tobacco. The household were seated upon the
ground, chatting pleasantly with one another, and apparently not in the
least disturbed by my presence. One of the Shekh's sons, who was deaf and
dumb, came and sat before me, and described by very expressive signs the
character of the road to Scanderoon. He gave me to understand that there
were robbers in the mountains, with many grim gestures descriptive of
stabbing and firing muskets.

The mosquitoes were so thick during the night that we were obliged to fill
the tent with smoke in order to sleep. When morning came, we fancied there
would be a relief for us, but it only brought a worse pest, in the shape
of swarms of black gnats, similar to those which so tormented me in Nubia.
I know of no infliction so terrible as these gnats, which you cannot drive
away, and which assail ears, eyes, and nostrils in such quantities that
you become mad and desperate in your efforts to eject them. Through glens
filled with oleander, we ascended the first slopes of Akma Dagh, the
mountain range which divides the Gulf of Scanderoon from the Plain of
Antioch. Then, passing a natural terrace, covered with groves of oak, our
road took the mountain side, climbing upwards in the shadow of pine and
wild olive trees, and between banks of blooming lavender and myrtle. We
saw two or three companies of armed guards, stationed by the road-side,
for the mountain is infested with robbers, and a caravan had been
plundered only three days before. The view, looking backward, took in the
whole plain, with the Lake of Antioch glittering in the centre, the valley
of the Orontes in the south, and the lofty cone of Djebel-Okrab far to the
west. As we approached the summit, violent gusts of wind blew through the
pass with such force as almost to overturn our horses. Here the road from
Antioch joins that from Aleppo, and both for some distance retain the
ancient pavement.

From the western side we saw the sea once more, and went down through the
_Pylae Syriae_, or Syrian Gates, as this defile was called by the Romans. It
is very narrow and rugged, with an abrupt descent. In an hour from the
summit we came upon an aqueduct of a triple row of arches, crossing the
gorge. It is still used to carry water to the town of Beilan, which hangs
over the mouth of the pass, half a mile below. This is one of the most
picturesque spots in Syria. The houses cling to the sides and cluster on
the summits of precipitous crags, and ev