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diff --git a/22097.txt b/22097.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8d45df0 --- /dev/null +++ b/22097.txt @@ -0,0 +1,12430 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Byeways in Palestine, by James Finn + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Byeways in Palestine + + +Author: James Finn + + + +Release Date: July 18, 2007 [eBook #22097] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYEWAYS IN PALESTINE*** + + +Transcribed from the 1868 James Nisbet and Co. edition by Les Bowler. + + [Picture: Frontispiece] + + + + + +BYEWAYS IN PALESTINE + + + BY + JAMES FINN, M.R.A.S., + AND MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY OF FRANCE, + LATE HER MAJESTY'S CONSUL FOR JERUSALEM AND PALESTINE. + + "The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good + land."--NUMB. xiv. 7. + + LONDON: + JAMES NISBET & CO., 21 BERNERS STREET. + MDCCCLXVIII. + + _To His Excellency_ + _Right Hon. Francis Lord Napier_, _K.T._, + _etc. etc. etc._, + _Governor of the Presidency of Madras_, + This little Volume + _is inscribed_, + _in grateful acknowledgment of kindness_ + _received in_ + _Jerusalem and elsewhere_, + + BY THE AUTHOR. + +_London_, 1867. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +These papers on "Byeways in Palestine" are compiled from notes of certain +journeys made during many years' residence in that country; omitting the +journeys made upon beaten roads, and through the principal towns, for the +mere reason that they were such. + +Just what met the eye and ear was jotted down and is now revised after a +lapse of time, without indulging much in meditation or reflection; these +are rather suggested by the occurrences, that they may be followed out by +the reader. Inasmuch, however, as the incidents relate to out-of-the-way +places, and various seasons of the year, they may be found to contain an +interest peculiar to themselves, and the account of them may not +interfere with any other book on Palestine. + +I may state that, not being a professed investigator, I carried with me +no scientific instruments, except sometimes a common thermometer: I had +no leisure for making excavations, for taking angles with a theodolite, +or attending to the delicate care of any kind of barometer, being +employed on my proper business. + +Riding by night or by day, in the heat of Syrian summer, or through snows +and piercing winds of winter on the mountains, I enjoyed the pure climate +for its own sake. Moreover, I lived among the people, holding +intercourse with peasants in villages, with Bedaween in deserts, and with +Turkish governors in towns, or dignified Druses in the Lebanon, and slept +in native dwellings of all qualities, as well as in convents of different +sects: in the open air at the foot of a tree, or in a village mosque--in +a cavern by the highway side, or beneath cliffs near the Dead Sea: +although more commonly within my own tent, accompanied by native servants +with a small canteen. + +Sad cogitations would arise while traversing, hour after hour, the +neglected soil, or passing by desolated villages which bear names of +immense antiquity, and which stand as memorials of miraculous events +which took place for our instruction and for that of all succeeding ages; +and then, even while looking forward to a better time to come, the heart +would sigh as the expression was uttered, "How long?" + +These notices will show that the land is one of remarkable fertility +wherever cultivated, even in a slight degree--witness the vast +wheat-plains of the south; and is one of extreme beauty--witness the +green hill-country of the north; although such qualities are by no means +confined to those districts. Thus it is not necessary, it is not just, +that believers in the Bible, in order to hold fast their confidence in +its predictions for the future, should rush into the extreme of +pronouncing the Holy Land to be cursed in its present capabilities. It +is verily and indeed cursed in its government and in its want of +population; but still the soil is that of "a land which the Lord thy God +careth for." There is a deep meaning in the words, "The earth is the +Lord's," when applied to that peculiar country; for it is a reserved +property, an estate in abeyance, and not even in a subordinate sense can +it be the fief of the men whom it eats up. (Numb. xiii. 32, and Ezek. +xxxvi. 13, 14.) I have seen enough to convince me that astonishing will +be the amount of its produce, and the rapidity also, when the obstacles +now existing are removed. + +With respect to antiquarian researches, let me express my deep interest +in the works now undertaken under the Palestine Exploration Fund. My +happiness, while residing in the country, would have been much augmented +had such operations been at that time, _i.e._, between 1846 and 1863, +commenced in Jerusalem or elsewhere in the Holy Land. + + J. F. + + + + +NOTE. + + +The frontispiece picture to this volume represents the relic of a small +Roman Temple, situated on the eastern edge of the Plain of Sharon, near +the line of hills, between the two villages Awali and M'zeera'a. + +It is quadrangular in form, with a door and portico on its north front. + +The portico is supported by two round columns of Corinthian order, and +two pilasters of the same at the extremities. The columns are of small +dimensions, the shafts not exceeding nine feet in length; yet in these +the canon is observed which obtains in the larger proportions found in +classic lands, namely, that the diameter is somewhat extended near the +half elevation from the ground. The capitals are of the best design. + +The doorway is formed by a very bold and deep moulding, and in the +upright side-posts is found the same arrangement for holding a stone bar +in confining the door, as is to be seen in some sepulchres about +Jerusalem, namely, a curved groove increasing in depth of incision as it +descends. + +The whole edifice bears the same warm tinge of yellow that all those of +good quality acquire from age in that pure climate. + +The roof has been repaired, and the walls in some parts patched up. + +On the southern wall, internally, the Moslems have set up a Kebleh niche +for indicating the direction of prayer. + +The peasants call this building the "Boorj," or "Tower." + +Near adjoining it are remains of ancient foundations: one quite circular +and of small diameter. + +There is also by the road-side, not far off, a rocky grotto, supplied +with water by channels from the hills. + +My sketches of this interesting relic date from 1848 and 1859, and, as +far as I am aware, no other traveller had seen it until lately, when the +members of the Palestine Exploration Expedition visited and took a +photograph of it, which is now published. + + J. F. + + + + +CONTENTS. +I. OVER THE JORDAN, AND 1 + RETURN BY THE WEST +II. NORTHWARDS TO BEISAN, 85 + KADIS, ANTIPATRIS, + ETC. +III. SOUTHWARDS ON THE 144 + PHILISTINE PLAIN AND + ITS SEA COAST +IV. HEBRON TO BEERSHEBA, 184 + AND HEBRON TO JAFFA +V. THE LAND OF BENJAMIN 199 +VI. SEBUSTIEH TO CAIFFA 214 +VII. ESDRAELON PLAIN AND 226 + ITS VICINITY +VIII. BELAD BESHARAH 253 +IX. UPPER GALILEE--FOREST 264 + SCENERY +X. TEMPLE OF BAAL AND 283 + SEPULCHRE OF + PHOENICIA +XI. JERUSALEM TO PETRA, 289 + AND RETURN BY THE + DEAD SEA +XII. ACROSS THE 347 + LEBANON--(THREE + PARTS,) +XIII. NORTH-WEST OF THE 414 + DEAD SEA +XIV. SOBA 423 +XV. THE TWO BAIT SAHHOORS 428 + IDENTIFIED +XVI. THE BAKOOSH COTTAGE 435 + APPENDIX A 453 + APPENDIX B 454 + INDEX OF PLACES 461 + + + + + +I. OVER THE JORDAN AND RETURN BY THE WEST. + + +We were a dozen Englishmen, including three clergymen, undertaking the +above journey accompanied by the large train of servants, interpreters, +and muleteers usually required for travelling in the East. And it was on +Wednesday, the 9th day of May 1855, that we started. This was considered +almost late in the season for such an enterprise. The weather was hot, +chiefly produced by a strong shirocco wind at the time; and, in crossing +over the shoulder of the Mount of Olives, we found the country people +beginning their harvest at Bethany. + +We were of course escorted by a party of Arab guides, partly villagers of +either _Abu Dis_ or _Selwan_, (Siloam,) and partly of those Ghawarineh +Arabs not deserving the appellation of Bedaween, who live around and +about Jericho. These people, of both classes, form a partnership for +convoy of travellers to the Jordan under arrangements made at the +consulate. Without them it would be impossible either to find the way to +Jericho and the river, or to pass along the deserted road, for there are +always out-lookers about the tops of the hills to give notice that you +are without an escort, and you would consequently still find that +travellers may "fall among thieves" between Jerusalem and Jericho; +besides that, on descending to the plain of Jericho you would certainly +become the prey of other Arabs of real tribes, ever passing about +there--including most probably the 'Adwan, to whose hospitality, however, +we were now about to commit ourselves. To all this must be added, that +no other Arabs dare undertake to convoy travellers upon that road; the +Taamra to the south have long felt their exclusion from it to be a great +grievance, as the gains derived from the employment of escorting +Europeans are very alluring. + +We had with us a deputed commissioner from the 'Adwan, namely, Shaikh +Fendi, a brother of Shaikh 'Abdu'l 'Azeez. He was delighted with the +refreshment of eating a cucumber, when we rested by the wayside to eat +oranges--the delicious produce of Jaffa. + +Passing the _Fountain of the Apostles_, (so called,) we jogged along a +plain road till we reached a booth for selling cups of coffee, at the +divergence of the road Nebi Moosa, (the reputed sepulchre of the prophet +Moses, according to the Mohammedans,) then up an ascent still named +_Tela'at ed Dum_, which is certainly the ancient {3} Adummim, (Joshua xv. +7)--probably so called from broad bands of _red_ among the strata of the +rocks. Here there are also curious wavy lines of brown flint, undulating +on a large scale among the limestone cliffs. This phenomenon is +principally to be seen near the ruined and deserted Khan, or eastern +lodging-place, situated at about half the distance of our journey. The +name is _Khatroon_. + +As we proceeded, our escort, mostly on foot, went on singing merrily, and +occasionally bringing us tufts of scented wild plants found in crevices +by the roadside. Then we came to long remains of an ancient water +conduit, leading to ruins of a small convent. In a few minutes after the +latter, we found ourselves looking down a fearfully deep precipice of +rocks on our left hand, with a stream flowing at the bottom, apparently +very narrow indeed, and the sound of it scarcely audible. This is the +brook _Kelt_, by some supposed to be the _Cherith_ of Elijah's history. +Suddenly we were on the brow of a deep descent, with the Ghor, or Jericho +plain, and the Dead Sea spread out below. In going down, we had upon our +left hand considerable fragments of ancient masonry, containing lines of +Roman reticulated brickwork. + +It was now evening; a breeze, but not a cool one, blowing; and we left +aside for this time the pretty camping station of Elisha's Fountain, +because we had business to transact at the village of Er-Rihha, (or +Jericho.) There accordingly our tents were pitched; and in a circle at +our doors were attentive listeners to a narration of the events of Lieut. +Molyneux's Expedition on the Jordan and Dead Sea in 1847. + +Thermometer after sunset, inside the tent, at 89 degrees Fahrenheit. +Sleep very much disturbed by small black sandflies and ants. + +_Thursday_, 10_th_.--Thermometer at 76 degrees before sunrise. The scene +around us was animated and diversified; but several of us had been +accustomed to Oriental affairs--some for a good many years; and some were +even familiar with the particular localities and customs of this +district. Others were young in age, and fresh to the country; expressing +their wonderment at finding themselves so near to scenes read of from +infancy--scarcely believing that they had at length approached near to + + "That bituminous lake + Where Sodom stood," + +and filled with joyous expectation at the visit so soon to be made to the +Jordan, and beyond it. Some were quoting Scripture; some quoting poetry; +and others taking particular notice of the wild Arabs, who were by this +time increasing in number about us,--their spears, their mares, their +guttural language, and not less the barren desert scene before us, being +objects of romantic interest. + +At length all the tents and luggage were loaded on the mules, and ten men +of the village were hired for helping to convey our property across the +river; and we went forward over the strange plain which is neither desert +sand, as in Africa, nor wilderness of creeping plants and flowers, as on +the way to Petra, but a puzzling, though monotonous succession of low +eminences,--of a nature something like rotten chalk ground, if there be +such a thing in existence,--between which eminences we had to wind our +way, until we reached the border of tamarisk-trees, large reeds, willow, +aspen, etc., that fringes the river; invisible till one reaches close +upon it. + +At the bathing (or baptism) place of the Greeks, northwards from that of +the Latins, to which English travellers are usually conducted, we had to +cross, by swimming as we could. {5} King David, on his return from +exile, had a ferry-boat to carry over his household, but we had none. +Probably, on his escaping from Absalom, he crossed as we did. + +The middle part of the river was still too deep for mere fording. Horses +and men had to swim; so the gentlemen sat still on their saddles, with +their feet put up on the necks of their horses, which were led by naked +swimming Arabs in the water holding the bridles, one on each side. + +Baggage was carried over mostly on the animals; but had to be previously +adjusted and tightened, so as to be least liable to get wetted. Small +parcels were carried over on the heads of the swimmers. These all +carried their own clothes in that manner. One of the luggage mules fell +with his load in the middle of the stream. It was altogether a lively +scene. Our Arabs were much darker over the whole body than I had +expected to find them; and the 'Adwan have long plaits of hair hanging on +the shoulders when the _kefieh_, or coloured head-dress, is removed. The +horses and beasts of burden were often restive in mid-current, and +provoked a good deal of merriment. Some of the neighbouring camps having +herds of cattle, sent them to drink and to cool themselves in the river, +as the heat of the day increased. Their drivers urged them in, and then +enjoyed the fun of keeping them there by swimming round and round them. +One cow was very nearly lost, however, being carried away rapidly and +helplessly in the direction of the Dead Sea, but she was recovered. The +Jericho people returned home, several of them charged with parting +letters addressed to friends in Jerusalem; and we were left reposing, +literally reposing, on the eastern bank,--the English chatting happily; +the Arabs smoking or sleeping under shade of trees; pigeons cooing among +the thick covert, and a Jordan nightingale soothing us occasionally, with +sometimes a hawk or an eagle darting along the sky; while the +world-renowned river rolled before our eyes. + + "Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum." + +The novelty of the scenes, and the brilliancy of the atmosphere, as well +the vivacity of the recent transactions in "passing over Jordan," had +their duly buoyant effect upon youthful persons,--who were, however, not +forgetful of past events in these places belonging to sacred history. + +The baggage went on; but, as the appointed halting-place was only about +two hours distant, we remained enjoying ourselves as we were during most +of the day. + +Among our novel friends is an Arab hero named _Gublan_, as they pronounce +it here, (but it is really the Turkish word _Kaplan_, meaning _Tiger_,) +and his uncle, old 'Abdu'l 'Azeez. About three years before, Gublan had +been attacked by Government soldiers at Jericho. He made a feigned +retreat, and, leading them into the thickets of Neb'k trees, suddenly +wheeled round and killed six of them. The humbled Government force +retired, and the dead were buried, by having a mound of earth piled over +them. Of course, such an incident was never reported to the Sublime +Invincible Porte at Constantinople; but it was a curious coincidence, +that this very morning, amid our circle before the tents, after breakfast +and close to that mound, we had Gublan, 'Abdu'l 'Azeez, and the Turkish +Aga of the present time, all peaceably smoking pipes together in our +company. + +Among our gentlemen we had a man of fortune and literary attainments, who +had been in Algiers, and now amused himself with dispensing with servants +or interpreters--speaking some Arabic. He brought but very light +luggage. This he placed upon a donkey, and drove it himself--wearing +Algerine town costume. The Bedaween, however, as I need scarcely say, +did not mistake him for an Oriental. + +Moving forward in the afternoon, we were passing over the _Plains of +Moab_, "on this [east] side Jordan by Jericho"--where Balaam, son of +Beor, saw, from the heights above, all Israel encamped, and cried out, +"How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob! and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As +the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the +trees of lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar-trees +beside the waters. . . . Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is +he that curseth thee," (Num. xxii. I, and xxiv. 5, 6, 9.) This territory +is also called the _Land of Moab_, where the second covenant was made +with the people by the ministry of Moses--the one "beside the covenant +which he made with them in Horeb." + +Our ride was a gradual ascent; and after some time we were met by young +'Ali, the favourite son of the principal Shaikh Deab, (Wolf,) with a +small but chosen escort, sent on by his father to welcome us. We saw a +good deal of corn land, and people reaping their harvest. This belongs +to two or three scattered villages about there, under the immediate +protection of the Deab 'Adwan. The Arabs, however, in this part of the +world, do condescend to countenance and even to profit by agriculture, +for they buy slaves to sow and reap for them. + +In two hours and a half from the Jordan we came to our halting-place, at +a spot called _Cuferain_, ("two villages")--the Kiriathaim of Jer. +xlviii. 23--at the foot of the mountain, with a strong stream of water +rushing past us. No sign, however, of habitations: only, at a little +distance to the south, were ruins of a village called _Er Ram_, (a very +common name in Palestine; but this is not Ramoth-Gilead;) and at half an +hour to the north was an inhabited village called _Nimrin_, from which +the stream flowed to us.--See Jer. xlviii. 34: "The waters of Nimrin +shall be desolate." + +We had a refreshing breeze from the north which is justly counted a +luxury in summer time. The shaikhs came and had coffee with me. They +said that on the high summits we shall have cooler temperature than in +Jerusalem, which is very probable. + +After dinner I sat at my tent-door, by the rivulet side, looking +southwards over the Dead Sea, and to the west over the line of the +promised land of Canaan, which I had never before had an opportunity of +seeing in that manner, although the well-known verse had been often +repeated in England-- + + "Oh could I stand where Moses stood, + And view the landscape o'er, + Not Death's cold stream nor Jordan's flood + Should fright me from the shore." + +I then read over to myself in Arabic, the Psalms for the evening +service--namely, liii., liv., and lv. + +About sunset there was an alarm that a lad who had accompanied us as a +servant from Jerusalem was missing ever since we left the Jordan. +Horse-men were sent in every direction in search of him. It was +afterwards discovered that he had returned to Jericho. + +At about a hundred yards south of us was a valley called _Se'eer_, (its +brook, however, comes down from the north)--abounding in fine rosy +oleander shrubs. + +During the night the water near us seemed alive with croaking frogs. +Last night we had the sand-flies to keep us awake. + +_Friday_, 11_th_.--Thermometer 66 degrees before sunrise. My earliest +looks were towards Canaan, "that goodly land"--"the hills, from which +cometh my help." How keen must have been the feeling of his state of +exile when David was driven to this side the river! + +Before breakfast I bathed in the Se'eer, among bushes of oleander and the +strong-scented _ghar_--a purple-spiked flower always found adjoining to +or in water-beds. Then read my Arabic Psalms as usual. + +Before starting, young 'Ali and his party asked us all for presents, and +got none. We gave answer unanimously that we meant to give presents to +his father when we should see him. Strange how depraved the Arab mind +becomes on this matter of asking for gifts wherever European travellers +are found!