MEMOIR OF BURCKHARDT. 47 



nus and Anti-Libanus ; he returned to Damascus 

 by way of Katana, without meeting with any thing 

 remarkable, if we except the Kaber Nimroud, a 

 large heap of stones which tradition records as the 

 tomb of Nimrod. 



After a fortnight's repose, rendered necessary by 

 fatigue and indisposition, our traveller set out on his 

 excursion into the plain of the Haouran and the 

 mountains of the Druses, a region which scarcely 

 any European had then visited. He assumed the 

 dress of the inhabitants, composed of a keffie, and a 

 sheep-skin over his shoulders. During a laborious 

 journey of twenty-six days (from November 8th till 

 December 4th), he explored the country as far as 

 Bozra, entered the desert to the south-east of that 

 city, and returned afterwards to Damascus, through 

 the rocky district called El Ledja. " At every step 

 (says he) I found vestiges of ancient cities, saw the 

 remains of many temples, public edifices, and Greek 

 churches ; met at Shohla with a well-preserved am- 

 phitheatre, at other places with numbers of stand- 

 ing columns, and had opportunities of copying many 

 Greek inscriptions, which may serve to throw some 

 light on the history of this almost forgotten corner. 

 The inscriptions are for the greater part of the 

 Lower Empire, but some of the most elegant ruins 

 have their inscriptions dated from the reigns of 

 Trajan and Marcus Aurelius." 



At Shohla and Kanouat the architectural remains 

 are very splendid. A stony district called the Szaffa, 

 two or three days' journey in circumference, was 



