DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5295#0256
222 TRAVELS IN EGYPT, NUBIA,
to the south-west, by the side of a range of hills, abounding
with myrtle in full bloom, that spread their fragrance round,
through plantations of olives, mulberry, and sycamore ; to
which were attached vines, twining themselves round the
branches, or hanging in festoons, as in the Florentine states
of Ital}-. We passed the villages Ain el Anb and Ain el
Anoob, where the peasantry seemed fully occupied : we then
descended into a valley, by a bad and almost impassable
road, formed into deep steps by the rains, and by constant
passage of mules and travellers. The scene was for a short
time barren, and even trees were distant from us; we, how-
ever, arrived at cultivation on coming to a second range of
hills, which we crossed through thickets of myrtle, woods of
fir, walnut trees, carobs, or locust trees, and Turkish oak, or
Sindian ; and descended to the source of the river Damoor,
whose course is to be traced through a deep romantic ravine
into the plain of Seida, whence it flows winding into the sea
to the north of the town. We crossed by a stone bridge
over this river, which rushed through a rocky bed in a rapid
stream; and ascended again a high range of mountains, from
whose summit there is a grand and extensive view of the
coast of Syria and the Mediterranean Sea. I enjoyed this
prospect at sunset, and was obliged to continue the re-
mainder of the road in the dark, moving eastwards to the
entrance of the district of Deir el Kamr. On arriving at this
to the south-west, by the side of a range of hills, abounding
with myrtle in full bloom, that spread their fragrance round,
through plantations of olives, mulberry, and sycamore ; to
which were attached vines, twining themselves round the
branches, or hanging in festoons, as in the Florentine states
of Ital}-. We passed the villages Ain el Anb and Ain el
Anoob, where the peasantry seemed fully occupied : we then
descended into a valley, by a bad and almost impassable
road, formed into deep steps by the rains, and by constant
passage of mules and travellers. The scene was for a short
time barren, and even trees were distant from us; we, how-
ever, arrived at cultivation on coming to a second range of
hills, which we crossed through thickets of myrtle, woods of
fir, walnut trees, carobs, or locust trees, and Turkish oak, or
Sindian ; and descended to the source of the river Damoor,
whose course is to be traced through a deep romantic ravine
into the plain of Seida, whence it flows winding into the sea
to the north of the town. We crossed by a stone bridge
over this river, which rushed through a rocky bed in a rapid
stream; and ascended again a high range of mountains, from
whose summit there is a grand and extensive view of the
coast of Syria and the Mediterranean Sea. I enjoyed this
prospect at sunset, and was obliged to continue the re-
mainder of the road in the dark, moving eastwards to the
entrance of the district of Deir el Kamr. On arriving at this