--so different from the customs of ancient times, and it is not +found in districts off the common tracks of resort. + +Our road lay up the hills, constantly growing more steep and precipitous, +and occasionally winding between large rocks, which were often overgrown +with honeysuckle in full luxuriance. The Arabs scrambled like wild +animals over the rocks, and brought down very long streamers of +honeysuckle, Luwayeh, as they call it, which they wound round and round +the necks of our horses, and generally got piastres for doing so. About +two-thirds of the distance up the ascent we rested, in order to relieve +the animals, or to sketch views, or enjoy the glorious scenery that lay +extended below us--comprising the Dead Sea, the line of the river trees, +Jericho, the woods of Elisha's Fountain, and the hills towards Jerusalem. +The Bedaween have eyes like eagles; and some avouched that they could see +the Mount of Olives, and the minaret upon its summit. They indicated to +us the positions of Es-Salt and of Heshban. + +We had now almost attained a botanical region resembling that of the +Jerusalem elevation, instead of the Indian vegetation upon the Jordan +plain; only there was _ret'm_ (the juniper of 1 Kings xix. 4) to be +found, with pods in seed at that season; but we had also our long +accustomed terebinth and arbutus, with honeysuckle and pink +ground-convolvulus. The rocks were variegated with streaks of pink, +purple, orange, and yellow, as at Khatroon, on the Jerusalem road. +Partridges were clucking among the bushes; and the bells on the necks of +our mules lulled us with their sweet chime, as the animals strolled +browsing around in the gay sunshine. + +When we moved forward once more, it was along paths of short zigzags +between cliffs, so that our procession was constantly broken into small +pieces. At length we lost sight of the Ghor and the Dead Sea; and after +some time traversing miles of red and white cistus, red everlasting, and +fragrant thyme and sage, with occasional terebinth-trees festooned with +honeysuckle, we came upon a district covered with millions, or billions, +or probably trillions, of locusts, not fully grown, and only taking short +flights; but they greatly annoyed our horses. My choice Arab, being at +that time ridden by my servant, fairly bolted away with fright for a +considerable distance. + +At length we halted at a small spring oozing from the soil of the field. +The place was called _Hheker Zaboot_--a pretty place, and cuckoos on the +trees around us; only the locusts were troublesome. + +'Abdu'l 'Azeez proposed that instead of going at once to Ammon, we should +make a detour by Heshbon and Elealeh, on the way to his encampment. To +this we all assented. + +During the ride forward the old shaikh kept close to me, narrating +incidents of his life,--such as his last year's losses by the Beni +Sukh'r, who plundered him of all his flocks and herds, horses, tents, and +even most of his clothing,--then described the march of Ibrahim Pasha's +army in their disastrous attempt upon Kerak: also some of the valiant +achievements of his kinsman Gublan; and then proceeding to witticism, +gave me his etymological origin of the name of Hhesban--namely, that, on +the subsiding of the great deluge, the first object that Noah perceived +was that castle, perched as it is upon a lofty peak; whereupon he +exclaimed, _Hhus'n ban_--"a castle appears!" I wish I could recollect +more of his tales. + +After passing through romantic scenery of rocks and evergreen trees, at a +sudden turn of the road we came to large flocks and herds drinking, or +couched beside a copious stream of water gushing from near the foot of a +rocky hill. This they called _'Ain Hhesban_; and told us that the +Egyptian army above alluded to, twenty thousand in number, passed the +night there before arriving at Kerak. To many of them it was their last +night on earth. + +There were remains of large masonry lying about, and the scene was truly +beautiful--to which the bells of the goats and cows added a charming +musical effect. + +I asked an Arab, who was bathing in a pool, where he had come from, and +he sulkily answered, "From t'other end of the world!" And I suppose he +was right in saying so, for what meaning could he attach to the +designation, _the world_. He must have meant the world of his own +experience, or that of his tribe, or his parents--probably extending to +the end of the Dead Sea in one direction, to the Lake of Tiberias in +another; to the Mediterranean in the west, and in the east to the wilds +unknown beyond the road of the Hhaj pilgrimage. "From the other end of +the world," quoth he, the companion of a shepherd boy with his flute, at +a mountain spring, pitching pebbles at the sheep of his flock to keep +them from wandering away over their extent of "the world." + +As we proceeded, there were several other streams issuing from the hills, +some of them falling in pretty cascades into thickets of oleander below. +All these meeting together, formed a line of river flowing between grassy +banks--near which we saw considerable remains of water-mills, not of +great antiquity. + +Next we reached two small forts: the one upon our side the stream they +called _Shuneh_, (the usual name used for that kind of building;) the +other was across the water, and they called it _Shefa 'Amer_. I should +wonder if our guides knew the existence of the town called _Shefa 'Amer_, +near Caiffa. They told us that both these forts had been erected by +Deab's grandfather, but this is incredible. + +Near the Shuneh I observed a very large sarcophagus, cut in the solid +rock, but not so far finished as to allow of its being removed. In the +court-yard there was nothing remarkable. There were, however, some +ancient rabbeted stones lying near. Here I may remark, with respect to +the sarcophagus, that such things are rare on the east of the Jordan, or +anywhere else so far to the south. There are two lids of such lying on +the plain of Sharon, alongside the Jaffa road from Jerusalem; and the +next southernmost one that I know of (excepting those at Jerusalem) is an +ornamented lid, near Sebustieh, the ancient Samaria; but they abound in +Phoenicia. + +Forward again we went, higher and higher, with wild flowers in profusion, +and birds carolling all around. Then literally climbing up a mountain +side, we came to a cleft in a precipice, which they called _El Buaib_, +(the little gate,) with unmistakable marks of ancient cuttings about +there. Traversing a fine plain of wheat, we at length reached the +ancient city of Heshbon, with its acropolis of temple and castle. + +That plain would be fine exercise-ground for the cavalry of Sihon, king +of the Amorites. Fresh, and almost chilly, was the mountain air; but the +sky rather cloudy. + +How magnificent was the prospect over to Canaan! We were all persuaded +that the Mount of Olives would be visible thence on a fine day; and I +have no doubt whatever that the site on which we were standing is that +peak--the only peak breaking the regular outline of the Moab mountains +which is seen from Jerusalem. + +We scattered ourselves about in several groups among pavements and +columns of temples, (the most perfect of which are in the Acropolis,) +sepulchres, cisterns, and quarries, picking up fragments of pottery, with +some pattern work (not highly ornamental, however) upon them, and +tesserae or the cubes of tesselated pavement, such as may be found all +over Palestine. The Bedaween call them _muzzateem_ or _muzzameet_ +indifferently. There were some good Corinthian capitals, fragments of +cornices, and portions of semicircular arches, and pieces of walls that +had been repaired at different periods. I entered one rock-hewn +sepulchre which contained seven small chambers; six of these had been +evidently broken into by main force, the seventh was still closed. This +was S.W. of the Acropolis. + +All the works or ornamentations above ground were of Greek or Roman +construction, but we found no inscriptions or coins. Heshbon must have +been at all periods a strong place for defence, but with an unduly large +proportion of ornamentation to the small size of the city according to +modern ideas. Before leaving this site, far inferior to 'Amman, as we +found afterwards, I got the Arabs around me upon a rising ground, and, +with a compass in hand, wrote down from their dictation the names of +sites visible to their sharp eyesight:-- + +To To +S.S.W. Umm Sheggar. S.E.S. Kustul. + " Neba (Nebo?). S.E. Umm el 'Aamed. + " Main. " Khan em Meshettah. +S. Medeba. " Jawah. +S.E.S. Ekfairat " Kuriet es Sook. + (Kephiroth?). + " Jelool. E. Samek. + " Umm er Rumaneh. E.E.N. Ela'al. + " Zubairah. N. Es-Salt. + " Manjah. (The town not visible.) + +These must have been the places that "stood under the shadow of Heshbon," +(Jer. xlviii. 45.) One of them at least appears in Joshua xiii. 17, +etc., among "the cities that are in the plain of Heshbon." {17} + +In half an hour we came to _Ela'al_, (Elealeh,) (Isa. xv. 4 and xvi. 9, +and Jer. xlviii. 34.) Large stones were lying about, and one column +standing upright, but without a capital. Fine corn-plains in every +direction around. Our tents pitched at _Na'oor_ were visible to the +E.N.E. through an opening between two hills. Cool cloudy day; all of us +enjoying the ride through wheat-fields, and over large unoccupied +plains--my old friend 'Abdu'l 'Azeez still adhering to me as his willing +auditor. + +On coming up to his camp at Na'oor, we found that Shaikh Deab had already +arrived. + +And now I may pause in the narrative to describe the _status_ of (1.) +ourselves; (2.) the Arabs. + +(1.) Although apparently forming one company of English travellers, we +were really a combination of several small sets, of two or three persons +each--every set having its own cook, muleteer, and dragoman; but all the +sets on terms of pleasant intercourse, and smoking or taking tea with +each other. + +We calculated that our horses and mules amounted to above a hundred in +number. + +(2.) The whole territory from Kerak to Jerash is that of our 'Adwan +tribe, but divided into three sections--the middle portion being that of +the supreme chief Deab, the northern third that of 'Abdu'l 'Azeez, and +the southern that of a third named Altchai in the south towards Kerak; +but they all combine when necessary for a general object. + +The 'Adwan sow corn by the labour of their purchased slaves. Gublan at +Cuferain, Deab and his son 'Ali at Nimrin, and a portion of the tribe +called "the children of Eyoob" cultivate in the same manner a tract near +the Dead Sea called the _Mezraa'_. These latter attach themselves +sometimes to the Deab section, called the _Dar 'Ali_, and sometimes to +the Gublan section, called the _Dar Nim'r_. + +Their district is but a comparatively narrow strip at present, as they +are pressed upon by the _Beni Sukh'r_ on the east, who are again pressed +upon by the _'Anezeh_ farther eastward; these last are allies of our +people. + +The Ghor or Jordan plain is open ground for all Arabs; and a few low +fellows called Abbad Kattaleen, hold a slip of ground downwards between +Es-Salt and the Jordan. Es-Salt is a populous and thriving town, the +only one in all that country. Kerak, to the south, may be as large, and +contain more remnants of mediaeval strength, but its affairs are not so +prosperous. + +This station of Na'oor {19} is upon a long, low, green plain, lying +between two lines of high ground; and on a map, it would be nearly +central between the northern and southern extremities of the 'Adwan +country, or Belka. {20} + +Strange and wild was the scene of the Bedawi encampment--the black tents +of goats' hair, the dark and ragged population sauntering about, the +flocks and the horses, the ragged or naked children; and then the women +in their blue, only article of dress, long-sleeved, their uncombed hair, +and lips dyed blue, all walking with dignity of step, most of them +employed in hanging up washed fleeces of wool to dry. One in particular +I remarked for her stately appearance, with the blue dress trailing long +behind, and the sleeves covering her hands; she was giving commands to +others. + +As soon as we were well settled, and the first confusion over in making +our several arrangements with servants, etc., Shaikh Deab sent a +messenger asking permission for him to pay us a visit of welcome; and a +serious ceremonial visit took place accordingly. The great man was +arrayed in green silk, and carried a silver-handled sword and dagger; a +few chosen men of the tribe formed his train; coffee, pipes, and long +compliments followed. We all remarked his keen eyes, ardent like those +of a hawk in pursuit of prey. On taking leave he announced his intention +of presenting each gentleman with a sheep for our evening meal. + +As soon as the indispensable solemnity of his visit was over, the camp +became more animated; the sheep were slaughtered; various parties being +formed for the feast, which was finished by the Arabs; and I invited all +to my tent for tea at night, when the weather became so piercing cold +that I found it necessary to have some hot brandy and water to drink. + +In this place I wish to say how excellent is animal food dressed +immediately after killing. The practice is found, all through the Bible +histories, from Abraham entertaining the angels at Mamre, to the father +of the prodigal son killing the fatted calf for his reception. At that +stage the meat is exceedingly tender and delicate; whereas, if left, as +the European practice is, for some time after killing, it has to go +through another and less wholesome process in order to become tender +again. There are numerous medical opinions in favour of the Oriental +method of cooking the food immediately. + +Another observation will not be out of place, on the almost universal +eating of mutton throughout Asia. I do not mean the anti-beef-eating +Brahmins of India, but in all countries of Asia, by eating of meat is +understood the eating of mutton, and horned cattle are reserved for +agricultural labour. In case of exceptions being met with, they are only +such few exceptions as help to prove the rule. This may perhaps be +attributed to the general insecurity of animal property in the East; but +that I do not think a sufficient reason to account for it. It seems, +however, that the ancient Israelites were not so much limited to eating +from the small cattle. + +_Saturday_, 12_th_.--Thermometer 37 degrees just before sunrise, nearly +thirty degrees lower than under the same circumstances two days before. +The night had been cold and damp; the grass was found wet in the places +sheltered from the current of wind, which had elsewhere formed hoarfrost +over the field. This reminded us of the elevation we had reached to; and +we all exclaimed as to the reasonableness of Jacob's expostulation with +Laban, when he asserted that "in the day the drought [or heat] consumed +him, and the frost by night," (Gen. xxxi. 40.) We were upon frozen +ground in the month of May, after passing through a flight of locusts on +the preceding day. + +A lively scene was the packing up. 'Abdu'l 'Azeez was happy at seeing us +all happy, and laying hold of a couple of dirty, ragged urchins, he shook +them well, and lifted them up from the ground, and offered them to me, +saying, "Here, take these little imps of mine, and do what you like with +them; send them to England if you will, for they are growing up like +beasts here, and what can I do?" All I could do was to speak cheerfully +to them, and make them some little presents. At the door of Deab's tent +was his bay mare of high race, and his spear planted beside her. He +accompanied us as far as his own encampment, two or three hours over wide +plains and grassy pastures. Soon after leaving Na'oor he took us up a +small hill, which was called _Setcher_, (probably _Setker_ in town +pronunciation,) where there were some ruins of no considerable amount, +but the stones of cyclopean size. Query--Were these remains of the +primeval Zamzummim? (Deut. ii. 20.) + +At _Dahair el Hhumar_ (Asses' Hill) we alighted in Deab's own camp, not +large in extent or number of people, probably only a small detachment +from the main body brought with him for the occasion, but not such, or so +placed, as to interfere with the camp of 'Abdul 'Azeez. However, the +well-known emblems of the Shaikh's presence were observed--namely, his +tent being placed at the west end of the line, and his spear at its +entrance. Here took place the formality of returning his visit to us +yesterday; and here, after coffee and pipes, our presents were produced +and given. The travellers were collected in a very long black tent, +together with Deab, his son and friends. A screen at one end divided us +from the women's apartment, _i.e._, what would be the _Hhareem_ in houses +of towns; behind this curtain the women were peeping, chattering, and +laughing; of course we might expect this to be about the +extraordinary-looking strangers. It has been conjectured that such a +separation of the tent is implied in Gen. xviii. 6 and 10, when "Sarah +heard it in the tent-door which was behind him;" but this has no +foundation in the plain narrative of Scripture, only in the Arabic +translation the words seem to imply that understanding. + +The presentation of offerings was a grave and solemn affair. Each donor +produced his tribute with an apology for the insignificance of the gift, +which was then exhibited in silence by an attendant to the populace of +the tribe crowding outside. + +The ceremony was concluded by shouts of welcome, and a huge meal of +pilaff (rice and mutton upon a great tray of tinned copper) and leban, +(curdled milk,) with more smoking. Here we took leave of the chief, who +sent on a detachment of his tribe to escort us for the rest of our +expedition. + +Remounted, and proceeded N.E. by N.; hitherto we had come due north from +Heshbon. Passed a hill called _Jehaarah_, and in a short time reached +the source of the river of Ammon, rising out of the ground, with a large +pavement of masonry near it. A numerous flock of sheep and goats were +being watered at the spring, it being near the time of As'r--_i.e._, +mid-afternoon. + +Here the antiquities of _Amman_ commenced; and remains of considerable +buildings continually solicited our attention, as we passed on for +quarter of an hour more to our tents, which we found already pitched and +waiting for us among a crowd of ancient temples and baths and +porticoes,--in a forum between a line of eight large Corinthian columns +and the small river; in front too of a Roman theatre in good condition. +Some of the party, who were familiar with the ruins of Rome and Athens, +exclaimed aloud, "What would the modern Romans give to have so much to +show as this, within a similar space!" + +This was Saturday afternoon; and we had already resolved to spend our +Sabbath in this wonderful and agreeable place, so remarkable in Scripture +history, and so seldom visited by Europeans. + +I climbed up the seats of the theatre, and rested near the top, enjoying +the grand spectacle of luxurious architecture around; then descended, and +walked along its proscenium; but neither reciting passages of Euripides +nor of Terence, as some enthusiasts might indulge themselves in doing, +before an imagined audience of tetrarchs, centurions, or legionaries, or +other + + "Romanos rerum dominos, gentemque togatam." + +Close to this theatre was a covered and sumptuous building, which I could +not but suppose to be a naumachia, from its having rising rows of seats +around the central space, with a channel leading into this from the +river. As the shadows of evening lengthened, the heat of the day was +moderated, and I sauntered along the bank of the stream till I came to a +large headless statue of a female figure lying in the water. Some men +lifted it upon the green bank for me; but it was far too heavy to be +transported to Jerusalem for the Literary Society's Museum. + +The swift-flowing rivulet abounded in fish, some of which the Arabs +killed for us, either by throwing stones or shooting them with bullets, +having no other means of getting at them; but the latter of these methods +was too costly to be often adopted. However, we had some fish for dinner +in "Rabbah, the city of waters." This stream is the commencement of the +Zerka, which we were to meet afterwards, after its course hence N.E. and +then N.W. + +I feasted a dozen Arabs at my tent-door. Shaikh 'Abdul 'Azeez laughed +when I remarked that this place was better worth seeing than Heshbon, and +said, "This is a king's city. It was the city of King _Ghedayus_; and +Jerash, which is still more splendid, was built by _Sheddad_, of the +primitive race of the _Beni 'Ad_." Beyond this, of course, it was +impossible for him to imagine anything in matters of antiquity. + +In my evening's Scripture reading, I was much struck with the opening of +the 65th Psalm: "Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion,"--which passes +over all the examples of human achievement elsewhere, in order to +celebrate the peculiar and undying honours of Jerusalem. So now the +Grecian and the Roman colonies, who erected the marvels of architecture +around me, are gone; while the Jewish people, the Hebrew language, the +city of Jerusalem, and the Bible revelations of mercy from God to man, +continue for ever. But most particularly does this psalm, taken with the +circumstances there before our eyes, point out the difference made +between Ammon and Israel, and the reason for it, as predicted in Ezek. +xxv., 1-7:--"The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man, +set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them; and say +unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord +God; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was +profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and +against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity; behold, +therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, +and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in +thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk. And I +will make Rabbah a stable for camels, and the Ammonites a couching-place +for flocks; and ye shall know that I am the Lord. For thus saith the +Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the +feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of +Israel; behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and +will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off +from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I +will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord." + +_Sunday_, 13_th_.--Dew on the grass; but it was the morning dew, which, +like human goodness, was soon exhaled. + +After meditating on the chapters in Numbers and Deuteronomy which refer +to the conduct and destinies of Ammon and Moab, and reading Jer. xlviii. +and xlix. within "the flowing valley" of the 4th verse of the latter, I +was summoned to divine service in a tent fitted up for the +purpose,--carpets on the floor "honoris causa;" a table covered with +simple white, and a serious congregation of Englishmen before it, each +with his own Bible and prayer-book. Thank God that to carry such books +about in the wildest deserts is a characteristic of my countrymen! + +This city of _'Amman_ is "the city in the midst of the river" of Joshua +xiii. 9; and "Rabbah of the children of Ammon"--the royal city--"the city +of waters" of 2 Sam. xii. 26, 27:--to the siege of which Joab invited +King David, "lest he should take it, and it should be called after his +name." Here was also deposited the huge iron bedstead of Og, king of +Bashan. + +Under the Ptolemy dynasty--successors of Alexander--it was rebuilt, with +the name of Philadelphia. Several of the best edifices here, now +partially ruined, belong to that period. + +Under the Crusaders it was a flourishing city and district, retaining the +Grecian name. + +I could not but reflect on the infinite prescience that dictated the +prophecies of the Bible--no tongue could speak more plainly to us than +the scene around us did, the fulfilment of the denunciations that these +cities of Moab and Ammon should remain _as cities_ "without +inhabitants"--"not a man to dwell therein"--and "driven out every man, +right forth, and none shall gather up him that wandereth"--"desolate" and +"most desolate." + +In the afternoon we walked about to inspect the antiquities, and found +several remains of Christian churches with bell-towers attached to +them--certainly not originally minarets. These edifices had been +afterwards, in Mohammedan times, converted into mosques, as evidenced by +the niche made in the south wall of each, pointing to Mecca; and there +are watch-towers for signals on all the summits of hills around. The +city lies nestled in a valley between these hills. + +The first building I examined was among those of the citadel placed upon +a lofty eminence commanding the city, the ground-plan of which building +is here shown-- + + [Picture: Ground-plan of possible old church] + +The interior of the walls was so profusely embellished with festoons of +roses and vine-grapes--both sculptured in stone and wrought in stucco, +and of very large size--that there was no room left for pictures or +images. The roof of this building is almost all fallen in. I imagined +this to have been a Christian church, of very remote antiquity, on +account of the vine and the roses, which are peculiarly Christian +symbols--alluding to the texts, "I am the true Vine," and "I am the Rose +of Sharon;" but the chambers in each corner are difficult to account for. +The east and west ends have no doors. + +Near this is a square mass of masonry, upon which are standing six +columns, of magnificent dimensions, which no doubt originally supported a +roof. Their capitals, of chaste and correct Corinthian style, with +portions of ornamental entablature, are lying near. Perhaps belonging to +this, but at some distance, lies a ponderous piece of architrave, on +which, between lines of moulding, is an inscription in Greek--illegible +except the three letters--[Greek text]. These letters were nine inches +in length. + +Nigh to this, again, was a square building of rabbeted stones, equal to +almost the largest in the walls of Jerusalem. + +All down the hill, descending to our camp, were fragments of columns and +of decorated friezes of temples, that had evidently been rolled or had +slidden down from their places. + +Upon various walls of dilapidated edifices I observed the curious marks, +slightly scratched, which almost resemble alphabetical characters, but +are not; and which have, wherever met with and wherever noticed, which is +but seldom, puzzled travellers, however learned, to decipher. I copied +the following:-- + + [Picture: Bedaween Arab token 1] + +And from the shaft of a column still erect, half way down the hill, I +copied the following:-- + + [Picture: Bedaween Arab token 2] + +I have since learned that they are the tokens of the Bedaween Arabs, by +which one tribe is distinguished from another. In common parlance they +are called the _Ausam_ (plural of Wasam) of the several tribes. {33} + +In a valley to the north of us, leading westwards from the main valley, +we found a beautiful mausoleum tomb,--a building, not an excavation in +rock,--containing six sarcophagi, or ornamented stone coffins, ranged +upon ledges of masonry, along three sides of the chamber. These were +very large, and all of the same pattern--the lids remaining upon some of +them, but shifted aside. Beautiful sculptured embellishments were upon +the inside walls and over the portal outside, but no inscriptions to +indicate the period or persons to whom they belonged. Inside, however, +were rudely scratched the modern Arab tribe-signs, showing that persons +of such tribes had visited there; so that Europeans are not the only +travellers who help to disfigure ancient monuments by scribbling. Along +this western valley were several other such mausoleums. Thence we +mounted on a different side to the summit of that hill from which I have +here begun my description of edifices--upon a gentle sloping road, +evidently of artificial cutting, quite feasible for ascent of chariots. + +Near the square (possible) church before mentioned, (though I should say +that our party were not all convinced of its being a church,) is a +prodigiously large cistern, of good masonry. From the top of the strong +walls of the building--while some Arab boys below me were reaching birds' +nests--I got from our guide the following list of sites in the +neighbourhood. They were of course unable to discriminate between +ancient and modern names; and I do not find one Bible name among them +all:-- + +From north to west-- +Thuggeret el Baider. Esh-Shemesani. +Kassar Waijees. Esh-Shwaifiyeh. +Es-Salt. Umm Malfoof. +From west to east-- +'Abdoon. Mesdar 'Aishah. +Umm es Swaiweeneh. El Mergab. +Towards the east-- +Merj Merka. 