From hence we went straight across the plain towards Bālbeck, passing a tract of loose red soil mixed with gravel, covered with brush-wood in some parts, and sown with oats in others. In an hour we passed a ruined Roman arch with indefinite remains of some old work there, and continued our way along a marshy ground, near which was a small lake with frogs and a slow and sluggish stream.

In another hour we reached a single column standing isolated in the plain; it was of the Corinthian order, its mutilated capital still remaining, and appeared to be about sixty feet in height and five in diameter. It stood on a high pedestal, formed of four ranges of steps all around it, and its shaft was composed of fifteen blocks. A tablet for an inscription, of a small size and rude form, was still visible on its northern face, but no letters could be traced there.

It was now sunset, and we saw large flocks of dusky grey sheep collecting by their herdsmen, who were Koordi, and scarcely understood Arabic. They come from Koordistan, north of Aleppo, in the spring, and live without women or tents, sleeping in the open air, and feeding chiefly on bread bought in the villages, and the milk of their own flocks.

It was quite dark when we passed through a small village called Yead, where we saw large blocks of stone, as if of older and better works, and a full hour from this before we reached Balbeck. We entered at a ruined gate through which a stream of water flows, and wandered about for more than half an hour among ruined houses before we could hear a voice or see a light; the barking of dogs at length led us among the living, when we found our way to the Greek church, and were there received.

I found a letter here from Mr. Bankes *, who had halted for a day at Balbeck, and had since gone into the Haurān; and after a light supper I retired early to a hard bed, which fatigue rendered a welcome one.

• This letter will be given in the Appendix with other documents.

SATURDAY, April 27. Our horses were so completely exhausted by the long and fatiguing journey of yesterday across the mountains, that it was impossible to proceed further, without affording them a day's rest. It was late before we rose, and the assemblage of a large party of enquirers detained us in the priest's room until nearly noon. It was not until then that we went out to see the celebrated Temple of the Sun, whose ruins were within a few paces of our lodging. I wandered over it for nearly four hours in a state of mind not easy to be described, partaking equally of astonishment, of admiration, and regret. As I had with me the octavo edition of Maundrell, 1810, and of Volney, An. vii., I had an opportunity of comparing them on the spot. The plate of the former, which is

called a Prospect of Balbeck, must have been from a very rude sketch, and filled up afterwards, though its outline is sufficiently accurate to induce a belief of its having been done on the spot. The architectural drawings in Plate IX. and X., which profess to give the perspective of the temple, must have been entirely made up by the artist from what then remained perfect; as at this moment there is scarcely any resemblance to be traced between the drawings and the object itself, and many parts are evidently erroneous. As these are not given as the work of Maundrell himself, they were probably taken from some subsequent work to adorn this new edition. The simple description of this traveller is much more accurate, and depicts faithfully that which he must have seen at the period of his visit. Since that period, however, several important parts are destroyed, and even the place of the temple at the end of the great court, which was probably the principal edifice of the whole, cannot at this day be made out.

The "Vue de la Cour quarrée du Temple du Soleil à Balbek," which accompanies Volney's work, is, with the exception of some very trifling inaccuracies, an admirable representation of these magnificent ruins. The plan which is annexed to it is entitled to a still higher degree of praise, as being much more difficult of execution. These were probably both from Mr. Wood's celebrated work, which, if it be so full and complete as that on Palmyra, must be highly valuable. The description, too, which Volney gives of the whole, whether from his own examination or from that of others, is so complete and perfect, that nothing can be added to or amended in it. This conviction, added to the knowledge of the task having been executed by so able an hand as that which has described Palmyra, made me despair of adding any thing new thereon. It may suffice to say, that the enormity of scale, and the magnificence of design, seen throughout the whole of the architecture, with the boldness of the drawing, and the exquisite finish of the sculpture, impressed me with an idea of a labour more than human. I should conceive, that in no country was to be found so

superb a monument of the inimitable perfection of ancient architecture. The temples and the tombs of Egypt were here equalled in the enormity of the masses that composed them, and the chamber of the pyramids rivalled in the closeness of the masonry; while the monuments of Athens itself, in the age of Pericles and Praxiteles, were, at least, equalled in the richness and beauty of the sculptured ornaments that adorned them. It appeared to me, that the temples of Edfou, Tentyris, and Thebes, fell far short of this, as a whole; for here the ponderous strength of the Egyptian, and the chastened elegance of the Grecian school, are both most happily combined.

The direction of the temple by compass is exactly E. † N. and W. S. * The little circular building a few paces on the north of it, which was used as the Greek church in the time of Maundrell, is now entirely deserted, though the painted saints on the stucco of its walls still remain to be traced. Its interior resembles that of the semicircular building which fronts the grand street nearly in the centre of Jerash.

me.

An examination of the Mohammedan additions and repairs, when they converted the ruined Temple of the Sun into a fortified place, decided my opinion on a matter that was before doubtful to From the rustic masonry, fan-niches, round arches, &c. seen in the castles of Jerusalem, Assalt, Adjeloon, Bosra, Salghud, and Damascus, mixed with pointed arches, Arabic inscriptions, and other marked features of Mohammedan work, it seemed to me very uncertain whether they were of Roman or of Saracen execution. After seeing the building to the north-east of the outer temple of Balbeck, and close by it, I am inclined to think them

Mr. Volney had deduced, from this fact principally, that all the ancient temples faced the east; and Mr. Bailly, in his History of Ancient Asia, entertains the same opinion, namely, that among the Egyptians, the Chaldeans, the Indians, and the Chinese, the four most ancient nations of the world, the usage of making their buildings face the east uniformly prevailed, vol. i. p. 133. This, however, is far from being true; as the temples, in Egypt particularly, have their faces most frequently towards the Nile, and thus front every quarter of the compass in succession.

of Roman origin and of Saracen repair; in some cases such repairs are more particularly evident, and in others the whole edifice is altogether of Saracen work, particularly at Assalt, Salghud, and Damascus.

The masonry of the Mohammedan repairs at Bālbeck is, in many places, excellent, and would look still more so if not contrasted on the spot with the superior work of their heathen predecessors; but as there appears to have been different periods even of these, some of the former are quite contemptible.

The town of Balbeck is, at present, so ruined, that there are not counted more than fifty habitable dwellings in it; though the whole number within the walls may be estimated at 500.

The inhabitants are Moslems, Metowalis, and Greek Christians, in about equal numbers. The former have a large ruined mosque, in which are three rows of columns, some having noble shafts of fine red granite, and others of white marble, with Corinthian capitals, all from the ruins of the great temple near. In the outer court, around the central reservoir and fountain used for ablutions, are four pieces of beautiful porphyry, the fragments of two plain columns of about two feet in diameter, each of the pieces about five feet in length. We tried to get a small piece from off one of them, but could find no stone hard enough for the purpose, and were obliged to content ourselves with two or three very little bits, which the Arabs made many objections to our taking away at all.

There is still a covered bazar at Balbeck; a bath, now in use; and a manufactory of cotton cloth superior to that of Nablous. We found here some merchants from Bairoot, purchasing the latter for sale at that port. The Moslems frequent the ruined mosque described, the Metowalis pray apart, and the Christians have a humble church in the house in which we lodged.

The chief occupation of all classes is agriculture, as they have the whole of the plain between Libanus and Anti-Libanus to labour on. The town is agreeably situated at the foot of the latter, at the eastern extremity of the valley; is watered by a clear and abundant stream, surrounded by trees and cultivated fields, and refreshed