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par, though he makes only a short allusion to this river. Dr. Wilson rejects this opinion on the ground that the Awaj does not water the city of Damascus. Naaman does not say it did; and if it watered the territory of Damascus, that will sufficiently illustrate his statement. Dr. Wilson remarks, however, that the 'Awaj is rather notable in a geological point of view. The basaltic and cretaceous rocks meet at it on the same level. The first of these forms its right bank, and the second its left.' (Lands of the Bible, vol. ii. 324.) I may here just observe, that this notable feature is only true of a very small part of the 'Awaj. Above S'as'a both branches of the river run for the most part through limestone strata; while from Khan esh-Shîh to the lake, more than one-half of its whole length, the banks on both sides are basalt.

Of all those who have hitherto referred to this river, Burckhardt appears to be the only one who has visited Beit Jenn; and he merely mentions the fountain a quarter of an hour below that village, not referring to any higher up. (Trav. in Syr. p. 45.) The Rev. Mr. Thomson, though he speaks in his article in the 'Bibliotheca Sacra,' of having traced to its sources the river 'Awaj, gives just as vague and scanty information as Burckhardt had given forty years before. The only source he traced was that of Menbej, which at best sends forth but a mill-stream, and towards the close of summer is completely exhausted. This fountain is no doubt curious as a natural phenomenon, and is made still more so by the exaggerations of the Arabs; but as a source of the Awaj it is of little importance. Mr. Thomson indeed adds that the water of the Menbej unites with the Nahr Jennany, which comes down from Beit Jenn, a village high up in a wild gorge of Jebl esh-Sheikh, an hour and a half from Menbej, a little south of west, and the united stream passes by S'as'a.' This we knew already from Burckhardt. Mr. Thomson says, in another place, that as he journeyed along the banks of the 'Awaj, from Damascus toward S'as'a, during the last hour, the perfect level of the plain is broken by low hills and abrupt gullies; and small tributaries from Jebl esh-Sheikh begin to fall into the 'Awaj. The largest of these tributaries is called the Sabirâny, from a village at the base of the mountains called Beit Sâbir.' Here again we are left in ignorance as to the sources of the river. In fact, Mr. Thomson, during the journey he there describes, was more than ten miles from one source of the 'Awaj, and nearly half that distance from the other. (See Bibliotheca Sac., May, 1849.)

Such, then, is the amount of information we find in books regarding the river 'Awaj. It is just sufficient to prove that such a river exists; and that its size and position might warrant us in

concluding that it is the second river of Damascus.' But its sources, its scenery, its length, and its termination, are altogether undefined, if not unknown. The country watered by it is, in maps, either a blank, or what is worse, a fancy sketch, filled up with villages placed at such distances as pleased the eye of the artist. It will be my object in the present article to give a brief description of the river from its sources to its mouth, with such short notices of the surrounding country as may tend to elucidate the topography of the district.

It has been my privilege to spend part of two days and a night on the summit of Mount Hermon. I ascended the mountain from Rasheiya on the morning of August 31st, 1852, and passed the remainder of that day in looking over the vast panorama that was opened out before me. The whole scene and circumstances impressed me deeply with wonder and admiration and awe. A death-like stillness pervaded all visible nature. Not a sound of visible_nature. life or animation fell upon the ear, as I stood on that lofty peak, gazing over that vast expanse of earth and ocean. The solemn thought rose mysteriously in my mind, that such must have been the aspect of nature as Noah looked down from the top of Ararat on a deserted world; and that thus the world would be if the wrath of God should again pass over it as in days of old. The fragments of columns and sculptured stones that lay in confused heaps around the peak on which I stood were the only traces o human agency the eye could distinguish; and these were emblems of its feebleness. The finger of time had worn away the bold relief of the sculpture, and had marred the symmetry of column and capital. Nature itself, too, looked as if it were growing old. The cliffs and rocks on every side were rent and shivered, and the mountain sides furrowed deeply by torrents; while the snow wreaths here and there resembled the scanty locks that streak but do not cover the head of old age.

