communities, under the
direction of their clergy, have naturally opposed them by every possible
means of the direst persecution. In proper time and place I may
hereafter have more to say respecting this visit to Hhasbeya.

In the afternoon, Mr Wartabed and the Khoja Bashi, (representative member
in the town-council,) of the Protestants, named Naseef er Reis, rode with
us to the source of the Hhasbani river, which ought to be regarded as the
origin of the Jordan, even though Banias lower down has been for ages
recognised as such. We saw the bubbles at their earliest birth issue
from the ground, and in a few yards this becomes a flowing stream.
Higher above this spot the bed of a torrent brings down water in rainy
seasons, adding to the springs of the Hhasbani, but this not being
permanent, cannot fairly be counted as having part or lot in the Jordan.

The ladies sat down to take sketches, and in haste I pencilled down in
short-hand--

O Jordan, dear Jordan, the feelings that throng
And press on the heart must awaken to song,
When the bubbles from pebbles break forth into view
As clear as the spangles of morn's early dew.

'Mid the poplars that rising surpass other trees,
And twinkle as moved by the scarce mountain breeze,
And the wild oleander in rose-colour'd bloom,
With trill of the linnet, and shrubs of perfume.

I have drunk from each source that advances a claim
To share with our Jordan its time-honour'd name;
Here now at Hhasbeya--and the old site of Dan;
Or the gush that escapes from the grotto of Pan.

How oft on far banks of its tortuous course,
In the scenes of repose or of cataract force,
Where the bulbul, 'mid willows and tamarisk shades,
Still warbles--

"Now, ladies, the horses are ready, and we have further to go," broke in
upon the muse of Lebanon. The day's work had to be finished, and time
was short; so we rode away to the bitumen pits in the neighbourhood of
Cocaba. These are not worked in warm weather, for the people are afraid
of the possible effects of their gas generated under a hot sun. One of
the pits is seventy ells, or cubits, deep, and the bitumen is reached
through a crust of chalky soil. The property is a government monopoly,
rented by natives, and the business is lazily and irregularly carried on;
therefore, sometimes the success is greater than at others. We found two
men living in a tent as guardians of the