HONORS TO AMUXDSEX AXD PEARY 



lis 



of the citadel hill, crowned with a fort, 

 mo-sques, and houses, surrounded by a 

 wall, the approach to which across the 

 moat resembled the one still to be seen at 

 Aleppo. 



Leaving Hama and the Orontes, with 

 its gardens and water-wheels, which ex- 

 tended some way up along the course of 

 the railroad, we found ourselves rolling 

 over a lifeless plain, except for here and 

 there a flock of sheep with Bedouin 

 shepherds. With each flock was a small 

 donkey as a mount for the shepherd, and 

 which followed the sheep almost like one 

 of them, as they ran away in terror of 

 the train. 



THE "beehive" houses 



We now came into a region where we 

 found a peculiar style of village, com- 

 posed of "beehive houses," so called on 

 account of their similarity in shape to 

 the abodes of bees (see page no). 



The country is destitute of trees from 

 which to hew rafters, and in parts there 

 is no stone at all, and therefore the na- 

 tives resort to building these curious 

 structures of sun-dried bricks with high 

 and steep domes, so as to resist the heavy 

 rain and snow storms which i)revail here. 

 Each home consists of several (^f these 

 huts standing near together and sur- 

 rounded by a wall of similar materials. 

 One or more is used to live in, another 

 is for the animals, and still another serves 

 as a granary, and so on according to the 

 possessions of the proprietor. 



We pulled up at Aleppo, one of the 

 greatest cities of the East, a once som- 

 nolent mart, whose past prosperity and 

 importance as a center of commerce is 

 fast returning to it with the advent of 

 the railway, now in the course of rapid 

 construction, which is to connect Con- 

 stantinople with B .gdad. 



HONORS TO AMUNDSEN AND PEARY 



THE annual banquet of the Na- 

 tional Geographic Society, held on 

 January ii, 191 3, at the New 

 Willard Hotel. Washington, was marked 

 by several features of more than usual 

 interest. 



The 700 members and guests had the 

 satisfaction of hearing the announcement 

 that the total membership of the Society 

 had grown to the very gratifying total 

 of 170,000, the Society thus ranking, in 

 point of numbers, not only as the first 

 geographical society in the w^orld, but 

 also as the largest educational association 

 ■ in existence. 



But no statistics, however satisfactory, 

 could have accounted for so large and 

 so distinguished a gathering. It was. as 

 Ambassador Bryce remarked, "an occa- 

 sion which had never happened before 

 and could never happen again." a uni([ue 

 event in geographic history, for those 

 present saw the discoverer of the South 

 Pole meet the discoverer of the North 

 Pole, from whose hands he received the 

 special gold medal voted by the Society 

 as the tribute of the American people to 

 his great achievement. 



With Capt. Roald Amundsen as its 

 guest of honor and Admiral Peary as its 

 toastmaster. the Society had before it 

 two men who had literally come from 

 the uttermost ends of the earth to enjoy 

 its hospitality. 



As would be expected on such an occa- 

 sion, there were representatives from 

 almost all the embassies accredited to the 

 United States and from nearly every 

 State in the Union. 



The one note of regret was sounded 

 when Ambassador Bryce. an old and tried 

 friend, made his speech of farewell to 

 the members of the Society. It was a 

 speech worthy of his fame — graceful, 

 witty, learned, and kindly reflecting the 

 personality of the great English states- 

 man and scholar who will .soon leave 

 these shores to pass the evening of his 

 life in his native land. When he goes 

 no good wishes will follow him more 

 cordial and sincere than those of the 

 National Geographic Society. 



The encouragement of agriculture was 

 represented by the novelty of the menu, 

 which this year consisted of a fruit new 

 to America — the Chinese jujube. These 



