September 6. We stopped again, an hour or two, at the ruins, and then commenced re-crossing the plain of Coelo-Syria, directing our course transversely so as to strike our former route over Mount Lebanon. Had our time permitted, we should have visited the cedars of Lebanon, which are about half way between Balbec and Tripoli; but as the autumn was advancing, and the Commodore was anxious to get away from this unknown coast, the project was relinquished. Mr. Chassaud was good enough, however, afterwards to procure some of the wood for us, and to forward it by way of Marseilles to our wintering station at Mahon. I have had my portion of it cut into veneers, which are greatly admired by cabinet makers, both for the color and odour of the wood; the interior of the block is of a golden yellow color, and some portions, which are sprinkled over with small black specks or knots, are very beautiful. The number of the old trees has been gradually diminishing since the mountain first began to be visited by travellers, and but seven or eight are now remaining. The largest of these are ninety feet in height, and they have in one or two cases a circumference of forty feet; which, however, like that of the great chestnut on Mount Etna, is not the circuit of a single tree, but of the generation that has grown around the original trunk. The natives have an annual religious festival beneath these venerable fathers of the forest. There are groves of a younger growth around these, containing altogether about 400 trees. A fine large tree of this species may be seen in the garden of plants at Paris; and in Mr. Prince’s garden at Flushing is a young one also, in a flourishing condition. About half way across the plain, we came to another large fountain, and smaller ones occurred at intervals; but the ride was wearisome enough: in the whole distance we passed not a house, nor a tree, nor a speck of cultivation; a withering and blighting influence has been for ages upon all this region. About three o’clock, we reached the village of Zahle, at the foot of Lebanon. It has rather a modern appearance, having grown up lately in consequence of some violence and exactions on the other side of the plain, from which the inhabitants have taken refuge under the wing of the princes of Lebanon. It is quite refreshing to an American traveller to see a modern town, and this of Zahle is also particularly pleasing from its situation. It is built on unequal, broken ground, and is bordered on one side by a deep, shaded ravine, along the bottom of which dashes a torrent, singing and making melody in its joyful course. We found near its banks a convenient spot for satisfying our now ravenous appetites, and then, although we had no ruins to inspect afterwards, we again sought the reviving effects of a nap.