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Bahar Caramort, or the Lake of Antioch, which is 
formed by several rivers, and the waters of which dis- 
charge themselves into the Orontes. 
After reposing three quarters of an hour, I passed 
round one high mountain, and traversed other smaller 
ones, still following the banks of the Orontes, which 
has at these different points the same imperceptible 
current, and the same breadth. Turning afterwards 
towards the south I entered the gate of the ancient 
Antioch about half past eleven, and after having pro- 
ceeded during half an hour among kitchen gardens, in 
the vast compass of the ancient walls, I arrived at the 
new city, the governor of which, a Turk of the country, 
gave me a lodging in his house. 
Supper was served up after sun-set. The repast being 
ended, the governor rose first, and casting his eyes by 
chance towards the heavens, he perceived a comet. He 
told me of it, and we looked at it together, but all the 
rest of the persons present were afraid, and trembled; I 
succeeded, however, in calming their minds. 
The governor, named El Hadj Bekir Aga, a very 
estimable personage, loaded me so much with marks 
of affection and civility, that I had not a moment to 
myself; he was incessantly with me. 
Immediately after my arrival, he sent an order to 
Souaidie, which is the nearest port, to prepare me a 
vessel to take me to Tarsus. The reason which obliged 
me to make this traverse by sea, was the danger of 
going by land, the roads being then infested by the 
brigands of Kouchouk Ali. 
Antioch, called by the Turks Antahia, is a city 
which contains fifteen thousand Mussulmen, three 
thousand Christians of various rites, and a hundred and 
fifty Jews. The Greek patriarch of Antioch was at this 
Vol. II. 2 X 
