On the next morning we left Palmyra, and, after a hard gallop which lasted for the best part of four days, we found ourselves, not much the worse for wear, once more at Damascus.
[8] Burton writes of Syria in 1870. The journey from Beyrut to Damascus has now been made easy by the opening of the railway. The line rises some four thousand feet, crosses two ranges of mountains on the Lebanon, and passes through some beautiful scenery. After traversing the Plain of Bakaa through the Anti-Lebanon, the railway enters the Yahfâfeh, continuing to Sûk Wady Barada, the ancient Abila, where is seen the rock-cut aqueducts made by Zenobia to convey the water of the Abana to Palmyra; then, passing the beautiful fountain of Fijeh and the remains of an old temple, the train follows the River Abana until it arrives at Damascus.—W. H. W.
[9] The journey from Damascus to Palmyra can now be made in five days viâ Mareau Said and Niah—the pleasantest route, passing by much water, and averaging six to seven hours riding a day. But Palmyra is still under the care of rapacious shayks, and great care has to be observed in arranging for a tour to that city of grand ruins. Things are a little better than they were in Burton’s day, but there is still danger.—W. H. W.
Printed by Hasell, Watson & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury.
Transcriber’s Note:
Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the chapter. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added. Duplicate words at line endings or page breaks were removed.
Inconsistent hyphenation and misspelled words were not changed.
At the end of the phrase “They took up comfortable positions on the cut-throat em,” the last portion of the word beginning with “em” is not printed in the original; [“embankment”] is assumed.