'Ain Ghazal. + Ursaifah (in a valley with a +river). + El Muntar el Kassar, between two +artificial hills. + +The people informed me of a place, a little nearer than Kerak, called +_Rabbah_. This latter may be a _Rabbath-Moab_. + +I have no further notes to transcribe respecting the architectural +remains; but they are so numerous and so important that a week would not +suffice for their thorough investigation. All our party were highly +gratified at having visited this Rabbath-Ammon--_alias_ +Philadelphia--_alias_, at present, 'Amman. We were not, however, so +fortunate as Lord Lindsay in finding a fulfilment of the prophecy (Ezek. +xxv. 5) with respect to camels, either alive or dead. Probably, when he +was there, it was soon after an Egyptian military expedition to Kerak. +The prodigious number of dead camels that he saw there would seem to +indicate that a great Arab battle had been fought at that place shortly +before. It is only in this way that we could account for a cannonball +(about a six-pounder) which one of the boys carried about, in following +us, all the afternoon, wishing us to buy it of him as a curiosity. + +On returning to the tents, I found an old Jerusalem acquaintance--a +Moslem named 'Abderrahhman Bek el 'Asali--and with him several people +from Es-Salt; among these a Christian named Abbas. + +From conversation with them I got some fresh information on Arab affairs. +These people took the opportunity of glorifying their native town; +related how they are frequently at war, and that successfully, with the +'Adwan; and when acting in concert with the Abbad, or much more so when +in alliance with the Beni Sukh'r, can always repel them; only it happens +that sometimes the 'Adwan get help from the more distant 'Anezeh; and +this is much more than enough to turn the balance again. But even now +the 'Adwan cannot come near the town; neither can they quite forget that +the Saltiyeh people, during a former war, killed both the father and +grandfather of Deab, and sent the head of the former to the tribe in a +dish, with a pilaff of rice. + +All the strength of the 'Adwan now lies in Shaikh Deab, with his son +'Ali, (who came to welcome us near the Jordan,) and Gublan the nephew. +Old 'Abdu'l 'Azeez is considered childish, and unfit to lead them. + +For us travellers, however, the 'Adwan are sufficient. The territory is +theirs over which we are passing, and they do all they can to please us; +only, of course, like all Arab guides, they take every opportunity of +insinuating themselves into being fed by us, which is a condition "not in +the bond." + +Then came a visit of three men with good-natured countenances. These +were Bedawi minstrels from Tadmor, (Palmyra,) who wander about from tribe +to tribe, singing heroic poems to the accompaniment of their rebabeh, (a +very primitive sort of fiddle.) No warfare interferes with the immunity +of their persons or property. They are never injured or insulted, but +are always and everywhere welcome, and liberally rewarded. Of course it +is for their interest to gratify the pride of their auditors by fervid +appeals to their ancestral renown, or to individual prowess and +generosity. + +The Arabic of their chants is unintelligible to towns-people; it is the +high classic language of Antar. + +I had made acquaintance with these same men before at Tibneen Castle, +near the Lebanon, during a season of Bairam. Being Sunday, we requested +them to visit our tents in the morning. Our Arabs, however, and the +dragomans kept them singing till a late hour round the fires lighted +among the tents. It was a cheerful scene, in the clear starlight, and +the lustrous planet Venus reflected in the running stream. + +_Monday_, 14_th_.--After breakfast, and an entertainment of music from +our troubadours, and the bestowing of our guerdon, these left us on their +way to the other camp at Na'oor; and our packing up commenced. + +Strange medley of costumes and languages among the grand colonnades. Our +Arabs left us, having the luggage in charge, and indicating to us the +camping-ground where we were to meet again at night--thus leaving us in +care of the Saltiyeh friends of ours, who were to escort us to their town +and its neighbourhood, as the 'Adwan might not go there themselves. + +Both the Christian and Moslem shaikhs of the town came to meet us on the +way. The former was a very old man; and he could with difficulty be +persuaded to mount his donkey in presence of a train so majestic, in his +eyes, coming from the holy city of Jerusalem. + +We passed an encampment of _Beni Hhasan_. These people are few in +number, and exist under the shadow of the 'Adwan. + +There were plenty of locusts about the country; but we soon came to a +vast space of land covered with storks, so numerous as completely to hide +the face of the earth, all of them busily employed in feeding--of course +devouring the locusts. So great is the blessing derived from the visits +of storks, that the natives of these countries regard it as a sin to +destroy the birds. On our riding among them they rose in the air, +entirely obscuring he sky and the sun from our view. One of our party +attempted to fire among them with his revolver, but, by some heedlessness +or accident, the bunch of barrels, being not well screwed down flew off +the stock and was lost for a time; it took more than half an hour's +search by all of us to find it again, and the Arabs considered this a +just punishment for wishing to kill such useful creatures. + +We traversed a meadow where Shaikh Faisel, with a detachment of the +'Anezeh, had encamped for pasture, and only left it thirty-five days +before. His flocks and herds were described to us as impossible to be +counted; but our friends were unanimous in stating that his camels were +1500 in number. + +Came to _Khirbet es Sar_, (_Jazer_?) whence the Dead Sea was again +visible. Our Arabs declared that they could distinguish the Frank +mountain, and see into the streets of Bethlehem. Here there is a mere +heap of ruin, with cisterns, and fragments of arches, large columns, and +capitals; also a very rough cyclopean square building of brown striped +flint in huge masses. + +This site is three hours due north of Na'oor, in a straight line, not +turning aside to Deab's camp or 'Amman. Northwards hence are the +well-wooded hills of _'Ajloon_. To my inquiries for any site with a name +resembling Nebo, I was referred to the _Neba_, half an hour south of +Heshbon, which is given in the list taken down by me at Heshbon. + +Proceeding northwards, we had the hills of _Jebel Mahas_ parallel on our +right hand; and to our left, in a deep glen below, was the source of the +stream Se'eer, which had flowed past us at _Cuferain_, our first +encampment after crossing the Jordan. + +Arrived at the ruined town (modern in appearance) of _Dabook_, from +whence they say the _Dabookeh_ grapes at Hebron {39} had their origin; +but there are none to be seen here now (see Jer. xlviii. 32, 33)--"O vine +of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are +gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is +fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness +is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have +caused wine to fail from the wine-presses," etc.: with nearly the same +words in Isa. xvi. 8-10. + +At a short distance upon our right was a ruined village called _Khuldah_. +This was at the entrance of woods of the evergreen oak, with hawthorn, +many trees of each kind twined round with honeysuckle. There Shaikh +Yusuf, (the Moslem of Es-Salt,) who is a fine singer, entertained us with +his performances, often bursting into extemporaneous verses suitable to +the occasion and company. + +On reaching an exceedingly stony and desolate place, he related the +original story of Lokman the miser, connected with it:--"Formerly this +was a fertile and lovely spot, abounding in gardens of fruit; and as the +Apostle Mohammed (peace and blessings be upon him!) was passing by, he +asked for some of the delicious produce for his refreshment on the weary +way, but the churlish owner Lokman denied him the proper hospitality, and +even used insulting language to the unknown traveller, (far be it from +us!) Whereupon the latter, who was aware beforehand of the man's +character, and knew that he was hopelessly beyond the reach of +exhortation and of wise instruction, invoked upon him, by the spirit of +prophecy, the curse of God, (the almighty and glorious.) And so his +gardens were converted into these barren rocks before us, and the fruit +into mere stones." + +Such was the tale. But similar miraculous punishments for inhospitality +are told at Mount Carmel, as inflicted by the Prophet Elijah; and near +Bethlehem by the Virgin Mary. + +From a distance we caught a distant view of the _Beka' el Basha_, or +Pasha's meadow, where we were to encamp at night, but turned aside +westwards in order to visit the town of Es-Salt. Upon a wide level tract +we came to a small patch of ground enclosed by a low wall, to which a +space was left for entrance, with a lintel thrown across it, but still +not above four feet from ground. On this were bits of glass and beads +and pebbles deposited, as votive offerings, or tokens of remembrance or +respect. The place is called the Weli, or tomb, of a Persian Moslem +saint named _Sardoni_. But it should be recollected that in Arabic the +name _'Ajam_, or Persia, is often used to signify any unknown distant +country to the east. + +At _'Ain el Jadoor_ we found water springing out of the rocks, among +vineyards and fig and walnut trees, olives also, and pomegranates--a +beautiful oasis, redeemed from the devastation of Bedaween by the strong +hand of the town population. Near this the Christian Shaikh Abbas, being +in our company, was met by his venerable mother and his son Bakhi. + +In every direction the town of Es-Salt is environed by fruitful gardens, +the produce of which finds a market in Nabloos and Jerusalem. The +scenery reminded me of the Lebanon in its green aspect of industry and +wealth. + +Entering the town we dismounted at the house of Shaikh Yusuf, and took +our refreshment on the open terrace, on the shady side of a wall. + +Some of us walked about and visited the two Christian churches: they are +both named "St George," and are very poor in furniture. Of course they +have over the door the universal picture in these countries of St George +on his prancing gray horse. This obtains for them some respect from the +Mohammedans, who also revere that martial and religious hero. Inside the +churches we found some pictures with Russian writing upon the frames; the +people informed us that these were presents from the Emperor Nicholas, +which is worthy of notice. + +The ignorance of the priests here is proverbial all over Palestine. I +have heard it told of them as a common practice, that they recite the +Lord's Prayer and the _Fathhah_, or opening chapter of the Koran, +alternately, on the ground that these are both very sublime and +beautiful; and it is said that they baptize in the name of the Father, +Son, and Holy Ghost, and the Virgin Mary. There is reason to believe +them very grossly ignorant; but it may be that some of these reports +about them emanate from the Roman Catholic authorities in Jerusalem, who +never hesitate at propagating slanders to the detriment of non-Romanists. + +In a church porch I found a school of dirty ragged children reading the +Psalms from the small English printed edition; not, however, learning to +read by means of the alphabet or spelling, but learning to know the forms +of words by rote; boys and girls together, all very slightly dressed, and +one of the boys stark naked. + +People came to me to be cured of ophthalmia. I got out of my portmanteau +for them some sugar of lead; but it is inconceivable the difficulty I had +to get a vessel for making it into a lotion--bottles or phials were +totally unknown, not even cups were to be procured. At one time I +thought of a gourd-shell, but there was not one _dried_ in the town; so +they told me. I might have lent them my drinking-cup, but then I wanted +to prepare a large quantity to be left behind and to be used +occasionally. I forget now what was the expedient adopted, but I think +it was the last named-one, but of course only making sufficient for +immediate use. I left a quantity behind me in powder, with directions to +dilute it considerably whenever any vessel could be found; warning the +people, however, of its poisonous nature if taken by mouth. + +One man came imploring me to cure him of deafness, but I could not +undertake his case. In any of those countries a medical missionary would +be of incalculable benefit to the people. + +There are ancient remains about the town, but not considerable in any +respect. It is often taken for granted that this is the Ramoth-Gilead of +Scripture, but I believe without any other reason than that, from the +copious springs of water, there must always have been an important city +there. The old name, however, would rather lead us north-eastwards to +the hills of _Jela'ad_, where there are also springs and ruins. + +On leaving the town we experienced a good deal of annoyance from the +Moslem population, one of whom stole a gun from a gentleman of the party, +and when detected, for a long time refused to give it up. Of course, in +the end it was returned; but I was told afterwards that the people had a +notion that we ought to pay them something for visiting their town, just +as we pay the wild Arabs for visiting Jerash. What a difference from the +time of the strong Egyptian Government when Lord Lindsay was there! + +At a distance of perhaps half or three-quarters of an hour there is a +_Weli_ called _Nebi Osha_; that is to say, a sepulchre, or commemorative +station of the Prophet Joshua, celebrated all over the country for the +exceeding magnificence of the prospect it commands in every direction. +In order to reach this, we had to pass over hills and plains newly taken +into cultivation for vineyards, mile after mile, in order to supply a +recent call for the peculiar grapes of the district at Jerusalem to be +sent to London as raisins. + +Arrived at the Weli, we found no language sufficient to express the +astonishment elicited by the view before us; and here it will be safest +only to indicate the salient points of the extensive landscape, without +indulging in the use of epithets vainly striving to portray our feelings. +We were looking over the Ghor, with the Jordan sparkling in the sunshine +upon its winding course below. In direct front was _Nabloos_, lying +between Ebal and Gerizim; while at the same time we could distinguish +Neby Samwil near Jerusalem, the Mount Tabor, Mount Carmel, and part of +the Lebanon all at once! On our own side of Jordan we saw the extensive +remains of _Kala'at Rubbad_, and ruins of a town called _Maisera_. On +such a spot what could we do but lie in the shade of the whitewashed +Weli, under gigantic oak-trees, and gaze and ponder and wish in +silence,--ay, and pray and praise too,--looking back through the vista of +thirty-three centuries to the time of the longing of Moses, the "man of +God," expressed in these words "O Lord God, Thou hast begun to show Thy +servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand: . . . I pray Thee let me go +over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, +and Lebanon." The honoured leader of His people--the long-tried man +"through good report and evil report," who, during his second forty years +which he spent as a shepherd in Midian, had been accustomed to the +abstemious habits and keen eyesight of the desert; and, at the end of +another forty years as the ruler of a whole nation, living in the desert, +"his eye was not dim,"--added to which natural advantage, we are told +that "the Lord showed him all the land," highly cultivated as it was then +by seven nations greater and mightier than Israel,--Moses must have +beheld a spectacle from Pisgah and Nebo, surpassing even the glories of +this landscape viewed by us from Nebi Osha. + +Turning eastwards to our evening home, we passed a ruined site called +_Berga'an_, where we had one more view of the Dead Sea, and traversed +large plains of ripe corn, belonging, of course, to the people of +Es-Salt. The people requested me to pray to God that the locusts might +not come there, since all that harvest was destined for Jerusalem. + +We met some of the _'Abbad Kattaleen_ Arabs, but we were safe under the +escort of the Saltiyeh instead of the 'Adwan. These 'Abbad are the +people who assaulted and plundered some seamen of H.M.S. "Spartan" in +1847, on the Jordan; for which offence they have never yet been +chastised, notwithstanding the urgent applications made to the Turkish +Pashas of Jerusalem, Bayroot, and Damascus. We did not arrive at the +encampment till long after dark, and there was no moonlight. + +The site is on a plain encircled by hills, with plenty of water +intersecting the ground; the small streams are bordered by reeds and long +grass. A khan, now in ruin, is situated in the midst--a locality +certainly deserving its name, _Beka' el Basha_, and is said to have been +a favourite camping-station for the Pashas of Damascus in former times. + +Much to our vexation, the Arabs and the muleteers had pitched our tents +in a slovenly manner among the winding water-courses, so that we had wet +reeds, thistles, and long grass, beetles and grasshoppers inside the +tents, which again were wetted outside with heavy dew. They had done +this in order to keep the cattle immediately close to us, and therefore +as free from forayers as possible during the night. Such was the reason +assigned, and we were all too hungry and tired to argue the matter +further. + +My people complained to me of the insolence of the Saltiyeh guides that +were with us; so I sent for the two shaikhs and scolded them. They +persisted in it that they did not deserve the rebuke, that the complaints +ought to be laid against a certain farrier who had come over from +Jerusalem, etc., etc. My servant ended the affair by shouting at them, +"Take my last word with you and feed upon it--'God send you a strong +government.'" This at least they deserved, for they are often in arms +against the Turkish government: and although so prosperous in trade and +agriculture, are many years in arrear with their taxes. + +_Tuesday_, 15_th_.--Early in the morning there were Saltiyeh people +reaping harvest near us, chiefly in the Christian fields; for here the +case is not as in Palestine, where Christians generally sow and reap in +partnership with Moslems, for their own safety; but the Moslems have +their fields, and the Christians have theirs apart, which shows that +their influence is more considerable here; indeed, the Christians carry +arms, and go out to war against the Bedaween, quite like the Moslems. + +Before we left, the day was becoming exceedingly hot, and we had six +hours' march before us to Jerash. + +The hills abound with springs of water. We passed one called _Umm el +'Egher_, another called _Safoot_, also _Abu Mus-hhaf_, and _Tabakra_, and +_'Ain Umm ed Dumaneer_, with a ruin named _Khirbet Saleekhi_. + +The 'Adwan Arabs were now again our guides, the Saltiyeh having returned +home; but for some distance the guides were few and without firearms, +only armed with spears, and the common peasant sword called _khanjar_; +perhaps this was by compact with the Saltiyeh, as in about an hour's time +we were joined by a reinforcement with a few matchlock guns. On we went +through corn-fields, which are sown in joint partnership with the Arabs +and the Moslems of the town; then doubled round a long and high hill with +a ruin on it, called _Jela'ad_. This I have since suspected to be +Ramoth-Gilead. We descended a hill called _Tallooz_; forward again +between hills and rocks, and neglected evergreen woods, upon narrow +paths. A numerous caravan we were, with a hundred animals of burden, +bright costumes, and cheerful conversation, till we reached a large +terebinth-tree under a hill called _Shebail_; the site is called +_Thuggeret el Moghafer_, signifying a "look-out station" between two +tribes. There we rested a while, till the above-mentioned reinforcement +joined us. From this spot we could just discern _Jerash_, on the summit +of a huge hill before us. + +We now had one long and continued descent to the river Zerka. Passed +through a defile, on issuing from which we observed a little stream with +oleander, in pink blossom, thirty feet high, and in great abundance. +Halted again at a pretty spring, called _Ruman_, where the water was upon +nearly a dead level, and therefore scarcely moving; then another small +spring, called _Bursa_, and also _'Ain el Merubb'a'_. + +Evergreen oak in all directions, but with broader leaf than in Palestine; +also some terebinth-trees and wild holly-oaks. All the scenery now +expanded before us in width and height and depth. + +We took notice of several high hills with groves of evergreen oak on +their summits; detached hills, which we could not but consider as remains +of the ancient _high places_ for idolatrous worship. + +Still descended, till on a sudden turn of the road came the rushing of +the _Zerka_, or Jabbok, water upon our ears, with a breeze sighing among +juniper-bushes, and enormous and gorgeous oleanders, together with the +soft zephyr feeling from the stream upon our heated faces--oh, so +inexpressibly delicious! I was the first to get across, and on reaching +the opposite bank we all dismounted, to drink freely from the river--a +name which it deserves as at that place it is about two-thirds of the +width of the Jordan at the usual visiting-place for travellers. + +Some of the party went bathing. We all had our several luncheons, some +smoked, all got into shady nooks by the water-side; and I, with my heart +full, lay meditating on the journey we had hitherto made. + +At length I had been permitted by God's good providence to traverse the +territory of Moses and the chosen people antecedent to the writing of the +Pentateuch, when they were warring upon Ammon and Moab. How solemn are +the sensations derived from pondering upon periods of such very hoar +antiquity--a time when the deliverance at the Red Sea, the thunders of +Sinai, the rebellion of Korah and Dathan, the erection of the tabernacle, +and the death of Aaron, were still fresh in the memories of living +witnesses; and the manna was still their food from heaven, +notwithstanding the supplies from the cultivated country they were +passing through, (Josh. v. 12.) Elisha did well in after times on the +banks of Jordan, when he cried out, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" +And we may exclaim, in contemplation of these marvellous events of the +still more remote ages, "Where is the Lord God of Moses, who with a +mighty hand and stretched-out arm"--"redeemed His people from their +enemies; for His mercy endureth for ever!" Nations and generations may +rise and pass away; phases of dominion and civilisation may vary under +Assyrian, Egyptian, Hellenic, and Roman forms, or under our modern +modifications; yet all this is transitory. The God of creation, +providence, and grace, He lives and abides for ever. His power is still +great as in the days of old, His wisdom unsearchable, and His goodness +infinite. Ay, and this dispenser of kingdoms is also the guide of the +humble in heart, and He cares for the smallest concerns of individual +persons who rest upon Him. + +Strengthened by these and similar reflections, with ardent aspirations +for the future, I rose up and pursued my journey, as Bunyan's pilgrim +might have done, under the heartfelt assurance that "happy is he that +hath the God of _Jacob_ for his help." + +We were