ved, and all
the contiguous grounds are in a state of the highest cultivation.

As we proceeded on our journey, the scenery became more and more
romantic, till on a sudden turn of the road a wondrous picture of nature
was opened before us, consisting of mountains, including our own, all
sloping down into a plain in which was a river, and a village with its
orchards and poplars; cascades rolled down the furrowed sides of these
hills, their bounding and dashing were evident to the sight, but no sound
audible owing to their distance; it was a fairy scene, or like a
beautiful dream.

In the descent we passed a Maronite priest riding, attended by a guide on
foot; the former was greeted by our party with his title of Abuna, a
novelty to us Jerusalemites.

We forded the river _Barook_, a tributary to the Awali, in front of the
above-mentioned village, which is _Bisrah_, amid tall poplars quivering
in the breeze, for their foliage had stalks long like the aspen.

Our luggage having gone on during the visit to the convent, we could get
no tidings of it and our people, but a guide was procured for part of the
day's journey before us; and we betook ourselves to a hill over which
was, what we were assured, the only road to Hhasbeya. A road so steep
and thickly entangled by bushes and trees, that we inquired of every
passer-by in his turn whether we could possibly be upon the _Sultaneh_,
or high road. At first through an olive plantation, then among evergreen
oak, and higher still the fragrant mountain pines. The zigzags of the
road were necessarily so short and abrupt, that at each turn we had to
peer up perpendicularly, guessing which way the next twist would go.
Then still higher, towards the frowning sombre cliffs that seemed to
touch the brilliant blue sky, the arbutus glowed with their scarlet
berries, and the pine-trees became more tall, straight, and numerous. No
wonder that the Assyrian king, when he boasted of being able to cut down
the cedars of Lebanon, included also "the choice fir-trees thereof," (2
Kings xix. 23.)

Near what seemed to be the climax, we unexpectedly reached a village,
named _'Azoor_, where a school of boys hummed their lessons in the open
air on the shady side of a house; and near them a plank of wood was
suspended, such as serves for a church-bell in parts of the country where
the Moslems predominate, and bells are not tolerated. Here in the
Lebanon every village and convent may have its bel