Two hours and a half from Sekeylebye, to the left of the road, is a ruined mosque, called El Djelame; two hours and a half, Tel el Mellah, a hillock in the plain. Our road continued through fertile but uncultivated fields. E. of Tel Mellah about two hours is Tel Szeyad. Af ter three hours and a half slow march we reached the Orontes, near a spot where a large wheel, of the same construction as those at Hamah, raises the water from the river, and empties it into a stone canal, by means of which the neighbouring fields are irrigated. At the end of four hours we came to a bridge over the river, on the other side of which the castle of Seidjar is [Arabic] situated. If I recollect rightly, the bridge rests upon thirteen arches; it is well built, but of modern construction. It is placed at the point where the Aaszy issues from between rugged mountains. On the summit of the range on the left bank stands the castle. To the S.E. of the castle, on the right bank of the river, is the tomb of a Sheikh called Aba Aabeyda el Djerrah [Arabic], and to the S.E. of the latter, the Turkish chapel El Khudher. The windings of the river in the narrow rocky valley, where no space intervenes between the water and the base of the mountains, resemble KALAAT SEIDJAR. [p.144]those of the Wye in Monmouthshire. At the bridge of Seidjar, it is nearly as large as the Wye at Chepstow. Just by the bridge is a Khan of ancient construction; probably of the period of the crusades. A paved way leads up to the castle, which is at present inhabited by a few hundred families of peasants. It appears from the style of construction that the castle as it now stands, is of the time of the latter Califes; the walls, towers, and turrets, which surround it on the N., W. and S. sides, are evidently Saracen; but it should seem, from the many remains of Grecian architecture found in the castle, that a Greek town formerly stood here. Fragments of columns and elegant Corinthian and Doric capitals lie dispersed about it: amongst them is a coffin of fine marble, nine feet long, but I could find no remains of any ancient building. On the east side the river runs at the foot of a deep precipice. In the south wall a strong well built tower is still in perfect preservation; near it is a deep well, and a subterraneous passage, which, we were informed, leads down to the river side. We searched in vain for Greek inscriptions; on the above mentioned tower is a fine Arabic inscription, but too high to be copied by such short- sighted people as we both happened to be. On the gate of the castle, which leads through an arched passage into the interior, I copied the following, in which many foreign words are mixed with the Arabic: [Arabic]. Part of the declivity of the hill upon which the castle is built is paved with flat stones, like the castle hills of Aleppo, El Hossn, PLAIN OF HAMAH.