But came The with the view of making a circuit through the countries on the southern and eastern sides of the lake. Here, however, they found the difficulty still greater. Mount Seir of Edom, which under the modern names of Djebal, Shera, and Hesma, forms a ridge of mountains, extending from the southern extremity of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Akaba, rises abruptly from the valleys El Ghor and El Araba, and is traversed from west to east by a few narrow Wadys only, among which the Ghoeyr alone furnishes an entrance that would not be extremely difficult to a hostile force. This perhaps was the "high way," by which Moses, aware of the difficulty of forcing a passage, and endeavour. ing to obtain his object by negotiation, requested the Edomites to let him pass, on the condition of his leaving the fields and vineyards untouched, and of purchasing provisions and water from the inhabitants. Edom "refused to give Israel passage through his border," and " out against him with much people, and with a strong hand."+ situation of the Israelites was therefore very critical. Unable to force their way in either direction, and having enemies on three sides, (the Edomites in front, and the Canaanites and Amalekites on their left flank and rear,) no alternative remained for them but to follow the valley El Araba southwards, towards the head of the Red Sea. At Mount Hor, which rises abruptly from that valley, "by the coast of the land of Edom," Aaron died, and was buried in the conspicuous situation which tradition has preserved as the site of his tomb to the present day. Israel then " journeyed from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom,"§ "through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongeber," until "they turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab, and arrived at the brook Zered." It may be supposed that they crossed the ridge to the southward of Eziongeber, about the place where Burckhardt remarked, from the opposite coast, that the mountains were lower than to the northward; and it was in this part of their wandering that they suffered from the serpents, of which our traveller observed the traces of great numbers on the opposite shore of the Ælanitic gulf. The Israelites then issued into the great. elevated plains which are traversed by the Egyptian and Syrian pilgrims, on the way to Mekka, after they have passed the two Akabas. Having entered these plains, Moses received the Divine command, "You have compassed this mountain long enough, turn you northward."—" Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir, and they shall be afraid of you." The same people who had successfully repelled the approach of the Israelites from the strong western frontier, was alarmed now that they had come round upon the weak side of the country. But Israel was ordered "not to meddle" with the children of Esau, but "to pass through their coast" and to "buy meat and water from them for money," in the same manner as the caravan of Mekka is now supplied by the people of the same moun * Numbers C. 20. Deuter. C. 1. t Numbers C. 20. Ibid. tains, who meet the pilgrims on the Hadj route. After traversing the wilderness on the eastern side of Moab, the Israelites at length entered that country, crossing the brook Zered in the thirty-eighth year from their first arrival at Kadesh Barnea, "when all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host."* After passing through the centre of Moab, they crossed the Arnon, entered Ammon, and were at length permitted to begin the overthrow of the possessors of the promised Land, by the destruction of Sihon the Amorite, who dwelt at Heshbon. The preservation of the latter name, and of those of Diban, Medaba, Aroer, Amman, together with the other geographical facts derived from the journey of Burckhardt through the countries beyond the Dead Sea, furnishes a most satisfactory illustration of the sacred historians.' Preface, pp. 12-16. After an interesting tour from Damascus into the countries of the Libanus and Anti-Libanus, having been detained at that city on his return for more than a fortnight by indisposition, Mr. Burckhardt, in November 1810, began to prepare for a journey into the Haouran, as soon as he had recovered his health. Having obtained the requisite passports, he assumed the dress of the Haouran people with a keffic and a large sheep-skin over his shoulders, put a spare shirt into his saddlebag, a pound of coffee-beans, two pounds of tobacco, and a day's provender of barley for his horse. I then joined,' says this enterprizing Traveller, a few Fellahs of Ezra, of one of whom I hired an ass, though I had nothing to load it with, but my small saddle-bag; but I knew this to be the best method of recommending myself to the protection of my fellow travellers; as the owner of the ass necessarily becomes the protector and companion of him who hires it. Had I offered to pay him before setting out merely for his company on the way, he would have asked triple the sum