Page 275 - Neglected Arabia Vol 1 (2)

From Beirut to Baghdad by Automobile

Rev. G. D. Van Pkursem
O UR six hundred mile trip through the desert from Beirut to
Baghdad was an event we shall never forget. It turned out to
be full of experience, less expensive and consumed less time
than the sea voyage through the Red Sea would have taken.
It took us two days although one of the drivers has made the trip
in sixteen hours in an almost non-stop run even through the bazaars of
Damascus. He says he ran through a flock of sheep and sent a man
on his donkey through a shop window in Damascus. Our cunvoy of two
cars started from Beirut at eight o'clock in the morning and arrived in
Damascus at eleven o’clock, just in time for lunch. Thus far the triu

BREAKFAST IN THE DESERT

was interesting because of its mountain scenery. We ascended ti*
Lebanon mountains to a height of 5.000 feet, where a magnificent view
of Mt. Hermon was obtained. Then again a descent was made into a
valley only to climb the Anti-I.ebanons on the other side, h’rom the*
we descended into Damascus. Along these mountains we saw men
working their fields with oxen much as was done in the time of Jesu*.
Olive trees were seen in abundance; vines were being cultivated and the
cedars of Lebanon grew in profusion.
At two o’clock our convoy started from Damascus. It did not uk,
us long to turn from the beaten automobile track and to launch into a
trackless waste. The feeling one gets is much like going to sea for U* ;
first time. It seemed as if all life and civilization were left behind. \