The Country
To The West Of The Summit Belongs To The Government Of The District Of
Hossn.
We now descended into the romantic valley Rowyd [Arabic], full of
mulberry and other fruit trees, with a torrent rolling in the bottom of
it.
At the end of two hours and three quarters is the village
Doueyrellin [Arabic], on the E. side of the Wady; on its W. side, in a
higher situation, stands the village El Keyme; and one hour farther, to
the S. of the latter, on the same side, is the village El Daghle
[Arabic]. We crossed the Wady at the foot of the mountain, and continued
along its right bank, on the slope of the mountain, through orchards and
fields, till we arrived at the foot of the mountain upon which Kalaat el
Hossn is built. Our horses being rather fatigued, we sent them on to
Deir Djordjos, (the convent of St. George), where we intended
LALAAT EL HOSSN.
[p.158]to sleep, and walked up to the castle, which is distant six hours
and a half from Shennyn. It is built upon the top of an insulated hill,
which communicates on its western side only, with the chain of mountains
we had passed. Below the walls of the castle, on the east side, is the
town of Hossn, consisting of about one hundred and fifty houses. The
castle is one of the finest buildings of the middle age I ever saw. It
is evidently of European construction; the lions, which are carved over
the gate, were the armorial bearings of the Counts of Thoulouse, whose
name is often mentioned in the history of the crusades.
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