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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-Husu 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 'Akkâr, it was necessary to make a circuit to the Jisr el-Aswad, 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 Arka, 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 2000 to 3000 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 nearly 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 'Âkûra, 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-Sulîb, 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 the S. side a 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 lay 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 elKelb, we found a very steep and difficult pass, which brought us down to the stream, 5 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 our other observations have been only subsidiary.

II.-Notes on a Journey into the Balkan, or Mount HæmuTM in 1847. By Lieut.-General A. JOCHмUS.

Communicated by Sir RODERICK 1. MURCHISON.

Read November 28, 1853.

EQUIPPED for light travelling, on account of the known difficult of procuring a sufficient number of baggage animals on severa points of our projected tour into the Balkan (Hamus), we lef Constantinople on the 28th September, en route for Kirk-kelesia

and Aïdos.

For myself, for my orderly Soliman, a sabtieh or police-soldier a suruji or post-guide, and for the baggage, five horses were required from the general post-office at Constantinople.

The horses at this establishment are notoriously bad. In most parts of the empire the rate of travelling post on the principal lines of communication is 6 or 7 miles an hour, stoppages included. With the Constantinople post-horses it is generally impossible to travel faster than 3 miles an hour.

With these wretched animals we only reached the first day's station after 9 hours' march, although Chatalcha is computed to be scarcely 8 hours distant from Constantinople.

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Leaving the suburbs of Khas-Koi, with the fine Jewish burialground on our left, and the Barbyses near the Sultan's summer kiosk at the European Sweet Waters, we took the road of Jebeji-Koi to Buyukderbend, in order to see the aqueduct a little S. of that village,* about half an hour N.N.W. from the Khan, at the western outlet of a long and strong defile of the Ali-Bey-KoiSou (or Kidaris).

The hill above the Khan is crowned by an abandoned redoubt, either thrown up in 1829, when Marshal Diebitch was advancing from Adrianople on Stamboul, or built perhaps in 1811, when swarms of Cossacks are reported to have crossed the Balkan, and to have penetrated as far as Burghas, although in that campaign the great Russian army remained before Shumla.

The military position of Buyukderbend is strong in front and on its right flank; but it can be turned on its left by a force

The Khan at Buyukderbend, a spacious building to the north of the high road, lies at the foot of a hill overlooking a road to Boghaz-Koi.

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secny of life and property.

Chatalcha itself is situated in a well-watered, wooded, and

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