Bedtime came later that night than usual because of the delay, so we were the losers, for next morning we were not allowed to sleep any later than usual. At this point our journey in Palestine ends, and now we enter Syria. From Cesarea Philippi we rode up the side of Mount Hermon, said to be the highest mountain in Syria. On the top of it snow and ice are found the year round. In Bible times this mountain was sometimes called Sion, also Serion. It has several peaks, and upon one of them are to be found the ruins of a temple supposed to have been erected there years and years ago for the worship of Baal. Now Baal was an idol; so temples and altars erected for the worship of that god were usually built upon high places. We read that Josiah beat down the altars which had been erected “on top of the upper chambers of Ahaz.” The Israelites were instructed to “utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills.” The worship of Baal in those times was so great that human beings—sons of families—were offered as burnt offerings to him. No wonder instructions were given to “utterly destroy all the places.” We did not ride to the top of Mount Hermon, because it was not necessary; but a ridge to the right of it was crossed, and we found the way steep and wonderfully rough. Never before had we gone over such roads, and there was considerable danger connected with the trip. The Lord took care of us, as usual, and we came out all right. Lunch was eaten that day near a Druse village. They are a people who greatly detest Christians, so we were very careful not to give occasion for offense. Our stop there was not any more agreeable to us than it seemed to be to them, so we were quite willing to ride on as soon as possible after luncheon. In the afternoon we crossed the swiftly flowing river Pharpar. A number of Arab men, who were almost naked, led our horses through the rushing, dashing water, and it took but a little while for us to find that each man knew his business well. The water was quite deep, almost up to our feet, and the current was so swift it seemed the horses would surely go down stream instead of right across. We realized how necessary it was to have our horses led by men who not only knew the fording place, but who were strong and able to manage horses when in water. Those Arabs assisted both men and women to cross over, and indeed not any one of the party could have crossed without help. That night our camping place was close to the river and very near to a mountain village. We were now well on our way to Damascus. We found the road long and the ride extremely wearisome, with nothing special to attract our attention.