FROM JERUSALEM TO ALEPPO 



81 



silized shellfish of many forms, proving 

 that these regions were at one time be- 

 low the sea-level. 



We soon obtained our first view of the 

 cedars beyond and above us, and passed 

 through Hadeth and Masrun and arrived 

 at Bsherreh before sunset. 



TIIK PROVINCE OF LEB.VNON 



It will be recalled that the massacres 

 of Christians in i860 led t" European 

 intervention, since when the Lebanon has 

 been an independent Sanjak or province, 

 governed by a ^lushir. who must be a 

 Christian and is appointed for five years, 

 with the consent of the Great Powers. 

 There is no compulsory Turkish military 

 service, and there is a small local force 

 of paid soldiers who do police duty. 

 Taxation is light. Under this adminis- 

 tration excellent roads have been built 

 tln-oughout the province, by which nearly 

 all villages are reached and benefited. 



During the day the valleys were ob- 

 scured by a haze caused by the heat of 

 the day evaporating the moisture below, 

 but in the cool of the evening, by twi- 

 light, climbing the mountains quite a dis- 

 tance above Bsherreh, a never-to-be-for- 

 gotten view was obtained. Here nature 

 seemed to have carved out a huge amphi- 

 theater, terrace above terrace, the upper 

 one being that whereon the majestic 

 cedars stand, though not then visible 

 from our point of view. Below, in the 

 bottom of the valley, was a deep ravine, 

 rock-bound by high precipitous cliflfs of 

 gray limestone, which contrasted strik- 

 ingly with the green terraces of mulberry 

 and vine that extended upward, one 

 above the other, c nd which broadened in 

 so doing. On our left the River Kadisha, 

 which rises not far from the cedars, falls 

 in foaming cascades down into the center 

 of the amphitheater and loses itself in a 

 silver line in the bottom of the gorge. 



Bsherreh is on the edge of a great clifif 

 almost at the head of the valley, but a 

 little to the left, as one looks down to- 

 ward the sea. Its water-supply is an ice- 

 cold stream flowing down from the re- 

 gion of almost perpetual snow. 



THE CED.\RS OE LEB.XXGN 



We left Bsherreh at dawn and made 

 our way up the steep and winding road 



towards the cedars. In some places it 

 was difficult to pass the loatled animals 

 coming or going. Having made all pos- 

 sible haste, we reached the cedars just as 

 the sun was sifting its first rays through 

 the thick foliage — a sight calculated to 

 make any heart beat faster. The grove 

 numbers about 400 trees. With the ex- 

 ception of a few stragglers, the grove is 

 inclosed by a neat stone wall to protect 

 the smaller trees from goats. In the cen- 

 ter is a small Maronite chapel (see page 

 82 ) . 



To dwellers in Syria, where forests of 

 tall trees do not exist, these majestic 

 cedars must be overawing. A modern 

 S\rian writer says of them, that they are 

 "undeniably the most lofty of all the 

 vegetable kingdom." The fact is that 

 they are about 80 feet high, which is 

 more than the height of the trees of an 

 average American forest. They are justly 

 renowned for the size of their trunks, 

 the girth of the largest reaching 47 feet. 



A striking peculiarity of these trees is 

 the growth of their branches, which ex- 

 tend straight out at right angles to the 

 trunk and are furnished with exceedingly 

 thick foliage, brown as seen from be- 

 neatli. but when viewed from the hill- 

 sides their upper surface resembles a 

 rich, dark-green lawn studded with cones 

 standing erect. These latter are the size 

 of large goose eggs. 



LEBAXOX NOW DENUDED 



In some other parts of the Lebanon 

 there are cedar groves, but the trees are 

 much smaller. Here we have a sugges- 

 tion of what the Lebanon was in ancient 

 times, when the now bare peaks and 

 mountain sides must have been coxered 

 with these trees. 



It was here that King Solomon's sev- 

 entv thousand hewers wrought, with their 

 three thousand six hundred overseers, 

 besides those supplied by Hiram, King of 

 Tyre, to get the cedar wood required for 

 the temple at Jerusalem, and which was 

 taken in rafts to Jaflfa and thence car- 

 ried up to Jerusalem. The.se trees were 

 also used in the construction of David's 

 house, and later in the building of tiie 

 second temple. A white resin which they 



