rict of stones and underwood of evergreen oak;
clouds and rain coming on, which overtook us sharply as we reached the
village.

Some of the party being but poor riders, we were later than I had
expected to be; it was quite sunset; and the people of the place, (almost
all of them Maronite Christians,) headed by their priest could do no less
than press us to stay through the night with them, especially as the sky
threatened a continuation of rain. After deliberative counsel being
taken among us, it was resolved that we could only thank the good people
for their intended hospitality, and return home. We first halted before
an ancient square building, the outside of which has been much encroached
upon by the alluvial earth of ages, and the simple but correct Tuscan
portico, encumbered with piles of fagots for the village use during the
approaching winter. The three doorways of the facade were embellished by
sculptured wreaths of vine leaves and grapes. Hearing that some Hebrew
inscription was to be found beneath one of the windows, we had some of
the fagots removed, sufficient to enable us to read the words [Hebrew
text] (this house, etc.); but on account of the labour required to do
more with such a tangled and heavy mass of wood, besides the rain and the
lateness of the hour, we were obliged to abandon the task, and go forward
to the large decorated portal which is standing alone, without its
edifice, in an enclosed field at about a quarter of a mile distant. This
is erected upon a raised platform of masonry. Upon the transverse lintel
we read the following Hebrew inscription, neatly engraved:--

[Picture: Hebrew inscription]

(Peace be within this place, and all places of the sojourners . . . to
the work . . . blessing in his works.)

This is all written in one line, without breaks or stops, very small, and
in as neat a square character as if lately copied from a printed book.
The two uprights and the lintel have a simple and chaste ornament like a
bead moulding. The transverse lintel has in the middle of its length a
rosette surmounted by a circular wreath, at each end of which may be seen
upon close inspection, and in a slanting light, traces of a small animal,
most likely a sheep, recumbent, which have been chiselled away. On a
visit some years after, and on closer inspection, I remarked the same
figures upon the facade of that building above mentioned, with Tuscan
pillars for a portic