the North, gradually passes over into a still more extensive and broader tract of fine meadow-land, occupied by nomadic Arabs, who are mostly if not entirely Ghawârineh, and whose main employment is the raising of cattle, chiefly buffaloes. The road passes up on the western side; and along it, for a great distance, runs an artificial ditch or canal, which can be crossed only with difficulty; east of it the ground is more firm, though still so low, that the Arabs cultivate rice. This canal appears to have been cut for the purposes of irrigation, or perhaps of draining; it branches off from the stream which comes from Hâsbeiya, not far below the bridge Jisr elGhujar;2 and forms with the main stream a sort of Delta, in which, near the northern end, is the miserable village ez-Zûk belonging to the Ghawârineh.3 Still further north, the ground rises into a fertile plain extending towards Bâniâs, on which grain is culti vated. But the whole region is given up to Bedawîn and Ghawârineh. A few villages are scattered upon the eastern hills; two or three of which are inhabited by Nusairîyeh. The whole length of the basin may thus be about fifteen geographical miles. The name el-Hûleh, therefore, as used at present by the inhabitants, belongs strictly to that part of the basin north of el-Mellâhah and the lake; though it is commonly so extended as to comprise the whole. The more eastern portion, including some villages around Bâniâs, is called Hûlet Bâniâs, and belongs to the 1) St. Willibald in the eighth century speaks here also of buffaloes: "Armenta mirabilia longo dorso, brevibus cruribus, magnis cornibus creati; omnes sunt unius coloris." He describes them in summer as immersing themselves wholly in the marshes, except the head, etc. Hodoepor. § 17. p. 375. 2) So called according to Ber tou, apparently from the village el- 3) Comp. Bertou ibid. p. 143. 5) So already Bohaeddin, Vit. Salad. p. 98. Abulfeda speaks only of the lake of Bâniâs; Tab. Syr. pp. 147, 155. government of Hâsbeiya. Just around Bâniâs itself, the plain is called Ard Bâniâs.' The northwest part of the basin falls within the district of Merj 'Ayûn, which extends down so as to embrace it. In 1834, my companion Mr. Smith, on his way to Damascus, travelled from Tiberias to Hâsbeiya, two good days' journey, encamping for the night at 'Ain el-Mellâhah. The next year he passed from Safed along the lake, encamped at Belât, and pursued his journey through Merj 'Ayûn and by Jezzîn and Deir el-Kamr to Beirût. In neither instance, did he hear of any inhabited village in the Hûleh near the road. Such was the amount of our observations and information, in respect to the lake and basin of the Hûleh itself. The town of Bâniâs in its N. E. quarter we could not here see; it being hidden behind some projections of the eastern hills in its vicinity. But the ruined Saracenic castle, Kŭl'at Bâniâs, formerly Kul'at es-Subeibeh, standing upon a point of the eastern mountain, a spur which runs off from Jebel esh-Sheikh southwards, was distinctly visible. According to Burckhardt, the only traveller who has visited the spot, it is an hour and a quarter distant from Bâniâs in a direction E. by S. up the mountain; "it seems to have been erected during the period of the crusades, and must certainly have been a very strong hold to those who possessed it."3 From the. point where we now stood, this castle bore N. 40° E. and we judged the distance to be not far from fifteen or sixteen geographical miles. Beyond it, nearly in the same direction, and perhaps twice as remote, 1) Burckhardt p. 38. 2) See also at the end of this volume, Second Appendix, p. 134, seq. 3) Burckhardt p. 37. He saw here no inscriptions; but was afterwards told there were several both in Arabic and the Frank language. Nor could he discover any traces of a road or paved way, leading up the mountain to the castle. See the historical notices of Bânias, further on. towered the lofty summit of Jebel esh-Sheikh, here seen in all its majesty, with its long narrow glaciers, like stripes of snow, extending down below its icy crown, and glittering in the sun. Our position enabled us to obtain a good general idea of the country on the North, around the sources of the Jordan; and the same was confirmed by further observation, on our subsequent journey. The mighty parallel ridges of Lebanon and AntiLebanon, the Jebel Libnân and Jebel esh-Shůrky (East Mountain) of the Arabs,' enclose the noble valley now called el-Bukâ'a, once Coele-Syria proper, watered throughout the greater portion of its length by the river Lîtâny, the ancient Leontes. The general direction of the mountains, the valley, and the stream, is from N. E. to S. W. Nearly opposite Damascus, and not far above Râsheiya, Jebel esh-Shurky separates into two ridges, which diverge somewhat, and enclose the fertile