I Am Not Quite Certain
Whether It Communicates On The Western Side With The Orontes; Our Guides
Were Not Unanimous In Their Answers; The River, However, Must At Least
Pass Very Close To The Lake.
On the southern borders of the lake are the
Tels or mounds of earth, called Telloul el Fedjera [Arabic]; on the E.
side is the Tel Waoyat [Arabic].
The soil in the vicinity of the lake is
a soft clay; and I had great
SEIDJAR.
[p.143]difficulty in extricating my mare from the swamp as I approached
to reconnoitre the lake, which our company had left to the right of the
road. In the spring the earth hardens and is then covered with most
luxuriant pasturage. In March the peasants and Arabs of all the
neighbouring districts and villages, as well as the inhabitants of
Hamah, send their horses and mules here to graze under the care of
herdsmen, who regularly pitch their tents near the Waoyat, and each of
whom receives a piastre a head from the owners. The cattle remain here
till April. The best pasture seems to be on the S. and E. sides, the
banks of the lake being there lower than on the opposite sides. It was
here, perhaps, that the Seleucidae fed their herds of elephants.
Two hours and a half from Sekeylebye, to the left of the road, is a
ruined mosque, called El Djelame; two hours and a half, Tel el Mellah, a
hillock in the plain. Our road continued through fertile but
uncultivated fields. E. of Tel Mellah about two hours is Tel Szeyad. Af
ter three hours and a half slow march we reached the Orontes, near a
spot where a large wheel, of the same construction as those at Hamah,
raises the water from the river, and empties it into a stone canal, by
means of which the neighbouring fields are irrigated. At the end of four
hours we came to a bridge over the river, on the other side of which the
castle of Seidjar is [Arabic] situated. If I recollect rightly, the
bridge rests upon thirteen arches; it is well built, but of modern
construction. It is placed at the point where the Aaszy issues from
between rugged mountains. On the summit of the range on the left bank
stands the castle. To the S.E. of the castle, on the right bank of the
river, is the tomb of a Sheikh called Aba Aabeyda el Djerrah [Arabic],
and to the S.E. of the latter, the Turkish chapel El Khudher. The
windings of the river in the narrow rocky valley, where no space
intervenes between the water and the base of the mountains, resemble
KALAAT SEIDJAR.
[p.144]those of the Wye in Monmouthshire. At the bridge of Seidjar, it
is nearly as large as the Wye at Chepstow. Just by the bridge is a Khan
of ancient construction; probably of the period of the crusades. A paved
way leads up to the castle, which is at present inhabited by a few
hundred families of peasants.
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