The botanist and florist may find in this part of the mountain full employment, as it is covered with innumerable herbs and shrubs, many of them odoriferous, and adorned with flowers of various tints. Myrtle and lavender grow wild in great quantities on the mountain, and the rose of Jericho embellishes the vales and banks of the rivulets. From this convent are seen Seidé, the sea and the adjacent coast. As Kesrawân and Mount Libanus produce the best wines of Syria, it may not be improper to offer a few remarks on that topic. The white wine made at Jerusalem has a sulphureous taste, and is very strong; the red somewhat resembles Tent, and is comparatively mild in its effects. The wines of Syria are most of them prepared by boiling, immediately after they are expressed from the grape, till they be considerably reduced in quantity, when they are put into jars or large glass bottles, (_damesjans_,) and preserved for use. There is reason to believe, that this mode of boiling their wines was in general practice among the antients. It is still retained in some parts of Provence, where it is called _vîn cuite_, or cooked wine; but there the method is to lodge the wine in a large room, receiving all the smoke arising from several fires on the ground-floors; an operation more slow, but answering the same purpose. The Spanish Vino Tinto, or Tent, is prepared in the same way. The wines thus managed, are sometimes thickened so much as to lose their transparency, and acquire a sweetish taste. Numerous are the kinds made in Syria; but the chief is the Vino d’Oro, or _golden wine_ of Mount Libanus. This is not boiled, but left to purify itself by keeping; the quantity produced is small. It is, as the name implies, of a bright golden colour, and is highly prized even on the spot. There is little reason to doubt, that if the wines of Syria were properly managed, they would equal any that France or Spain produces. In Kesrawân the Christians are so much more indulged than in other places, that they can here enjoy their favourite amusement of deafening each other with bells. The monks of _Mush-Mushé_ serve themselves in every thing, and are of course not idle, however fanatically inclined; they are cooks, bakers, butchers, carpenters, taylors, gardeners, husbandmen, each having his distinct province. I met here _Hassan Jumbelati_, who is of one of the most powerful families among the Druses, and at this time holds an office under the _Emîr Beshîr_. He is a great drinker, but appears not unintelligent. He was very inquisitive as to the motives and history of the French Revolution, and the present religious creed of that nation; on hearing the detail of which, he however made no interesting remarks.