Neither does Tadmor signify Palm-tree in the Syrian language, nor in the Arabic; nor does Thadamoura, as the place is called by Josephus, signify palm-tree in the Hebrew. Neither do palms thrive in Syria, as the climate is too severe for them in the winter.

Of all the contrasts of past magnificence with present meanness, of the wealth and genius of bygone times with the poverty and ignorance of the present day, no more striking instance perhaps can be found than is presented in the present poor Arab village of Tadmor. You there see a few poverty stricken inhabitants living in square hovels of mud mixed with chopped straw, roofed with earth, leaves, and dry sticks, congregated round the magnificent Temple of the Sun of yore, despoiled of its ornaments by one of the haughtiest and most powerful of the Roman emperors, who came with his victorious troops from the distant provinces of Gaul and of Britain to rend asunder the dominion of which this spot in the midst of desert solitudes had rendered itself the head.

The majestic Corinthian columns, and the noble gateway with its sculptured eagle, and carved decorations, whose equal could not be found if we scrutinized the Grecian buildings of England from

THE RUINS OF PALMYRA.

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one corner of the island to the other, tower above the humble dwellings of the poor Arabs.

In their ruined courts, and amid the crumbling walls of their cottages, may be seen here and there portions of the antient pavement of the area, while all around the inclosure extend groups of columns with pedestals for statues, and walls ornamented with handsome architectural decorations; the ruins of the majestic portico and double colonnade which once inclosed the whole of the vast area. Portions of a frieze or the fragments of a cornice, upon whose decoration was expended the labour of years, are now used by the poor villagers to bake their bread upon, or are hollowed out as hand-mills in which to grind their corn.

In the ruined chambers of the Temple of the Sun, we gaze upon the vaulted stone ceiling and the sculptured Zodiac on the wreathed border and octagonal compartment inclosing neatly sculptured ornaments disfigured with filth; the floors are incumbered with straw and dung, and are the resort of goats, fowls, and unclean animals. From under the lofty carved portal of the temple, now shattered and partly fallen, we gaze over the flat terraces of the mud huts which encumber the spacious area of the temple, and when

we survey the vast space inclosed by the ruins of the double colonnade, which of yore extended around it, it is easy to restore it ideally to its pristine state to imagine the lofty gateway at the end; the line of columns, each decorated with a statue; the walls of the porticos with their sculptured niches and recesses; the double colonnade in front of the grand portal of the area; and the magnificent flight of steps leading down into the plain below.

From that portal, and that staircase, how grand must have been the view over the plain between the citadel and the mountains of the monumental columns, the great gateway, the grand avenue of columns running on for nearly a mile to the base of the mountains, the side colonnades sweeping off from these, some circular and some in a straight line, leading up to the different buildings now seen prostrate and ruined, to the temple or the court of justice, the palace or the bath, with the various crowds thronging them in admiration, or for business.

"Ah comment s'est eclipsée tant de gloire? Comment se sont anéantis tant de tra

vaux? . . . . Ainsi donc perissent les ouvrages des hommes! ainsi s'evanouissent les empires et les nations!"

CHAPTER XII.

PALMYRA. -DEPARTURE.

SCENE OVER THE DESERT.ANTELOPES. GAZELLE HUNT. THE DESERT PLAIN. CARIATEIN.-ARAB WOMEN DRAWING WATER.-ARAB GIRL. -THE SHEIKH OF DJEROUD.-ARAB HORSE.-DJEROUD.— SHEIKH'S HOUSE. THE SUPPER.-THE MUSHROOM OF THE DESERT.-THE MERDJ OF DAMASCUS.-SALAHIEH.-THE

BEDOUIN ARABS.

"Over how many tracts, vast, measureless,
Ages on ages roll, and none appear
Save the wild hunter ranging for his prey."

ROGERS.

Nov. 5th.-At sunrise the dromedaries and horses were again mustered, and all the fowls in the village killed, roasted, and safely packed in our hampers. Bidding adieu to our majestic landlady, the little boy, and the pretty Arab damsel, we departed amid the salaams and salutations of the whole village.

We were accompanied by a Turkish horseman

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Z

and his servant, who had requested to be allowed to avail themselves of the protection of our party, in crossing the desert plains to Damascus. As we ascended the mountains, our last view of Palmyra was grand in the extreme; dark clouds were flying about, casting their shadows over the desert, which was of a deep blue, very much resembling the sea; the salt-marshes had the exact appearance of a wide expanse of water, and here and there a bright sun-beam, breaking through the clouds, shone on the white columns and the yellow sand.

"Once more we look and all is still as night,

An empty tomb, a fragment like the limb

Of some dismembered giant."

We continued across the wide desert plain, and at mid-day we halted as usual for two hours; a fire was kindled, the horses were turned loose to graze, and the dromedaries were tied together by their halters; not a living being was in sight the whole day.

Towards evening the clouds broke, and we had a fine sunset. The night was very dark and cloudy, and at eight o'clock we halted and kindled an immense fire, now rendered highly necessary