On The E. Side, Close To The Gate, Are Ruined Habitations; And To The S. On The Declivity Of The Hill, Is A Mosque Enclosed By A Wall, Which Forms A Kind Of Out-Work To The Castle.

Within the castle wall are thirty or forty houses, inhabited by Turks and Greek Christians.

I was told that the only relic of antiquity is a wall in the governor's palace, built with large blocks of stone. At the western foot of the hill is a warm sulphureous spring, the water from which forms a pond; on the edge of the pond I found a fragment of a fine fluted Doric column. Near the spring is a large Khan for the accommodation of travellers. On the N. side of the hill are several columns scattered about.

As we wished to follow the valley of the Orontes as far as possible, we continued in the direction S. by W. along the plain, instead of taking the straight road towards Hamah. Half an hour from Kalaat el Medyk is Ayn Djoufar [Arabic], a rivulet flowing down the eastern hills through Wady Djoufar; it runs towards the castle, and empties itself into the pond at the castle spring. Up in the hills, in the direction of Wady Djoufar, are the villages of Keframbouda [Arabic], Kournas [Arabic], Sheikh Hadid [Arabic], and Djournye [Arabic], a little beyond Ayn Djoufar we passed the spring Ayn Abou Attouf [Arabic]. In three quarters of an hour, another rivulet called Ayn el Sheikh Djouban [Arabic], whose source is up in the hills.

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