[p.149]direction came in an hour and a half to the Christian village
Kefrbehoun Arabic]; and in two hours, to a hillock in the plain called
Tel Afyoun [Arabic], i.e. the opium-hill, with an ancient well. The
number of these insulated mounds of earth in the eastern plain of Syria
is very remarkable; their shape is sometimes so regular, that there can
be no doubt of their being artificial; in several places there are two
standing close together. It is a general remark that wherever there is
such a mound, a village is found near it, and a spring, or at least an
ancient well. At two hours and a half from Hamah is El Dobbe, a small
village near the road: here the ground begins to be uneven, covered with
rocks, and little fit for cultivation. At three hours and three quarters
is Tel Mowah [Arabic] upon elevated ground, with the ruins of a
considerable village; from hence Tel Afyoun bears W. 1/2 S., Hamah
E.N.E., Homs S.S.E. In four hours and a half we came to considerable
heaps of large hewn stones, and ruined habitations, called El Feiryouny
[Arabic], where a few families of Kurdines had pitched their tents. On
the side of the road is a large and very neatly cut ancient well. The
face of the country is hilly with a rocky soil, here and there
cultivated. At the end of five hours and a half we reached Byszyn
[Arabic], a village inhabited by Anzeyrys, where we slept.
February 28th.--One hour and a half from Byszyn is the village of
Shyghata [Arabic] The road ascends, through a rocky country, overgrown
with shrubs and low trees. At two hours and a half is a ruined bridge
over the winter torrent El Saroudj, which we had passed in the plain
below, between Seidjar and Hamah; it was now so much swelled by the
heavy rains, that we were trying in vain to cross it in different
places, when a shepherd came to our assistance, and shewed us a ford.
Considerable as the stream was, it is dried up in summer. We proceeded
from the bridge in a W.N.W. direction, and, after a march of an hour and
three quarters, during [p.150]which we crossed several torrents, we
reached the castle of Maszyad [Arabic], or, as it is written in the
books of the Miri, Meszyaf [Arabic]. The approach to the castle on two
sides is across a large moor; to the N. of it are the highest points of
the mountain of Maszyad, at the foot of which it stands, upon a high and
almost perpendicular rock, commanding the wild moor in every direction,
and presenting a gloomy romantic landscape. On the W. side is a valley,
where the inhabitants cultivate wheat and barley. The town of Maszyad is
built between the castle and the mountain, on the declivity of the
mountain; it is upwards of half an hour in circumference, but the houses
are in ruins, and there is not a single well built dwelling in the town,
although stone is the only material used. The town is surrounded by a
modern wall, and has three stone gates, of more ancient construction; on
one of them I saw the following inscription:
[Arabic].
The last line, as I was told by a man of Tripoli, contains the names of
some of the deities of the Ismaylys. The mosque is now in ruins. There
are several Arabic inscriptions in different parts of the town, which
are all of the time of El Melek el Dhaher [Arabic]. The castle is
surrounded by a wall of moderate thickness; and contains a few private
habitations. Near the entrance, which is arched, stands a Corinthian
capital, of indifferent workmanship, the only remain of Grecian
architecture that I saw here. Within this gate is an arched passage,
through which the road ascends to the inner and highest parts of the
castle. Upon the vault I read the following inscription in large
characters:--[Arabic]