now leaving behind us much of the Old Testament country--not +exclusively that of the Mosaic era, but the land which had been trodden +by the patriarchs Abraham and Israel on their several removals from +Padan-aram to Canaan. But, while looking back upon the grand landscape +outline with an intense degree of interest, it may be well to remark +that, among all our company, there was a feeling of uncertainty as to the +geographical boundaries of the lands possessed by the old people of +Ammon, Moab, and Bashan. Probably there had been some fluctuations of +their towns and confines between the time of the exodus and the +prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah. + +One thing is certain--that we all, with one heart, were confident that +God spake by Moses and the prophets; and that, with the incidents, the +people and the local names we had lately passed among, we might as soon +believe in the non-existence of the sun and stars, as that the books +called "The Law of Moses" are not in every word a record of infallible +truth. + +We had now a different journey, and a different set of scenes before us, +entering into the half tribe of Manasseh. + + [Picture: Triumphal Arch] + +Ascending the steep mountain-sides with two of the guides, I preceded the +rest of the party, and even the baggage mules. In perhaps half an hour, +(it may be more,) I came to a triumphal arch, the commencement of Jerash. +One of the guides told me that they call this the Amman Gate of the old +city; for that, in ancient times, there were two brothers, one named +Amman, and the other Jerash. Each of them built a city, and gave it his +own name; but called the gate nearest to his brother's city, by the name +of that brother. + +At this gateway I observed the anomaly of the columns on each side of the +principal opening, having their capitals at the bottom of the shafts, and +resting on the pediments, though in an upright position. It was very +ridiculous. When could this have been done--at the original erection of +the gate, or at a later rebuilding, after an earthquake had shaken the +pillars? It would seem to me to be the former, as they are posted +against the wall, and this is not disturbed or altered. The columns and +the curve of the portal are gone, so that it cannot be seen whether +originally they had capitals on the heads also of the columns. It is +most probable that those remaining are not the true capitals, inasmuch as +they have no volutes. + +Passing by inferior monuments of antiquity,--such as a sepulchre, a +single column, a sarcophagus, and then a square elevated pavement in good +condition, upon which are several sarcophagi, some of them broken, and +all with the lids displaced,--I came to a large circus of Ionic columns, +almost all standing, and joined to each other at the top by architraves. +Thence holding on the same direction forwards due north, our way was +between a double row of grand Corinthian columns with their capitals, and +occasional temples to the right and left. At the termination of this, +but without continuing the same line, between columns of another Grecian +order, I turned aside, at a vast Roman bath, to a spring of water, the +commencement of a running stream, in a small meadow of tall grass and +thorns, intending to pitch my tent there; but soon changed my mind, and +got myself established within a wing of the Roman bath, which stood on +higher ground, and had a good roof upon it. + +The other gentlemen on coming up, adopted the choice of their dragomans +and muleteers, near the water, after having the thorns and thistles +cleared away. A fresh afternoon breeze that sprang up was peculiarly +grateful to men and cattle. + +After some rest, I proceeded to stroll about,--first of all to the great +Temple of the Sun, on a rising ground to the west of the great colonnade, +which, besides the columns along all the sides of the edifice, has a +conspicuous portico in front, consisting of twelve magnificent Corinthian +columns, a few of which are fallen. Thence I walked to the Naumachia, +near the southern extremity of the city, (that by which we had arrived,) +and found this in good condition, with the seats remaining, and the +channel well defined which conveyed water for the exhibitions from the +above-mentioned spring. The form is a long oval, flattened at one end. + +In passing once more between the double line of Corinthian columns, I +counted fifty-five of them standing, besides fragments and capitals of +the missing ones lying on the ground. + +From this I diverged at right angles, through a street of small public +buildings, towards the bridge over the stream, (and this I called Bridge +Street--part of the pavement still remains, consisting of long slabs laid +across the whole width from house to house;) then upon the bridge, as far +as its broken condition would allow, and returned to my home--everywhere +among scattered fragments of entablature; numerous altars entire, and +sculptured with garlands; also broken buildings, with niches embellished +inside with sculptured ornament. In all my exploration, however, I found +no statues or fragments of statues--the Mohammedan iconoclasts had long +ago destroyed all these; but there were some remains of inscriptions, +much defaced or worn away by the work of time. + +The natural agencies by which the edifices have come to ruin seem to +be--first, earthquakes; then the growth of weeds, thorns, and even trees, +between the courses of stone, after the population ceased; or rain and +snow detaching small pieces, which were followed by larger; also +sometimes a sinking of the ground; and besides these common causes of +decay, there comes the great destroyer--man. + +Yet nature is always picturesque, even after the demolition of the works +of human art or genius; and it is pleasing to see the tendrils, leaves, +and scarlet berries of the nightshade playfully twining among the +sculptured friezes which are scattered about in every position but +straight lines; or other plants between the volutes, rivalling the +acanthus foliage of the classic capitals. + +Sunset: a beautiful landscape all around; and a pretty view of the +travellers' tents, the Arabs, and the cattle below me. + +After dinner I walked by starlight along the Ionic colonnade, which is a +further continuation northwards of the Corinthian, and found nearly the +whole length, with the intermediate pavement, remaining, consisting of +squares about two feet in length, laid down in diamond pattern. + +At night there were flickering lights and varieties of human voices +below; the frogs croaking loud near the rivulet; and the rooks, whom I +had dislodged from their home within the Roman bath, had taken refuge on +the trees about us, unable to get to rest, being disturbed by our unusual +sights and sounds. + +_Wednesday_, 16_th_.--A visitor came early--namely, Shaikh Yusuf--with +two of his people from _Soof_. The old man exhibited numerous +certificates given by former travellers--all English--whom he had +accompanied as guide either to Beisan or Damascus. He offered his +services to take us even, if we pleased, as far as Bozrah. + +Then came Shaikh Barakat el Fraikh with a large train. He is ruler over +all the _Jebel 'Ajloon_, and has been residing lately on the summit of a +high hill rising before us to the east, where there is a weli or tomb of +a Moslem saint, the Nebi Hhood, who works miraculous cures. Barakat is +in delicate health, and has twenty wives. His metropolis, when he +condescends to live in a house, is at a village called _Cuf'r Enji_; but +his district comprises fifteen inhabited villages, with above three +hundred in ruins,--so it is said. + +As for the saint himself, he has a very respectable name for antiquity, +too ancient for regular chronology to meddle with--it is only known that +he preached righteousness to an impious race of men previous to their +sudden destruction. The circumstance of his tomb being on the summit of +a high hill is perfectly consonant with the sentiments of great heroes +and chiefs, as frequently expressed in poems of the old Arabs. The +restoration of health which he is supposed to bestow, must be that +effected by means of the fine mountain air at his place. At 'Amman, old +'Abdu'l 'Azeez had said that Jerash was built by the Beni 'Ad, a +primitive race mentioned in the Koran. + +A ridiculous figure appeared of a Turkish subaltern officer, who has come +into this wild desert to ask the people for tribute to the Porte. A +Turkish kawwas in attendance on him, I observed to shrug up his shoulders +when he heard nothing but Arabic being spoken among us. They arrived +here in the company of Shaikh Yusuf, whose son is nominally a Turkish +military officer, commanding three hundred imaginary Bashi-Bozuk, or +irregular cavalry. By means of such titles they tickle the vanity of the +Arab leaders, and _claim_ an annual tribute of 218 purses, (about 1000 +pounds,) and are thus enabled to swell out the published army list, and +account of revenue printed in Constantinople. {58} + +So that next to nothing is in reality derived from these few sparse +villages; and from the tent Arabs less than nothing, for the Turks have +to bribe these to abstain from plundering the regular soldiers belonging +to Damascus. + +The 'Anezi Shaikh Faisel was encamped at only fourteen hours' distance +from us. + +Common Arab visitors arrived--from no one knew where: some on horseback, +to see what could be picked up among us; even women and children. They +must have travelled during the night. A handsomely-dressed and +well-armed youth on horseback, from Soof, accosted me during one of my +walks. + +I bought two sheep for a feast to the Arabs that came about my tent; but +they asked to have the money value instead of the feast. Alas for the +degradation! What would their forefathers have said to them had they +been possibly present? + +Afternoon: a fine breeze sprang up, as is usual in elevated districts. I +strolled again with an attendant--first outside the ancient wall on the +east side of the rivulet, where it is not much dilapidated; it is all +built of rabbeted stones, though not of very large size; then crossed +over to the western wall, and traced out the whole periphery of the city +by the eye. + +In the great Corinthian colonnade, one of our party called me to him, and +showed me some inscriptions about the public edifices along that line, +and at the Temple of the Sun. There was one inscription in Latin, on a +square pedestal; a similar one near it, broken across, had a Greek +inscription. The rest were all in Greek, but so defaced or injured that +seldom could a whole word be made out. However, we found, in a small +temple beyond the city wall to the north, in a ploughed field, an +inscription more perfect, containing the work _Nemesis_ in the first +line. There also I saw several mausoleums, with sarcophagi handsomely +ornamented, and fragments of highly-polished red Egyptian granite +columns, to our great surprise as to how they had arrived there, +considering not only the distance from which they had been brought, and +the variety of people through whose hands they had passed since being cut +out roughly from the quarries of upper Egypt; but, moreover, the +difficulty to be surmounted in bringing them to this elevation, across +the deep Jordan valley, even since their disembarkation from the +Mediterranean either at Jaffa or Caiffa. + +The inscriptions that I had been able to collect were as follows:-- + + [Picture: Two inscriptions] + +Among all the hundreds of fragments of fine capitals and friezes lying +about Jerash, there was not one that was not too heavy for us to carry +away. I found no ornamented pottery, although we had found some even at +Heshbon; neither coins, nor even bits of statues. And remarkable enough +in our European ideas, so little space appeared for private common +habitations--as usual among ruined cities of remote antiquity--it seemed +as if almost the whole enclosure was occupied by temples or other public +institutions. + +Yet there must have habitations for a numerous population. And, again, +such a city implies the existence of minor towns and of numerous villages +around, and a complete immunity from incursions of wild Arab tribes. +These latter were unknown to a population who could build such temples, +naumachia, and colonnades, and who were protected farther eastwards by +the numerous cities with high roads, still discoverable in ruins beyond +this--Belka and 'Ajloon. But of how different a character must have been +the daily necessities of these old populations from the requirements of +modern European existence. _We_ should not be satisfied with the mere +indulgence of gazing upon the aesthetic beauty of temples and colonnades. +Climate, however, has much to do in this matter. + +At night we had a general conference at the encampment respecting the +future march, as we had now finished with the 'Adwan Arabs. {61} + +The resolution was taken to proceed on the morrow to _Umm Kais_, under +the guidance of Shaikh Yusuf of Soof, and proceed thence to Tiberias. +He, however, would not ensure but that we might be met and mulcted by the +Beni Sukh'r for leave to traverse their territory. He was to receive 500 +piastres, (nearly 5 pounds,) besides 50 piastres for baksheesh; but +whatever we might have to pay the Beni Sukh'r was to be deducted from the +above stipulation. + +_Thursday_, 17_th_.--Great noise of jackdaws under my vaulted roof at +break of day, they having mustered up courage to return to their nests +there during the night. + +During the packing up of the luggage, I took a final and lonely walk +along the colonnades to the Naumachia, and outside the wall S.W. of the +Amman gate, where I observed some columns, or portions of such, of +twisted pattern; returned by the bridge. The thrush, the cuckoo, and the +partridge were heard at no great distance, near the stream. + +We left upon the meadow a parliamentary debate of Arabs gathered around +the chief's spear, all the men ranting and screaming as only such people +can, and they only at the beginning or end of a bargain. + +Slowly we defiled in a long line over rising ground, higher and higher, +upon a good highway, bordered on each side by numerous sarcophagi; as +along the Roman Appian Way; passed the well of _Shaikh el Bakkar_, and a +sarcophagus with a long inscription in Greek, which I regretted not +having discovered yesterday, so as to allow of copying it. From an +eminence we took the last view of the pompous colonnades of Jerash. + +Away through the green woods of broad-leaved oak, among which were to be +found fine and numerous pine-trees, the air fragrant with honeysuckle, +and the whole scene enlivened by sweet song of the birds, there were +hills in sight all covered with pine. + +Around Soof we found none of the druidical-looking remains mentioned by +Irby and Mangles, but some romantic landscape and vineyards all over the +hills. + +Ten minutes beyond Soof we had a Roman milestone lying at our feet. Some +of us set to work in clearing earth away from it, searching for an +inscription, but could not spare sufficient time to do it properly. We +found, however, the letters PIVS . PONTI . . .--indicating the period of +the Antonines. + +Next there met us a large party of gipsies--known, among other tokens, by +the women's black hair being combed, which that of the Bedawi women would +not be. What a motley meeting we formed--of Moslems, Greek-Church +dragomans, Protestants, and Fire-worshippers, as the gipsies are always +believed in Asia to be. + +Among the oaks of gigantic size and enormously large arbutus, the effect +of our party winding--appearing and disappearing, in varied costumes and +brilliant colours--was very pleasing. + +After a time we reached some fine meadow land, on which were large flocks +of sheep belonging to the Beni Hhassan, whose tents we saw not far +distant. The black and the white sheep were kept separate from each +other. + +And then appeared, in succession to the right and left, several of the +rude erections, resembling the Celtic cromlechs, or _cist-vaens_, above +alluded to, from Irby and Mangles. + + [Picture: Erection resembling cromlech] + +Our guides told us that they abound all over the hills. All that we saw +were constructed each of four huge slabs of brown flinty-looking stone, +forming a chamber--two for sides, one at the back, and a cover over all, +which measured eleven feet by six. Their date must be long anterior to +the Roman period. They are manifestly not Jewish, and consequently are +of pagan origin. Are they altars? or are they of a sepulchral character, +raised over the graves of valiant warriors, whose very names and +nationality are lost? or do they indeed partake of both designs--one +leading easily to the other among a superstitious people, who had no +light of revelation? + +My persuasion is that they were altars, as they seldom reach above four +feet from the ground; and if so, they would serve to show, as well as the +uprights forming a square temple by the sea-side, between Tyre and Sidon, +that not in every place did the Israelites sufficiently regard the +injunction of Deut. xii. 3, to demolish the idolatrous places of worship. +{65} + +Our road gradually ascended for a considerable time, till we attained the +brow of an eminence, where our woody, close scenery suddenly expanded +into a glorious extent of landscape. Straight before our eyes, +apparently up in the sky, was old Hermon, capped with snow. About his +base was a hazy belt; below this was the Lake of Gennesaroth; and nearer +still was an extent of meadow and woodland. + +The commanding object, however, was the grand mountain, + + "That lifts its awful form, + Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm. + Though round its breast the rolling clouds be spread, + Eternal sunshine settles on its head." + +At this place we rested for a time. + +All the day afterwards we kept upon high grounds, to avoid meeting any of +the Beni Sukh'r--thus greatly increasing the length of the day's march, +and having to scramble over rocky hills without visible paths. All this +had been brought upon us by over-cleverness in bargaining with Shaikh +Yusuf, our guide. We had stipulated that, in case of meeting with +Bedaween Arabs, whatever should be demanded as _ghufur_, or toll for +crossing their ground, should be deducted from his 500 piastres. He had +informed us that the toll would be but a trifle; but after the burden of +it had been once thrown upon him, he avoided the best and direct road, +and we had hours of needless fatigue in consequence. + +As a peasant himself, the Arabs allow him and his people to pass free, as +no doubt they exact enough from the village in other forms; but they +consider themselves entitled to levy tribute on European travellers. The +latter, however, are always disposed to grumble at it. + +We plunged again into thick green woods,--the oaks of Bashan,--with merry +birds carolling all around. Oh, how cheering was the scene, after that +devastated land across the river, where there is so little of forest land +left in proportion to this! A friend once remarked to me, that were the +two territories in the same relative conditions at the time of Joshua +taking possession of Canaan, it would require double amount of faith in +God's promises, as they ascended from Jericho to Ai, to believe that they +had not left the promised land behind them. Now, this might be met by +several satisfactory replies; but the plainest answer for the moment is, +that the countries were not then in the same conditions relatively as +they now are. + +We passed a rock-hewn sepulchre on the side of a hill, in good +condition,--just such as may be frequently seen in Palestine +proper,--then found a large herd of camels browsing; and passing through +a verdant glen, which issued upon cultivated fields, we came to the +village of _Mezer_, and soon after to _Tuleh_, where we got a view of +Tabor, Gilboa, and Hermon, {67} all at the same time. Were the day +clear, there could be no doubt but we should have seen also the village +of Zer'een (Jezreel) and the convent on Mount Carmel. + +The weather was hot, and our people suffering from thirst, as Ramadan had +that day commenced. + +Had a distant view of a Beni Sukh'r encampment to our right. After a +steep descent, and consequent rise again, we were upon a plain; and +therefore the guide counselled us to keep close together, as a precaution +against marauders. Our tedious deviation to-day had been far to the +east: we now turned westwards, as if marching right up to Tabor, over +corn-fields, with the village of _Tibni_ at our left, and _Dair_ at our +right hand. + +Arrived at _Tayibeh_, and encamped there for the night. Among the first +people who came up to us was an Algerine Jew, who held my horse as I +dismounted. He was an itinerant working silversmith, gaining a +livelihood by going from Tiberias among Arab villages and the Bedaween, +repairing women's ornaments, etc. + +There are plenty of wells about this place, but none with good water. +Wrangling and high words among the muleteers, and fighting of the animals +for approach to the water-troughs. The day had been very fatiguing; and +our Moslem attendants, as they had been involuntarily deprived of water +during this the first day of Ramadan, deemed it not worth while at that +hour to break the fast, as evening was rapidly coming on. Upon a +journey, if it be a real journey on business, they are allowed to break +the fast, on condition of making up for the number of days at some time +before the year expires. + +Evening: beautiful colours on the western hills, and the new moon +appearing--a thin silver streak in the roseate glow which remains in the +heavens after sunset. The night very hot, and no air moving. + +_Friday_, 18_th_.--After a night of mosquito-plague, we rose at the first +daybreak, with a glorious spectacle of Mount Hermon and its snowy summit +to the north. Such evenings and mornings as travellers and residents +enjoy in Asian climes are beyond all estimation, and can never be +forgotten. + +We learned that there are Christians in this village of _Tayibeh_, as +indeed there are some thinly scattered throughout the villages of _Jebel +'Ajloon_, _i.e._ from Jerash to near Tiberias; and in the corresponding +villages on the western side of Jordan, as far as Nabloos. + +I always feel deeply concerned for those "sheep without a shepherd," +dispersed among an overwhelming population of Mohammedans. They are +indeed ignorant,--how can they be otherwise, while deprived of Christian +fellowship, or opportunities of public worship, excepting when they carry +their infants a long journey for baptism, or when the men repair +occasionally to the towns of Nabloos or Nazareth for trading business; +or, it may be, when rarely an itinerant priest pays them a visit?