As I was anxious to see Ibrahim’s position, the Prince supplied me with fresh horses and an escort, some of whom had just come over from the enemy; and we proceeded over the mountain, which was well guarded by men, both on horseback and foot, perched in different positions, to give notice of Ibrahim’s movements. An hour brought us in sight of Zachle, which is on the edge of the hill. There appeared a few intrenchments thrown up, but I did not think it prudent to descend, not being provided with the best horses, and having reason to believe that Ibrahim’s cavalry would have no difficulty in cutting us off, should we approach too near his den; besides, I was not sure of my escort, who could very easily have delivered me up to Ibrahim, and as many of them had only been a few days in the service of the Prince, I did not feel myself particularly comfortable. After a pleasant ride of a couple of hours we returned to the Emir’s quarters, where there was a very tolerable repast prepared for us; we found a good appetite, far preferable to the best sauces supplied by Gunter in London, or the gourmand at Paris. We retired at an early hour, but neither to sleep nor rest; our bedfellows were troublesome, and seemed to think they had a good right to a share of the dinner furnished us by the Prince. At daylight we started on our return, and taking the road of Corneille, passed the coal-mines at which Mehemet Ali obliged the poor Syrians to work, almost without pay, and proceeded to Salima, a town situated in a rich valley, the capital of the province of Mitten; we then ascended the mountain to Brumanah, and got back to Beyrout before sunset. I was still anxious about the movements of the Commander-in-Chief, and I desired the Medea to get her steam up, and wrote to him the following letter:— “Powerful, Beyrout, October 26, 1840. “My dear Admiral, “As I was going over the hill yesterday morning, to my great surprise, I saw you and the Edinburgh under weigh; I, however, continued my route to the Prince, at whose quarters I arrived at two o’clock, at Ammanah, a small town on this side of the highest mountain of Lebanon. He has with him 3500 mountaineers, who guard all the passes. He says Ibrahim Pacha has collected 15,000 men, including 3000 cavalry, at Zachle and Malaka, the one a little above the plain of the Bekaa, the other in it.