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peaks and summits ; the eastern high, bare and stern, the 

 territory belonging to the free and noble Bedouin tribes. In 

 the north-east shone the surface of the great Lake of 

 Gennesaret, girt by pleasant hills. To the north rose the 

 snow-clad heights of Hermon and the Lebanon, and from 

 the foot of Tabor stretched the hilly country, intersected with 

 valleys and ravines and covered with stones and oak woods, 

 which reaches up to the high mountains ; while towards the 

 west an undulating ugly region extended to the lofty isolated 

 mountain of Djebel-mar-Elias or Mount Carmel. 



This splendid scene we enjoyed during the evening hours. 

 Over the quiet wooded valleys were circling some Imperial 

 Eagles and Cinereous Vultures ; while the perfect stillness 

 that reigned around was only broken by the clear sounding 

 bells of the little convent wafting the Angelus through these 

 lonely regions. 



I now felt able to crawl slowly round the top of the moun- 

 tain to look at the interesting buildings and ruins. A Greek 

 convent stands opposite the Latin one, in the courtyard of 

 which our tent had been pitched. In the evening we dined 

 in the refectory of the convent, and retired early to rest. 

 The Grand Duke was suffering severely from fever and had 

 to be well dosed with quinine. 



On the 12th of April we awoke at sunrise, having now 

 passed our last night under canvas, and not without regret 

 did I bid adieu to my airy dwelling. As riding was hardly 

 practicable we walked down the hill from the convent, our 

 train with its sick and barely convalescent descending but 

 slowly through the oak woods and over the flat rocks and 

 loose stones. The air was cool and pleasant, and the moun- 

 tains around us were lit up with the most lovely colours by 

 the morning sun. After a fatiguing walk we at last reached 

 the valley, where we mounted our horses. 



We were able to ride over the next chain of hills with its 



