[p.145]and Szalkhat. In the plain to the S. and S.W. of the castle are
the remains of ancient buildings, which indicate the site of a town;
several fragments of columns, wrought stones, and a great deal of
rubbish, are lying about. We dug up an altar about four feet and a half
high, and one foot and an half square; on one of its four sides was this
inscription:
[Greek].
To the S.W. of the bridge is the tomb of a saint named Sheikh Mahmoud,
which is to the W. of a small village called Haourein [Arabic]. The rock
of the hills, in the neighbourhood of Seidjar, is calcareous, of
considerable hardness, and of a reddish yellow colour; on the S. side of
the castle the rock seems to have been cut perpendicularly down almost
as low as the river, either for the purpose of adding to the defence of
the fortress on this side, or to facilitate the drawing up of water from
the river.
We now crossed the low hills to the south of Seidjar, and entered the
plain of Hamah, which is very little cultivated here. We proceeded in a
south-easterly direction. In one hour and a half from Seidjar we passed
a number of wells cut close to each other in the rocky ground. At one
hour and three quarters is a small bridge over a torrent called El
Saroudj [Arabic], which empties itself into the Orontes. In two hours we
saw to our left, about half an hour distant, the village Hedjam, on the
right bank of the river; in two hours and three quarters, a small
village