In one hour and a half from Seidjar we passed
a number of wells cut close to each other in the rocky ground. At one
hour and three quarters is a small bridge over a torrent called El
Saroudj [Arabic], which empties itself into the Orontes. In two hours we
saw to our left, about half an hour distant, the village Hedjam, on the
right bank of the river; in two hours and three quarters, a small
village
HAMAH.
[p.146]called El Shyhy [Arabic], was to our right; at three hours, we
passed the village El Djadjye [Arabic], distant from the left of the
road a quarter of an hour; and near it the village El Kasa. The fertile
soil now begins to be well cultivated. In four hours we reached Hamah,
where we alighted, at the house of Selym Keblan, one of the Mutsellim's
secretaries, the most gentlemanly Levantine I had yet known.
Hamah is situated on both sides of the Orontes; a part of it is built on
the declivity of a hill, and a part in the plain; the quarters in the
plain are called Hadher [Arabic] and El Djissr; those higher up El
Aleyat [Arabic], and El Medine. Medine is the abode of the Christians.
The town is of considerable extent, and must contain at least thirty
thousand inhabitants, of whom the Greek families, according to the
Bishop's information, are about three hundred.
