678 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Oct. 



to the valley of the Aphreen are some Thermal springs, El Hammam, " the 

 Baths," issuing at the point of junction of plutonic rocks with tertiary dolo- 

 mites. The waters of these springs are said to have originated with different 

 earthquakes, and present corresponding differences of temperature. 



It is a distance of about 111 miles across the so called " Syrian Desert" from 

 Moorad Pacha to Port William. The first part of it is hilly but not infertile, 

 between El Hammam and Azass, or Arsace Menniza of Ant. Itinerary (MSS. 

 of Colonel Chesney). The second part from Azass to Port William is for the 

 most part level, at the best undulating, containing the valleys of the Kowick 

 (Chalus) and the Sajour. These plains are every where fertile, for the most 

 part cultivated, and abounding in populous villages, consisting of Fellah Arabs, 

 Kurds, Turkish tribes, and mixed races, possessing bullocks in great abundance 

 along the whole of the direct line which passed a little way southward of Aintab, 

 the ancient Antiochea ad Taurum, and now a garrisoned town of large size 

 and some commercial importance. 



The general arrangements for the transport were, that Lieutenant Cleave- 

 land and Mr. Chaiilewood were to carry the boilers, &c. to Goozel Barge, from 

 whence they were to proceed under Mr. FitzJames to Moorad Pacha by water, 

 to be conveyed from thence to Port William by Captain Estcourt, assisted by 

 Mr. Eden ; and as there was a line of waggons connecting the boats with the sea 

 on one side, and to the Euphrates on the other, the three portions of the grand 

 line were simultaneously in operation, and also a fourth, viz. camels and mules, 

 carrying the light stores direct from Amelia Depot to Port William by the An- 

 tioch route through DjezerHadid' f . At first every thing went on well, and pro- 

 raised a rapid conclusion. Lieutenant Cle aveland obtained bullocks with a mo- 

 derate degree of difficulty, and his ingenuity and perseverancef did the rest 

 by removing every thing to Goozle Burge, where they were successively 

 embarked for Moorad Pacha ; but here things were immediately at a stand still, 

 and although the strongest orders (in appearance) were constantly issued by 

 Ibrahim Pacha, very few bullocks could be obtained even at the highest pri- 

 ces by Captain Estcourt, whose unwearied efforts could only secure the tanta- 

 lizing but ingenious result of an abundance of bullocks along the whole 

 line, except the first and last stages ; consequently the boilers which had remain- 

 ed for ten or twelve weeks on their carriages, might have continued at Moorad 

 Pacha until now, if we had not exerted ourselves to bring them on, one at a time, 

 with our own horses, instead of bringing on a number of the heavyweights at the 

 same time with the bullocks ; and the result w;is, that the officers and men had to toil 

 along the great line of route from Moorad Pacha, exposed for months to the great 

 heats of noon, the chills of night, and to the baneful effects of what Humboldt 

 expressively calls an extreme climate, the thermometer being as high as 

 110° in the shade, (July) and as low as 8° in the winter, during which some of the 

 boilers were flooded, and the diving-bell actually lost in an extensive sheet of 

 water near El Hammam. This had been in all likelihood the original object of 

 the Pacha, and the Euphrates being already complete, bullocks were given to 

 perform the impossible (as was thought), task, of bringing on the Tigris'' boilers+, 

 which were warped out of the lake by manual labor, and ultimately taken to 

 Port William by Lieutenant Cleaveland, Messrs. Eden, Charlewood and 

 Hector, the only officers in the Expedition then effective. Not one indi- 

 vidual officer or man employed on this enterprize escaped at least one serious 

 illness, nor is it at all surprizing that some§ fell victims to trials so long conti- 

 nued, and to a climate so often replete with morbid miasma as Moorad Pacha, 

 the worst of the stations : yet the malaria only proved fatal when other causes 

 combined to render it so ; nor need the splendid scenery, nor the magnificent 



* Eight hundred and forty-one camels and 160 mules were employed in all, and 

 the greater part of these caravans were stopped on the frontier by the Pacha, in 

 order to cause delay by forcing us to bring others from the Sultan's territory. 



•f- In addition to puilies, &c. the boilers were actually moved up the hills inch 

 by inch with jack screws by Mr. Charlewood and Lieutenant Cleaveland. 



X Mr. Hector found the diving bell by means of long poles, and then rolled it 

 under water for the most part half a mile to its carriages, 



§ Seven men of the Expedition and one workman. 