But there were other things in that scene calculated to attract the attention, and recall the stirring memory of ages and events celebrated in the annals of the world. Hermon is situated at the southern end of Antilebanon, and likewise considerably south of the loftier peaks of the Lebanon range. It rises up a regular and beautiful cone, nearly five thousand feet above the neighbouring mountains and thus it commands a view of almost the whole lane of Israel, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, and from the Jordan to the desert. Looking westward, that expanse of water now gleaming like burnished gold beneath the rays of the sinking sun, is the 'Great Sea,' the border of the 'promised land.' That low promontory which juts out into it behind those intervening hills is the ancient Tyre, 'the queen of the sea;' and those hills

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are called 'Lebanon.' A little distance from it is a bold white cape-it is the Promontorium Album;' while that blue ridge far away to the south is Carmel.' There too is the broad plain of Esdraelon, stretching along the base of Carmel, with Jezreel, and Shunem, and Endor, and Nain, and Nazareth, on its borders; and that little graceful conical peak beside it is Tabor. Here, on the south, deeply depressed, are the still waters of the sea of Galilee; and the narrow vale running away beyond it marks the course of the river Jordan. That picturesque group of hills on the eastern bank of the Jordan is Gilead, and the elevated plateau on this side of it, which stretches far eastward, is the land of Bashan. the north are the lofty parallel ridges of Lebanon and Antilebanon, extending peak after peak, far as the eye can see; and enclosing between them the long valley of Coelesyria. At the eastern base of Antilebanon may be seen a broad plain, covered with verdure; a bright spot appears in the centre of it—it is the ancient city of Damascus.

On

What a multitude of wondrous events does memory crowd together in this narrow space! Through those hills and vales roamed the patriarchs with their flocks and herds. There a race of giants was conquered and exterminated by God's chosen people. In that land was witnessed the prowess of Samson, the valour of David, and the wisdom of Solomon. In that land God's people were cheered by revelations of eternal Truth from on high; and they were awed and solemnized by wondrous manifestations of Divine power and love. That land was trodden by the feet of the Son of God and Saviour of the world: it was witness of His miracles, of His sufferings, and of the heavenly purity of His life. In that land was consummated the glorious work of man's redemption, when God's eternal Son gave his life for sinners upon Calvary. In that land death and Satan were vanquished, and life and immortality secured for man. Of incidents venerable for their high antiquity, of events celebrated for their display of valour and patriotism, and of acts hallowed by the loftiest manifestations of Divine power and Divine love, that land was thus the scene.

But what has all this to do with our subject, will be asked, perhaps somewhat impatiently, by the matter-of-fact geographer? Simply this, we reply, that if Hermon did not stand here, Naaman would never have praised the Pharpar; and if we had not stood on Hermon, its sources might still have remained a mystery. Mount Hermon contains the great reservoir that supplies the Pharpar's never-failing stream.

As I stood on the loftiest summit of the mountain, looking toward the east, a long serpentine line of verdure, here and there broken, intersecting the plain before me, attracted my attention.

VOL. V.-NO. IX.

