On the summit of the mountains we stopped to take a farewell view of the celebrated plain at our feet, and then advanced over a barren tract till we came to a spot, watered by one or two rivers, and shaded with trees; a luxury of this kind is often a favourite retreat from the city. The road afterwards wound through wild and rocky defiles in the mountains, and by the steep side of a rapid torrent that flowed over its course beneath, till, towards evening, we came into a plain, and passed the night in the cottage of a peasant.

The next day was uncommonly fine, and we pursued our way in good spirits. The aspect of the country was more agreeable than on the preceding day, and the cottages were more numerously scattered Soon after sunset we came to Zibolané, a large village finely situated, and surrounded with groves, and a river ran through the middle of it. The habitation of one of the villagers was again our home; they spread their best mat on the floor, in the midst of which the fire burned

bright and cheerfully, and prepared a good supper of fowls and eggs, followed by coffee and the chibouque; and we found the luxuries of Damascus had not spoiled our relish of this simple and friendly reception. Demetrie, the servant of Mr. G., was a bigoted Greek, and true to his country, though not a little of a rogue; and he was a great gourmand. Every evening he said his prayers to the Virgin, accompanied with crossings, which, after the Greek fashion, were drawn from ' his chin to his middle; and the constant subject of his prayers was, that the Virgin would give him plenty to eat and drink, and send him home safe to his family.

On the third day we came to the ruins of Balbec, which, on approaching from Damascus, are not seen till you are almost close to them. The village adjoining is very mean, and contains a few hundred inhabitants; it has a mosque and minaret. This place was situated just between the limits of the rival pachas, and was under the jurisdiction of neither. We made our way to the wretched residence of a Greek priest, who looked the picture of squalidness and poverty, and resided in this lonely spot to minister to two or three score of Christians. He drew a key out of his pocket, and unlocked with great care a waste and dark apartment a few yards from his own. We soon sallied out to visit the temple, but were encountered about half way by the governor or sheick of the village, who, with much clamour refused to allow us to proceed till he understood who we were. We accordingly walked back, and in a short time he made his appearance at the priest's, accompanied by an armed soldier, and a number of the villagers gathered round. The sheick demanded money for permission to see the ruins, and after much altercation, and violent threats on his side, the sum was reduced to twenty-seven piastres, on receiving which he went away, and troubled us no more.

The sun set on the vast temple and the mountains around it with indescribable grandeur; the chain of Anti-Libanus in front was covered with snow, and the plain, wild and beautiful, stretched at its feet farther than the eye could reach. The pigeons, of many-coloured plumage, flew in clusters around the ruined walls, at the feet of which were a variety of trees and flowers, amidst which ran a clear and rapid stream. The outer wall that encloses the great area of the building to the north, is immensely high, and about six hundred feet long; the western wall is lower, being more broken; and midway of its height are three enormous stones, about sixty feet long, and twelve wide. The temple itself is near one hundred and eighty feet in length, and half that in width, and is surrounded by a single row of pillars, fortyfour in number, nearly sixty feet high, and twenty-six feet in circumference; they are, as well as the temple, of a fine granite, of a light red colour; their capitals are of the Corinthian order, of exquisite workmanship, and are very little defaced; indeed, the entireness and preservation of the decorations of this superb temple are surprising. The architrave and cornice are beautifully carved; three or four of these columns, separated from the roof, recline against the wall of the temple, and on the south side, one noble pillar has sunk from its position into the clear and beautiful pool formed by the fountain beneath the temple, against the body of which half its length and rich capital still support themselves.