--still +they are living representatives of the Gentile Church of the country in +primitive days, down through continuous ages,--their families enduring +martyrdom, and to this day persecution and oppression, for the name of +Christ, in spite of every worldly inducement to renounce it. While we +Europeans are reciting the Nicene Creed in our churches, they are +suffering for it. They are living witnesses for the "Light of light, and +very God of very God;" and although with this they mingle sundry +superstitions, they are a people who salute each other at Easter with the +words, "Christ is risen," and the invariable response, "He is risen +indeed;" also in daily practice, when pronouncing the name of Jesus, they +add the words, "Glory to His name." + +Besides all the above, they are in many things Protestants against Papal +corruption. They have no Vicar of Christ, no transubstantiation, no +immaculate conception, no involuntary confession, and no hindrance to a +free use of the Bible among the laity. For my part, I feel happy in +sympathising much with such a people, and cannot but believe that the +Divine Head of the Church regards with some proportion of love even the +humblest believer in Him, who touches but the hem of His garment. + +In our conversation, before resuming the journey, I mentioned the +numerous villages that were to be found about that neighbourhood, utterly +broken up, but where the gardens of fig, vine, and olive trees still are +growing around the ruins. The people pointed out to me the direction of +other such, that were out of sight from our tents; and the Jew quoted a +familiar proverb of the country relating to that subject; also the Moslem +shaikh, with his son, joined also in reciting it:-- + + "The children of Israel built up; + The Christians kept up; + The Moslems have destroyed." + +In saying this, however, by the second line they refer to the crusading +period; and by the last line they denote the bad government of the Turks, +under which the wild Bedaween are encroaching upon civilisation, and +devastating the recompense of honest industry from the fertile soil. + +We--starting upon our last day's journey together--passed over wide +fields of wheat-stubble. On coming near the village of _Samma_, the old +shaikh came out to welcome us, and inquire if his place is written in the +books of the Europeans. On examining our maps, one of our party found it +in his; and the rest promised the friendly old man that his village +should be written down. + +Proceeding through a green and rocky glen, between high hills, with a +running stream, the weather was exceedingly hot. Here our party +divided,--ourselves advancing towards _Umm Kais_; while the baggage and +servants turned to the left, so as to cross the Jordan by the bridge _El +Mejama'a_ for Tiberias. The principal intention of this was for the +property to avoid the chance of falling into the hands of the Beni +Sukh'r. Shaikh Yusuf now showed the relief from his mind by beginning to +sing. This was all very well for him, who had nothing to lose; because, +as it was said long ago-- + + "Cantabit vacuus coram latrone viator." + +After wandering round and around, we descended into _Wadi Zahari_, "the +flowering valley," where, by the water-side, were reeds and oleanders +forty or fifty feet high; and near them we observed a pear-tree and a +fig-tree, all alone and deserted, the remains of former cultivation. +This and other previous instances attest the risk that attends rural +labour in that district, being in the immediate vicinity of the Bedaween, +and the utter mockery of nominal Turkish rule. Here we filled our +leathern water-bottles, (called _zumzumia_ in the Desert, and _mattara_ +by towns-people,) and climbed up a stony hill, the heat of the day +increasing. No path among the rocks, and all of us angry at Shaikh Yusuf +for saving himself the few piastres by conducting us among such +difficulties. + +Then, after some time we perceived ourselves to be near Umm Kais, by the +sarcophagi, the sepulchres, and ruts of chariot-wheels upon the rocks. +We rushed up to a large tree for refreshing shelter, and near it found +numerous sepulchres, highly ornamented, and some of them with the stone +doors remaining on the hinges, which we swung about to test the reality +of their remaining so perfect, (figs. 1, 2, 3.) + +Among these was the one remarked by Lord Lindsay in his Travels, bearing +a Hebrew name inscribed in Greek letters, but which he has not + + [Picture: Fig. 1] + +given quite correctly. It should be _Gaanuiph_ instead of _Gaaniph_. +This sepulchre is cut in black + + [Picture: Fig. 2] + +basaltic rock, and has some broken sarcophagi remaining inside. On a +round fragment of a column, near this side, is the inscription given +below, (fig. 4.) The upper part is the farewell of surviving relatives + + [Picture: Fig. 3] + +to the daughter of SEMLACHUS. The lower part, for whomsoever +intended,--"_and thou also farewell_,"--carries with it a touch of nature +that still affects the heart, after the lapse of many centuries. + + [Picture: Fig. 4] + +The mausoleums and sepulchres at the opposite end of the city were even +more numerous, many having Greek inscriptions upon them. + +But the theatre is the most remarkable of all the objects of +antiquity,--so perfect, with its rows of seats complete, surrounded by +numerous public edifices and lines of columns; and then commanding from +those seats a large view of the beautiful Lake of Tiberias, and of the +grand mountains which enclose it, as a frame to the picture. + +Here I stayed behind the rest of the party for a considerable time, +charmed with the spectacle of nature, and revolving over the incidents of +Herodian history, so vividly portrayed by Josephus. + +Then rejoined my friends, by galloping along a Roman road, paved with +blocks of dark basalt. + +But before leaving this place, I must express my surprise at any person +that has been there imagining for a moment that it can be the Gadara of +Scripture. + +The distance from the lake is so great as to be utterly incompatible with +the recorded transactions in the Gospels--having valleys and high hills +intervening; and even supposing the miracle of relieving the demoniac to +refer not to the city but to a territory named Gadara, it is +inconceivable that the territory belonging to this city (Umm Kais) could +extend beyond the deep natural crevasse of the river _Yarmuk_, and then +rise up a high mountain, to descend again into a plain, all before +reaching the lake. + +Our descent to the Yarmuk was long and steep; and upon the plain which it +intersects, the heat exceeded any that I had ever encountered anywhere. +The air was like fire. Such a day I shall never forget. + +The Yarmuk is so considerable a river that the Arabs call it _Sheree'a_, +as they do the Jordan--only qualifying the latter as the larger one. It +is called the _Sheree'a el Menadherah_, from a party of Bedaween +occupying its banks in the interior. + +The crevasse through which it issues is wild and romantic in the extreme. +High cliffs of basalt are the confines of the water. This, on reaching +the plain, is parted with several streams, (to compare great things with +small,) in the fashion of the Nile or the Ganges; which the Jordan is +not, either at its entrance into this lake or its entrance into the Dead +Sea. + +All the streams are fringed with oleander; and, in the extreme heat of +the day, the horses enjoyed not only their drinking, but their wading +through the rolling water. + +This was the boundary between Bashan and Gilead, through the latter of +which we had hitherto been travelling, and gave name to the great battle +A.D. 637, where the victory obtained by the fierce _Khalid_ and the mild +_Abu Obeidah_ decided the fate of Palestine, and opened the way of the +Moslems to Jerusalem. + +Over an extent of four or five miles, before reaching the Jordan, a rich +harvest of wheat was being reaped upon the plain. We first attempted to +cross at _Samakh_, but finding it impossible at that season, had to turn +back to the ford at the broken bridge, which the natives call the 'mother +of arches,' (_Umm el Kanater_;) and even there the water was still deep. + +Corn-fields and flocks of sheep in every direction; but all the shepherds +carrying firearms. We most of us lay down on our breasts to drink +greedily once more from the dear old river; and then we crossed the +Jordan into the land of Canaan, going on to Tiberias, and passing on the +way some Franciscan monks. What a change of associations from those of +the country we had traversed exclusively for the last nine days! + +How absurd the sudden and unexpected contrast from old 'Abdu'l 'Azeez and +the brilliant young 'Ali Deab in the freedom of the desert, to the cowl +and the convent of the monks--from the grand savage language of the +Ishmaelite to the mellifluous Italian. + +At the hot baths of the lake we found our tents already pitched, and my +old friend the missionary,--Thomson, from Bayroot,--who had been +travelling on the eastern side of the lake, (a territory so little +known,) and, as he and I believed, had discovered the true Gadara. We +compared notes about affairs of the Arabs at the time. + +Several of the juvenile travellers set themselves to swimming before +dinner at sunset, the huge hills at the back casting long shadows across +the lake. + +We all had tea together, as we were to separate to our several +destinations in the morning; and on my retiring to sleep, the thermometer +was at 99 degrees Fahrenheit inside the open tent. + +_Saturday_, 19_th_.--Bathing before the sun rose. + +Our travellers engaged the boat from Tiberias for the day, and it came up +from the town to our camp with the sail spread. Large flights of aquatic +birds as usual flitting and diving about the lake, and the fish abundant, +rising and splashing at the surface. + +For an hour or two before starting on my way southwards, I lay on the +beach contemplating the lovely scenery, and collecting my thoughts, both +as to the past and for the future. The principal object of meditation +was of course the placid lake itself-- + + "Dear with the thoughts of Him we love so well." + +Then the noble old mountain of Hermon, crowned with snow, now called +_Jebel esh Shaikh_; which the Sidonians called Sirion; and the Amorites +called Shenir, (Deut. iii. 9.) + +Next the ever-celebrated Jordan, with its typical resemblance to the +limit dividing this life from the purchased possession of +heaven,--recalling so much of bright images of Christian poetry employed +to cheer the weary pilgrim, in anticipation of the time when + + "We'll range the sweet fields on the banks of the river, + And sing of salvation for ever and ever!" + +Gratefully acknowledging the providence which had brought us happily so +far, the present writer then girded up his mental loins, and returned to +Jerusalem; but on the way occasionally glancing towards the eastward +range of mountains,--the land of Gilead,--now called Belka and 'Ajloon, +lately traversed; and with a feeling unknown since the verses were first +echoed in childhood, the words involuntarily issue from the lips: + + "Sihon, king of the Amorites, + For His mercy endureth for ever, + And Og the king of Bashan, + For His mercy endureth for ever!" + +Having learned that 'Akeeli Aga el Hhasi was encamped on the Jordan side, +at no great distance, I resolved to visit this personage, who has since +then become much more famous as a French protege, being an Arab of +Algeria, but at this time only noted as having been the guide of the +United States Expedition to the Dead Sea in 1848, and as being at the +moment commissioned by the Turks as a Kaimakam of the district, seeing +that they could not hold even nominal rule there without him. + +At my starting there came up from his post a messenger, Hhasan Aga, the +Bosniac officer of Bashi Bozuk, to conduct me to the tents. The Aga was +dressed in a crimson silk long coat, over which was a scarlet jacket +embroidered in gold, and on his legs the Albanian full kilt, or +fustinella, of white calico; his saddle cloth was of pea-green silk with +a white border, and yellow worsted network protected the horse's belly +from flies, also a rich cloth with tassels lay over the horse's loins. + +Proceeded southwards, and passed the broken bridge before mentioned. +Harvest everywhere in progress, and the produce being carried home on +asses to the village of _'Abadiyeh_, adjoining to the houses of which +were square and flat tents made of palm-leaf matting as residences of the +Ghawarineh Arabs. + +Came to the ruins of a wretched little village called _Belhhamiyeh_, +formerly under the patronage of the 'Adwan; and thence appeared in full +view upon the hill above the great castle of the Crusaders called +Belvoir, but now named _Cocab_, or _Cocab el Hawa_. Upon the plain by +the river side was the encampment scattered about, and several European +tents among the others denoted the presence of Turkish soldiers. + +We could see the Jis'r el Mejama'a, the bridge leading across to the land +of Gilead. + +Rode up to 'Akeeli's tent, and found with him the formidable Shaikh Fendi +el Faiz of the Beni Sukh'r, and a musician with his rebabeh. A slave was +making coffee on a fire of dried camel's dung, although it was in the +fast of Ramadan. We conversed guardedly about Deab and the rest of the +'Adwan, and the camp at _Dahair el Hhumar_. 'Akeeli then had brought in +for his amusement a wild beast called a _fahh'd_, differing from a +panther in being larger and in having black stripes down the face; it +seemed wild enough, but was confined by a rope, the pulling of which, and +alternately patting the creature was the amusement or occupation of the +Aga. They brought me some coffee and water to drink, whereupon 'Akeeli +called for some too, and said to me--"These fools of Mohammedans are +keeping Ramadan, but I am a Frenchman," he then drank off the water. +This man, whom Lynch, the American commander, styles a "magnificent +savage," was savage enough in manners, and dirty, and half-naked. He has +since, however, made his influence felt, and may perhaps do so again. + +Altogether, my reception was not one in accordance with my notions of +Arab hospitality. Perhaps he did not wish me to espy what was going on +about him in company with Shaikh Fendi el Faiz, so I took my leave, +riding towards Cocab. At an Arab encampment we got some _Leben +Sheneeni_, (soured fresh milk, most delicious in hot weather,) and drank +almost a pailful of it between myself, the kawwas, and the muleteer. The +heat was prodigious. In the camp were only women and children at home: +the former employed in weaving and dyeing woollen trappings for +horses,--serving to keep off the plague of flies,--of which articles we +bought two. + +'Akeeli had sent an escort to accompany us as far us the castle. One of +the men was a care-worn old fellow from the far north, wearing a very +heavy sheepskin coat with wide sleeves, to keep out the scorching heat of +the sun, and his face covered with a _mandeel_ or cotton handkerchief, to +protect him from reflection from the ground; his venerable musket +terminated in a rusty bayonet. + +We went southwards until opposite the bridge, then turned westward to the +hills, and forded the water of _Wadi Berreh_. The ascent was difficult +and long, during which our escort carried on a conversation in the +Arnaout language. + +At the summit I sent on the servants and baggage to Jeneen, there to +pitch the tents for us--the sheepskin man, the kawwas, and I turned aside +to survey the old castle at Cocab el Hawa. It has been a large and noble +erection in a strong natural position; the trench and sloping walls are +pretty perfect, the stone-work being still sharp-edged; the portion of +the defences looking towards the Jordan consists of large stones +rabbeted, equal to any work in Jerusalem or elsewhere, which must be an +indication of a fortress long before the time of the Crusaders--though +the stones are not of dimensions equal to those of the Jerusalem Temple +wall. + +All the masonry, except the rabbeted work, is constructed from the dark +basalt which abounds in that district. All the space within walls, not +remaining entire, and part of the trench, is occupied by miserable +hovels, forming a sort of village, with patches of tobacco cultivation +attached to the dwellings. + +But what can one say in description of the glorious prospect from that +eminence? It seemed to me to exceed the wonders of Nebi Osha: the +principal objects in view being the Lake of Tiberias, the river Jordan, +Tabor, Duhy, Beisan, Carmel, Hermon, a stretch of the Hauran, and the +cleft of the Yarmuk. One thing surprised me, which was to see how far +South Cocab is from Tabor, it had never appeared so before from the +direction of Jeneen or of Nazareth. It was due east from _Duhy_; the +best way of getting at it from Nabloos is across the plain of Jezreel. +It is distinguishable from a great distance by means of a white-washed +tower standing in the midst of the castle. + +Forwards we went through a village called _Kifereh_. As usual the ride +over the plain is very tedious and tiring to the limbs--a hilly country +in moderation is much more comfortable. We reached _Shutta_, then the +tents of the Shiukh Arabs close under hills, and beneath a hill called +_Nooris_, and at a mill called _Jalood_, we were overtaken by rain late +in the year, being the 19th of May. + +The sun set a good while before our arriving at Zer'een (Jezreel); the +road was not straight, for a _detour_ was necessary in order to ensure +firm ground among the marshes; stagnated water abounds, that has been +poured down from the hills of Gilboa. We passed the natural cavern from +which the Jalood water issues on the side of a hill. A large cistern is +formed at the place. The inhabitants--such as we saw occasionally--were +very unhealthy in appearance. + +Night came on, and dew with it, to which we had been long unaccustomed. +The storm cleared off, and we travelled several hours by moonlight. Then +we saw abundance of fire-flies flitting across our way. + +Overtaking our luggage, we all jogged on slowly together, very tired and +silent, till a horseman appeared, who galloped off on our inquiry, "Who +goes there?" + +At length we heard the welcome sounds of frogs croaking, then dogs +barking, then saw the lights of Jeneen, and being Ramadan the minaret +there was illuminated with festoons of lamps. + +Then we reached the appointed well-known grove of olive trees. + +Our day had been very long and fatiguing--the cattle exhausted. It was +Saturday night, and the week ended with the intelligence that Shaikh +Barakat el Fraikh had declared war against the Beni Sukh'r, so that we +had just passed through the Over-Jordan country in time to be able to do +so. At Jerash I had met Barakat, and at 'Akeeli's camp had met his +adversary Fendi el Faiz. + + + + +II. NORTHWARDS TO BEISAN, KADIS, ANTIPATRIS, etc. + + + October 23, 1850. + +Leaving Jerusalem upon the Nabloos road, and crossing the upper portion +of the valley which, lower down, after a curve becomes the valley of +Jehoshaphat, we passed almost directly over the sepulchre of Simon the +Just, of whom such "excellent things are spoken" in the books of the +Maccabees, and in whose memory an annual festival is kept by the +Jerusalem Jews on this spot on the day called [Hebrew text] rather more +than a month after the passover. Two other saints are celebrated on the +same day of the calendar--viz., R. Simeon bar Jochai, the cabbalist of +Safed, author of _Zohar_, and R. Akiva of Tiberias. + +Then mounting up the side of Scopus, we halted for a few minutes to +survey that view of the holy city which surpasses all others, and must +have done so in the palmy days of history. It was at the time of +mid-afternoon, when the sun's rays pour slantingly with grand effect upon +the Temple site. I could not but recollect that this was exactly the +hour appointed for the daily evening sacrifice "between the two +evenings," (Hebrew of Exod. xii. 6,) and think of the choral music of +Levitical services grandly reverberating among the semicircle of hills. + +Meditations of this nature would lead one far away in varied directions, +perhaps unsuited for the commencement of a long journey lying before us. + +The next object attracting our attention was the Roman milestone lying +beside the road, shortly + + [Picture: Roman Milestone] + +after passing _Sha'afat_. This I always make it a rule to examine every +time of passing it. At one time I had it rolled over in order to be able +to read the inscription; but I afterwards found it tossed with the +writing downwards--perhaps all the better for its preservation. + +The inscription I read as follows:-- + + [Picture: Milestone inscription] + +That is to say, a register of the names of the Antonine emperors; but +there must have been other names on the upper part, now broken away. + +Then passed under _Er Ram_ on our right hand, the Ramah of the Old +Testament, but as it is not often noticed, may be found in Jeremiah xl. +1, as the place where the Babylonish captain of the guard, as a favour, +released the prophet, after bringing him with the rest in chains from +Jerusalem. + +Slept in a house at _Ram Allah_. This is a village about three-quarters +of an hour N.W. from Er Ram. The weather being cold we first lit a fire, +thereby trying the utility of a chimney that was in the house--in vain, +for no smoke would pass up it; it all settled in the room itself; and the +people excused themselves on the ground that it had never been tried +before. Probably it was a novelty imported to the place by some of the +people who had been employed by Europeans in Jerusalem; and yet I have +always found that the old Saracenic houses of the Effendis in Jerusalem +have all of them chimneys; and the word for _chimney_ is well known in +Arabic. + +This being almost exclusively a Christian village, it was interesting to +hear the people addressing each other as Peter, James, Elijah, John, +Paul, etc., instead of Mohammed, Ali, Omar, or other such appellations. +It is a little beside the purpose, but I may remark in passing, that +throughout these countries there are names in use common to all +religions,--some scriptural, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, or David; +and others mere epithets, as Assaad or Selim. + +In this village are three priests, (Greek orthodox,) idle, ignorant, and +coarse men; but the peasantry are a bold set of fellows, speaking and +acting very independently of clerical domination,--very indifferent as to +whether they shall turn Protestants or Papists. One thing they are in +earnest about, and that is to get schools for their children. + +Ram Allah exhibits the same characteristic as all other Christian +villages in Palestine, that of being in good condition--new houses being +built, and old ones repaired; contrary to the condition of Moslem +villages, almost without one exception--that of falling to decay. There +is, however, no water here; the women bring it in jars upon their heads +from _Beeri_, a considerable distance. + +We made a _detour_ from the high-road, in order to look for _Jifna_, the +_Gophna_ of Josephus, where Titus and his renowned Tenth Legion (recently +arrived from Britain) slept the night before reaching Jerusalem. Then +the Eagles were gathered together over the doomed carcass of the city. +Inquiring our way from Ram Allah to Jifna, some said there was a road +without going to Beeri; some said there was none. At length we were put +upon a pretty decent path. + +In ten minutes we came to a sort of well with a little water, where women +were thumping clothes upon stones; this is called washing in the East. +Magnificent view westwards of the great plain, the Great Sea, Jaffa, +Ramlah, etc. + +We wandered about hills and among vineyards, and came to a small village +named _Doorah_, in good condition, with water, and excellent cultivation +of garden vegetables in small patches, similar to those of Selwan +(Siloam) and Urtas; then turning a corner saw Jifna at some distance, in +the midst of a plain enclosed by hills; and there it must have been that +the manipulus with S.P.Q.R. was posted in front of Italian tents, and the +soldiers bustling about or jesting in Latin or British language, before +their retiring to rest, in the spring season of the year A.D. 70. + +Becoming entangled among a long belt of vineyards between us and it, and +time passing away while our luggage was far on the road to Nabloos, we +turned aside and regained the high-road at _'Ain Yebrood_. Reluctantly I +retreated from _Jifna_, for I had wished to discover the precise road +upon which Titus and his army marched towards Jerusalem. Passing +_Sinjil_, _Lubban_, and _Sawiyeh_, we rested just beyond _Sawiyeh_ under +the great oak, at the divergence of the valley of _Laithma_. Beneath its +wide-spreading branches a flock of sheep was resting at noon (Cant. i. +7.) From these we got good draughts of fresh milk. + +As evening approached, we were passing within the huge shadow of Mount +Gerizim; and in Nabloos I remained till Monday morning,--this being the +end of Thursday. + +28_th_. Preparing for descent into the Jordan valley, I engaged, in +addition to the usual servants, a horseman of the Bashi Bozuk, +recommended by the local governor, Suliman Bek Tokan. It seemed prudent +to obtain this man's attendance, as he might be known and recognised by +disorderly persons throughout the turbulent and unknown country before +me, whatever might be his character for valour or discretion. Two of the +native Protestants of Nabloos accompanied me also for about four hours on +the way. + +Passing Joseph's sepulchre and the village of _Asker_, (is not this +Sychar? it is near the traditional Jacob's Well,) we went northwards over +the plain of _Mukhneh_, equivalent to Makhaneh, "camp," in Hebrew, (the +_Moreh_ of Gen. xii. 6, Deut. xi. 30, and Judges vii. 1) having left the +eastern valley with _Salem_ (Gen. xxxiii. 