The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1882-05-27
JERUSALEM. palestine.
Aurii ; ISS5


In this lslter | will finish my notes d
tnve IN horseback through Palestine auc
SYRIA,
Leaving Damascus We c.aiue upun a ven
hue rad through elegant gardens an,
grove. % apricot trees In fall blossom ft,i
several miles. We then encountered la,
r,a,d- over red sandstone hills until we ar
riyed 40 the plain of Zcte,iany. We en-
eamIsd Tor the night al the village uf Ze
bsyiany, around which the soil Is well cul
tvated Next morning We continued oal
Journey through rugged country unit
the sumiJ - the Anti-l.clanon raBgr Of
mountains Wa reached Here We had .
view that cannes h. surpassed. 10 the faI
distance Ia front of Us the ralH, 81 Raaibck
became visible Ga sur lcil were the Lab
anon mountains with their snow-eapped
peaks To our righ, were the hillsides oi
Anli-Lchanun with their varied eolors. rang.
ius from pale slate to red The day was
iuc, the air inyigurating. and the fieecy
clouds above the snow Of the mountains was
a grand sight In the evening We pitched
cur tents at Baalbek Here We found the
greatest ruins We met in our tFavel>-iar
surprising those in Egypt, These ruins
consist of temples dedicated TO sun-worship
IN the decline of the Roman Empire. We
can Judge from these remains with what a
pride u pomp Pagani>m arrayed itself be
fore lis death The hundreds nf columns,
broken. reclining and living around in all
directions Indicate that these pagan tenn
pies were enormous The largest stones
ever used in building are found here
Monolilh, Il Incredible size appear every
where The masonry OF the substructure
Of these temples has justly been called "Cy-
elopean Oue stone measures sixty-f0ur
feet long. another sixty-thrce feet eight
inches, and a third sixty three feet. each Is
thirteen feet high aud thirteen feet thick
end they have been placed in the wall at
height OF twenty feet above the ground
How they were ever raised is problem
which the science of our own day fails to
unravcl We went to the quarry close by
and there found stone ready to be re
moved which. by actual measurement.
teen feet wide and fourteen feet thick |
stood on the top of this stone and was over
awed by its magnitude We are accustom-
ed to boast of many wonders in this nine
teenth century, but the mind amid these
ruins here must accredit the ancients with
the science of knowing how to build vast
structures. But even these vast stones
crumble into dust, and the sad reflection
comes that there is no building too power
full for the hand of time to destroy.
From Baalbeck we passed through a wide
fertile plain, levelas the floor, until we reached
Zahleh, % miles distant, at the foot of the
Lebanon mountains Here we again camp
ed for the night Next day the climax of
scenery on our voyage thus far was reach
ed. A good road, gently winding, leads
by series of zig-Zags to the summit of
Lebanon, where the scenery is exquisite
Here we were ) 500 feet above the sea level
On our right hand was a wild, magnificent
gorge; below, at terrible depth, was seen
the promontory of Beyrout, fleeked with its
white houses, while beyond was the Medi-
terranean; in the background on the right
and left were barren mountains. Descend
ing again by series of zig-zags for 10
miles, we came to magnificent orchards,
gardens and pleasant villas and soon found
ourselves among the shops and paved streets
of Beyrout, the most northern point of our
tour in Syria, and the fartherest we shall
be away from home.
Beyrout is the principal commercial town
IF Syria, and has about 10000 people. 1t
IS somewhat different from any other town
IN the East, because almost everything that