46 BASHAN. 



also noticed a fine doorway, over wliicli was a long inscrip- 

 tion in Greek hexameters. Close to the temple is a sub- 

 terranean reservoir similar to those at Kunawat. We 

 were now approaching the boundaries of that curious tract 

 of country which has been successively known as Argob, 

 Trachonitis, and the Lejah. In point of fact, it is nothing 

 but a huge lava-glacier, if one may be pardoned the ex- 

 pression. The northern summits of Jebel Hauran are all 

 volcanic cones ; from these the lava-streams have issued 

 forth, and flowing northwards have spread fanwise over a 

 vast extent of country. 



The limit of the inundation is in general sharply defined, 

 and those who have ridden along the borders of the Lejah, 

 and wondered at its broken crags and forbidding aspect 

 of desolation, have not unnaturally taken a part for the 

 whole, and described the entire tract as absolutely unpro- 

 ductive and desert. The wild and rapacious character of 

 the inhabitants has added to its reputation for inaccessi- 

 bility, and to the vague feeling of terror with which it has 

 been often associated. We were now in full view of its 

 south-west border, and the towns of ISTejran and Edrei, 

 the latter celebrated as the capital of Og, were plainly 

 distinguishable. Our track bore away to the east, along 

 the lower slopes of the hills. Leaving on our right the ham- 

 let of Murduk, the inhabitants of which were ploughing 

 the neighbouring fields, we soon entered a barren volcanic 

 tract of country. Our road gradually ascended, in the 

 direction of a depression under the most southern of the 

 three conspicuous cones which are the northern outposts 

 of the Jebel Hauran. The surface over which we were 

 riding was rocky and broken, and lava-crags protruded on 

 all sides, with little beds of withered grass lying amongst 

 them. The desolation of the scenery increased as we 

 advanced, and its effect was rather heightened than 



