William Francis Lynch

“ As we proceeded, the number of villages increased, each with its girdle of vegetation; an oasis in the wide-spread and arid desert. Occasionally the wind, sweeping down the gorges of the mountains, would whirl the dust of the incinerated plain in circling eddies, high in air, very much like our waterspouts at sea. There were some camels moving about in search of food; but there were few people, and no birds or wild animals: — a long, dreary ride over the dry plain, under a burning sun. ”

“ On the high ground back of it was a suburb town, the resort of wild fanatics, conspicuous tomb, called the tomb of Nimrod, on a projecting promontory. To our surprise we found that Damascus was situated at almost the very base of Anti-Lebanon, instead of in the midst of an extensive plain. Crossing the bridge which spanned the Barada, we turned to the east, and skirting the northern wall, passed through a cemetery, many of the tombs in which were enclosed in wooden lattice work with bouquets of flowers suspended within, and many women moving about among them. ”

“ SELF-REPROACH
It proved longer than any in the ruins of the temple. An intelligent gentleman, whom we afterwards met, informed us that, on digging down, he discovered that its bottom was not detached from the rock beneath it.
Crossing the plain towards the Lebanon range, in an hour we passed a fountain near an artificial Roman mound. At the first were three fellahas, who expressed great fear of the ‘Anazeh Arabs. Two of them were young, and one unmarried: their faces were uncovered, and their lips stained blue. They were timid, but not uncourteous. ”

“ Here we entered upon an elevated plateau, three-fourths of a mile wide and five miles long, narrowing to the north, where a depression in the ridge leads to the great plain of Buk’ah. We then came upon a narrow, but highly cultivated valley, with a stream running through it. There were quantities of grain just reaped, and much of it ready for the sickle. A village, through which we passed, was embowered in the luxuriant foliage of the mulberry and the walnut. The houses were mud-plastered, stone huts; the people uncleanly in their persons and attire, — the women and children particularly so. ”

“ There were prodigious walls, built of enormous stones, and almost all bearing traces of sculpture; the relics of another era, which were made use of at the remote epoch when they reared the temples which are now in ruins. From the summit of the breach, all around, were seen marble doorways of a prodigious height and breadth; windows or niches bordered with most admirable sculpture, arches, pieces of cornices, entablatures and capitals. We were still separated from the second scene of the ruins by the interior buildings, which intercepted the view of the temples. ”

“ We passed through the populous village of Kattana, and a most extensive olive orchard — and with the suburb town of Salihiyeh on a slope of the mountain to the left, and on the right a long line of vegetation indicating the course of the river until it was lost in the desert; and Damascus, unseen though near, before us; we pressed forward as rapidly as our strength and that of our steeds permitted. ”

“ Much wider and longer, more decorated still than the one we had left, it presented an immense platform, in the form of an oblong square, the level being often broken by the remains of a raised pavement, which appeared to have belonged to temples utterly destroyed. All around this platform extended a series of chapels, decorated with niches admirably sculptured, with friezes, cornices, and the most finished workmanship. The only failing, is a superabundant richness; the stone is crushed beneath its own weight of luxury. ”

“ Mingled in confusion around it were shafts of columns, sculptured capitals, architraves, cornices, entablatures, and pedestals. Beyond, rose the hill of Ba’albek, a platform 1000 feet long and 700 feet broad, built entirely by the hands of men, of hewn stones, some of which are from fifty to sixty feet long, and fifteen to sixteen high, and the greatest part from fifteen to thirty above the ground. ”

“ A BATH AT DAMASCUS
Early the next morning, went to a bath, passing on the way the court of the great mosque, once the Christian church of St. John. Many of the streets were so narrow, that the projecting balconies often touched the walls of the houses opposite. The bath was very much like those of Constantinople, but more elaborate in its decorations, and the process of ablution was more prolonged and complex. The building was ornamented in the Chinese style. The interior of the dome-roof was painted skyblue, and the walls were in fresco, of Chinese scenery. ”

