48
TOPOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
traversed the American prairies in the middie of the nineteenth century. In the
afternoon we came opposite the striking medieval Kal'at il-Husn/ standing high up
on the southern slope of the Nusairiyeh mountains. The castle was one of the many
crusaders' strongholds of this country.
Our stopping-place for the night was Tell Kalakh, where we were cordially received
by the worthy 'Abdullah Agha id-Danach], the proprietor of the village and a well-
known character. He placed at our disposal a building consisting of one large room.
It had stone walls and a red-tiled roof, much like the houses to be seen along the
sea-coast in the larger towns.
The Roman bridge over the Dog River which withstood the storms of December, i8gt).
On December 16th we traveled the remaining distance to Tripoli, a little shorter
than the ride of the day before. At ten in the morning we came out upon the
coastal plain and turned toward the southwest. It was exceedingly hot during the
last part of the ride, even though we were near the foot of snow-clad Lebanon.
Along the shore there were many cactus plants.
We rode through the city of Tripoli and went to a hotel near the harbor. On the
17th one member of the party took ship for Beirut, and the next day the rest followed
by land, stopping one night at Djebel. Late that night two of the tents were blown
down by an unusually strong wind and we were obliged to seek shelter under the
near-by rocks. An indication of the violence of the storms of the previous fortnight
i See Gazetteer; Oppenheim, Bericht iiber eine Forschungsreise in der Asiatischen Tiirkei, Zeitschr.
der GeseHsch. fur Erdkunde, Vol. XXXVI, iqoi, p. 72 and photograph.
TOPOGRAPHY OF NORTHERN CENTRAL SYRIA
traversed the American prairies in the middie of the nineteenth century. In the
afternoon we came opposite the striking medieval Kal'at il-Husn/ standing high up
on the southern slope of the Nusairiyeh mountains. The castle was one of the many
crusaders' strongholds of this country.
Our stopping-place for the night was Tell Kalakh, where we were cordially received
by the worthy 'Abdullah Agha id-Danach], the proprietor of the village and a well-
known character. He placed at our disposal a building consisting of one large room.
It had stone walls and a red-tiled roof, much like the houses to be seen along the
sea-coast in the larger towns.
The Roman bridge over the Dog River which withstood the storms of December, i8gt).
On December 16th we traveled the remaining distance to Tripoli, a little shorter
than the ride of the day before. At ten in the morning we came out upon the
coastal plain and turned toward the southwest. It was exceedingly hot during the
last part of the ride, even though we were near the foot of snow-clad Lebanon.
Along the shore there were many cactus plants.
We rode through the city of Tripoli and went to a hotel near the harbor. On the
17th one member of the party took ship for Beirut, and the next day the rest followed
by land, stopping one night at Djebel. Late that night two of the tents were blown
down by an unusually strong wind and we were obliged to seek shelter under the
near-by rocks. An indication of the violence of the storms of the previous fortnight
i See Gazetteer; Oppenheim, Bericht iiber eine Forschungsreise in der Asiatischen Tiirkei, Zeitschr.
der GeseHsch. fur Erdkunde, Vol. XXXVI, iqoi, p. 72 and photograph.