18) on our right. To my +surprise the plain was soon and abruptly terminated at the foot of a very +lofty mountain, and we commenced a descent among chasms of great +convulsions of nature, displaying remarkable contortions of geological +strata. This brought us into the Wadi _En-Nab_, so called from the +growth there of a fruit-tree, (the Jujube,) bearing that name, better in +quality than anywhere else in Palestine; and, indeed, the tree is found +in but few other places. At the confluence of this valley with the Wadi +_Bedan_ there are several fragments of ancient columns remaining, quite +four feet in diameter. + +Hitherto we had met many more peasants travelling with merchandise than I +had expected. They were all going in one direction, namely, towards +Nabloos, and therefore from Es-Salt in Gilead, beyond Jordan. + +These, however, ceased after we had crossed the water of Wadi Bedan into +the larger _Wadi Fara'ah_,--which is, however, the high-road to Es-Salt. + +Soon afterwards we observed, by our wayside, a square of solid ancient +masonry, three courses high. In England this would be certainly the +pedestal of some old demolished market-cross; but it may have been the +lower part of some memorial pyramid. In the previous year I had seen +just such another at Ziph (Josh. xv. 55,) beyond Hebron. + +Then we came upon a distinct piece of Roman paved road, which showed that +we were upon the high-road between Neapolis and Scythopolis, _alias_ +Shechem and Bethshan, _alias_ Nabloos and Beisan.--Crossed a stream +richly bordered with rosy-blossomed oleander, and soon turned the head of +the water. A demolished castle was on our right, commanding the entrance +of Wadi Fara'ah. + +Soon after noon we gained the olive-trees alongside of _Tubas_, a +prosperous village, yet inhabited by a people as rude and coarse as their +neighbours. Tubas is always liable to incursions from the eastern +Bedaween, and always subject to the local wars of the Tokan and 'Abdu'l +Hadi factions. I have known it to be repeatedly plundered. The natural +soil here is so fertile that its wheat and its oil, together with those +of _Hanoon_, fetch the highest prices in towns; and the grain is +particularly sought after as seed for other districts. + +The place, however, is most remarkable to us as being the _Thebez_ of +Judges ix. 50, where Abimelech was slain by the women hurling a millstone +on his head from the wall. The more I become acquainted with the +peculiar population of _Jebel Nabloos_, (_i.e._ the territory of which +Nabloos is the metropolis,) a brutish people "waxing fat and kicking," +the more does the history of the book of Judges, especially the first +twelve chapters, read like a record of modern occurrences thereabouts. +It is as truly an Arab history as any other oriental book can supply. I +observed that Mount Gerizim can be seen from Tubas,--which fact seemed to +give additional emphasis to the words, "And all the evil of the men of +Shechem did God render upon their heads; and upon those came the curse of +Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal." + +The site of Tubas is elevated. It is still a considerable village, and +possesses that decided evidence of all very ancient sites in Palestine--a +large accumulation of rubbish and ashes. + +I was told that here, as well as in several of the villages around, there +are scattered Christians, one or two families in each among the Moslems, +without churches, without clergy, without books or education of any kind; +still they are Christians, and carry their infants to the Greek Church in +Nabloos for baptism. What a deplorable state of things! Since the date +of this journey the Church Missionary Society's agents have in some +degree ministered to the spiritual destitution of these poor people by +supplying some at least with copies of the Holy Scriptures. + +Here my principal kawwas, Hadj Mohammed es Serwan, found the fever, which +had been upon him more or less for the last three days, so greatly +increased, that it was not possible for him to proceed farther with me. +The fever he attributed to his having, on arrival at Nabloos, indulged +too freely in figs and milk together. The general experience of the +country warrants this conclusion. + +Poor fellow! after several times dismounting, and renewing his efforts to +keep up with me, he was at length totally disabled; and our Protestant +friends, who were now about to return home, engaged to get him into the +village, and have him carefully attended to, there and at Nabloos, till +he should be able to return to his family at Jerusalem. I left him under +a large tree, gazing wistfully after me, and endeavouring to persuade me +not to go down to that Gehennom of a place, Beisan. {94} + +My forward journey lay through fine olive-grounds and stubble-fields of +wheat. In an hour we passed _Kayaseer_, a wretched but ancient place, +with exceedingly old olive-trees about it. Then going on for some time +among green bushes and straggling shoots of trees, we descended to the +water-bed of a valley. Once more upon a Roman road, on which at twenty +minutes' distance was a prostrate Roman milestone, but with no +inscription to be seen; perhaps it was on the under side, upon the +ground. Then the road, paved as it was with Roman work, rose before us +on a steep slope, to a plain which was succeeded by the "Robbers' +Valley," (Wadi el Hharamiyeh,) in which we met two peasants driving an +ass, and inquired of them "Is the plain of the Jordan safe?"--meaning, +Are there any wild Bedaween about? The reply was "It is safe;" but the +whole conversation consisted of four words in the question, and one in +the answer. + +Over a precipitous and broken rocky hill,--the worst piece of road I ever +met with,--till we came suddenly upon the grand savage scenery of the +Ghor, with the eastern barrier of the mountains of Gilead. The river +Jordan is not visible, as is the case in most parts, till one almost +reaches the banks. + +Here the vegetation had changed its character,--leaving all civilisation +of olive-trees behind, and almost all consisting of oak and hawthorn. We +had instead the _neb'k_ or _dom-tree_, and the _ret'm_ or juniper of +Scripture; the heat excessive. + +At the junction of the Valley with the Ghor are three Roman milestones, +lying parallel and close side by side,--all of them in the shape and size +stereotyped throughout the country. This, then, was probably a measured +station of unusual importance; and from it the acropolis of Bethshan just +comes into view. This is known in the country by the name of _El +Hhus'n_. + +The ground was in every direction covered with black basalt fragments, +among which, however, was corn stubble remaining; and we were told that +the crop belonged to the people of Tubas. + +We kept upon a straight path leading directly up to Beisan, which all the +way was intersected by running streams issuing from the hills on our +left, and going to the Jordan. + +The water was not often good for drinking; but at most of these rivulets +our attendant, Suliman Bek's horseman, alighted to say his prayers, out +of fright on account of the Arab Bedaween. + +Tabor N.W. and Hermon N.E. were both prominent objects in the landscape, +with the town of Beisan between the two,--the ground abounding in the +kali plant and neb'k trees, with bright yellow fruit, from which we +frequently saw clearly desert camels cropping the lower branches, +notwithstanding the long and sharp thorns upon them. + +We marched straight on, from one ancient artificial mound to another, +with Beisan before us, the streams all the way increasing in width and +rapidity,--some of them bordered, or even half-choked, with a jungle of +oleander in flower, hemlock, gigantic canes, wild fig-trees, neb'k, and +tangled masses of blackberry. Some of them we had to ford, or even leap +our horses over. We were surprised at such torrents of water rushing +into the Jordan at such a season of the year. + +Reached Beisan at half-past six,--a wild-looking place, with magnificent +mountains in every direction around, but all frowning black with volcanic +basalt; and the people horribly ugly--black and ferocious in physiognomy. +They were just in the busiest time of the indigo harvest; but they had +herds of very fine cows brought home, as the sun in setting threw over us +the shadow of the mountains of Gilboa. My companion from Jerusalem +looked up with horror to these hills, and began quoting the poetic +malediction of David upon them on account of the death of Saul and +Jonathan: "Let there be no dew, neither rain upon you, nor fields of +offerings," etc. + +It was indeed a notable event in one's life to have arrived at the place +where the body of the first king of Israel, with that of his son, the +dear friend of David, after being beheaded, were nailed to the walls of +the city. Jabesh-Gilead could not have been very far off across the +Jordan; for its "valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body +of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the walls of Bethshan, and came +to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried +them under a tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days," (1 Sam. xxxi. 12, +13). This respectful treatment was by way of grateful recompense for +Saul's past kindness, as the very first act of his royalty had been to +deliver them from danger when besieged by Nahash the Ammonite (I Sam. +xi.); and they kept his remains till king David removed them into the +ancestral sepulchre within the tribe of Benjamin (2 Sam. xxi. 14). + +To return. The people of Beisan urged upon us their advice not to sleep +in our tents, for fear of Arabs, who were known to be about the +neighbourhood. I however preferred to remain as I was; and many of the +people slept around the tents upon heaps of indigo plant, making fires +for themselves from the straw. Before retiring to sleep, I several times +found the horseman at his prayers by moonlight. During the night the +roaring of the water-torrents re-echoed loudly from the rocky hills. + +29_th_.--We learned that the indigo cultivation is not very laborious. +The seed is scattered over the ground, and then the people turn the +streams over the surface for inundation. There is no ploughing. This is +done directly after barley-harvest from the same ground. There is no +produce for two years, but after that period the same stalks successively +for five years produce about seventy-two-fold. I bought a timnah +(measure) of the seed for curiosity, to deposit in our museum. + +We finished breakfast, had the tents struck, and the mules laden, all +before the sky began to look red, announcing the coming sun. + +The castle of 'Ajloon was a very conspicuous object on the mountainous +horizon of the east. + +I then spent about three hours in exploring the Roman antiquities of the +place when it bore the name of Scythopolis. These are all contained +within or along a natural basin, of which I here give a rough map. + + [Picture: Scythopolis] + +The general form is that of an oval, the centre of which has four +pediments for the arch of a bridge, or a triumphal arch, over a rivulet +that traverses the whole obliquely. From this central square of four +pediments extends right and left one long colonnade, or dromos. Within +the basin, but on the south bank of the water, is the theatre; on the +north, and outside of the oval, is the lofty mound, surmounted by +fortified buildings, forming the acropolis, the _Hhus'n_, which is +visible for miles and miles over the country. In the S.E. corner is the +modern village--a very insignificant one, but with remains of a Christian +church, for I should suppose the Moslems never built so good a mosque at +Beisan. Of course the present inhabitants use it for their devotions. +The building is all angular, with a square tower at the south end. The +principal doorway--that at the north end--is perforated into a walled-up +large pointed arch. + +The principal object of my curiosity was the theatre, which, like all +those of the Romans and Greeks, is a building of nearly a semicircle in +form, with the extremities connected by a chord or straight line; this +latter was the _proscenium_ or stage, and is near 200 feet in length. +Upon the ground-plan, at half distance from the centre to the outer +curve, the _vomitories_ or passages for entrance and exit begin, leaving +an open area; these are formed in concentric semicircles, divided across +by radii, all coming from the one centre. + +Over these passages the seats for spectators are constructed, rising +higher as approaching to the outer curve--and the dens for the wild +beasts, when they were to be exhibited, were under the front seats. The +vomitories are of the most perfect design for utility, and still remain +in complete preservation, all vaulted over with admirable workmanship. + + [Picture: Ground plan of the Theatre] + +I looked about in vain for the indentings in front of the rows of seats +which had held the [Greek text] or brazen saucers, which indentings are +stated to have been seen by Irby and Mangles; but we know that the [Greek +text] were so placed in ancient theatres for increasing the power of +voice uttered upon the stage. + +The front blocks of the stage are white, and these are brought from a +distance. They measure eight feet by four each. But the peculiarity of +the general building lies in its being built of the black stone of the +country adjacent. I afterwards saw Roman theatres at Amman and Umm Kais, +as already mentioned in the journey "Over the Jordan," but they were +white; and another at Petra, but that was of rosy red. All the +three--the black, the white, and the red--were each of its own one +colour, without intermixture of others, except that here the stage was of +another colour from the rest of the building. + +I then prepared to mount to the acropolis or Hhus'n. The hill is shaped +as an oblong square, sloping downwards, and rounded at the four edges. +Steps have been cut into it for ascending from below. + +Arriving at what appears from below to be the summit, but is not, I found +a large platform, improved by art, with remains of houses and cisterns, +and surrounded at the edge by a parapet wall five feet thick,--except at +the eastern end, opposite to the present town, where one-third of the +hill has been left rising considerably higher, and therefore a wall is +not required. + +In this wall, at the N.W. side, I found remains of a very massive +gateway, with fragments of older columns and friezes built up into the +side work. At this spot the rising hill above is particularly +precipitous. I climbed to the extreme summit, but found there no remains +of human labour. The view, however, as may be supposed, amply repaid the +exertion. In one direction the prolonged Ghor of the Jordan; and in +another appeared the opening of the plain of Esdraelon and Tabor, with +the Mediterranean far away, and Carmel almost hull down, as one might say +of a ship. In the nearer distance were lines of black Arab tents, an old +khan, ruins of water-mills, and rushing rivulets in abundance, the +sources of which lie so high in the adjacent hills of Gilboa, that the +town and the irrigation of the district are supplied from them copiously. + +I picked up some tesserae about the acropolis hill, but I saw none +elsewhere near Beisan,--discovered no inscriptions, and heard of no +coins. + +Close to the town there were thick layers of calcareous sediment, +containing petrified reeds or canes, of which I brought away specimens +for our museum. + +Thus ended my inspection of this really interesting place, so remarkable +for being all built of black volcanic stone,--the theatre, the church, +and the modern village, besides the rocks all about: add to this the vile +appearance of the people, and one cannot wonder at visitors entertaining +a dread and disgust at the whole.--I find that I have omitted to mention +the mineral quality of the water, the most of which is undrinkable. + +We left Beisan at half-past nine, after examining it more completely than +the published accounts of former travellers lead us to believe they have +done. Thomson's account is of later date. + +Our journey now lay due north, along the Ghor to Tiberias; and a very +pleasing journey it proved to be. + +In half an hour we had to ford a pretty wide stream, and in five minutes +more were among very extensive ruins of an ancient town; upon a tumulus +at its farther extremity are lying portions of three huge sarcophagi, and +a portion of a thick column. This must be the "Es Soudah," (_i.e._, +_black_,) mentioned by Thomson--indeed, all ruins of that district are of +black basalt, excepting the columns and sarcophagi. The name _soda_ or +_black_ occurs in English as a synonym for _alkali_, and means the black +or dark-coloured ashes of the plant _al-kali_ when burnt for use--the +white colour of it seen in Europe is obtained by chemical preparation. + +Black tents and fires of the kali burners were visible in many +directions--a delicious breeze blowing in our faces; but above everything +cheerful was the green line of the Jordan banks. No snow to be seen at +present at that distance upon Hermon. At half-past eleven we were +beneath some castellated remains of great extent, namely, the Crusaders' +_Belvoir_, now called _Cocab el Hawa_. Our ground had become gradually +more undulated; then hilly, and the Ghor narrowed: we were obliged to +cross it diagonally towards the Jordan; forded a running stream abounding +in oleander, where, according to his usual custom, my Egyptian servant +took a handful of the flowers to wear in his waistcoat. Then the birds +carolling so happily, recalling the well-known lines-- + + "And Jordan, those sweet banks of thine, + With woods so full of nightingales." + +The songsters that I heard were certainly neither the linnets nor +goldfinches of other parts of Palestine, but must have been the _bulbul_, +the note of which, though rich and tender in expression, is not however +the same with that of English nightingales. + +Then we came to the bridge called _Jis'r el Mejama'a_, which is in +tolerably good condition, with one large and several smaller arches in +two rows, and a dilapidated khan at the western end. I crossed over the +bridge into the territory of Gilead. + +The khan has been a strong edifice, but the stones of the massive +gateway, especially the great keystone, are split across, as if from the +effects of gunpowder. + +When that bridge was erected, the country must have been in safe and +prosperous circumstances; the beauty of the scenery was not found in +contrast to the happiness of the people; there must have been rich +commerce carried on between the far east and the towns of Palestine; and +it is in reference to such a fortunate period that the wandering +minstrels, even now among the Bedaween, sing the songs of the forty +orphan youths who competed in poetic compositions under the influence of +love for an Arab maiden at the bridge of Mejama'a. + +The name is derived from the _meeting_ of two branches of the Jordan in +that place after having separated above. Below the bridge the bed of the +river is very rocky, and the course of the water disturbed, but above the +"meeting of the waters" all is beautifully smooth and tranquil; wild +aquatic birds enjoying their existence on its surface, and the banks +fringed with willows and oleanders. How grateful is all this to the +traveller after a scorching ride of several hours. + +Then the river, and with it our road, deflected back to the western +hills; again the river wound in serpentine sinuosities about the middle +of the plain, with little islands and shallow sands within its course. I +am not sure that the delight we experienced was not enhanced by the +circumstance of travelling upwards against stream. Whenever tourists +find the country safe enough for the purpose, and have leisure at +command, I certainly recommend to them this district of Jordan, between +Beisan and Tiberias: of course this presupposes that they visit Nazareth +before or afterwards. + +Occasionally we came to rings of stones laid on the ground,--these mark +the graves of Arabs of the vicinity; then a cattle enclosure, fenced in +by a bank of earth, and thorns piled on the top. All about this were +subterranean granaries for corn, having apertures like wells, but empty. +Close to this was a ford to the eastern bank. The river has many +interruptions certainly, but yet in two days' ride we had seen a good +deal of smooth water for boating. At half-past one was reached the +village of _Abadiyeh_. + +Near the village we saw people cutting twigs of tamarisk and willow. At +the village were large plantations of the kitchen vegetable, _Bamia_, +which is a _hibiscus_, (called _ochra_ in the West Indies,) the plants +four feet high, with bright yellow blossom. Near the regular houses were +suburb huts made of reeds. This is often seen along the Ghor; they are +tenanted by wanderers at certain seasons of the year. + +There was a profusion of good wheat straw lying wasting upon the ground; +it is here too plentiful to be cared for. + +We saw afterwards a low wall of masonry entirely crossing the Jordan, but +having now a broken aperture in the middle. In former times these +artificial works were common, and served to irrigate the lands on each +side. The river was never used for navigation. + +At two o'clock we reached one well-known rendezvous, the old broken +bridge, popularly called "Mother of Arches." The ford was now low in +water. Here we rested under a neb'k tree; and on getting out the +luncheon, discovered that all our stores of bread, coffee, sugar, and +arrow-root had been soaked by the splashing of streams and fords that we +had this day encountered. + +The horseman fell again to his prayers. Several Arabs from the Hauran +with their camels, crossed the Jordan while we were there. + +Another hour took us to the baths of Tiberias; the heat very great, and +by our roadside there was a whole mountain with its dry yellow grass and +weeds on fire. + +Near the south end of the lake are some palms growing wild. We +dismounted at a quarter to four. + + * * * * * + +Next day I ascended the hills to Safed, a well-known station. The place +is exceedingly healthy, enjoying the purest mountain air, as is evinced +by the healthy complexion of the numerous Jews residing there; and the +landscape views are both extensive and beautiful. + +On the following day I undertook a few hours' excursion to _Kadis_ +(Kedesh Naphtali), where Barak, son of Abinoam, and Deborah, collected +the forces of Zebulun and Naphtali, for marching to Mount Tabor against +Sisera. It was also one of the six cities of refuge for cases of +unintentional homicide, (Josh. xx. 7;) it lies to the N.N.E. from Safed. + +In an hour we obtained a grand view of Hermon just opposite to us, and +never lost sight of it till our return. Passed between the villages of +_Dilathah_ on the right, and _Taitaba_ on the left; the country is all +strewn with volcanic basalt. In another half-hour we had _Ras el Ahhmar_ +on our left. Then _Farah_ and _Salhhah_ at some distance to the left, +and _Alma_ just before us. The volcanic brown stones had on them +occasionally a thin lichen of either orange colour, or a sour pale green, +like verdigris. + +About this village were women and children gathering olives from the +trees--first beating the boughs with poles, then picking up the fruit +from the ground. + +The small district around here is named "the Khait," and the people boast +of its extraordinary fertility in corn-produce. + +Down a steep descent of white limestone, where it is said the torrents +are so strong in winter that no one attempts to pass that way. Rising +again, we found near the summit of the opposite hill a spring of water, +from which some Bedaween women were carrying away water in the common +fashion, in goat-skins upon their backs. They were young, pretty, dirty, +and ragged. Of course their rags were blue, and their lips were coloured +to match. + +Pleasant breeze springing up after the heat of the day. Corn stubble on +the fields, and fine olive plantations, as we got near to Kadis, our +place of destination; with such a wide clear road up to it, as might seem +to be traditionally preserved as such from ancient times, if the Talmud +be relied upon when it gives the legal width of various kinds of roads, +and prescribes twice as much for a highway towards the cities of refuge, +as for any other description of road. {109} + +The scenery around Kadis is cheerful, but the village itself consisted of +only about half-a-dozen wretched houses. In passing by these, towards an +orchard at the farther side, we saw some large ancient sarcophagi,--three +of them lying side by side, but broken, and some capitals of columns. + +After selecting our site for the tents, and setting the cook to work in +his peculiar vocation, not forgetting to see that the horses were being +attended, we procured a guide to conduct us down the hill to the +antiquities. + +There are still evidences remaining that the old city had been wealthy +and celebrated--squared stones lying profusely about. At the spring of +water: this was received into an embellished sarcophagus