direct route leading up through the

northern parts of the mountain. But we were not able to find that any such road exists, on account of the sharp ridges and deep chasms which intervene. Even to reach 'Akkar, it was necessary to make a circuit to the Jisr el-Abyad far in the S.W. As our time was limited, we felt constrained to give up even this route. Nothing, therefore, was left for us, but to proceed for a time on the way to Tripoly, and then strike across to the usual road from the latter place to the cedars. This we did, visiting on the way the site of Arca, and passing E. of Jebel Turbul to Zugharta, situated on the said road an hour and a half from Tripoly.

This road follows up at first the Ju'ait, the middle branch of the Kadîsha; then leads up a steep ascent to the first plateau of the mountain, and afterwards up another still steeper, along the wild and difficult Wady Harûny, to the second plateau, on which is Ehden; this extends to the base of the high unbroken ridge, the backbone of Lebanon. We encamped for the night by a solitary fountain in Wady Harûny, a little off the road, and enjoyed the cooler and delicious climate which we had already reached.

Ehden has a fine situation, and the tract around it was well tilled. The harvest in the plains below was over; here it would not begin for two or three weeks. The silk-harvest was equally behind that of the plains. In these high parts of the mountain the potato is cultivated; we saw several fields of this plant arranged and irrigated like gardens.

The cedars are not less remarkable for their position, than for their size and beauty. They are situated at the head of a vast amphitheatre, looking W, surrounded by the loftiest ridges of Lebanon, which rise from two to three thousand feet above them, partly covered with snow. From this amphitheatre issues the great chasm of Bsherreh, perhaps the wildest and grandest of all the gorges of Lebanon. In the midst of this vast temple of nature, the cedars stand as the lonely tenants, with not a tree nor scarcely a green thing besides. We passed on, and encamped at Hasrûn, on the southern brink of the great chasm of Bsherreh.

Our road next day (June 17th) kept along as near as possible to the base of the high ridge, crossing the heads of deep valleys and also the ridges and spurs which lay between. We came at last to the highest spur of all, where our road led over snow, and then descended at once into the great basin of 'Akûra, where are the sources of the Nahr Ibrahîm, the Adonis of the ancients. We came for the night to Afka, situated in the S.E. branch of the basin, in an amphitheatre resembling that of the cedars, not so vast, indeed, but verdant and beautiful. Here a fine fountain bursts forth in cascades from a cavern; and directly in front of these are the shapeless ruins of a large temple. This was the

temple of Venus at Apheca. In it were two massive columns of Syenite granite; but how they could ever have been brought to this high part of the mountain, is a mystery.

Our route next day was similar, keeping along as high as possible, and crossing a very steep and high ridge into the basin in which are the fountains of the Nahr es-Sulib, the northern branch of the Nahr el-Kelb. There are two of these fountains, Neba' el-Asal and Neba' el-Leben, both of them large, and sending forth copious streams from under the foot of a ridge close under Jebel Sunnîn. The stream from the latter fountain very soon enters a deep chasm in the table-land, the sides of which have almost an architectural regularity. Over this chasm is a natural bridge, having on its south side an almost perfect arch of more than 150 feet span, and 70 or 80 feet above the stream. The width of the bridge on the top at the narrowest point is 120 feet. Our road led across this bridge, and a traveller might easily pass this way without becoming aware of this wonder of nature.

We passed on to the ruins of Fukra, situated in another valley which runs to the southern branch of Nahr el-Kelb. Here are the remains of another temple, and also a square tower apparently intended for a military purpose. The road now led in a very direct course towards the mouth of Nahr el-Kelb. W. of the long straggling village Mizra'ah, we descended into and crossed the very deep chasm of the northern branch es-Sulîb, resembling greatly the gorge of the Lîtâny above Belât. Beyond this chasm, we pitched our tent for the last time, in the western part of 'Ajeltûn.

The next morning (June 19th) we continued to descend gradually, till, coming out on the high northern bank of the valley of el-Kelb, we found a very steep and difficult pass, which brought us down to the stream, five minutes above the bridge. We reached Beirût soon after noon. On the 22nd of June, I embarked to proceed by way of Smyrna to Trieste.

Such is an outline of the second journey which I have been permitted to make in the Holy Land. I desire it to be distinctly understood, that the one great object of all these investigations has been the historical topography of that country, in its relations especially to the Holy Scriptures, and less directly to the writings of Josephus. To this one object, all other observations have been only subsidiary.b

b The above paper has appeared in the Bibliotheca Sacra in a more extended form, too long for insertion in the Journal. We have given the substance of Dr. Robinson's investigations.

THE RIVERS OF DAMASCUS."

ARTICLE II.

