BAALBEK. 
217 
cuted and very strangely designed. Within the walls of the 
sacred temple are niches where stood in former times statu¬ 
ary, and some beautiful specimens of friezes and other decora¬ 
tions. In order to get on top we were obliged to creep into 
a little hole near the grand entrance, and ascend by a circu¬ 
lar stairway. From the top of the Temple of the Sun we had 
an imposing view of the ruins that lie in confused masses 
around. It is in every respect a scene of utter and hopeless 
desolation. I could not but think with a melancholy interest 
of the difference between what I now saw, and what stood 
there in centuries past, when those ruined avails encircled the 
pride of Assyria; when those parched and arid plains were 
covered with gardens, and irrigated by fountains and flowing 
streams ; and the heroes, whose deeds have given a romance to 
Oriental history, moved in triumph there, amid the swell of 
music and the homage of the multitude. Now what was 
it ? a desert wilderness—a city of crumbling walls, of bat¬ 
tered and time-worn castles, and broken columns—a ruin 
amid ruins. Camels were browsing lazily on the stunted 
bushes near the ruins, and groups of Arabs sat smoking on 
the broken columns ; goats ran bleating in and out of the 
palace-chambers, and the startled crows flew from their nests 
as we approached. It was ruin every where ; the spirit of 
desolation hung over all, and the proud City of the Sun lay 
dead in the 
“Wide waste of all-devouring years .’ 5 
K 