for a trough, +and adjoining to it a spacious paved reservoir. + +Here began a series of highly ornamental public edifices and sepulchral +monuments. We went first to the farthest; and there it was greatly to be +regretted that there was not with us an artist able to do justice to the +exceeding beauty of the remains. + +It was a large oblong building, placed east and west, an ornamental +moulding running round the whole at four feet from the ground; the roof +fallen in. At the eastern extremity have been three portals, of which +the middle one was by far the largest; each of these decorated richly by +a bead and scroll moulding. The lintel of the principal gate has fallen +from its place, and now stands perpendicular, leaning against one of the +uprights: this is one stone of fifteen feet in length, beautifully +sculptured. Some broken pillars are lying about, and several magnificent +Corinthian capitals of square pilasters, which had been alongside of the +principal portal. I have never seen anywhere in Palestine any relic of +so pure a Grecian taste as this temple. {110} + +Nearer to the town is a Roman erection of large well-cut stones, which +have acquired from the effects of time the fine yellow tinge which is +remarkable on the relic of the Church of St John Baptist at Sebustieh. +{111} + +This was a smaller building than the other, and is nearly entire, except +that the roof is fallen in. It is in a square form: at each corner is a +solid square of masonry thirty feet high, and these are connected with +each other by semi-circular arches, two of which are fallen, and the +other two have their keystones dangling almost in the air, so slight is +the hold of their voussoirs to keep them from falling. The walls rise +half way up these abutments; the doorway is to the south, and has the +ports and lintel richly decorated. Of the use of this erection I could +form no judgment. + +Between the two edifices was a mass of solid masonry, supporting a +sarcophagus nearly ten feet long, with a double sarcophagus of the same +dimensions at each side of it: not only the middle single one, but each +double sarcophagus, was formed of one stone each. Can we doubt of the +relation which the persons buried in the double ones bore to each other? +The sides of these stone coffins are highly adorned with floral garlands, +and the lids are lying broken across beside them. + +Oh! vain expectation, to preserve the human frame from violation, by +elaborate and durable monuments! There is but one safe repository for +the decaying part of man, and that is what the Almighty Maker at first +decreed--namely, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust. The +poorest slave, buried in a hole within the ground, is safer from man's +greed and violence than the mightiest conqueror; for the massive porphyry +sarcophagus of Alexander was rifled by Caligula, and after that by +others, in Egypt. And the same fate has befallen the tombs of Cyrus and +Darius in Persia, for the sake of the riches entombed with them. + +Some copper coins were brought to us, but of no particular value: they +were either corroded or broken, and of no remarkable antiquity. + +As twilight faded away we returned to the tents, and had the evening +meal. The wind rose considerably, so that we lighted a fire on the lee +side of my tent, and gazed round upon the strange and noble scene around. +There was Hermon just before us, seen indistinctly by starlight; and +there was sufficient novelty and non-security in the place to keep +attention awake. + +The shaikh of the village came and assured us that in the Lebanon (not +far distant) the Druses were up; that the convent at Maaluleh had been +sacked, and twenty-two Emirs had been seized by the beastly Turks (as he +denominated them); that Abu Neked was up in arms, and even the villages +in the south, about Nazareth, were fighting. Of course there was +considerable exaggeration in all this, but our muleteer began to pray +that he might be soon safe again in Jerusalem. + +The shaikh informed us that in the happy time of the Egyptian rule, under +Ibrahim Pasha, his village was so populous that they cultivated fifty +feddans of land, whereas now they could only work six; that then property +was so safe that Arab marauders were always caught and punished, (he had +himself had Bedaween kept prisoners in his house,) whereas now, under the +Turks, they come into his house to steal. + +While he was relating this, a man came running from the village to +announce that neighbouring Arabs were just before carrying off some of +their cows in the dark, but on being pursued, had made off without them. + +After I got to bed, one of our people shot at a hyaena, and the villagers +shouted from the roofs of their houses to know if we were attacked. In +the morning they told us that they had seen the hyaena, big enough to eat +a man, and that their attention had been attracted to it by the cry of an +owl. + +_Saturday_, _November_ 2.--We returned towards Safed over the plain of +_Alma_. The wheat of this district is renowned far and wide for quality +and quantity of produce. The guide told us that at this place were +splendid remains of antiquity; but, on arriving, we could hear of nothing +but a poor cistern within a cavern. Here the black basalt recommences +after the region of white limestone where we had been; and then again, at +the distance of a good-sized field, we were upon common brown +agricultural soil. It is curious how sharply these division-lines of +soil are drawn in every direction about this place. {114} + +Thence we diverged off from yesterday's road to visit _Jish_, passing +through Ras el Ahhmar. Most magnificent views of Hermon and +Anti-Lebanon. + +Had to go down into a valley, through which, on a former journey, we had +passed on coming from _Bint Jebail_, and visited again the ancient +monument in a vineyard by the roadside. It appears to have consisted of +one small building. The lower parts of two upright posts of its doorway +remain, together with a fragment of the transverse lintel: several pieces +of columns are lying about, and pediments of these _in situ_. Besides +these, there is the following fragment of sculpture + + [Picture: Ancient sepulchre near Jish] + +nearly level with the ground, and is probably the entrance of a +sepulchre, but we had no opportunity of clearing away the soil to +ascertain that. The ornamentation seems to be that of laurel leaves. +Near adjoining is a fragment of a round pillar, partly buried; but on +seeing Hebrew writing upon it, I cleared it away partly. Some of it was +but indistinct. I could only read it thus-- + + [Picture: Hebrew writing] + +--from which not much signification can be gathered. Perhaps some cracks +in the stone have disfigured the characters; but how and when did a +Hebrew inscription come in such a place? The site is very agreeable, +with streamlets of water tinkling among trees by the roadside. + +Thence we mounted up to the village of _Jish_, the place of _John of +Giscala_, the antagonist of Josephus. This seems to have been the +centre-point of the dreadful earthquake in 1837, from which Safed and +Tiberias suffered so much. It occurred on the New Year's day, while the +people of the village were all in church; and just as the priest held the +sacramental cup in his hand, the whole village was in a moment destroyed, +not one soul being left alive but the priest himself, and, humanly +speaking, his preservation was owing to the arch above his head. All the +villages around shared the same fate, and the greater part of the towns +above mentioned. Much damage was sustained all over Palestine; and a +heart-rending description of the events has since been printed, though +little known in England, by a Christian Israelite, named Calman, who, +together with Thomson, the American missionary, hasted from Bayroot on +hearing of the calamity, and aided in saving many lives of persons buried +beneath the ruins of Safed and Tiberias, during several days after the +catastrophe. + +This sad event serves for an era to date from; and the Jews there, when +referring to past occurrences, are accustomed to say, it was so many +years before (or after) the [Hebrew text] (the earthquake.) + +Among the ruins of Jish are no remains of antiquity, except a fragment of +the thick shaft of a column and a small sarcophagus, only large enough +for a child, in a field half a mile distant. The Jews appropriate this +to Shemaiah Abtelin. + +We passed between _Kadita_ and _Taitaba_, over land strewn with volcanic +stone, beginning near Jish and extending almost to those villages. The +crater, of very remote times, noticed by Robinson, is about one-third of +the distance from Jish to Safed; not very imposing in appearance. + +The journey from Kadis to Safed is one of five hours' common travelling. +We reached the olive ground encampment shortly before noon. Being the +Jewish Sabbath, there was the _Eruv_ suspended at the exits of the +principal streets. This is an invention of the Talmudists, used in +unwalled towns, being a line extended from one post to another, +indicating to Jews what is the limit which they are to consider as the +town-wall, and certain ordinances of the Sabbath are regulated thereby. + +A strong wind from the south blew up a mist that almost concealed the +huge dark ravine of _Jarmuk_, but the night became once more hot and +still. + +3_d_.--"And rested the Sabbath-day, according to the +commandment,"--neither the principal prayer-day of the Mohammedans, which +is Friday, nor the Sabbath-day of the large population of Jews about me, +but that which the early Christians so beautifully named the Lord's-day, +while observing it as a Sabbath. I attended divine service in the +English language at the house of Mr Daniel, the missionary to the Jews: +we were six in number. The rest of the day was spent in quiet reading +and meditation, with visits at one time from the rabbis, and at another +from the missionary. + +4_th_.--An excursion to _Meroon_ to visit the sepulchres of several +eminent canonized rabbis. The Jews believe this place to be the +Shimron-Meron of Joshua xii. 20. An odd party we formed: there were the +missionary and his lady, Polish rabbis with very broad beaver hats and +curled ringlets on each side of the face, a crowd of Jewish idlers +walking, the Moslem attendants, and a peasant of the village we were +going to. Certainly the rabbinical riding was not of a very dashing +character: their reverences were all mounted on asses with mean +accoutrements, for the adjustment of which they often had to dismount. +Our place of destination lies at the foot of the great hill Jarmuk, and +the road to it is very rough, with broken rocks fallen from the summit; +but the place commands a grand prospect of Safed and the Lake of Galilee. + +The first object of interest was of course the sepulchre of Rabbi Simeon +bar Jochai, the patron saint of this region, and of regions beyond. He +lived a miraculous life in the second Christian century; wrote the famous +book (Zohar), by which, if I mistake not, the Cabbalists still work +miracles; and miracles are performed in answer to prayers at his tomb--so +it is believed; and his commemoration festival, in the month Iyar (see +_ante_) is attended by Jewish votaries from all parts of the world, many +of whom practise the heathen rite of burning precious objects, such as +gold lace, Cashmere shawls, etc., upon the tomb, to propitiate his +favour. On these occasions scenes of scandalous licence and riot are +witnessed, and sometimes lives are lost in conflicts with Moslems begun +in drunkenness. The rabbis, however, procure great gains from the annual +festival or fair. + +(In the town of Safed there is at least one (perhaps more) _Beth +ha-Midrash_, a sort of synagogue, with perpetual endowment, for reading +of the Zohar day and night for ever.) + +First we entered a court-yard with a walnut-tree in the midst. At a +farther corner of this court is a small clean apartment, with a lighted +lamp in a frame suspended from the ceiling, which is capable of holding +more lamps. In a corner of this apartment is a recess with a lamp +burning before it; in this a roll of the law is kept; it is the shrine +itself of the author of Zohar. One of our rabbis retired behind us for +prayer. In another part of this chamber is buried Eleazar, son of the +illustrious Simeon. + +These sepulchres are marked out upon the roof, outside of the chamber, by +a small pillar over each, with a hollow on the top of it for burning of +the votive offerings as above mentioned. Near the first entrance gate is +a similar pillar for lamps and offerings vowed to Rabbi Isaac, a +celebrated physician. + +All these three saints still perform as many miracles as ever they did; +and the common people believe that any person forcing an entrance to the +shrines, without express permission of the living rabbis, will be +infallibly punished with sudden death. They cited instances of such +visitations having occurred. + +We then went to the ruin of what the Jews assert to have been a +synagogue. It has been an oblong square building, one of its sides being +formed by the scarped surface of a rock, and its opposite (the north) +stands upon what is now the brink of a low precipice, probably from the +earth having given way below at the time of the earthquake; indeed it +must be so, for the one of the three portals at the east end, which was +there, is now missing. The floor is solid surface of rock, and now used +by the peasants for a thrashing-floor. The portals have been handsome, +with bold mouldings; but no floral embellishment or inscription now +remains. + + [Picture: Possible synagogue] + +The transverse lintels are each of one stone; the central one is at least +fifteen feet in length. + +Persons still living remember this building very much more entire than it +now is. There is an abundance of large loose stones lying about, and +fragments of broken columns or moulded friezes. Upon the rock by its +side is a small tower that was erected by old Daher (Volney's hero of the +Report on Syria) in the eighteenth century. + +The village population now consists of about thirty souls, friendly to +the Jews, from whom indeed they derive their principal subsistence, in +consideration of guarding the sanctuaries from spoliation. Other +sanctified rabbis are interred in sites about the village and the hill. +{121} + +After a temperate luncheon upon the rocks among the noble scenery in the +open air, and consulting the Hebrew book of travels of R. Joseph +Schwartz, (who was still living in Jerusalem,) we parted from our rabbis, +and proceeded to visit Cuf'r Bera'am. + +When we arrived close to _Sasa_, there was _Jish_ before us on the right. +We passed through a district of stones and underwood of evergreen oak; +clouds and rain coming on, which overtook us sharply as we reached the +village. + +Some of the party being but poor riders, we were later than I had +expected to be; it was quite sunset; and the people of the place, (almost +all of them Maronite Christians,) headed by their priest could do no less +than press us to stay through the night with them, especially as the sky +threatened a continuation of rain. After deliberative counsel being +taken among us, it was resolved that we could only thank the good people +for their intended hospitality, and return home. We first halted before +an ancient square building, the outside of which has been much encroached +upon by the alluvial earth of ages, and the simple but correct Tuscan +portico, encumbered with piles of fagots for the village use during the +approaching winter. The three doorways of the facade were embellished by +sculptured wreaths of vine leaves and grapes. Hearing that some Hebrew +inscription was to be found beneath one of the windows, we had some of +the fagots removed, sufficient to enable us to read the words [Hebrew +text] (this house, etc.); but on account of the labour required to do +more with such a tangled and heavy mass of wood, besides the rain and the +lateness of the hour, we were obliged to abandon the task, and go forward +to the large decorated portal which is standing alone, without its +edifice, in an enclosed field at about a quarter of a mile distant. This +is erected upon a raised platform of masonry. Upon the transverse lintel +we read the following Hebrew inscription, neatly engraved:-- + + [Picture: Hebrew inscription] + +(Peace be within this place, and all places of the sojourners . . . to +the work . . . blessing in his works.) + +This is all written in one line, without breaks or stops, very small, and +in as neat a square character as if lately copied from a printed book. +The two uprights and the lintel have a simple and chaste ornament like a +bead moulding. The transverse lintel has in the middle of its length a +rosette surmounted by a circular wreath, at each end of which may be seen +upon close inspection, and in a slanting light, traces of a small animal, +most likely a sheep, recumbent, which have been chiselled away. On a +visit some years after, and on closer inspection, I remarked the same +figures upon the facade of that building above mentioned, with Tuscan +pillars for a portico, though pains have been taken, as in this instance, +to obliterate them. + +The ground all about there is strewn with moulded stones and broken +columns. + +We reached Safed, cold and wet, in the dark, having ridden but slowly, in +order to accommodate certain individuals of the party; but it was in the +month of November, at an altitude of above 2000 feet, with rain and gusts +of wind coming between dark mountains. + +My evening reflections alone naturally ran upon the almost unknown +circumstance of Hebrew inscriptions existing upon remains of ancient and +decorated edifices in this part of the country, while nothing of the sort +is known elsewhere. Were the two buildings at Cuf'r Bera'am, and the +sepulchre in the field below Jish, really Jewish? and if so, when were +they erected? + +The modern Jews, in their utter ignorance of chronology, declare these to +be synagogues of the time of the second temple in Jerusalem; and affirm +that, notwithstanding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, this +province of Upper Galilee remained without its people being led into +captivity, and that many families (for instance, the Jewish +agriculturists still at Bokeea', between Safed and Acre) continue now, +just as they were then, in the same localities. + +My good old friend Nicolayson, the late missionary to the Jews, was +willing to believe a good deal about this local stability of Jews in +Upper Galilee, and to give credit for a state of much prosperity among +the Jews in the East during the reigns of the Antonine emperors; and his +idea was the most probable one of any that I have heard advanced--namely, +that these edifices (corresponding in general character with those +remaining at Kadis) are really synagogues from the era of the Antonines, +and that the inscriptions are of the same date; meanwhile keeping in mind +that they are utterly wanting in the robust style of archaic Hebraism, +and that the embellishments indicate somewhat of a low period. + +For myself, after two visits to the place, and many years of +consideration, I cannot bring myself to this belief; but rather conclude +that they were heathen temples of the Antonine epoch, and afterwards used +as synagogues by the Jews, long ago--probably during some interval of +tranquillity under the early Mohammedans,--and that the Hebrew +inscriptions were then put upon them. + +There is some regularity and method in the writing upon the lonely portal +in the field, though even this is not so well executed as the contiguous +moulding upon the same stone; but the other two inscriptions (those upon +the facade of the building in the village, and that upon the broken +column in the field below Jish) are put irregularly upon any vacant space +that happened to be unencumbered. I am convinced that, in the latter +instance, the sculpture and the writing have nothing to do with each +other. + +The surest demonstration, however, to my mind, lies in the evident fact +of animal figures having been originally upon the same lintel where the +writing now is. Although their relief-projection has been chiselled +down, the outlines of the figures are unmistakable. These, I feel +certain, were coeval with the buildings, while the inscriptions are only +coeval with their being defaced. + +Next day we travelled southwards towards Jerusalem. On leaving the town +we passed the ruins of an old church, which they call "The Church of the +Forty Martyrs," (this seems to be a favourite traditional designation, as +there are other such about the country) and in half an hour reached a +stream in the midst of a wood of neb'k trees, where an Arab, riding a +fine mare and carrying a long spear decorated with black ostrich +feathers, was driving a cow across the water--very probably plundered +from some neighbouring village. + +At _Yakook_--the dirtiest place in the world, I suppose, there was a +large Arab encampment, the men sitting apart from the women, and cooking +going on--thence to _Hhatteen_. The volcanic stones of this region are +far blacker than elsewhere; the district resembles some dismal coal +district in the north of England. Thence out of the common road to +_Nimrin_, by _Lubieh_, _Tura'an_, to _Cuf'r Cana_, the old and true Cana +of Galilee. + +At this village of peculiarly scriptural interest, the women and children +were spreading cotton pods, just picked, on their house-roofs to dry. +Here is a square-built cistern filled from a spring within it, and the +cattle were drinking from a beautiful sarcophagus. Losing our road again +we came to _Meshhad_, rather west of the usual road. Clouds lowering and +frowning over Carmel. At the village of _Raineh_ I noticed a man +harrowing a ploughed field by dragging a bunch of prickly-pear leaves +after a yoke of oxen. Arrived at Nazareth. + +Next day, across the plain of Esdraelon to _Jeneen_ and _Sanoor_, where +we slept. Then by a new road, untraversed by Europeans. After _Jeba'_, +we got into the plain of Sharon, through the large olive plantations of +_Fendecomia_, (_pente_, five, and _comai_, villages--in Greek,) between +_Yaero_, (a ruin,) _Adjah_, _Rameeen_, and _Attarah_, with other villages +in good condition. Saw Cuf'r Ra'i very distinctly at a distance in the +West, and numerous villages besides. + +From an eminence we looked down upon an extensive prospect of shaded +unoccupied hills, with the wide plain beyond and the Mediterranean Sea; +then descended into a valley, the road winding about through immense +olive groves; the travelling was easy, and all the district bore the +appearance of prosperity, such as could hardly be expected where we know +that factious warfare so frequently exists. Passed _Cuf'r Ruman_. As +far as _'Annabeh_ the course had been for a long time westwards; but +there, at the opening of the great plain, we turned due southwards. This +was four hours from _Sanoor_, at a good pace. Passed between _'Annabeh_ +and _Tool el Ker'm_ in changing our course. Near _Irtahh_ we passed a +camel-party going down to Egypt with bales of soap and tobacco for sale. +We were upon the established route of trade between Damascus and Egypt, +and not very far distant from Dothan, where the Midianite or Ishmaelite +caravan bought Joseph from his brethren; but we had passed this on our +left hand in the morning. + +Soon passed _Farra'an_ on our left, with a weli and a cistern below it, +by the roadside. _Kalinsawa_ in sight, but far away to the right; +_Ferdisia_ and _Zenabeh_ on the left. The day very hot, and the +peasantry observed to be, as usual in all the Philistine country, cleaner +in their garments than those of the mountains. + +Coasted along, parallel to the line of hills, as far as _Kalkeeleh_, +where we began to turn inwards, across the fields, towards the place of +our destination, namely, _Mejdal Yaba_, which was conspicuous on an +eminence before us. This was at six and a half hours from _Sanoor_. + +In a field we arrived at a well, where the water must have been very low +down, being late in the year; for it was only obtained by jars or skins +drawn up at the end of a very long rope, worked by a long line of women +walking across the field, and singing at their work, while the men sat +looking on and smoking. + +We passed the remains of some old considerable town, where, among the +fallen building stones and the lines of foundations, there was a cistern, +and an ancient sarcophagus by its side; also a deep square well filled up +with rubbish, and remains of quarrying work in the solid rock,--besides +an unroofed