ncied myself among the industrious
German peasantry; and yet these free people beg and steal quite as
much as the Bedouins and Arabs. We were obliged to keep a sharp
watch on every thing. My riding-whip was stolen almost before my
very eyes, and one of the gentlemen had his pocket picked of his
handkerchief.

Our march to-day had been very fatiguing; we had ridden for eleven
hours, and the greater part of the road had been very bad. The
night brought us but little relaxation, for our cloaks did not
sufficiently protect us from the cold.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Lebanon--Druses and Maronites--Illness of Herr Sattler--Djebel
or Byblus--Rocky passes--Dog's-river--Return to Beyrout--Sickness--
Departure for Alexandria--Roguery of the captain--Disagreeables on
board--Limasol--Alarm of pirates--Cowardice of the crew--Arrival at
Alexandria.

July 8th.

To-day we quitted our cold hard couch at six o'clock in the morning,
and travelled agreeably for two hours through this romantic valley,
which appeared almost at every step in a new aspect of increased
beauty. Above the village a foaming stream bursts from the mighty
rocks in a beautiful waterfall, irrigates the valley, and then
vanishes imperceptibly among the windings of the ravine. Brooks
similar to this one, but smaller, leapt from the mountains round
about. On the rocky peaks we seem to behold ruined castles and
towers, but discover with astonishment, as we approach nearer, that
what we supposed to be ruins are delusive pictures, formed by the
wonderful masses of rock, grouped one above the other in the most
fantastic forms. In the depths on the one side, grottoes upon
grottoes are seen, some with their entrances half concealed, others
with gigantic portals, above which the wild rocks tower high; on the
other a rich soil is spread in the form of terraces on the rocky
cliffs, forming a lovely picture of refreshing vegetation. Had I
been a painter, it would have been difficult to tear me away from
the contemplation of these regions.

Below the greater waterfall a narrow stone bridge, without
balustrades or railing, leads across a deep ravine, through which
the stream rushes foaming, to the opposite shore. After having once
crossed, we enter upon a more inhabited tract of country, and travel
on between rows of houses and gardens. But many of the houses stood
empty, the inhabitants having fled into the fields, and there
erected huts of branches of trees