[p.3] the remains of a bridge. The above mentioned plain is about three-
quarters of an hour in breadth, and three hours in length; it is called
Ard Zebdeni, or the district of Zebdeni; it is watered by the Barrada,
one of whose sources is in the midst of it; and by the rivulet called
Moiet[Moye--Water.] Zebdeni [Arabic], whose source is in the mountain,
behind the village of the same name. The latter river, which empties
itself into the Barrada, has, besides the source in the Ard Zebdeni,
another of an equal size near Fidji, in a side branch of the Wady
Barrada, half an hour from the village Husseine. The fall of the river
is very rapid. We followed the plain of Zebdeni from one end to the
other: it is limited on one side by the eastern part of the Anti-
Libanus, called here Djebel Zebdeni. Its cultivable ground is waste till
near the village of Beroudj [Arabic], where I saw plantations of
mulberry trees, which seemed to be well taken care of. Half an hour from
Beroudj is the village of Zebdeni [Arabic], and between them the ruined
Khan Benduk (the bastard Khan). Zebdeni is a considerable village; its
inhabitants breed cattle, and the silk-worm, and have some dyeing
houses. I had a letter for the Sheikh of Zebdeni from a Damascene; the
Sheikh ordered me an Argile[Argile--A Persian pipe, in which the smoke
passes through water.] and a cup of coffee, but went to supper with his
household, without inviting me to join them. This being considered an
insult, I left his house and went to sup with the muleteers, with whom I
slept upon an open piece of ground before a ruined bath, in the midst of
the village. The inhabitants of Zebdeni are three-fourths Turks, and the
remainder Greek Catholics; it is a place much frequented by those
passing from Damascus to the mountain.
September 24.--Left the village before day-light and crossed the Anti-
Libanus, at the foot of which Zebdeni lies. This chain of