I gave him, without my deriving the smallest advantage from this increase, while he would have considered my conduct as extraordinary and suspicious. In my girdle I had eighty piastres (about £4. sterling) together with a watch, a compass, a journal book, a pencil, a knife, and a tobacco purse.' p. 52. Ezra is one of the principal villages of the Haouran: it contains about 150 Turkish and Druse families, and about 50. of Greek Christians. It was once a flourishing city, its ruins being between three and four miles in circumference. The inhabitants live in the ancient buildings, which are in complete preservation, and built of stone, as are all the houses in the Haouran from Ghavarib to Boszra. This substantial mode of building prevails not only in the ancient public edifices which Mr. Burckhardt observed in those districts, but in their private * Deuter C. 2. † Numbers. C. 21. Deuter. C. 2. dwellings. The interior of the rooms is constructed of large stones; across the centre, is a single arch two or three feet in' breadth, which supports the roof, consisting of stone slabs a foot broad, two inches thick, and about half the length of the room, one end resting on short projecting stones, and the other. upon the top of the arch. The rooms are seldom higher than nine or ten feet. To complete the durability of this singular species of domestic architecture, most of the doors were anciently of stone, and turned upon hinges of the same material, being about four inches thick, though rarely higher than four feet. From many of the public edifices, our Traveller copied various Greek inscriptions, but not without interruption. For it is a general opinion with these ignorant people, that inscriptions indicate hidden treasure, and that by reading or copying them, a knowledge is obtained where the treasure lies. I often,' says he, combated this opinion by simply asking them, whether, if they chose to hide their money, they would be so imprudent as to inform strangers where it lay.' There is somewhat of a heavy uniformity in the details of ruined cities; and in truth, the greater part of the work is subservient chiefly to scientific geography-a useful, but not a popular or pleasing study. We must therefore refer our readers who have an appetite for this species of research, to the book itself for further information concerning the Haouran. Burckhardt on his return from this expedition resolved, if possible, to enter the Ledja, and took with him two Druses to conduct him into the interior of those unfrequented districts. Mr. The Ledja, which is from two to three days journey in length, by one in breadth, is inhabited by several tribes of Arabs; viz. Selman, Medledj, Szolout, Dhouhere, and Siale; of these the Szolout may have about one hundred tents, the Medledj one hundred and twenty, and the others fifty or sixty. They breed a vast number of goats, which easily find pasturage amongst the rocks; a few of them also keep sheep and cows, and cultivate the soil in some parts of the Ledja, where they sow wheat and barley. They possess few horses; the Medledj have about twenty, and the Szolout and Dhouhere each a dozen. But I shall have occasion to speak of these Arabs again in describing the people of the country. The tent in which we slept was remarkably large, although it could not easily be perceived amidst the labyrinth of rocks where it was pitched: yet our host was kept awake the whole night by the fear of robbers, and the dogs barked incessantly. He told me next morning that the Szolout had lately been very successful in their nightly depredations upon the Medledj. Our host having no barley, gave my horse a part of some wheat which he had just brought from the plain, to bake into bread for his family. December 1st.-We departed at sunrise, the night having been so cold that none of us was able to sleep. We found our way with great difficulty out of the labyrinth of rocks which form the inner Ledja, and through which the Arabs alone have the clue. Some of the rocks are twenty feet high, and the country is full of hills and Wadys. In the outer Ledja trees are less frequent than here, where they grow in great numbers among the rocks; the most common are the oak, the Malloula, and the Bouttan; the latter is the bitter almond, from the fruit of which an oil is extracted used by the people of the country to anoint their temples and forehead, as a cure for colds; its branches are in great demand for pipe tubes. There are no springs in any part of this stony district, but water collects, in winter time, in great quantities in the Wadys, and in the cisterns and Birkets which are every where met with; in some of these it is kept the whole summer; when they are dried up the Arabs approach the borders of the Ledja, called the Loehf, to water their cattle at the springs in that district. The camel is met with throughout the Ledja, and walks with a firm step over the surface. In summer he feeds on the flowers or dry grass of the pasturing places. In the interior parts of the Ledja