JEBEL HAURAX, 37 



ment of propliecy miglit share — that better times may be 

 in store for Bashan. 



Before leaving Bozrah, we sent to thank the commandant, 

 whom we had not yet seen, for his courtesy. We were at 

 once invited to visit him in his quarters, an airy little room 

 on the house-roof. The commandant expressed great dis- 

 appointment at our short stay, said that he had meant to 

 oifer us an entertainment, and excused himself for not 

 having called on the previous day, on the ground that he 

 thought we should be tired after our journey, and prefer to 

 repose. He prepared sundry documents for the villages 

 of the Jebel, which were handed over to Khasim. I do not 

 fancy they did us much service, for the Druses pride them- 

 selves on maintaining a practical independence of the 

 Turkish Pacha at Damascus, and are little disposed to obey 

 the orders of his lieutenants. 



We were now within the borders of a district which has 

 acquired great celebrity from the extent and peculiar cha- 

 racter of its ruins, and has been recently brought into 

 prominent notice by the well-known Syrian traveller, Mr. 

 Porter. A perusal of his pages had set before us the 

 exciting prospect of seeing whole towns, deserted indeed, 

 but so little ruined, that they might be inhabited again 

 at a moment's notice, although said to be of an age 

 compared to which Pompeii may be considered a modern 

 city. We naturally laid our plans so as to include the 

 places considered most noteworthy by our predecessors, and 

 arranged a zigzag route by which we might in three days 

 reach the northern extremity of the Jebel Hauran, visiting 

 Kureiyeh, Suweideh, and Kunawat on the road. Prom 

 Shuhba we intended, if possible, to follow the plan which 

 Mr. Porter found impracticable, and to ride through the 

 centre of the strange volcanic district known as the Lejah, 

 and celebrated equally for the bad character of its roads 



