en properly laid down, probably because it was not to accord with other calculations. Still the e on the map is much too great, being nearly two Here there is no mistake on Burckhardt's part, ere is a want of sufficient fulness. He ought to given the directions as well as the distances. On g at 'Ayûn he turned nearly due east, and recrossed stern branch of the mountains, which is here low, vered with ruined walls, as he describes it. Prog in this direction, he reached 'Orman in 1 hour, om thence he turned back W. by S., and arrived lkhad in 1 hour more. Instead of 4 hours, ad is only 2 hours from Sehwet el-Khudr. Burcks route from Sulkhad to Kureiyeh appears to have the same as ours. Buckingham's, however, was nt, as he kept more to the north, and passed close ûn.7

town of 'Orman, visited by Burckhardt, I saw from ins of Sulkhad; it is in the plain, considerably to stward of the base of the mountain. It is a place e historical importance, as marking the site of the t Philipopolis. It is identified by means of an inon copied by Burckhardt, in which the name occurs, The date 253, or A.D. 359. In Aurelius Victor's ry of the Cæsars' is the following passage, which some light on these ruins :-" M. Julius Philippus, ab of Trachonitis, having united with himself his hilippus (in the government of the empire), and arranged affairs in the East, and erected the city

of Philipopolis in Arabia, came to Rome Philippus was a native of Bostra, and found opolis to perpetuate his own name, and to native land. He may probably have descend family which at one time resided in this very when he obtained the sceptre of the Cæsars, and adorned it, and gave it his own name. F became afterwards an episcopal city, and its bis the acts of the Council of Chalcedon." The G is now forgotten, and the ancient Syrian nam known to the people of the land.

8 Chap. xxviii.; see also Ritter, Pal. und Syr., ii. 95 9 S. Paulo, Geog. Sac., p. 295; see also Reland, Pal.

a road - The plain of Bashan - The borders of the Lejah, chonitis - Situation of Nejrân, and description of its ruinsâtah, the ancient Coreathes - Ride along the side of the Lejahrel-Hariry Fanaticism and insolence of its inhabitants ger of penetrating the Lejah - Approach to Edrei- Description s position and ruins - Identification and history-Fearful conwith its inhabitants - Rescue-Threats and plans of escape night flight-Bivouac in a defile- Wild scenery of the Lejah. OPOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE LEJAH.-Its nt and boundaries - Identified with Trachonitis and ARGOBat numbers of deserted towns-Ruins of Musmeih, the ancient

he plain of Bashan-Arrival at Deir 'Aly-The valley of the rpar-The Hâj road.

now resume our narrative. At 1.55 we again ted, and rode down the stony declivity to the plain. n minutes we crossed the Roman road referred to e. The loose stones and rough ground continued e reached the village of Welgha at 2:50. Among ocks there is abundance of the richest soil. Welgha Filt on the top of a low tell, and resembles all the villages of this region. Half an hour north from it, nother tell, is Rîmeh, and between them, in a stony , are two towers resembling the tombs of Kunawât. passing Welgha the plain becomes open, and the y soil is entirely free from stones, affording fine fields

small ruined village of Mezraah, beside which there is a large fountain. We soon afterwards crossed one of the branches of the Wady Kunawât, and then rode over a rich plain to Sijn. On our way the large village of Mejdel was visible about a mile on our right. Here Burckhardt found several Greek inscriptions. Some distance north of it is Kefr el-Laha, where there are also large ruins of ancient buildings, with inscriptions of the time of the emperor Gordianus II. The latter village stands on the bank of the northern branch of Wady Kunawât.2 So many small wadys descend from these mountains, and so much do they resemble each other when they reach the plain, that it is difficult for the traveller to ascertain with accuracy the course of each one. So far as I have been able to ascertain by inquiries and observation, two wadys descend from the neighbourhood of Kunawât-one from the ravine beside the ruins, and the other from the ravine at Deir es-Sumeid. The latter sweeps to the north, after leaving the mountains, to Kefr el-Laha, where both Burckhardt and Buckingham saw it;3 and from thence it follows the borders of the Lejah, a little southward of Nejrân, Busr el-Harîry, and Edhra, and, after leaving the latter place, winds across the plain to Eshmiskîn and Tell Ashareh, from whence it runs southward to the Sheriat el-Mandhûr. The other branch runs in a parallel course over the plain, and falls into the former between Eshmiskîn and Tell Ash'areh.

Sijn stands upon a tell, and contains some buildings of great solidity. As we passed it the Druze sheikh and

1 Travels in Syria, pp. 66, 67.

2 Id. p. 68; see also Ritter, Pal. und Syr., ii. 873.

3. Travels in Syria, p. 67; Buck., Trav. among Arab Tribes, p. 253.

several of his attendants saw us, and it was with much difficulty we were enabled to get away from them, so eager were they that we should remain for the night. The stony ground here again commenced; and the black porous trap cropped up in jagged masses from the surface of the plain, many of them twenty feet high, and forty or fifty yards in diameter. These, with the huge intervening boulders and scattered fragments, give the country a barren and savage aspect. As we advanced, the patches of clear soil became smaller and less frequent, and the rocks loftier and more extended. The town of Nejrân now appeared before us-the massive black walls and heavy square towers rising up lonely and deserted-like from the midst of a wilderness of rocks. The singular physical features I had remarked at Burâk here again showed themselves, and were evidences that we had crossed the borders of that geological wonder the Lejah. Some mounds of loose stones regularly formed on an open place to the left attracted my attention, and Mahmûd informed me that here were placed the batteries of Ibrahîm Pasha during his war with the Druzes. A large fortified camp had been constructed behind them.

We reached Nejrân at 5:15. The approach to the town is by a winding path among the rocks. We had often to scramble over smooth ledges of basalt, where our horses could scarcely keep their feet; and these were separated by deep fissures, and in some places encompassed by pools full of water. A stranger would have sought in vain for the path, if path it can be called. On entering the ruins we were led to a large open place in the centre of them, and here we found the venerable sheikh Kâsem abu-Fakher in the midst of his elders,