DAMASCUS, THE PEARL OF THE DESERT 



65 



PROVIDING FOR THE WINTER 



The sheep is coaxed to eat in order to increase its fat, so that the family may have sufficient 

 grease with which to saturate their food during the winter months (see text below) 



shade afforded by the spreading branches 

 of these monarchs of the mountains. 



The district of the Lebanon also car- 

 ries the palm for having in its borders 

 the largest stones ever quarried in the 

 known history of man, for high up in 

 the walls of an old castle in the ruins 

 at Baalbek may be seen stones that are 

 nearly 65 feet long and 15 feet square, 

 while in an old quarry a mile away is a 

 solid block of stone that measures 72 

 feet long and is 17 feet 2 inches square, 

 the probable weight being considerably 

 more than a thousand tons. 



To what period these stones belong, or 

 what race of giants hewed such massive 

 blocks, or by what means they were 

 moved from place to place and hoisted 

 into position we have yet to learn, for 

 from the absence of inscriptions the han- 

 dlers of these almost immovable loads 

 seem to have been content to pass off 

 the stage of history unknown. 



Were a visit made to the homes of 



these mountain people, there would be 

 much of interest, for the raising of the 

 silk worm and the subsequent silk har- 

 vest gives occupation to the majority of 

 the men and women in the many vil- 

 lages. One thing is worthy of note, viz., 

 all the eggs for the silk worms are 

 brought yearly from France by men who 

 are sent especially for the purpose. For 

 some reason the eggs that are produced 

 the previous season do not mature in the 

 mountains ; hence the necessity for im- 

 porting from Europe. 



In every home throughout the moun- 

 tains may be seen women and girls com- 

 pelling an already too satisfied sheep to 

 swallow a little more of the green food 

 that has been gathered off the hillsides 

 or purchased from some near-by garden 

 or mulberry plantation. 



This pet lamb, subject to frequent 

 bathings, is being fatted to provide 

 savory dishes through the long and se- 

 vere winter that faces the native. Dur- 



