New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-09-25
FROM NETWORK TO NINEVEH.

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WIZ vo,rrr.rN on ARRADA-THE TEMPLES or
RA,LBEc- CROSSING THE LEaANoN-rdE
CEDARs-EDsN.
lra,o,i.I corre.pondenee Of The n. Y. Tribune
BEYxoUr, S,ria, Thursday. May q, 1897.
After stay of eight days 10 Damascu''
we called our men, Devish and mustapha, aga",
into requsitoD, loaded our enthusiastic @o'e- a"D
mounted our despairing horses. Tnere VIZ ,:.S
other parties on the way to Baaibec-aa D"e
gentleman and lady. and solitary r'e
that our united forces made an imposing ."'
There ia ,Iwsvs custom. house examhaton' n''
IN epter;ng but On issuing from an Onenta' o''y,
but Travellers csn avoid il by procuring tne coin'
MANY NJ !. co,suIar Janisssry as far as tne gaze
H.. WA On. British Consul, lent us one oil MS
officers for tho occasion, and we found nun wall
iny. outs,de Of the wall to receive ms private zee
Sor th. ..rv;cs. We mounted the long, barren hill
west Of the plain, and at the 81 nm't' near the
.o,,h of Moslem shekh, turned to taxi a last
,opr look at the DO very plan and the minarets Of
tbs CITY. gttering through the blue morning va
DOR. A few PAGES further on the rocky roao'
different scene presented itself to us. There lay,
to the westward, a long stretch OF naked yelo"
rnountsins, backing in the hot glare Of the sun,
and through the center, deep down in the heart OF
the arid landscape, winding line Of living green
allowed the course Of the Banada. We followed
the river, till the path reached an impossible
gorge which occasioDed detOur OF two or three
hours. We then descended to the bed Of the dell,
where the vegetation, owing to the radiated heat
from the mountains and the fertizing stimulus oil
the water below was even rich,r than on the PLAIN
Of Dame scus. The trees were plethora with an
loyerplus Of life. The boughs Of the muoerles
were weighed down with the burden oil the leaves;
ponegrsnates were in violent eruption OF BIOS
SONS and the foliage Of the fig and poplar was
of so deep a hue that it shone black IN the san.
Posing through gateway Of rock SO narrow
that we were often obliged to ride in the bed ofthe
stream, we reached little meadow, beyond
which was a small hamlet, almost hidden IN tne
leaves. Here the mountains again approached
each other and from the side Of that on the right
hand the main body OF the Barrads, or PhsrPhar,
gushed forth in one full stream. The fountain is
nearly double the volume OF that of the Jordan at
Banias and much more beautiful. The fOunda'
tons Of an ancient building, probably temple,
overhaDg it, and toll poplars and sycamores,
cover il with impenetrable shade. From the low
aperture where it bursts into the light, its waters,
white with foam, bound away flashing in the
chance rays of sunshine, till they are lost to sight
in the dense, dark foliage. We sat an hour on the
ruined walls, listening to the roar and rush OF the
food and enjoying the shade Of the walnuts and
sycsmores Soon after leaving, our path crossed
a small stream which comes do wn to the Banada
from the upper valleys of the Anti Lebanon, and
entered wild pass faced with cliffs Of perpen-
dicuar rock. An old bridge, Of one arch, spanned
the chasm out Of which climbed to tract OF
high meadow land. In the pass there were some
frae ments Of ancient columns traces Of an aqua
duct, aud some inscriptions on the rocks, among
which Mr. III. found the name of AntoDinus. The
place is not ntioned in any book OF travel have
seen, as it is not on the usual road from Damascus
to Baalbec.
AS we we're emerging from the pass, we saw
company OF twelve armed men seatt in the grass,
near the roadside. They were wild looking char
scters ind eyed us somewhat sharply as We pass
ed. We greeted them with the usual "sald'm
aleikoom!" which they did not return. The
same evening, as We encamped at the village Of
Z.bdeni. about three hours further up the valley,
We were startled by a great noise and outcry
with the inng Of pistols. 1t happened, as we
learned ON ipquiring the cause Of all this con-
fusion, that the men we in the pass were
rebel Duses, who we're then lying IN walt Tor the
shekh Of Zebden whom, with h's son. they uad
taken captive soon after we passed. ne news
had Ly some means been conveyed 70 tue 'u'age'
and n company Of about two hundred persons
was then marching out 60 the rescue. Inc NOISE
thew made was probably to give the Druscs init
nation Of their coming, aud thus AVOID hsnt'
do not believe that any OF the mountsineers OF
.ebapon would willingly take part against the
Druses. who, in fact, are not fighting 80 mncn
against the Institution of the consumption law, as
ATS abuse. The law ordains that the conscript
sha serve f,r FIVE years, but since its establish
n,nt. as have been informed, there has not been
single instance Of discharge II amounts, there-
fore TO lifelong servitude and there is little won
aer that these independent sons of the mountains,
"a well az the tribes inbabing the Syrian Desert,
should rebel rather than submit.
The next day we crossed pass in the Anti
Lebanon hey ond Zebdeni, descended beautiful
valley on the western side, under a ridge which
was still dotted with patches of SNOW, aud ateeI
travelling for some hours over vide, barren hight
the last of the range, cav below us the PLAIN o
Baalbec. The grand ridge Of Lebanon oppo'
site, crowned with glitterips fields of sno y, shon'
out clearly through the pure air, and the hoar,
bead of Hermon, far in the south, lost something
of its grandeur b, the comparison, Though there
is a divide" or watershed, between Hasksiya
at the foot Of Mount Hermon, and Baobec, who's
sppss join the Orontes, which flows northward t
Antioch, the great natural separation OF the tw'
chains continues unbroken to the Gulf Of Ak aba
N the Red Sea. A little beyond Baalbec the Anti
Lebanon terminates, sinking into the SYRIAN Plain
while the Lebanon, though its name aud genera
features are lost, about twenty miles further to
the north, is succeeded by other ranges, which,