“ The next day, the road led over a high, rolling plain, along the flank of the mountain, which, ribbed and capped with snow, formed a bleak barrier to the west. Ahead was a sea of verdure, which indicated the gardens around Damascus. There is an unfounded legend that Muhammed refused to enter that terrestrial paradise. Advancing into cultivation, there were patches of wheat and barley on the high ground ”

“ The nature of the country before us rendered a long ride necessary to-day. We therefore rose at 3:45 A.M., the moon just peering over the eastern mountains, and started at 4:50, just as the first beams of the sun tinged the snowy peak of Hermon. At early daylight a great many goats were driven out to pasture, by herdsmen dressed in goat-skin jackets. ”

“ For miles the way was lined with walls composed of sun-dried blocks of mud, intermixed with pebbles, each about three feet high, four feet long; and one foot thick, larger, but in every other respect very much like the adobes of Mexico. This climate is said to be very cold in winter. It can only be so by contrast with the heat of summer, for much frost would crumble these walls in a single season. Within the lines of walnut trees there were orchards of olives and apricots, and patches of wheat, barley, melons, and leguminous plants. ”

“ The pedestals of this group of monuments are constructed of stones of prodigious dimensions. They are of hewn granite, some of them fifty-six feet long, fifteen or sixteen broad, and of an unknown thickness, and are raised one upon the other, twenty or thirty feet above the ground. They are evidently of a different date from the temple, and belong to an unknown era; and have, probably, borne a variety of temples, sacred to a successive variety of creeds. There are arched passages, about thirty feet high, beneath the platform, running its whole length and breadth. ”

“ The road was a most execrable one, leading over the summit ridges of the Lebanon — a keen, cold wind blowing from south-west. From the highest summit we could see the mist above the sea, but not the sea itself. At 6:40 P.M., we were compelled to stop, and camped near a dirty khan, on a little platform overlooking the lovely valley of Emana, one thousand feet below. ”

“ On our way, through the dark, narrow, and crooked streets, we frequently stumbled over sleeping dogs. These animals were by no means vicious, but would howl when trodden upon, and lazily get out of the way. They were more numerous than in Constantinople; and we were told that they perform the office of scavengers, and are, moreover, supported by charitable contribution.
THE BAZAARS
While making our way through a crowded bazaar, a Turk, in passing, elevated his hands above his head. ”

“ A rich architrave and a beautifully sculptured cornice run around their capitals. The roof of this peristyle is formed of large blocks of stone, cut by the chisel into concave hollows, in each of which is represented the figure of a god, a goddess, or a hero. Some of these blocks had fallen; they were sixteen feet wide and nearly five feet thick. Not far from the entrance of the temple were large openings and subterranean stairs, which led to lower constructions, the use of which cannot be assigned with certainty.
SICKNESS THREATENED
They seemed to extend through the whole space of the hill. ”

“ This increase, however, is anything but an evidence of the prosperity of the country, for he attributes it to the desertion of the villages, caused by the frequent forays of the wandering Bedouin. He considers that the deaths are fewer even with the increased population, which he ascribes to the more frequent inoculation of children: — for the small-pox has been at times a devastating scourge.
In the evening we dined with Dr. Paulding, who with his brother-in-law, the Rev. Mr. Barnet, belong to the American Evangelical Mission in Syria. ”

“ We then proceeded south, where the six gigantic columns reared their heads above the ruins. They are each seven feet in diameter and more than seventy high; they are composed of only two or three blocks, so perfectly joined together that it is scarcely possible to distinguish the lines of junction; their material is a stone of a colour between marble and sand-stone. These columns were either the remains of an avenue, or of an exterior decoration of the temple.
“Opposite, on the south, was the smaller temple, on the edge of the platform, about forty paces distant. ”

“ It is now uncovered and in ruins. The Arabs despoil it as they have occasion for a stone to support their roofs, or of a trough to water their camels.”
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28. Weather, warm and calm; at mid-day, the heat oppressive, many of the party complaining, and some seriously indisposed. I determined, therefore, to forego a thorough examination of the ruins; and, abandoning the contemplated journey to the cedars of Lebanon, to hasten, with all practicable speed, to Beïrût, in the hope of meeting our ship. ”