CHAPTER XXIV. 
BAALBEK. 
Before we left that celebrated grove, we provided our¬ 
selves with a good supply of relics. At first we were loth 
to touch a single twig of those sacred old trees, which had 
braved the tempests for centuries; but our guides told us 
that thousands of native pilgrims come from all parts of the 
country every year, and carry away whole loads of seeds and 
branches, without the least compunctions of conscience; in 
fact, that the pruning did them good. With such a prece¬ 
dent, made more certain by the aid of a little backshish , we 
followed the example of other pilgrims, and got the Arabs to 
cut us some walking-sticks and knock down some burrs, both 
of which I hope to see flourishing in Washington one of these 
days. 
From the Cedars up to the summit of Mount Lebanon, by 
the way of the pass that leads into the valley of Bukaa, is 
nearly two hours of very laborious climbing. It was not long 
before sunset when w T e reached the highest part of the ridge. 
Our horses were pretty well tired down, and ourselves rather 
the worse of the wear, having walked most of the way from 
Aheden. The altitude of this part of the mountain we sup¬ 
posed to be about six thousand feet. As yet there was no 
snow visible on any part of it. The air was sharp and clear, 
but not unpleasantly cold. Tired as we were, after our hard 
day’s journey, we could not but stop a while to enjoy the 
view. It was really one of those splendid sights which even 
a traveler, whose life is spent among the beauties of nature, 
is privileged to enjoy but once or twice in the course of ex¬ 
istence. On the one hand the valley of Aheden, through 
