SHUHBA. 47 



diminislied by the gaunt arches of a long Roman aqueduct 

 Avhich had supplied the ancient Shuhba with water drawn 

 from Abu Tumeis, the fourth in height of the summits 

 of Jebel Hauran. As we rounded the south-east corner 

 of the volcano, we came suddenly upon the old gateway 

 of the Roman town, the very name of which has been 

 lost. Inside the walls, all was as desolate as without ; the 

 old roadway was torn up, and the modern track zig- 

 zagged in and out, and up and down, among the lava-crags, 

 which were contorted into the most extraordinary forms. 

 What motive can have led to a large town being built on 

 a site so gloomy, and so little adapted to human habitation, 

 it is hard to divine. Its inhabitants had at least one ad- 

 vantage ; the journey to the shades must have been robbed 

 of half its terrors to men who, on their arrival in Hades, 

 found the scenery just like home, and Pluto's palace not 

 quite so sombre-looking as their own theatre. In its 

 prosperity Shuhba must have been a strange city ; in its 

 desolation it is the weirdest spot imaginable. 



The ruins of the ancient town and the modern village 

 do not together occupy quite a quarter of the extent of 

 ground included within the ancient walls. We found our 

 tents pitched in an enclosure near the inhabited houses. 

 Our muleteers had managed to get into a dispute with 

 the people about the camping-ground, and there had been 

 some disturbance ; the question had, however, been referred 

 to the Sheikh, who, on hearing they were the servants of 

 Englishmen, at once ordered all civility to be shown 

 them, and on our arrival peace was quite restored. 



The ruins at Shuhba are not so ornate as others in this 

 country, but are peculiarly interesting. There are two 

 temples, similar in character to many we had seen else- 

 where, and a mysterious building which looks as if it 

 might have formed the apse of a ' basilica,' and which 



