DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36287#0025
TOPOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN
CENTRAL SYRIA, PALMYRA AND THE
REGION OF THE HAURAN AND
ITINERARY OF THE EXPEDITION
CHAPTER I
ANTIOCH TO ALEPPO ; DJEBEL IL-ALA, DJIIBEL BARISHA,
DJEBEL HALAKAH AND DJEBEL SHEKH BEREKAT
/\ FT HR many months of preparation, consisting of a study of a!! the sources of
^ L information concerning Syria that were obtainable, of consultations with experi-
enced students and explorers, and of the purchase of an outfit suitable for the proposed
journey, the three Americans and one German who constituted our Expedition met in
London in the summer of 1899 and then started eastward.
The head of the party, Mr. Butler, went to Constantinople as quickly as floods and
other obstacles would permit, in order to secure from the Porte the papers it is neces-
sary to have before one ventures into any of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
I he rest of us went by way of Paris, Marseilles, and a " Mcssageries Maritimes "
steamer to Beirut, following the northern coast of the Mediterranean. This voyage
included short visits to Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople, and was a happy prelim-
inary to the long journey inland through a country that is for the most part desolate
and lacks the picturesque beauty of the Mediterranean shores.
It took longer than was anticipated to secure the Grand Vizirial letters and nearly
three weeks elapsed after the arrival of the advance-guard of the party in Beirut before
its personnel was complete and we were ready to start northward.
We took passage on a steamer on October 17th, made stops at Larnaka, in Cyprus,
and Mersina, the port of Tarsus, in Asia Minor, and on the fourth day disembarked
a.t Alexandretta, or Iskenderuneh, a little town in the northeasternmost corner of the
Mediterranean. The actual time of the trip, eliminating stops, was only about thirty-
six hours. We were met there by a few of our camp men with the saddle-horses and
one or two animals in addition to carry the small amount of baggage we had brought
3
CENTRAL SYRIA, PALMYRA AND THE
REGION OF THE HAURAN AND
ITINERARY OF THE EXPEDITION
CHAPTER I
ANTIOCH TO ALEPPO ; DJEBEL IL-ALA, DJIIBEL BARISHA,
DJEBEL HALAKAH AND DJEBEL SHEKH BEREKAT
/\ FT HR many months of preparation, consisting of a study of a!! the sources of
^ L information concerning Syria that were obtainable, of consultations with experi-
enced students and explorers, and of the purchase of an outfit suitable for the proposed
journey, the three Americans and one German who constituted our Expedition met in
London in the summer of 1899 and then started eastward.
The head of the party, Mr. Butler, went to Constantinople as quickly as floods and
other obstacles would permit, in order to secure from the Porte the papers it is neces-
sary to have before one ventures into any of the provinces of the Ottoman Empire.
I he rest of us went by way of Paris, Marseilles, and a " Mcssageries Maritimes "
steamer to Beirut, following the northern coast of the Mediterranean. This voyage
included short visits to Athens, Smyrna, and Constantinople, and was a happy prelim-
inary to the long journey inland through a country that is for the most part desolate
and lacks the picturesque beauty of the Mediterranean shores.
It took longer than was anticipated to secure the Grand Vizirial letters and nearly
three weeks elapsed after the arrival of the advance-guard of the party in Beirut before
its personnel was complete and we were ready to start northward.
We took passage on a steamer on October 17th, made stops at Larnaka, in Cyprus,
and Mersina, the port of Tarsus, in Asia Minor, and on the fourth day disembarked
a.t Alexandretta, or Iskenderuneh, a little town in the northeasternmost corner of the
Mediterranean. The actual time of the trip, eliminating stops, was only about thirty-
six hours. We were met there by a few of our camp men with the saddle-horses and
one or two animals in addition to carry the small amount of baggage we had brought
3