Wady et-Teim, in which Râsheiya and Hâsbeiya are situated. The easternmost of the two ridges, Jebel esh-Sheikh, continues its S. W. course, and is the proper prolongation of Anti-Lebanon. It rises to its highest elevation nearly S. of Râsheiya and over Hâsbeiya; and is supposed to be somewhat higher than Jebel Sunnîn near Beirût. The usual estimate of its height is ten thousand feet above ⚫ the Mediterranean. The top is partially crowned with snow, or rather ice, during the whole year; which however lies only in the ravines, and thus presents at a distance the appearance of radiant stripes, around and below the summit. The mountain afterwards slopes off gradually and irregularly towards the W. S. 1) These are general names; but the Arabs more commonly employ particular names for different parts of these mountains; e. g. Jebel esh-Sheikh, Jebel Sunnîn, etc.-The name Jebel Libnan occurs in Edrîsi, par Jaubert pp. 336, 355, 361. Abulfeda Tab. Syr. pp. 163, 164. W. quite down to the opening of Wady et-Teim upon the plain, northwest of Bâniâs. In this part it is cultivated, has several villages, and probably bears other local names. From the base of the highest part of Jebel eshSheikh, a low broad spur or mountainous tract runs off towards the South, forming the high land which shuts in the basin and lake of the Huleh on the East. According to Burckhardt, this tract is called Jebel Heish; the higher portion of it terminates at Tell el-Faras, nearly three hours north of Fik; but the same high plain of Jaulân continues towards the South, until the mountains of 'Ajlûn rise again above it, in the district elWastîyeh and around el-Husn.1 The other ridge of Anti-Lebanon, which branches off from Jebel esh-Sheikh above Râsheiya, takes a more westerly direction; is long, low, and (as here seen) level; and continues to border the lower Bŭkâ'a, until in the S. W. of Hâsbeiya it seems to unite with higher bluffs and spurs of Lebanon, and thus entirely close that valley. In fact, only a narrow gorge is left between precipices, in some places of great height, through which the Lîtâny finds its way down to the sea north of Tyre. In this gorge, a bridge is thrown across the Lîtâny; and on a precipice overhanging the river on the North, stands the Saracenic fortress esh-Skŭkîf, renowned in the history of the crusades. The chain of Lebanon, or at least its higher ridges, may be said to terminate at the point, where it is thus broken through by the Lîtâny. But a broad and lower mountainous tract continues towards the South, bordering the basin of the Hûleh on the West; it rises to its greatest elevation around Safed (Jebel Safed); and ends at length abruptly in the mountains of Nazareth, as the northern wall of the plain of Esdraelon. This high tract may properly be regarded as the prolongation of Mount Lebanon. Wady et-Teim, which thus lies between the two ridges of Anti-Lebanon, begins above Râsheiya, and enters the basin of the Hûleh two hours or more northwesterly from Bâniâs. It is a fertile valley with a considerable stream; skirted on each side by declivities of various height, usually cultivated; with no plain along the middle, except at the beginning. On the hills are many villages. It is divided into two districts, called the Upper and Lower Wady et-Teim; the capital of the former being Râsheiya, and that of the latter Hâsbeiya. The lower district includes also Bâniâs and the vicinity. These and some other districts, form the province of Jebel esh-Sheikh.' West of Wady et-Teim, between it and the Lîtâny, lies the fine region of Merj 'Ayûn, separated from the Teim by a range of hills. It is an oval or almost circular basin, about an hour in diameter-a beautiful, fertile, well-watered plain, surrounded by hills, which in some parts are high, but mostly arable. Oń the North, they retain this character quite to the brow of the descent towards the Lîtâny. Towards the South, Merj 'Ayûn communicates with the plain of the Hûleh by a narrow entrance, through which flows a stream. Merj 'Ayûn2 forms a district within the government of Belâd Beshârah, a large province occupying the mountains between the Hûleh and the plain of Tyre, and having for its capital the castle of Tibnîn.3 The route of my companion from Safed to Deir 1) Tthe Arabian writer edhDhahiry in the 15th century, speaks of Wady et-Teim as a district in the province of Damascus, so called from the Wady, and containing 360 villages; see Rosenmüller's Analect. Arab. III. p. 22. Lat. p. 46. See also at the end of this volume, Second Appendix, p. 137. 2) Not improbably the word 'Ayûn in this name may have some relation to the city Ijon, (Heb.) of the Old Testament, which lay somewhere in the neighbourhood of Dan and Naphtali. 1 Kings xv. 20. 2 Chron. xvi. 4. 3) The district of Merj 'Ayun is mentioned under the same name |