Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine/Chapter 20
CHAPTER XX.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
Next morning, having made all arrangements with the agent of Messrs. Cook and Son, and bid a warm farewell to our trusty conductor, Bernhard Heilpern, we sailed from the Jaffa roads, and cast anchor off the port of Beyrût.
On reaching the deck of the steamer, on Sunday morning, our eyes were charmed with the view of the mountain range of the Lebanon, the snows of which were glistening in the sunlight, and from below which the well-wooded slopes, channelled and furrowed by many a glen and ravine, descended to the sea. In front lay the spacious and busy city of Beyrût, with its little harbour, far too little for the requirements of so important a port. To the right rose conspicuously the fine buildings of the American Protestant College, which is doing such excellent work in the education of the Syrian youth.
Early in the afternoon, accompanied by my son, and Dr. Selim, of Gaza, who had kindly constituted himself our guide, I called on the Rev. Dr. Bliss, Principal of the College, who received us most kindly, and arranged to show us the museum the day following. I then went to pay my respects to Mr. Aldridge, H.B.M. Consul-General of Syria, who was also most friendly, and invited us to lunch with him the next day. After this I took a ramble over the city, under the guidance of Dr. Selim, visiting the excellent School for the children of Druses, kept by Miss Taylor. Here I saw about twenty nice little girls, who looked very happy, and evidently much attached to this devoted lady, whose cheerful and loving care could not fail to win their affections. After they had sung some hymns, both in English and Arabic, I gave them a little address, which Miss Taylor interpreted to them, and took leave of the good lady who has devoted her life to this useful work.
The day following I made the acquaintance of Dr. Post, Head of the Surgical Department of the College and Hospital of St. John, and after inspecting the geological collection, proceeded with Dr. Bliss to lunch at the Consulate. The afternoon was spent in an excursion, kindly arranged for me by Dr. Bliss, into the borders of the Lebanon, during which I had an opportunity of examining the remarkable conglomerate of Lokandel el Motram, about three miles from Beyrût, which Dr. Bliss has very properly recognised as a portion of the old bed of the straits which ran up the valley to the east of the ridge on which Beyrût is built, and which at that time must have existed as an island. This old sea-bed reaches levels varying from 120 to 150 feet above the present sea-level.[1]
Having thus made the acquaintance of the capital of Western Syria and its surroundings under very favourable circumstances, we returned on board our ship, and in the evening weighed anchor, and steamed westward towards the coast of Cyprus. Gradually the shadows deepened, and the snow-clad Lebanon and the dark headlands of the Syrian coast faded from view, and only the waters of the Mediterranean bounded the horizon as the darkness of night set in.[2]
We returned home by Cyprus, Smyrna, Constantinople, and Varna; and when resting for a short time in the capital of the Turkish Empire, I took the opportunity of calling on Lord Dufferin, in order to express, in person, the thanks of myself, and of our party, for his prompt and effective services in procuring our release from quarantine at Gaza. His Excellency received me in the most friendly manner, and I shall ever retain a pleasant recollection of my interview with this distinguished representative of the British Empire in the East. We were greatly favoured by the weather in our passage through the Dardanelles and the Black Sea; but I could well understand how in rough weather the landing at Varna must be both difficult and dangerous. We reached Vienna by "the Oriental Express" train on February 7th, and on the morning of the 13th of the same month touched again the shores of "Old 
- ↑ I regretted much not having time to visit the waterworks of Beyrût, the construction of which was carried out under the direction of my valued friend, the late W. J. Maxwell, C.E., acting as representative of the firm of Sir J. MacNeil and Son. The water is taken from the Nahr-el-Kelb, which issues forth from an underground channel in the mountains explored by Mr. Maxwell and described by Rev. J. Robertson in "Good Words," November, 1875.
- ↑ At Beyrût we bid farewell to Messrs. Hart and Laurence, who had arranged to make a bold attempt to see Damascus and Baalbec, notwithstanding the deep snows which covered the country. This they happily succeeded in doing, as the "French road" to Damascus had just been cleared.