A Ride through Syria to Damascus and Baalbec, and ascent of Mount Hermon

Having on the former occasion travelled by the beaten track, via Jerusalem, we this time try a new and unfrequented route. Our objective points are the plains of Sharon and 4Esdraelon, sighting that mighty headland, «the excellency of Carmel,» with its numerous reminiscences of Elijah, and Baal, that «glory of Lebanon,» Hermon with its traditional snow-clad summit and verdure-vested slopes—the sacred sources of the Jordan, and of Pharpar and Abana, which one thought «better than all the rivers of Israel»—onward then to Damascus with its «straight street» and memories of Abram, Saul of Tarsus, Ananias, and Naaman—then onward again to the reputed tombs of the early patriarchs, and lastly—Baalbec with its massive Hivite and beautiful Roman remains. This is a short sketch of the tour we purpose describing in the following pages. (source: text)