Having filed out at the north-western end of the city, we came, soon after leaving it, to a large burying-ground, where the graves, covered with solid masonry, which was plaistered and whitewashed, showed a pleasing attention to the dead. The whitewash looked as if frequently renewed, and every part of the ground was clean and in good order. The appropriate cyprus, however, was wanting; nor was there any other tree, or even a shrub. Beyond this, we entered among the gardens once more; and were immediately surrounded by trees of venerable appearance and majestic growth, and by cottages and country-houses, and gushing streams. In our own country, majestic forest trees and streams of all dimensions are common things, and the reader may wonder at the enthusiasm which we felt when such objects were met with in our journeyings: our enthusiasm was owing to two causes--the rarity of such things about the Mediterranean was one, and the other cause was the fact that they are common at our home: they brought home to our minds, more vividly perhaps than any other objects could have done; and no one who has not made the experiment can tell how dear, at the end of a few years’ absence, our father-land becomes. Alighted at Mr. Farran’s, however, we could not feel that we were in a strange country. A pleasant evening succeeded an agreeable day, and when we stretched ourselves on our couches, the gurgling of water on either side of the house lulled us to repose. FOOTNOTE: [76] Mohammed Ali got possession of Damascus without resistance, in June, 1832. CHAPTER XXIV. Sunrise on the plain of Damascus. Mountain Mosque. Superstition of the natives of Damascus. Mountain course of the Barrady. Tomb of Abel. Fountain of Rosalyn. Toils of travel. Comforts on the road to Pompeii. Ruins of Balbec. The great Temple and its courts. Stones of prodigious size. A gem in Architecture. The circular Temple. Gleanings with regard to their history. Pasha of Balbec. Marshal Bourmont. Cedars of Lebanon. Town of Zahle. Night in our tents on Lebanon. Attack by the natives. Return to the ship. Early dawn on the 6th of September found us prepared for our journey. We took an early breakfast, and then, accompanied by our kind host and his lady, began to wind up the steep ascents that lie just back of his house. The scene was strikingly oriental. Two negro lads, attendants of Mr. Farran, dressed in the gay and fanciful costume of this region, and mounted on spirited animals, were amusing themselves with making their horses fly at full speed up the precipices, and with darting to and fro across our path. The air was perfumed with the odors of the orange and jessamine: the gardens had been steeped in dew, and seemed to welcome the god of day, which now rising on the edge of the boundless plain, filled it all with glory, and hung the mountain sides with splendid purple and roseate hues.