CHAPTER V. ANTIOCH. CIRCUMSTANCES compelled me to visit other parts of Syria, and on a wet raw day, towards the end of March, I started for Antioch. My son and a Mussulman, a citizen of Antioch, but of East Indian ancestry, accompanied me a few miles on the way, which as far as Termaneen, on the plain of Halkar, is the same by which we had gone from Iskanderoon to Aleppo, and on the rocky eminence which overlooks Aleppo we parted, my boy to return to Aleppo, in the middle of a tremendous storm of hail, driven with relentless fury by a strong westerly gale which blew right in our teeth during our eight hours' ride over rocks and stones to Termaneen, until the horses' eyes were bloodshot, and the men looked like famished wolves. After a hasty supper and a few hours' rest, we started about half-past three the next morning, riding across the plain of Halkar in a southerly direction, the Iskanderoon road running to the west, passed over and descended the rocky hills which form a girdle round the plain of Halkar, threading our way round the large blocks of rock and winding through deep gorges, the rugged and almost perpendicular sides of the mountain looking dark and gloomy. On the summits of these are the remains of castles and, I think, towers: one which appeared to have been a large fortified position was seen a long way off, and commanded every gorge or opening in the mountains. On the road we were riding, at one place and for some distance, the track along which we went was nothing but the dry rocky bed of a mountain torrent, not more than, I should say, six feet wide, shut in by high walls of red stone, the channel or bed being blocked up with enormous boulders and rocks. I understood there was no other road, and by this route must the troops of Aurelian have passed before meeting those of Zenobia on the plain of Halkar above. About halfway through this peculiarly narrow pass, on a large slab of perpendicular rock, there is an old inscription to be seen, and just beyond, as the pass widens and you gain the right bank of the gorge or gullet, you are somewhat startled by the appearance of a magnificent ruin on a small plateau at this point, between the mountains and the water-course, one part of which had certainly been a Christian church, and a very beautiful one; the buildings were of fine reddish stone beautifully squared into blocks of about four feet by two, and apparently fitted without cement. In front was an encampment of Turkoman shepherds; about half a mile further on, and principally on the other side of the water-course, are the remains of what appears to have been a town of some considerable size. The gorge is wider here, and you catch sight of the plain of Antioch. We stopped for a few minutes for breakfast by the side of a river, the water of which was perfectly warm, and which retained its heat for a considerable time, after even a small quantity has been dipped out from the river. It is most unpleasant to drink. It came on to rain, and we decided to ride on and to leave the baggage animals to follow, so as to enable us to reach Antioch before nightfall. Owing to incessant heavy rains the plain of Antioch was impassable, and a great part under water; so, turning to the left shortly before the gorge though which we had been riding opened upon the plain, we rode over the spurs of the hills skirting its edge. There are several small rivers. or streams running down from the hills, which were difficult to cross from the great overflow of water. Dotted about this great plain are large mounds, which were now for the most part islands, to which cattle escape from the water. The road or track became very bad, nearly knee-deep in mire, after passing Hiram, a village pleasantly situate by the side of a river, at the point where it runs out of a narrow pass in the mountain and enters into the plain. At last we were brought up by a wide expanse of water, the overflow of a river of originally some width, and now a rapid current which ran round the greater part of a conical mound some fifty or sixty feet high. This looked like the last piece of land, a waste of water being beyond. By reconnoitring we discovered at some distance a few huts on a small piece of ground but very slightly elevated above the water; after shouting for a long while, a man made his appearance, and pointed out to us a fordable place, marked by sticks and bushes, doubtless to secure a way of escape should their position become altogether untenable. There appeared to be some fifty or sixty people in these huts, and one was induced, for some considerable reward, to conduct us over the waste of waters, and thus to not only guide our way, but to avert the danger of falling into the deep channels of the various water-courses, or rivers, to where the course of the Orontes ran, which was not far distant. At one place only, as far as I could see, was any vestige of banks to be seen, and here was a ferry-boat. My colt jumped nimbly over the high sides into the clumsy barge, but the old horse which my attendant rode made a mistake and fell backwards into the river out of his depth, and got underneath the boat, but he was got in at last. The Orontes, after running north through Syria, enters at this point into the plain of Antioch, and, after a short course in a westerly direction, turns to the left and runs in a southerly or south-easterly direction on the opposite side of the mountains to which it had run up north, and only at a few miles' distance. After getting out of the ferry-boat, we skirted the left bank of the Orontes, going up the stream, and arrived at a Turkoman village, the headman of which, who was well known to the English Consul at Aleppo, pressed us to stay, as it was getting late and the road was bad. He found some difficulty in providing us with a guide, a sturdy youth who trotted on by our side. We shortly met a merchant with a caravan of horses and mules, laden with merchandise from Antioch-the first which had attempted the road since the rains-who reported the road as very bad, and pointed to the state of some of his baggage animals, which showed signs of having been completely bogged, and we noticed that the mules had suffered more than the horses. After a few miles, we had to leave the low ground and ascend the hills which bound the plain of Antioch, over which we had to ascend and descend; they were high and very steep: as soon as the top of one was gained, we had to descend the other side, to rise again immediately. The greater part of the way was knee-deep, and we were bogged several times; it was a most fatiguing and trying journey for the horses. There is a mountain in our front, behind which lies Antioch, and which has to be turned. Just before sundown we make the last descent and come upon the Orontes; we turn to the left round the foot of the high mountain, and proceed along the road of rock and loose stones which runs south, the way we are going, between the mountains and the Orontes, the river on our right hand. Before reaching Antioch, we come upon an old causeway, probably Roman; the mountain on our left is perpendicular, and crowned by the remains of magnificent military works, a wall running along the whole length, the deep intervening chasms being bridged across. Just outside the city we find a hut, the occupier being a vendor of coffee; we halt and regale ourselves |