been maintained at the expense of an Englishman, in which instruction in the Christian religion-I believe according to the principles of the Church of England— formed part of each day's work. Since the death of its supporter the school has been closed. The young Armenian who accompanied me over the town and neighbourhood was very anxious to have the school reopened and to be appointed master, and he thought his sister could manage a girls' school. He, and his sister too, had been educated at Beirut. This young man told me that he thought, in spite of the bigotry of the population of Antioch, which is proverbial, many of the children of the Mussulman population would attend the school, and that the whole Jewish community would gladly send their children; and my host, the English Vice-Consul, himself a Jew, corroborated this statement, and, without any reservation, said all the Jewish children. would attend and receive the religious instruction.

Smith, of Antioch, was an Englishman who had never learned his father's language, but spoke in Arabic. He was a tall, powerful man, about thirty or thirty-five years of age, broad shouldered, and with a ruddy complexion; he was of the build and stamp to be seen frequently among brewers' men. Although a native of Antioch, he lived principally at Aleppo, and it was there that I saw the Englishman who could not speak English. He was once brought up before the Pasha for fighting in the streets, his opponent or opponents charging him with having dealt unfairly towards them by using his fists.

CHAPTER VI.

BEIRUT-VALLEY OF BAKKAH-LEBANON AND

HERMON.

BEIRUT, washed by the blue waters of the Mediterranean, backed by snow-topped Lebanon, with Tripoli to the north and Tyre to the south, as seen from the sea, forms a charming picture, bright, sparkling, and glorious in the sun; calm and peaceful at eventide, surpassing the Bay of Naples. Nor are you disappointed on landing. It is clean; there are fine houses, many of which are enclosed by gardens, two good hotels, one kept by an Arab, a tall fine man, who was Dragoman to Eliott Warburton. There is one part of Beirut but little visited, I fancy, by Europeans; it is inhabited by well-to-do native artificers; there are some good houses of a medium class. It stands on an eminence shut out from the port and the rest of the town, and commands a beautiful view south towards Sidon. A deep blue sea, a long slightly curved line of golden sand, dark green foliage, and a clear blue sky, these simple elements formed a gorgeous picture; at least, so thought we, as in midsummer we gazed on the tranquil waters reaching

down to Sidon. Although the heat was very great, here the breeze was fresh and the air pure and lively. We were told that sickness was almost unknown in this district that when Beirut itself was unhealthy and cholera was raging, this place was always healthy. It is a charming spot.

Between Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon lies the beautiful wide valley called Bakkah, across which the highroad from Beirut to Damascus runs. This high-road, formed by a French company, is a first-rate work, and is kept in good order. The nights in Lebanon, even in the height of summer, are more than cool, and in riding through the night we did not find our greatcoats sufficient to keep us comfortable.

At the time of which I am writing cholera was in Damascus. Rumour had spoken of it for some time at Beirut; people were flocking to the mountains; all conveyance by carriages had been engaged for many days. Numbers were also rushing from Damascus. As we approached that city, caravans of people were leaving for various places in the mountains or for Beirut; dismay was plainly marked upon the countenances of most.

There is a fine view of Mount Hermon on the right hand as you descend Anti-Lebanon to Damascus, topped with snow at midsummer, and perhaps a finer one as you are leaving; but the fresh sparkling waters of the Abana, tumbling and rolling in long, large waves as they rush along by the side of the road, at times under arches formed by the overhanging branches of trees, through the interstices of which is to be seen the

rolling water glancing bright in the sunbeams, give a charm to Damascus. There are fine detached houses some little way from the city; one, a large white one looking on to the river, we particularly noticed. It belonged to a wealthy Jew, and as we passed early in the morning the windows and doors were all open, and we could see into the house. There, in a principal room, seemed to be assembled the whole family, and perhaps friends and neighbours. All were sitting motionless it was now the house of mourning; cholera had already taken one victim. · I shall probably never forget that household; calm sorrow and resignation sat on each countenance. Although they did not seem to hold conversation among themselves, one came out at once to give us some direction and information. Here let me say a word of tribute of a race but too often unjustly spoken of. When neither love nor money could procure the means of flight from Damascus, it was a Hebrew merchant who sent, in his own carriage, an Englishman and his young wife on their way to a place of safety, although he did not go himself.

CHAPTER VII.

SHEM, HAM, AND JAPHETH.

IN Syria are to be seen, in distinct groups, the descendants of the postdiluvian fathers of mankind, occupying the precise positions and showing the characteristics described briefly, but so distinctly, in the tenth chapter of Genesis. In the towns you see varied examples of the Japhethic race: the Turkoman, as a conqueror, and who has enlarged himself by conquest, sitting or resting indolently and comparatively unmoved by the stirring events of the times, until aroused by war's alarms, indolent and apparently apathetic, careless of others, bold and capable of much exertion when aroused, enduring and patient under reverses; the dark, sinister, and wily descendants of Javan, having their avocations in localities in which anything is to be made, often holding high positions, but in all cases tending to general enlargement by individual efforts to enlarge themselves. The glorious Shemite, full of noble qualities, beautiful in form, full of poetry and imagination, with inherent good taste and appreciation of the good and the beautiful, free, open-handed and generous,