the rocks are. in many places cleft asunder, so that the whole hill appears shivered and in the act of falling down the layers are generally horizontal, from six to eight feet, or more, in thickness, sometimes covering the hills, and inclining to their curve, as appears from the fissures which often traverse the rock from top to bottom. In many places are ruined walls; from whence it may be conjectured that a stratum of soil of sufficient depth for cultivation, had in ancient times covered the rock. We had lost our road, when we met with a travelling encampment of Medledj, who guided us into a more open place, where their companions were pitching their tents. We breakfasted with them, and I was present during an interesting conversation between one of my Druse companions and an Arab. The wife of the latter, it appeared, had been carried off by another Arab, who fearing the vengeance of the injured husband, had gone to the Druse Sheikh of Khabeb, and having secured his Dakhil, or protection, returned to the woman in the Ledja. The Sheikh sent word to the husband, cautioning him against taking any violent measures against his enemy. The husband, whom we here met with, wished to persuade the Druses that the Dakhil of the Sheikh was unjust, and that the adulterer ought to be left to his punishment. The Druse not agreeing with him, he swore that nothing should prevent him from shedding the blood of the man who had bereft him of his own blood; but I was persuaded that he would not venture to carry his threat into effect; for should he kill his enemy, the Druses would not fail to be revenged upon the slayer or his family. The outer Ledja is to be distinguished from the inner, on this side as well as on that by which we entered it, the former being much less rocky, and more fit for pasturage than the latter. On the bor ders of the inner Ledja we passed several places where the mill-stones are made, which I have mentioned in a former part of my journal. The stones are cut horizontally out of the rocks, leaving holes of four or five feet in depth, and as many in circumference; fifty or sixty of these excavations are often met with in the circumference of a mile. The stones are carried to be finished at Ezra, Mehadje, Aeib, Khabeb, and Shaara.' pp. 111-113. On the 14th of February, 1812, Mr. Burckhardt left Aleppo on a tour from that place to Damascus through the valley of the Orontes and Mount Libanus. Nothing remarkable enough for selection occurs till he reached Maszyad, • Maszyad, he observes, is remarkable from being the chief seat of the religious sect called Ismayly. Enquiries have often been made concerning the religious doctrines of this sect, as well as those of the Anzeyrys and Druses. Not only European travellers, and Europeans resident in Syria, but many natives of influence, have endeavoured to penetrate the mysteries of these idolaters, without success, and several causes combine to make it probable, that their doctrines will long remain unknown. The principal reason is, that few individuals among them become acquainted with the most important and secret tenets of their faith; the generality contenting themselves with the observance of some exterior practices, while the arcana are possessed by the select few. It will be asked, perhaps, whether their religious books would not unveil the mystery? It is true that all the different sects possess books, which they regard as sacred, but they are intelligible only to the initiated. A sacred book of the Anzeyrys fell into the hands of a chief of the army of Youssef Pasha, which plundered the castles of that sect in 1808; it came afterwards into the possession of my friend Selym of Hamah, who had destined it as a present to me; but he was prevailed upon to part with it to a travelling physician, and the book is now in the possession of M. Rousseau, the French Consul at Aleppo, who has had it translated into French, and means to publish it; but it will probably throw little light upon the question. Another difficulty arises from the extreme caution of the Ismaylys upon this subject; whenever they are obliged to visit any part of the country under the Turkish government, they assume the character of Mussulmans: being well aware that if they should be detected in the practice of any rite contrary to the Turkish religion, their hypocrisy, in affecting to follow the latter, would no longer be tolerated; and their being once clearly known to be pagans, which they are only suspected to be at present, would expose them to the heaviest exactions, and might even be followed by their total expulsion or extirpation. Christians and Jews are tolerated because Mohammed and his immediate successors granted them protection, and because the Turks acknowledge Christ and the Prophets; but there is no instance whatever of pagans being tolerated. The Ismalys are generally reported to observe some infamous rites, and to mix on certain days of the year in promiscuous debauchery. When they go to Hamah they pray in the mosque, which |