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Vecple for a Guide. Tnis Da y our Road pointed 5 . by E. and in 4 Hourrwecame to a Fountain call'd Ckaphir-Abiad, leaving Gld Alepvo abcut an HcurDidant on the Right band. Here we made buta very shcrt Hay: but pro-ceeded to a btt:tr Fountain at iheFoot os a vcry High Hili, covered whhLooieStones, the Ruins ol a Village call’d Boeder, of. which there was notone Houfe remaining,and Dining here,ve ncvanced in an Hcur ar da quarter fthrough a Fertile openPlain, to a place call’d Emghir ; siimous tor the b.sfcIVheat that is brought to Aleppo. Th/s we madeotir firit S age; and mount-ing again in the Morning about 5. a Clock, in lefs tban an Ht#r, we paliby an Uninhabited Village called XJrgbee our Road Pointing as before,throughthe Fruitful Plain, Even and Pleasant: but when we came to ascend theHills, where I reckoned weentred the Dc/«,rr,we had a troublelbme Pastage,over loose Great Stones, withoutany Appearance of a Road.
Our Guide had promised to Conduct us through Plea&nt Graves andFcrreßr, but no such thing appeared, unless we should bestow thut Nutneupon Low withered Shrubs that grew in the way; only one Tree, we sew,which was of good use to us, serving as a Landmark, and when we weracomeupwith it, beir»g lest ata littie distance on the Right band, wegain-ed the prospect of a Remote Ridge of Hilis before us, and on the top ofone of them an old Castle, known by thenameof Gaz,ar Jbn Wordan. Isoon turn’d my Eyes from it, to a littie Round hili, more on the Lest, bywhich we wereto Direct our Course, and about a qtiarter of an Hour fromwhich stood a ShecFs Houfe , call’d Sbeck Ailba, with a Well of Watet byit; but such that we had but littie Gusto to Taste, though it lerved ourHorscs. All the Gountry hereabouts is stored with Gazels, and there is a sort ofBarbarous People there, that have hardly any thing eise to Live upon, butwhat of these they can Kill ; and Neceslity has taugbt them to be no meanArtists in their way. That Morning we had Travelled about 5 Hours toreach Sheck Ailha's\ yct sinding nothing to invite our stay there, fthoughthere were 4 or 5. Tombs net ili made, according to the Turkifh Mode}about One of the Clock we Mounted again, bending to the South Ea fi orsomething more Eaßtrly. In our way we had a Remarkable Prospect, on the,Right Hand, of the Ruins of an Ancient City call’d Andreen , and some-times Londrim , which we were told had been formerly innabited by Franks*and that there were many Ivscriptions ihere. We proceeded rill Sunscr, ve-ry Weary, and almost without hope of coming to Water thatNighr, thoughat the sime time near Dead for thirst: and in an Hour’s time more our Guide-brought us to the side of a Bog, call’d by the Name of Ztrga, where wefound Water enougb, but it was neither Palatablc nor Wholesome, neither didthe Ground seem proper to Sleep upon; yet we were forced to be Content, .there being no removing thence that Night.
Off. 1. We Departed from Zerga , about % Hours before Sun-rise, andas soon as ’twas Light, had the Prospect of a very High Hili. - To this wemadeas directly as we could look, sinding nothing in our way Observable-except a multitude of Holes made in the Sandy Eartli, by Rats, Serpents andother Animals, which. rendefd our Riding a littie Troublesome; as we-
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