steep barren ascent of two to two hours and a half; the latter a more
level wooded country, for the greater part fit for cultivation this
difference of surface is observable throughout the Libanus, from the
point where I crossed it, for eight hours, in a S. W. direction. The
descent terminates in one of the numerous deep valleys which run towards
the seashore.

I left my guide on the small plain, and proceeded to the right towards
the Cedars, which are visible from the top of the mountain, standing
half an hour from the direct line of the route to Bshirrai, at the foot
of the steep declivities of the higher division of the mountain. They
stand on uneven ground, and form a small wood. Of the oldest and best
looking trees, I counted eleven or twelve; twenty-five very large ones;
about fifty of middling size; and more than three hundred smaller and
young ones. The oldest trees are distinguished by having the foliage and
small branches at the

BSHIRRAI.

[p.20]top only, and by four, five, or even seven trunks springing from
one base; the branches and foliage of the others were lower, but I saw
none whose leaves touched the ground, like those in Kew Gardens. The
trunks of the old trees are covered with the names of travellers and
other persons, who have visited them: I saw a date of the seventeenth
century. The trunks of the oldest trees seem to be quite dead; the wood
is of a gray tint; I took off a piece of one of them; but it was
afterwards stolen, together with several specimens of minerals, which I
sent from Zahle to Damascus.

At an hour and a quarter from the Cedars, and considerably below them,