e
loveliest valleys I have ever beheld opened at our feet; immense and
lofty walls of rock, of the most varied and fantastic shapes,
surrounded this fairy vale on all sides: in the foreground rose a
gigantic table-rock, on which was built a beautiful village, with a
church smiling in the midst. Suddenly the sound of chimes was borne
upwards towards us on the still clear air; they were the first I had
heard in Syria. I cannot describe the feeling of delicious emotion
this familiar sound caused in me. The Turkish government every
where prohibits the ringing of bells; but here on the mountains,
among the free Maronites, every thing is free. The sound of church-
bells is a simple earnest music for Christian ears, too intimately
associated with the usages of our religion to be heard with
indifference. Here, so far from my native country, they appeared
like links in the mysterious chain which binds the Christians of all
countries in one unity. I felt, as it were, nearer to my hearth and
to my dear ones, who were, perhaps, at the same moment listening to
similar sounds, and thinking of the distant wanderer.

The road leading into this valley was fearfully steep. We were
obliged to make a considerable detour round the lovely village of
Bscharai; for the plague was raging there, which made it forbidden
ground for us. Some distance beyond the village we pitched our camp
beside a small stream. This night we suffered much from cold and
damp.

The inhabitants of Bscharai paid us a visit for the purpose of
demanding backsheesh. We had considerable difficulty in getting rid
of them, and were obliged almost to beat them off with sticks to
escape from their contagious touch.

The practice of begging is universal in the East. So soon as an
inhabitant comes in sight, he is sure to be holding out his hand.
In those parts where poverty is every where apparent, we cannot
wonder at this importunity; but we are justly surprised when we find
it in these fruitful valleys, which offer every thing that man can
require; where the inhabitants are well clothed, and where their
stone dwellings look cheerful and commodious; where corn, the grape-
vine, the fig and mulberry tree, and even the valuable potato-plant,
which cannot flourish throughout the greater part of Syria on
account of the heat and the stony soil, are found in abundance.
Every spot of earth is carefully cultivated and turned to the best
account, so that I could have fa