The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1872-06-08

excellent read. The scenery most Of the
WY VS. very grad the Lebanoa range
Of mountAins o. our let, the anti-Leb-
anon On our right beyond the latter,
towering high above. y the snow-npped |
Hsrmon, erandiaad majestic IS Of old
When nssrjbg the sity we rapidly de-
apended into . beautiful valley with lux
urious growth.of trees and shrubbery.
ths cl:as spaskling waters Of the ALBANIA
dAshing along by oar side. We were
charmed with the appearance Of the city
aed The beautiful codntrj around; our
three DAY 10 sojourn 1t Damascus was
highly interesting and gratifying. oa
Damascus was .bait By Us, grandson
Of Noah, end il no doabs the oldest city
in thu world xud--was formerly the
HaAlthlsst. An ussal degree Of pros
psslfiiity still exiNs theie, owing to the ex-
tsnsivs naaaficsesies Of silks, jewslry'
&c. Their bazsars are moro extensive,
better supplied, end Kept in more perfect
order thaa in any o! the cities Of the
Orisnt We have seen. The inhabitauts
dress batter, appear 70 bs happier. and
much more clesnly. TheEs u ono draw
back. however; they sti'l despise Chris
tians, and l believe nothing bat eat de-
tsn them from repetition ofthe terrible
massacre OF 1850. when twenty-five
thousand Christians were murdered BY
thess relentless Mahometans. The looms
Of Damascus turn out the finest silks in
the woeld, their gold and silver woven
and smbgoidersd silhs ere specially,
with Danaaens, AID are very elegant.
: Ladies' sandals arc also extsrs ivelY
Manufactured here, (all the ladies' Of
Damascus were ssndals.) They are
made Of wood, richly srnamsntsd with
pearl. mother Of psarl, and somstimea
diamonds. There sss also many other
articles Of luxury and drsss manuiac-
tured there, peculiar to that city. Their
coniections, swsstmsaas, &C., are very
inviting. The street called @Stra.t,' is
not altogsthers stNight, but in many
placss very crooked, bat the Apostle did
not say it Was straight, but that It wss
'eallsd strait" In this street il the
house where Annanias lived, and where
Paul lodged; on the outs;ds Of the wall
We were shewn the- window from which
Paul Was 1T down % basket, and not
far distant, We were shown the spot
where Paul was converted. Tho great
Mahomstan Mosque, with its marble
floors snd three tall minarets, is we'll
worth visiting.
WeveIe invited u the houses Of three
Of the most wealthy c,tizsns one . Jew.
one Christian, the -othera Moslem. 1t
allof which we wers kindly entertained.
The house Of tho Jsw contains three
hundred and sixty.five rooms, six large
court yards With extensive foantains in
each the house Was foorsd with mar
BILE. and the court yards paved with the
same material, with beautiful flowers
oraugs>trees. AMI other shrubbery grow
ing in them.
The large rooms. high ceilings,
richly gilded walls, magnificent
mirrors, divans and other rich and
splendid furniture quite dazzles
one to behold; and far exceeds in
splendor and luxurious appoint
ments any thing I have beheld
anywhere. The houses of the
Christion and Mahometan, were
quite equal in granduer and mag
nifcenoe to that OF the Je~. At
each Of these houses we were Gu
tertained with :ose-water, leaon-
ado, coffee, and nargilehs, "a kind
of eigas). At the house of the
Mahonetsn, c and n were invited
to visit ~ .harem,' and were much
interested at the sight Of those
rich Apartments and still richer
dresses Of their occupants; OF
course, the invitation did not ex-
tend to me. From comparing tho
manners and style Of the people OF
Damascus now, and two thousand
years ago as given In history, there
appears to have been but little
change. ia lsl snst
Leaving Damascus We came on,
seven hours ride to the village oil
6tourd; here We engaged q dragon
man with horses and donkeys u
take us to Baalbec. seven hours
ride,C aad n riding on donkeys Mr.
b and A and self on horses. On
road was along the great valley
between the Lebanon and Anti
Lebanon mountains, most OF thu
way near the foot Of, the Lebanon
being the same route which th,
armies Of Egypt and Syria hav,
travelled in the almost countless
wars which have occurred ther,
during four thousand years. Al
though the weather vas warm, ant
the trees and grass along the roat
were green and luxurant - il
midsummer at home. yet tll'
mountains j above we're white viii
snow OUT pasty all eajoyed thi
twenty five miles ride when ~
arrived in eight Of the ruins o
Baalbac The many extensiy,
and massive ruins We had Scent
Egypt appeared to our minds quit
insigniflcant when compared Wit
these stnpendous ruins, the foun
dalton Of these wonderful struc.
lures are OF immense stones, an
raised some thirty feet above tn
aurr0unc1in0 Blrin. on these IN