In 1720, according to the report of a friend of Miller's,* the Grove remained in the same state as it
had been found by Maundrell some twenty-five years previously, with this difference, that the circumference
of the spread of the boughs of the largest tree had apparently increased from 37 yards to 66; or spread
outwards 15 feet in every direction, shewing a growth of the lateral branches at the rate of 74 inches per
annum. We may mention incidentally, that the rate at which the lateral branches of old Cedars grow in
this country appears to be rather less, being about six inches annually on an average of years, which, considering
the rapid growth of timber in this country, is the reverse of what we should have expected.
In 1739, Dr. Pococke found fifteen large Cedars, and especially notices one with three large limbs,
which we shall afterwards find referred to by M. Laure as still living in 1836. "They form a grove of
about a mile in circumference, which consists of some large Cedars that are near to one another, and a
great number of young Cedars and some Pines. . . . One that had the roundest body, though not
the largest, measured 24 feet in circumference ; and another, with a sort of triple body, as described above,
and of a triangular figure, measured 12 feet on each side. I took a piece of the wood from a great tree
that was blown down by the wind, and left there to rot; there are fifteen large ones standing." +
Trew quotes a visit to Lebanon made in 1755 by Etienne Schulz, who travelled over several countries
in Asia. His work, however, is one of those that we have not been able to see. Trew quotes him chiefly
in relation to the proper application of the native name, but mentions that he had found the trees to be 80
feet in height.*
Between 1783 and 1785, Volney visited the Grove, or at least wrote as if he had visited it; for some
authors (Pariset, Geramb, &c.) think he could not have seen them, or he would never have spoken of them
in the terms he did. He said : " These so renowned Cedars resemble many other wonders. Close at
hand they sustain their reputation badly. Four or five large trees, the only ones which remain, and which
have nothing particular about them, are not worth the trouble that one takes to scale the precipices which
lead to them." §
Dr. Labillardiere visited them in 1787, and in 1791 published an account of his journey. "Of the
antient forest of Lebanon, nothing remains except a group of about one hundred Cedars ; seven of them
are of wonderful dimensions, and some of these are thicker than 9 feet in diameter." II
We have already noticed Seetzen's travels in 1805, but he does not specify the number of trees.
Burckhardt, five years later, or in 1810, gives a precise account; but as he divides them into four
different classes, it is impossible to make out from his enumeration exactly how many of the original
twenty-eight patriarchs now remained. " Of the oldest and best-looking trees I
counted eleven or twelve; twenty-five very large ones, about fifty of middling
size, and more than three hundred smaller and young ones. The oldest trees
are distinguished by having the foliage and small branches at the top only, and
by from five or even seven trunks springing from one base." Fig. 29 is a facsimile
of a drawing which he gives of these several stems. " The branches and
the foliage of the others were lower, but I saw none whose leaves touched the
ground like those in Kew Gardens. The trunks of the old trees are covered
with the names of travellers and other persons who have visited them. I saw
a date of the 17th century. The trunks of the oldest trees seem to be quite dead; the wood is of a
grey tint." IT
Mr. ICinneir, about the year 1813, travelled through a great part of Asia Minor, and although he
crossed Cilicia more than once, found no Cedars; but his route did not extend into the mountainous parts,
where alone the Cedars occur. Of those at Lebanon he says, " These trees are now only to he found in one
particular spot of this great range, and that in so scanty a number as not to exceed four or five hundred."'
But he is obviously not speaking from personal observation (his route is traced on the map he gives, and
does not diverge to Lebanon), so that he can scarcely be referred to as an authority on the subject.
In 1816 Buckingham found, that "there are at present, I should think, about two hundred in
number, all fresh and green. They look, on approaching them, like a grove of Firs, but, on coming nearer,
are found to be in general much larger, though the foliage still keeps its resemblance.' There are about
twenty that are very large, and, among them, several that have trunks from 10 to 12 feet in diameter, with
branches of corresponding size, each of them like large trees, extending outwards from the parent stock, and
overshadowing a considerable space of ground." t
In 1818, Dr. Robert Richardson specifies seven as very large. "There are in this little clump two
generations of trees, the oldest are large and massive, rearing their heads to an enormous height, and
spreading their branches afar. We measured one of them, which we afterwards saw was not the
largest in the clump, and found it 32 feet in circumference. Seven of these trees have a particularly
antient appearance; the rest are younger, but equally tall, though, for want of space, their branches are not
so spreading. The clump is so small that a person may walk round it in half-an-hour." I
In 1818, M. L. F. Cassas visited the Cedars while travelling in the East; and although he published
no account of his journey, we preserve his name here because he took on the spot a drawing of the Grove,
which M. Loiseleur published in his " Histoire du Cedre."
It is curious to observe the different eyes with which men view these interesting objects. " Many
men, many minds," is a proverb applicable to this, as to everything else. According to Irby and Mangles,
in their travels, " The land on the mountain side has a sterile aspect, and the trees are the more remarkable
as they stand altogether in one clump, and are the only trees to be seen in this part of Lebanon. There
may be about fifty of them, but their present appearance ill corresponds with the character given of them in
Scripture. There was not one of them at all remarkable for its dimensions or its beauty. The largest
among them is formed by the junction of four or five trunks into one tree." §
Ehrenberg travelled through the district in 1823; but, on referring to his works, we have failed to come
upon any account of the Cedars. The statements we have already quoted on his authority are from
" Robinson's Biblical Researches," and Sir Joseph Hooker's paper on the Cedars in the Natural History
Review, January 1862.
Wolff, the well-known Bokhara traveller, about this time visited the Grove, and counted thirteen large
and antient Cedars and numerous small ones, making in the whole 387 trees.II
An American clergyman, the Rev. J. Paxton, who visited the Grove in 1828, did not count them,
which, he says, would have been no easy matter: but he counted a small section, and was disposed to think
that there might be 300 to 500 trees that are above a foot in diameter, possibly 150 that may be above 2
feet, and above 50 or 60 that may be from 3 to 4 feet. Of the few he measured, the largest was 39 feet in
circumference, one 32, one 29, one 28, and one 23.*
Another American clergyman, the Rev. Pliny Fisk, visited the Grove about the same time, and
mentions that the largest of the trees is about 40 feet in circumference, six or eight others are also very
large, several of them nearly the size of the largest; but each of these is manifestly one or more trees, which
have grown together, and now form one. He counted the trees, and made the whole number 389; and