THE river Pharpar is neither so interesting nor important as its sister the Abana. The scenery along its banks is not so grand; and no city of historic celebrity or architectural beauty has ever stood near it. It is, however, next to the Abana, by far the largest river that descends the eastern slopes of Antilebanon, or waters the vast plain along its base. The district watered by the Pharpar is extensive, and the population supported by it not a few. The notices of this river in the works of modern as well as ancient travellers and geographers, are fewer, briefer, and less definite even than those of the Abana. Its sources have never been described or explored; its course has never been traced; the country through which it flows has never been accurately defined; and the lake into which it empties its waters has never been so much as named, except in one solitary instance. Dr. Smith, in the Appendix to 'Robinson's Researches in Palestine,' speaks of the river 'Awaj-the ancient Pharpar; and though he gives the name of its lake, yet he confounds it with the other lakes into which the ancient Abana flows. Under the head of Wady el'Ajam, Dr. Smith thus writes:-'It lies chiefly on the W. of the Haj-road between Damascus and the Hauran. Through it runs the river el-'Awaj; which rising in Jebel esh-Sheikh, runs eastward, and ends in the lake called el-Heijâny.' He adds in a note: This name (Heijâny) I find in Tannûs' notes, but have no recollection of it. Abulfeda speaks of a place in the Ghûtah called Merj Râhit, in which a celebrated battle occurred, A. H. 64, between the Keisîyeh and Yemenîyeh; which I suppose to be the neighbourhood of the lake called by him, in another place, the lake of Damascus. He says of it, "The lake of Damascus is to the east of the Ghûtah of Damascus, bearing a little to the north. Into it flows the remnant of the Barada, and other rivers. It enlarges in the winter, so that the rivers are then not needed; and in the summer it diminishes. By it (or in it,lė LJ) is a thicket of canes, and (in it) are places that protect from an enemy."-Tab. Syr. pp. 16, 156.' Before the close of this article I shall have occasion to show the correctness of Dr. Smith's statement, that the 'Awaj flows into the lake Heijâny, and the correctness of Abulfeda's description of the lake of Damascus, so far as it goes; and yet, at the same time, the incorrectness of the conclusion, that these two lakes are identical. I shall have occasion to

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a Concluded from vol. iv. p. 262.

show, that instead of one there are three lakes, quite distinct and separate.

It is somewhat strange that the topography of the beautiful plain of Damascus, so often visited, and so widely celebrated, should have remained so long unknown. The roads through it are among the best in Syria, and, except in times of civil war, perfectly safe. The scenery too presents a pleasing contrast to the parched desert to which the eyes of the wanderer in this land soon become accustomed. Travellers, however, seem to have their beaten track, which one after another follows and describes ; and thus even those whose express object has professedly been to visit and explain Bible lands, have hitherto been satisfied with a vague conjecture as to the probable extent and nature of the lake into which the rivers of Damascus flow. It might surely be an agreeable variety, if nothing more, to vary the scene a little, and strike out a new line of route. A visit to the lakes would not be more monotonous or dreary than the ride from Jisr Benât Yakub to Damascus ; and it would have all the charm of novelty attached to it. Most heartily would we recommend this idea of change to future travellers, not merely in reference to the plain and the lakes of Damascus, but to other parts of Syria and Palestine. There are nooks and corners in Antilebanon for example, that would still afford a rich harvest to the antiquary; and there are scenes of grandeur too that would form fine subjects for the poet's pen, and the painter's pencil. Who has ever described the wild passes and the almost innumerable sepulchral caves of M'alula and Jubb 'Adîn? Who has ever heard in the West of the frowning cliffs, and crumbling ruins, and vine-clad slopes of Helbon, whose wine the merchants of Damascus carried of old to the rich marts of Tyre? (Ezek. xxvii. 18.) These are tempting subjects; but alas! we possess not the poet's power; we are but little skilled in the painter's art, and we have no time for antiquarian lore.

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Dr. Robinson, in the Bibliotheca Sacra' for May, 1849, has collected in a brief note the substance of all that has been hitherto written on the river 'Awaj. It has been referred to by many writers, some calling it by one name and some by another; but none giving any satisfactory details. Burckhardt, for instance, when he crossed it at Kesweh, on his way to the Haurân, calls it the 'Awaj; but farther up, near S'as'a, he calls it the Sabirâny. He describes it also as flowing from the neighbourhood of Hasbeiya, and watering the plain of Jaulân (!) Hasbeiya is separated from it by the whole ridge of Hermon, and the province of Jaulan is far to the south of the 'Awaj. (Travels in Syria, p. 53.) Munro appears to have been the first to identify the ancient Phar

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