The Turks had already began their old practices, of treating the mountaineers with the most perfect contempt; and they were beginning to doubt very much whether their condition would be changed for the better. Old Izzet Pacha did not conceal his desire to get rid of the Grand Prince, and place himself in his palace at Ibteddeen. As active operations seemed now entirely at an end, notwithstanding the reinforcements which were constantly arriving, some of whom were sent to Sidon and Tyre, but none to the mountains, I obtained leave from the Admiral to pay a visit to the Grand Prince’s palace, and was accompanied by his nephew, a fine young man of about twenty-two, and next heir to the government of Lebanon. After a long ride of eight hours, through a most beautiful mountainous country, we arrived at Deir el Kammar, the capital of Lebanon, a tolerably well-built small town; as the plague was said to exist there, we passed on without entering it, and on rounding a projecting cliff the palace of the Prince opened to our view; it is situated half way up the mountain, and has a very grand appearance; above it stands another palace, smaller than the first, and the houses of two of the Emir’s sons,—they were all in an unfinished state; the large palace had been, originally constructed in wood, but the late Emir had been many years employed in converting it into a more solid shape. The entrance into the courtyard is very strong, and capable of resisting anything but artillery, which could not easily be brought against it; the court-yard is large, and surrounded by a high wall, and in the time of the late prince several hundred armed men were constantly kept in the barracks adjoining, and a body of horse, richly caparisoned in the Eastern style, were always ready in the yard. Some of the rooms are handsome, particularly those of the harem, but mostly unfurnished, the Emir having removed everything he could to Sidon, and from thence to Malta. The stables were large and capable of containing five hundred horses, the greater part of which were gone; the Emir’s stud had been magnificent, and although the whole of his property was guaranteed to him, many of the best horses fell into the hands of the Turks. We were well received by some of the family who remained, and tolerably well entertained, but even in the palace of the Grand Prince of Lebanon our slumbers were much disturbed by the occupants he had left behind. After dinner we visited the small palaces, which were also in an unfinished state, though built in a tasteful style. On looking at these palaces it was easy to account for the fidelity of the Emir Bechir to Mehemet Ali; the fact is, the old man plundered the inhabitants in the most atrocious manner, confiscated the estates, and put out the eyes of the Emirs he did not like; Mehemet Ali knew well the importance of keeping him faithful, and allowed him to do as he pleased in the mountain, and was