The magnificence of this corridor can scarcely be imagined: its western aspect is towards the plain, and at your feet lie masses of broken pillars, capitals, and friezes, over which you must pass to approach the temple; from the north you look down on the vast area within the walls, the sides of which are lined with ruined chambers elegantly carved and adorned, and numerous niches for statues, now however empty. The south hangs over the fountain and sheet of water below, in whose bosom it is clearly reflected. The interior of the building is above a hundred and twenty feet long, but is narrow in proportion to its length. In the sides of the walls is a double row of pilasters, and between these are numerous niches where statues formerly stood. In many parts of the temple, around the place of entrance and on the roof of the corridor, are sculptured in an exquisite manner figures of the heathen deities, of the eagle with out-spread wings, &c. The roof of the interior is entirely gone. The hands of the natives have, no doubt, committed many ravages here: Faccardine, prince of the Druses, destroyed or injured several parts of these ruins; but when he afterwards visited Italy and contracted a taste for its architecture, he bitterly lamented the sacrilege he had committed at Balbec. The Turks have, without doubt, used it as a fortification, as they have made additions to some parts of the walls, and left many vestiges of their barbarian architecture blended with the colossal remains of the temple.

About a hundred feet from this edifice is a row of Corinthian pillars, much loftier and more slender than those of the great corridor; they stand alone on an elevated site, and their rich capitals and architrave are still entire. Six only now remain, and their appearance is peculiarly elegant. On them the setting sun lingers the last of all the ruin, and their slender and dark red shafts, beheld at some distance in the purple light, as they stand high and aloof, have a solemn and shadowy appearance as if they stood on the tomb of former greatness.

On the south-east side, nearer to the village, is a small circular building of marble, richly ornamented with sculpture, and supported by pillars; it is in a rather ruinous condition, but appears quite unconnected with the mass of buildings adjoining; its roof, in the form of a dome, though shattered, is still standing. About a mile down the plain is the quarry from which the enormous stones used in the construction of Balbec were hewn; one still remains, the chief part smoothed and prepared with great labour for building, but adhering by one of its sides to the native rock: it is of a coarse granite, and its dimensions are much superior to either of the three great stones in the middle of the wall. The labour of removing such enormous masses, and then of elevating them to so great a height, must have been immense; how the latter could have been achieved is marvellous. A few of the smaller pillars appear to be of a solid piece of coarse marble; but the large columns are composed of three or four pieces of the native material. Covered galleries, several hundred feet in length, the walls of prodigious thickness, are hollowed beneath the temple. The interior of the temple was divided into three aisles, but most of the pillars which formed them are destroyed: at the upper end, a few steps lead to the altar, or sacred place, but the idol formerly adored here is gone from its place, which, however, is adorned with a variety of beautiful sculp ture. Exposed as this roofless temple has been for so many ages to

every storm, it is surprising the decorative parts of it have not suffered more; but the shafts of many of the pillars without, which face the north-east, have been rent and hollowed in some parts.

At Balbec, as at other eastern ruins, a traveller must luxuriate on the pleasures of imagination, for he will get no luxury more substantial. The darkness and misery of the good father's habitation were extreme; his hair hung long and bushy like that of a Santon; and his whole garb and person looked as if water had long been a stranger to them. He stood in extreme fear of the Turkish governor. Before sunrise in the morning we were at the ruin, and the spectacle soon was magnificent as the purple light covered the snowy mountains in front, the line of vapour at their feet had so entirely the appearance of a river, that we could not, for some time, persuade ourselves it was not so. The description in Lalla Rookh of the plain and its ruins is exquisitely faithful; the minaret is on the declivity near at hand, and there wanted only the muezzin's cry to break the silence. The golden light now rested on the six lone and beautiful pillars, and gradually sunk on the temple and the various portals and broken masses that crowded the area around it.

We left Balbec towards evening, and proceeded over the extensive plain, which, in a few hours, afforded some pleasing scenes of villages and cultivated fields around them. We then again ascended the hills, the road became barren and wild, and the light had for some time left us when we arrived at a long and straggling mountain village, the inhabitants of which were very civil and friendly. We were accommodated in a hut, which, however, was very clean, and the walls whitewashed. The wine which the good fathers of the monastery had given us, had been finished long since, and we were fain to make some wretched stuff the villagers brought serve as a substitute. Numbers of the people crowded around us, and the fumes of their eternal pipes filled the apartment.

