they descend much more steeply on the other side towards the sea. The valleys within this high chain of mountains, which on one side run parallel with the seacoast, and on the other form the east side of the plain of Bekka, are mostly narrow, but abundantly fertile were they in the hands of better people, under a better government; industry being here always followed by oppression."

Carne describes his arrival thus: "The sun set on the vast temple and the mountains around it with indescribable grandeur; the chain of Antilibanus, in front, was covered with snow, and the plain, wild and beautiful, stretched at its feet farther than the eye can reach; the pigeons, of many-coloured plumage, flew in clusters round the ruined walls, at whose feet were a variety of trees and flowers, amid which ran a clear and rapid stream."

We now pass to La Martine: "On reaching the summit of the breach, we knew not where to fix our eyes. On every side we beheld marble doors of prodigious dimensions, windows and niches bordered with exquisite sculpture, richly ornamented arches, fragments of cornices, entablatures, and capitals. The master-works of art. the wrecks of ages, lay scattered as thickly as the grains of dust beneath our feet. All was mystery, confusion, inexplicable wonder. No sooner had we cast an admiring glance on one side, than some new prodigy attracted us on another. Every attempt we made to interpret the religious meaning of the monuments was immediately defeated by some newlydiscerned object. We frequently groped about in this labyrinth of conjecture. One cannot restrict in one's fancy the sacred edifices of an age, or a people of whose religion and manners nothing certain can be known. Time carries his secrets away with him, and leaves his enigmas as sports for human knowledge. We speedily renounced all our attempts to build any system out of these ruins; we were

content to gaze and admire, without comprehending anything beyond the colossal power of human genius, and the strength of religious feeling, which had moved such masses of stone, and wrought so many masterpieces."

The ruins of Balbec do not present a crowd of fallen edifices, spread over a large extent, like those of Palmyra; they consist only of three distinct buildings, which stand not far from each other, in a plain at a short distance from the inhabited part of the town. As in the instance of Palmyra, where we shall have to make a similar remark, it is impossible to convey an adequate idea of these works of art without the accompaniments of plates. We shall adopt an abstract of the account of Volney, since his description is perhaps the best that we have: "In entering the principal gate, which faces the mountain on the east, we come to an hexagonal court, which is one hundred and eighty feet in diameter. This is strewed with broken columns, mutilated capitals, and the remains of entablatures and cornices. Around it is a row of ruined edifices, which display all the ornaments of the richest architecture. On passing through this court towards the west, we enter a large square, three hundred and fifty feet wide, and three hundred and thirty-three in length. Along each side of this court runs a sort of gallery, divided into various compartments, seven of which may be reckoned in each of the principal wings. It is not easy to conceive the use of this part of the structure; but it does not diminish our admiration at the beauty of the pilasters, and the richness of the frieze and entablature; neither is it possible to avoid remarking the singular effect which results from the mixture of the garlands, the large foliage of the capitals, and the sculpture of wild plants with which they are everywhere ornamented. At the west end of this court stand six enormous columns, which appear to

be totally unconnected with the rest of the building. On a more attentive examination, however, we discover a series of foundations, which seem to mark out the peristyle of a grand temple, to which these columns belonged. Pococke supposes this temple never to have been finished. We must examine them narrowly before we can conceive all the boldness of the elevation, and the richness of their workmanship. Their shafts are twenty-one feet eight inches in circumference, and fifty-eight high; so that the total height, including the entablature, is from seventy-one to seventy-two feet. These six pillars are all that now remain of twenty-four."

The southern side of the grand temple has, at some distant period, been blocked up to build a smaller one, the peristyle and walls of which are still remaining. This temple presents a side of thirteen columns by eight in front, which, like all the rest of the ruins, are of the Corinthian order. To reach the smaller temple from the larger one, you must cross trunks of columns, heaps of stone, and a ruinous wall. After surmounting these obstacles, you arrive at the gate, where you may survey the enclosure which was once the habitation of a god; but, instead of the awful scene of a prostrate people, and sacrifices offered by a multitude of priests, the sky, which is open from the falling in of the roof, only lets in light to show a chaos of ruins covered with dust and weeds. The walls which supported the roof are thirty-one feet high, and without a window. There are tablets in the form of lozenges, on which are represented Jupiter seated on his eagle, Leda caressed by the swan, Diana with her bow and crescent, and several busts, which seem to be figures of emperors and empresses.

The number of lizards is so great, that Bruce says he saw one day, in the great court of the temple of the sun, many thousands; the ground, the walls, and stones of the ruined buildings being covered with