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I could trace it from a flat expanse in the far distance, now winding between low hills, and now meandering through the plain, till it reached the base of the towering cone on the top of which I stood. This is the river 'Awaj, the ancient Pharpar. A valley of great depth here runs up into the very heart of the mountain, from east to west. It does not run exactly toward the summit, but to a point a few miles south of it; yet from the summit there is an unbroken descent to the bottom of the valley. Though this descent must be at least six thousand feet in perpendicular height, one would think he could almost throw a stone into the vale below. In the very head of this valley, in a direction from the summit south by east, I could see a number of small fountains, whose waters, after flowing through fields and meadows, unite beside the village of 'Arny, half an hour below: this is the principal source of the 'Awaj. The stream which is called Nahr el-'Árny (the river of 'Arny) flows in a swift course down the picturesque and rugged valley, passing the villages of Rîmeh, Khirbet esSauda, and Buk'asem. It enters the plain a little below the last, about five miles from its source. The portion of the plain along the eastern base of Jebl esh-Sheikh is undulating, and deeply furrowed by the tracks of winter torrents. The river at this place runs in a deep and winding bed, in a general direction of S. 64 E. to Beitîma. Here I had again a view of the river, and took bearings of its course, and of the positions of the few villages along its banks. Beitîma is a small half-ruined village, built on the slope on the north bank of the stream, half an hour from the foot of the mountains. On the opposite side, on a level tract, is the much larger and more populous village of Kefr Hauwar, containing some ancient ruins. Its gardens and orchards clothe the bank with their rich foliage. Beside the village is a small conical hill, and on its summit a modern building. To this I ascended, and from it obtained a commanding view of this section of the plain, extending eastward to the hills, called Jebl el-Aswad, and Jebl Mâni'a. The whole of this plain is barren-looking and monotonous. There are no trees save the few which line the banks of the stream, and surround the villages. The soil, however, is in many places fertile, especially toward the east. The river from Kefr Hauwar pursues a winding course to Sasa, distant some six miles south by east.

Such is the northern branch of the 'Awaj; let us now take a glance at the southern.

From the summit of Mount Hermon I journeyed to the fountains of the Jordan at Hasbeiya, Tell el-Kâdy, the ancient Dan, and Banias, the Cæsarea Philippi of the New Testament. From thence I passed over the mountains, near the little lake Phiala, to

the eastern plain. After descending the principal ridge, I entered a wild ravine, with ragged precipices of white limestone on each side. I rode down this till it opened into another ravine, wider and wilder still. Instead, however, of the white and bare rocks that strewed the bottom of the former, there was here the graceful poplar and the wide-spreading walnut, shading a clear, sparkling rivulet, that dashed along between them. A small village stands here; and a few excavated tombs in the sides of the overhanging precipices bear testimony to its high antiquity. This village is Beit Jenn, and this river is Nahr Beit Jenn, the southern branch of the 'Awaj.

The name Beit Jenn may either be translated the 'House of Paradise,' or the 'House of the Genii.' The Jann or Gin, as it is sometimes written, is a kind of spirit, which, according to the creed of the Muslem, takes a great interest in the affairs of mortals. They act a conspicuous part in many of the stories of the "Thousand and One Nights.' A belief in them constitutes a part of the Mohammedan faith, since the Prophet' affirms that some of them were, by his preaching, converted to Islâm. (See Koran, ch. 72.) The retired situation, the wild glen, and the beetling cliffs, might well suggest to the imaginative Arab that this was a chosen retreat for spirits. But still as shade and water constitute leading features of every Eastern paradise, I incline to the former signification.

The glen, I was informed, runs up toward Hermon about an hour beyond the village, and there is the fountain gushing out from the mountain side. About two miles, therefore, west by north, above Beit Jenn, is the second fountain of our river. This branch is called Nahr Beit Jenn. The Wady runs S. 75 E. to the plain. Fifteen minutes below the village is a fountain, bursting forth from a clump of trees on the right bank, called 'Ain Beit Jenn. Its waters are about equal to those of the stream, with which it at once unites, and flows down to the plain into which the valley opens twenty minutes below. A few houses which serve to shelter the flocks of Beit Jenn are here erected on the left bank. From hence the Nahr Beit Jenn flows across an undulating plain to S'as'a, about five miles distant, where the two tributaries unite and form the 'Awaj.

The distance from the entrance of Wady Beit Jenn to Kefr Hauwar, is about six miles; and this is the greatest divergence of these two branches. Farther up they approach somewhat closer. Their valleys are separated by a lofty ridge of the mountains, naked and barren.

The province in which are situated the fountains of the 'Awaj is at present called Aklîm el-Bellân --the 'district of Bellân.' It