188 
JOURNEY FROM 
in it at present The rain seems to have been also a principal agent 
in destroying the buildings on the sides of the valley ; but the loss 
which has been sustained is scarcely to be regretted ; since neither 
these structures, nor those which occupied the centre of the valley, 
could ever have been of any importance, although they have cer- 
tainly been very numerous. Before the entrance of the valley, near 
the forts which have been mentioned, are also seen traces of build- 
ing, but which do not seem to have been much more important than 
those which we have just alluded to. On the whole, nothing more 
can well be collected from these remains, than that the place has 
been formerly the site of a small town, which must always have been 
a very miserable one. There is however a good deal of pasturage in 
the neighbourhood, occasioned by the plentiful supply of water from 
the hills, and we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by flocks of 
sheep and goats, among which were also a good many camels. 
At about two miles’ distance from the remains above described (to 
the eastward) is a very remarkable projection of a high cliff into the 
sea, on which has been built a strong and very conspicuous fortress, 
constructed with large stones regularly shaped and put together. 
The greater part of this building, owing to the cliff having given 
way, is tumbled in ruins about the beach, and though little of the, 
ground plan now remaining can be satisfactorily made out, yet 
it may well be inferred, from an inspection of the whole, that this 
fortress has been one of considerable strength *. It commands an 
* A great quantity of broken pottery was found at this place, and red earthen jars 
were observed protruding through the sides of the cliff where it had fallen away ; the floor 
