2410 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART III. 



says that his party ascended thehighest point of the mountain, "and saw nothing 

 higher, but only a small hill before us, all covered with snow, at the bottom 

 whereof the high cedar trees were standing. And, though this hill hath, in 

 former ages, been quite covered with cedar trees, yet they are since so de- 

 creased, that I could tell no more but twenty-four, that stood round about 

 in a circle ; and two others, the branches whereof are quite decayed for age. 

 I also went about in this place to look for some young ones, but could find 

 none at all. These trees are green all the year long ; have strong stems, that 

 are several fathoms about ; and are as high as our fir trees." (Ifin., part 

 ii. chap, xii.) Thevenot, a French traveller, who visited Mount Lebanon in 

 1655, makes the number of trees twenty-three; and alludes to a popular 

 superstition, which appears to have been prevalent in his day, that " when 

 the cedars of Mount Lebanon are counted several times, their number is found 

 each time to vary." (Toj/. dti Levant, part i. p. 443., ed. 1664.) The Dutch 

 traveller, Cornelius Bruyer, in his Voyage to the Levant, the English edition 

 of which was published in 1702, appears firmly to beheve in this superstition ; 

 and says it is impossible to count them. He, however, thought the number 

 was about thirty-six. Maundrell, in his Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, 

 in 1696, gives a more detailed account. After ascending the mountain for 

 four hours and a half, he came to a small village called Eden ; and in two 

 hours and a half more, to the cedars. " These noble trees," he says, " grow 

 amongst the snow, near the highest part of Libanus; and are remarkable, as 

 well for their own age and largeness, as for the frequent allusions made to 

 them in the Word of God. Here are some very old, and of a prodigious bulk ; 

 and others younger, of a smaller size. Of the former, I could reckon up only 

 sixteen : the latter are very numerous. I measured one of the largest, and 

 found it 12 yards 6 in. in girt, and yet sound ; and 37 yards in the spread of 

 its boughs. At about 5 or 6 yards from the ground, it was divided into five 

 limbs, each of which was equal to a great tree." (Journ., &c., p. 142.) Miller, 

 in the first edition of iiis Dictionari/, art. Cedrus, states that a friend of his, who 

 visited the trees in 1720, confirms this account, except tliat he found the 

 spread of the largest tree to be 22 yards in diameter, instead of 37 yards in cir- 

 cumference. La Roque, who visited the cedars in 1722, says that he counted 

 20 large cedars, the largest of which had a trunk 19 ft. in circumference, 

 and a head 120 ft. in circumference. (Voi/., &c.) Dr. Pococke, who visited 

 Syria in the years 1744 and 1745, has given us the following account of the 

 state in which he found tiiese celebrated trees : — " From the Convent of St. 

 Sergius (Latin Carmelite friars), there is a gentle ascent, for about an hour, to 

 a large plain between the highest parts of Mount Lebanon. Towards the 

 north-east corner of it are the famous cedars of Lebanon : they form a grove 

 about a mile in circumference, which consists of some large cedars that are 

 near to one another, a great number of young cedars, and some pines. The 

 great cedars, at some distance, look like very large spreading oaks : the bodies 

 of the trees are short, dividing at bottom into three or four hmbs, some of 

 which, growing up together for about 10 ft., appear something like those Gothic 

 columns which seem to be composed of several pillars : higher up they begin 

 to spread horizontally. One that had the roundest body, though not the 

 largest, measured 24 ft. in circumference ; and another, with a sort of triple 

 body, as described above, and of a triangular figure, measured 12 ft. on each 

 side. The young cedars are not easily known from pines: I observed they 

 bear a greater quantity of fruit than the large ones. The wood does not differ 

 from white deal in appearance, nor does it seem to be harder. It has a fine 

 smell, but is not so fragrant as the juniper of America, which is commonly 

 called cedar ; and it also falls short of it in beauty. I took a piece of the 

 wood from a great tree that was blown down by the wind, and left there to 

 rot : there are 15 large ones standing. The Christians of several denomina- 

 tions near this place come here to celebrate the festival of the Transfiguration, 

 and have built altars against several of the large trees, where they administer 

 the sacrament. These trees are about half a mile north of the road, to which 

 we returned, and, from this plain on the mountains, ascended about three hours 



