a
very long one through very dangerous regions; on some occasions I
travelled alone with only one Arab servant, and yet nothing serious
ever happened to me.

Heliopolis is in such a ruined state, that no estimate can be formed
of the pristine size and splendour of this celebrated town.
Excepting the two temples of the Sun, and a very small building in
their vicinity, built in a circular form and richly covered with
sculpture and arabesques, and a few broken pillars, not a trace of
the ancient city remains.

The present town of Balbeck is partly built on the site occupied by
its predecessor; it lies to the right of the temples, and consists
of a heap of small wretched-looking houses and huts. The largest
buildings in the place are the convent and the barracks; the latter
of these presents an exceedingly ridiculous appearance; fragments of
ancient pillars, statues, friezes, etc. having been collected from
all sides, and put together to form a modern building according to
Turkish notions of taste.

We were received into the convent, but could command no further
accommodation than an empty room and a few straw mats. Our
attendant brought us pilau, the every-day dish of the East; but to-
day he surprised us with a boiled fowl, buried beneath a heap of the
Turkish fare. Count Zichy added a few bottles of excellent wine
from Lebanon to the feast; and so we sat down to dinner without
tables or chairs, as merry as mortals need desire to be.

Here, as in most other Eastern towns, I had only to step out on the
terrace-roof of the house to cause a crowd of old and young to
collect, eager to see a Frankish woman in the costume of her
country. Whoever wishes to create a sensation, without possessing
either genius or talent, has only to betake himself, without loss of
time, to the East, and he will have his ambition gratified to the
fullest extent. But whoever has as great an objection to being
stared at as I have, will easily understand that I reckoned this
among the greatest inconveniences of my journey.

July 7th.

At five o'clock in the morning we again mounted our horses, and rode
for three hours through an immense plain, where nothing was to be
seen but scattered columns, towards the foremost promontories of the
Lebanon range. The road towards the heights was sufficiently good
and easy; we were little disturbed by the heat, and brooks caused by
the thawing of snow-fields afforded us most grateful refreshment.
In