VIEW OF ELWUND, OR ORONTES. §7 
they turned their continually gathering columns, through the 
valleys, in a western direction, to Kungavar. 
After journeying for some time over these upland successions 
of hill and dale, the summits of the far-spreading and towering 
mountain, called Elwund, were pointed out to me. No doubt 
remains of its being the celebrated Orontes of the ancients, and 
I checked my horse to observe it. From the spot where I stood, 
it presented the appearance of a vast range of separate moun¬ 
tains ; so various were its forms, though no very distinguishing 
points projected from the apparent line of its head. This im¬ 
mense mountain-region, commences with a gradual ascent from 
the north-east; and covers, it has been said, upwards of sixty 
miles of ground, forming a gentle curve to the south-west. To 
the whole prodigious mass, the name of Elwund has been given; 
but I believe, Orontes Proper, at a point of whose base the an¬ 
cient capital of Media stands, does not occupy more than half 
that extent of country; and that this portion of the range is 
completely cloven from its more northern branches; which are 
also recognised by the names of the Giroos and Sahund: all, 
indeed, being parts of the vast stem of Taurus ; whose countless 
ramifications filling this quarter of Irak Ajem, or ancient Media, 
gave rise to its common appellation of Al Gebal , or Al Jebal, 
the Mountainous. 
As night drew on, we passed two or three villages amongst 
the least rugged parts of the hills, where the partial cultivation 
which the natives were able to draw around them, by mingling 
some vestiges of human civilization with the untameable forms of 
nature, increased the wild picturesque of the scene. Our de¬ 
scent from these rough heights was difficult, and the hour of the 
night made it more so at every step; but at last we reached a fine 