Before sunrise we quitted the village, and ascended some of the loftiest parts of Lebanon; the clouds gathered around us, the air became very chill; and about mid-day we reached a lonely habitation, in the rocky path, and were glad to find a fire kindled, and the cup of coffee ready to be offered. How could these people have lived before the discovery of this beverage, the elixir, the universal solace, the champaigne of the East? In the most desolate khan it is put to your lips, and it is considered strange if you ever pass by and refuse it. As the clouds dispersed at intervals, glimpses of wild and varied scenery were enjoyed; regions of rocks and precipices, mingled villages, and an abundant verdure. In the evening we arrived at a small and wretched khan, that had previously been taken possession of by a caravan that had halted just before. After much altercation and difficulty, we procured room to lie down and sleep; and the morning light was welcome that woke us to pursue our journey to Beirout. The path now became more rich and verdant; and, descending a steep and narrow road, we beheld with joy the harbour and sweet gardens of the town far beneath.

Proceeding to the residence of Mr. A. the consul, we received a warm and hospitable reception; and spent a few days with him with great pleasure. We still entertained some thoughts of visiting Pal

myra, but the war was kept up between the Pachas with more animosity than ever. Two or three times we had met bodies of soldiers in the service of the Prince of the Druses, proceeding to the scene of tion. They were well armed but marched in a tumultuous manner; it was indeed a mockery of warfare, but the effects fell heavily on the poor peasantry, as on one occasion we saw near two thousand sheep collected together, plundered from the natives by orders of the Prince of Acre. It was said that the Porte, wearied with the excesses of this young tyrant, had sent the Capidgé Bashi for his head; but, like his ancestor Djezzar, he kept on his guard, and refused to see the messenger.

In the midst of these disorders, Lady S remained perfectly secure; no hand ever dared to move against her tranquillity, or breath of reproach be raised. The missionaries hoped to enlist her in their cause, and powerful indeed would have been her interference; but from some unfortunate casualty or misunderstanding, the minister for the conversion of the Jews incensed her beyond forgiveness. Her favour in this land is better than the smiles of princes, but not so her anger. She ordered the servant of the missionary to be roundly chastised by her dragoman, and wrote his master a letter, which commenced thus," It is astonishing that you should have dared to direct your steps to my residence; you, who have left a religion sublime, though defective, for that which is only a shadow." He was the son of a Rabbi, but had embraced Christianity.

In this war of the Pachas, the Greeks have been great sufferers, many who had fled from the Morea, as well as those who dwelt in the country, had placed their effects for better security, in some of the convents in the mountains. The Chiefs of Acre and the Druses, having intelligence of this, sent some bodies of soldiers, who, in spite of the remonstrances of the monks, carried off all the booty, which was very rich.

We found an acquaintance, Mr. J. the English merchant, from Smyrna, in great trouble. His servant, a Greek, and quite a youth, was a good-looking fellow, and had grown a great favourite with some of the young and married women of the place; and to support his expenses, he plundered his master during his absence in Damascus, and dashed away to his heart's content. Not long after he was arrested, and lodged in prison; one or two Moslems persuaded him to change his religion. He forthwith assumed the turban, and with it his liberty, and in his new dress was seen walking about the streets, free from all inquisition for his knavery, and his prospects brighter than ever.

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The custom which the women of Lebanon have had from time immemorial, of wearing a silver horn on their heads, does not extend to Beirout this horn is often a foot and a half high, with a variety of uncouth figures carved on it, and it is fastened by a silken string. They generally carry their veils over it, and let them fall on one side of the face, which has a graceful and theatrical appearance.

A circumstance took place here that amused us a good deal. A genteel, but rather wild looking young Swiss, one day came to the consul's he appeared very fatigued and careworn, and happy to find a place of refuge, for he was just arrived from the mountains. The history of this poor gentleman affords a striking picture of religious