building, with a semicircular arch to the doorway. Surely +this must have been of Roman construction. + +Arrived at _Mejdal Yaba_ in nine hours from Sanoor,--a hot and tiring +journey. At a short distance below us was the site of _Ras el 'Ain_; and +farther westwards, but within sight, the tall white tower of _Ramlah_. +Time--sunset. + +I had a special object in coming off the common high-roads to this place, +but little known, at that time not at all known, to Europeans,--namely, +to visit Shaikh Sadek, the responsible ruler of the district, and +regarded by the peasantry with especial deference, out of traditional +obedience to his ancient family. + +We found the village and the castle in a very dilapidated condition, and +the great shaikh not at home. Some of his relatives, however, received +us; but both they and the peasantry were surprised, if not alarmed, at +our coming. To them it seemed as if we were suddenly dropped upon them +from the sky. Perhaps they had never seen Europeans before; or they +might have thought us spies sent by the Turkish Government. There were +plenty of idle fellows lounging about; but their supplies of food from +the village were scanty, and of inferior quality. + +The Sadek family apologised for apparent want of hospitality,--explaining +that the only unbroken part of the castle was but just sufficient to +contain the _hareem_ of the women, and there was not a single room to +give me. So I was glad to have my bedding and other paraphernalia spread +upon a _mustabah_, or raised stone divan, just within the gate. A narrow +vaulting covered my head; but it was open at the side to the square +court, into which the horses, asses, cows, and sheep were driven for the +night. + +After considerable delay, a rude supper was produced,--of which, however, +I could not persuade the family to partake till after ourselves. They +then ate up the remainder in company with my servants. They were very +solemn and slow in conversation; indeed, I could not but suspect that +they had some hostile schemes in preparation, which they did not wish to +have ascertained or communicated to their neighbours. + +Troubling myself very little about their local politics, I was soon on my +bed, and looking up at the brilliant stars. Sleep did not come very +soon, as the men kept up firing guns, and the women trilling their songs, +to a late hour. They said it was on account of a wedding. + +Daybreak found me up, and in full enjoyment of the exquisite luxury of +open air, in a clear and pure Oriental climate, before sunrise. + + [Picture: Remains of old Christian church] + +The servants were all busied in various occupations, and the peasantry +driving out the cattle, while I was surveying the considerable remains of +an old Christian church, which now forms one side of the shaikh's +mansion, and is used for a stable and a store of fodder. This vignette +represents its entrance, in a corner now darkened by the arcade in which +I had slept. The workmanship is massive and very rude, and the Greek of +the inscription upon the lintel not less barbarous, signifying "Martyr +Memorial Church of the Holy Herald,"--_i.e._, John the Baptist. + +This discovery interested me deeply, in that region so remote from any +body of Christians at the present day, and among a population very like +savages dwelling amid stern hill-scenery. + +Not less touching was the special designation of the saint so +commemorated. I believe that the Easterns pay more respect than +Europeans do to the memory of him whom the Saviour himself pronounced to +be greater than all the Old Testament prophets. And while we are +accustomed to ascribe to him only one of his official characters,--that +of the Baptizer,--they take pleasure in recalling his other scriptural +offices; as, for instance, this of the _Herald_, or Preacher {131a} of +righteousness, and that of the _Forerunner_. {131b} Indeed, individuals +are not unfrequently named after him in baptism by this latter +appellation, without the name John. + +This building appears to have been at all times heavy and coarse in +construction; indeed, one may fairly suppose that part of the frontal has +at some time been taken down, and strangely put together again. + +This church is the only object of curiosity that I had found along the +recent novel route. + +On leaving _Mejdal_, I descended to inspect once more the site so +interesting to me of _Ras el 'Ain_, at half an hour's distance,--which I +unhesitatingly believe to be _Antipatris_, as I conceived it to be on my +first seeing the place the preceding year. I had then passed it rather +late in the evening, and upon the other side. + +_Cuf'r Saba_, to which I was then going, is a wretched village, of +unburnt bricks, on the wide open plain, with no other water near it than +the deposit of rain-water in an adjoining square tank of clay. Yet +travelling authors have constantly pronounced this to be the locality of +Antipatris. Not one of them, however, has visited the place. + +What does Josephus say (Antiq. xvi. 5, 2, in Whiston)?--"After this +solemnity and these festivals were over, Herod erected another city in +the plain called Caphar Saba, where he chose out a fit place, both for +plenty of water and goodness of soil, and proper for the production of +what was there planted; where a river encompassed the city itself, and a +grove of the best trees for magnitude was round about. This he named +Antipatris, from his father Antipater." [Greek text]. No words can be +more distinctly descriptive; yet Robinson, who had not visited that +district, in his positive manner lays down that the village of Cuf'r Saba +is the site of Antipatris; and "doubtless" all that is said about "well +watered," and "a river encompassing the city," means that some wadi or +watercourse came down from the hills in that direction, and made the +place watery in the winter season. + +Now, what are the facts remaining at the present day? Upon the same +plain with Cuf'r Saba, and within sight of it, at hardly six miles' +distance, is a large mound capable of containing a small town, with +foundations of ancient buildings, bits of marble, Roman bricks, and +tesserae scattered about,--but especially a large strong castle of +Saracenic work, the lower courses of the walls of real Roman +construction; and at the foot of the mound rises the river _Aujeh_ out of +the earth in several copious streams, crowded with willows, tall wild +canes, and bulrushes,--the resort of numerous flocks, and of large herds +of horned cattle brought from a distance, and (as I have seen there) +counted by the Government inspector of the district, for the levying of +agricultural taxes upon them. {133} This is our Ras el 'Ain. + +For a considerable extent there is capital riding-ground of green grass, +so rare in Palestine. Let any one familiar with that country answer, +Could Herod have selected a better spot for a military station, (as +Antipatris was,) just on the border, descending from the hill-country +upon the plain? With this description in view, we understand all the +more vividly the narrative of Felix sending St Paul to Caesarea. To +elude the machinations of the conspiracy, the military party travelled by +night over the hilly region; and on reaching the castle of Antipatris, +the spearmen and other soldiers left him to continue the journey with +cavalry upon the plain to Caesarea, about three hours farther, (Acts +xxiii. 23, and 31, 32.) + +It seems impossible to avoid the conclusion that this is the true site of +Antipatris; and as for Josephus calling that neighbourhood "the plain of +Cuf'r Saba," that must be for the same reason as another part of the same +vast extent was called the Plain of Sharon,--or as it is now very much +the custom for modern travellers to call the whole Philistine plain by +that name. + +As for the statement that a river encompassed the city itself; I imagine +that the town was not upon the elevated mound,--this was probably +occupied by military works and a temple,--but upon the level of the +water, among the serpentine separate streams, which soon combine into one +river, the Aujeh, with its water-mills, and which was navigable for some +distance inland to the north of Jaffa. In the course of ages some of +these streams may have somewhat changed their direction. The mound has +still a dry trench around it, which must have anciently had its current +of water through it. + +It cannot be that the deep trench dug by Alexander from Antipatris to the +sea (Antiq. xiii. 15, I, Whiston) can have begun at this village of Cuf'r +Saba, where no water rises, and which is far away from the hills in an +open plain. Although the words are distinctly, "from Capharzaba," the +trench must have originated at the river head, _i.e._, Antipatris, where +there was a fortified castle, and passed round the nearest town, viz., +that of Cuf'r Saba. + +I should observe, that not only Herod did well in selecting this spot for +a castle, because of its situation on the verge of the mountains, +commanding the road from Jerusalem to either Caesarea or Joppa; but +because it lies also upon the direct caravan track between Damascus and +Egypt, nearly at right angles with the other road. + +The ruined Saracenic khan which now stands on the foundations of the +Roman castle, is of large size, and has a broken mosque in the centre of +the enclosure. + +We rested and breakfasted, from our own resources, (without taxing the +Arab hospitality of Shaikh Sadek's family at Mejdal,) at the springs of +the Aujeh,--the water bubbling up warm from the ground, among stones, +with aquatic birds flying over us, and the morning breeze sighing among +the gigantic reeds and the willows. + +We engaged a guide for what seemed likely to be a short day's journey to +_Ras Kerker_, the _cursi_, or metropolis, of another dominant +family--that of _Ibn Simhhan_--within the mountains; but it proved far +longer than was expected. + +We were conducted due south, yet so far away from the line of hills that +we missed the Roman temple of _M'zeera'a_, which I do not know that, to +this day, any European but myself has seen. {136} + +To _Nebi Sari_, which is a pretty weli, two hour only from Jaffa. To +_Runtieh_, which is a poor place. Then south-eastwards to _Teereh_; near +which we started a gazelle across the fields. + +In that part of the country the population has so greatly increased of +late years that there was a scarcity of land for cultivation; and at the +end of autumn the villages contest the right of ploughing there by fights +of fire-arms. + +Suddenly we turned into a valley, at an acute angle with our previous +road. This is named _Wadi el Kharnoob_--probably from some conspicuous +karoobah-tree. In ascending the hill, I looked back, and had a beautiful +prospect of Jaffa, and a white ship sailing on the sea. + +We continued ascending higher and higher. Before us was a large building +on a single hill, which they called _Dair Musha'al_. Passed the ruined +village, _Hhanoonah_. On our right hand, among trees, was _Desrah_. +Passed through _Shukbeh_. How different is the mountain air from that of +the plain, so light and so pure! + +Descended a little to _Shibtain_, where there was a great ancient well; +and being surrounded by hills, the place was very hot. Then for some +time over very dangerous paths, mounting upwards, till we reached the +region of a cool breeze, such as I once heard a peasant say was "worth a +thousand purses" on a summer's day. + +Saw _Ras Kerker_, the place of our destination, high above, in a very +remarkable situation; but how to get at it was a puzzle which patient +perseverance alone could solve. + +We rode round and round one hill after another, till we reached _Dair +'Ammar_. Then opened upon us one of those few prospects which in a +lifetime impress themselves indelibly on the mind. This was not lovely, +but stern, consisting chiefly of a wild, dark alternation of lower hills, +with the valleys between them. + +The villages hereabouts bear an appearance of prosperity--perhaps because +Turkish officials are never seen there; but the people of _Dair 'Ammar_ +behaved rudely. Down, deep deep down we went, leading our horses, in +order to rise afterwards to a higher elevation. At length we reached a +petty spring of water, where there were some dirty, but otherwise +good-looking women, who pointed out our path towards the castle at the +top of the hill. + +The _Ibn Simhhan_ people (being the great rivals of _Abu Gosh_) had often +invited me to visit them at this castle,--describing with ardour the +abundance and excellence of its springs of water, and the salubrity of +its atmosphere. + +On arriving at the "_Ras_," after a tedious and very wearisome +journey,--difficult as the place is of access,--I found it to fall far +below those promises. There are no springs near it. The only water is +brought up by the women from the one which we had passed far below. Only +within the castle (which was begun while building forty-four years +before) some old wells, with good masonry stones, were discovered. These +are now put into good order, and kept full, probably in readiness at any +time against a siege by the faction of Abu Gosh. Many battles and sieges +take place in these remote places that the Pasha of Jerusalem never hears +of. + +Although of modern origin, much of the earliest part of the castle is +already falling to decay--such as gates, steps, etc. It was a melancholy +spectacle to walk about the place, reminding one of some small +middle-aged castles that I have seen in Scotland, burnt or destroyed +during old times of civil warfare; or resembling my recollection, after +many long years, of Scott's description of the Baron Bradwardine's castle +in its later period. And the same melancholy associations recurred +yesterday at Mejdal Yaba. + +The people assured us that the tortuous and rocky road that we had taken +from Ras el 'Ain was the best and nearest that we could have taken. + +We were received by a couple of relatives of Ibn Simhhan, who is now +Governor of Lydd; but they conducted us to the next village, _Janiah_, to +be entertained there by the rest of the family. On our descent to the +village, we met our hosts coming to meet us. + +_Janiah_ is a poor place; and we had glimpses of curious groups and +scenes within the best one of the wretched houses. We were received in a +large room, to which the access was by a steep and broken set of steps +outside of the house. In the street below was a circle of the elders of +the village; and at the time of sunset, one of them mounted on the corner +of a garden wall to proclaim the _Adan_, or Moslem call to prayers. I +did not observe that he was at all attended to. + +A good number of the leading people came to visit us; and one old man +quoted and recited heaps of Arabic poetry for our entertainment while +awaiting the supper. + +Then 'Abdu'l Lateef Ibn Simhhan, joined by another, (a humbler adherent +of the family,) gave us a vivid relation of the famous battle of _Nezib_ +in 1838, and of his desertion from the Egyptian army to the Turkish with +a hundred of his mountaineers, well armed, during the night; of how the +Turkish Pasha refused to receive him or notice him till he had washed +himself in a golden basin, and anointed his beard from vessels of gold; +how the Turkish army was disgracefully routed; how he ('Abdu'l Lateef) +was appointed to guard the Pasha's harem during the flight, etc., etc. +This narrative was occasionally attested as true by a negro slave in the +room, who had been with my host on that expedition. + +The most lively fellow, however, of the party was one Hadj 'Abdallah of +Jerusalem, who has two wives, one a daughter of Ibn Simhhan, the other a +daughter of Abu Gosh!! His property in Jerusalem consists chiefly of +houses let out to Jews, whom he mimicked in their Spanish and German +dialects. + +At length came supper; then sleep. + + * * * * * + +_Saturday_, 9_th_.--Asaad Ibn Simhhan and Hadj 'Abdallah rode with us to +_Mezra'ah_ to show us some ruins of an ancient city near it, called +_Hharrasheh_, where, as they told us, there are "figures of the children +of men" cut in the rock. This roused our curiosity immensely, and I felt +sure of success in such company; for though we were in a very wild and +unknown country, we had the second greatest of the Ibn Simhhan family +with us, and the Hadji was evidently popular among them all. + +We sent on our luggage before us to Jerusalem by _Bait Unah_ and _Bait +Uksa_. + +In rather less than an hour we reached _Mezra'ah_--the journey much +enlivened by the drollery and songs of Hadj 'Abdallah. Both he and Asaad +had capital mares and ornamented long guns. The latter was all dressed +in white--the turban, abbai, etc. His face was pale, and even his mare +white. + +Arrived at the village, we all mounted to the roof of a house--the people +paying great reverence to Asaad. Gradually we found the whole population +surrounding us, and then closing nearer and nearer upon us. As the heat +of the sun increased, we descended to an arcade of the same house, at the +end of which there were some itinerant Christians mending shoes for the +people. + +A breakfast was brought to us of eggs swimming in hot butter and honey, +with the usual Arab cakes of bread. The crowd could not be kept off; and +the people themselves told us it was because they had never before seen +Europeans. + +One man asked for some gunpowder from my horn. I gave some to Asaad, and +one of the villagers took a pinch of it from him; then went to a little +distance, and another brought a piece of lighted charcoal to make it +explode on his hand. He came to me afterwards, to show with triumph what +good powder it must be, for it had left no mark on his skin. + +Ibn Simhhan had to make the people move away their lighted pipes while I +was giving him some of the precious powder. He then informed the +assembly that I had come to see _Hharrasheh_ and the sculptured figures. +They refused to allow it. He insisted that I should go; and after some +violent altercation and swearing the majority of the men ran to arm +themselves and accompany us, so as to prevent us from carrying off the +hidden treasures. + +We rode away; and at every few hundred yards places were pointed out to +us as sites of clan massacres, or wonderful legends, or surprising +escapes, in deep glens or on high hills. At one time we passed between +two cairns of stones, one covering a certain 'Ali, the other a certain +Mohammed, both slain by ---. "By whom?" said I. The Hadji gave no other +reply than pointing over his shoulder to Asaad. I felt as if transported +a couple of centuries back to the wilds of Perthshire or Argyleshire, +among the Highland clans. The local scenery was of a suitable character. + +In about forty minutes we arrived at some lines of big stones, that must +have belonged to some town of enormous or incalculable antiquity; and +this, they told us, was _Hharrasheh_. As for columns, the people told us +to stoop into a cavern; but there we could perceive nothing but a piece +of the rock remaining as a prop in the middle. "Well, now for the +figures of the children of men." The people looked furious, and +screamed. They gathered round us with their guns; but Asaad insisted; so +a detachment of them led us down the side of a bare rocky hill, upon a +mere goat-path; and at last they halted before a rough, uncut stone, +whose only distinction from the many thousands lying about, was that it +stands upright. + +Asaad observed our disappointment, and said something--I forget the exact +terms now--which led me to believe that this was not the object he had +meant, and that the ignorant, superstitious people could not be coerced. +He believed that this stone had been anciently set up with some +meaning--probably by some one who had buried treasures; not as indicating +the exact spot, but as leading in a line connected with some other +object, to the real place of concealment. + +So here the matter ended; and, when the people saw us looking +disappointed, they went away satisfied to their village. + +We parted from our friend Asaad Ibn Simhhan, taking one of the peasantry +with us to show us the way to Ram Allah, which he did through vineyards +and cheerful scenery; and we were soon again at that village after +seventeen days' absence. In about two hours more we were in Jerusalem. + + + + +III. SOUTHWARDS ON THE PHILISTINE PLAIN AND ITS SEA COAST. + + +This extensive level is the original Palestine--the Pelesheth of Exod. +xv. 14, and Isa. xiv. 29. So named because it was the country of the +Pelishtim or Philistines (of Genesis x. 14, and _passim_) in the Old +Testament history, extending from about Caesarea to Gaza, or farther +southwards, and from the Mediterranean to the hill country of Judea, west +to east. + +This district is so exclusively understood in modern times by the name +Palestine or Philistia, that a deputation of Oriental Christians coming +once on a friendly visit, inquired why upon my Arabic seal the English +consulate was designated that of "Jerusalem and Palestine," without +mention of the other territories northwards to which its jurisdiction +extended, such as Galilee. I could only answer that the ancient Romans +called the whole country around, nay, even that beyond Jordan, and as far +as Petra, by the name of Palestine, and this fact was old enough for us +now-a-days to act upon. "Oh, the Romans!" they ejaculated, with a +curious expression of countenance, as if disappointed at the mention of +such comparatively modern people. So true is it that in the Holy Land, +the Bible is the only book of history for Christians, and scriptural +incidents are the traditions which leap over any number of centuries at a +time. How little of this state of mind existing among the inhabitants of +that country is comprehended in England! + +But, in reference to the people Israel and the possession of it as the +promised land, this allotment, shared partly by each of the tribes of +Ephraim, Dan, and Judah, has a peculiar denomination--it is called the +Shephelah, (translated by the common word _vale_ in Josh. x. 40, xi. 16, +and elsewhere.) In Arabic authors also of Mohammedan period, this large +plain bears the same name, _Siphla_, meaning the same as in Hebrew, the +"low country." + +Thus, as one expanse from the hills to the sea, it bears one territorial +name, either Philistine or Hebraic, just as another region is called the +_Negeb_, or south, (see in the verses referred to above,) or as others +were designated the hill country, or the desert, or Phoenicia. And many +a time have I stood on the summits of hills to the west of Bethlehem, the +eye ranging over its extent from the vicinity of Carmel to Gaza, with +Jaffa and Ekron in front, and have sometimes seen beyond this, ships of +large size sailing past on the "great and wide sea" of the 104th Psalm. + +The ancient Philistines were not only exceptionally, but generally, a +large race of people, and the population there are to this day remarkably +tall; they are, even amid disadvantages, (that especially of want of +water,) much more cleanly in their persons and clothing than the peasants +of the hills, and many of their habits of life are modified by their +circumstances, such as the pressure of their wild Arab neighbours from +the southern desert that lies between them and Egypt. + +Over this plain I have made several journeys at different periods, and +now proceed to put down my jottings of an excursion in the spring of +1849. + + * * * * * + +_May_ 1_st_.--"Sweet May-day" in the Holy Land as well as in England. + +At Rachel's sepulchre, "in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem," we +parted from a company of friends who had ridden with us from Jerusalem, +and passed along the valley _Duhheish'mah_ to the Pools of Solomon, then +turned aside by the convent and village of _El Khud'r_ (or St George), +surrounded by flourishing vineyards. Then mounting up a stony ridge, we +came in view of the wide Philistine plain, the hills falling in +successive gradations from our feet to the level of the plain, but +separate objects could scarcely be distinguished on account of the thick +air of the prevailing Shirocco; green bushes, however, and abundant wild +flowers, including the red everlasting, pheasant's eye, cistus, and some +late anemones, were about us; the larks and the linnets were singing with +delight. + +In front was the village of _Hhusan_, and two roads led forward, that on +the left to _Nahhaleen_, _Wad Fokeen_, and _Jeba'_; this was the road +that I ought to have taken to _Bait Nateef_, our place for the night, but +being considerably ahead of our baggage mules, I had ridden on with a +kawwas, under _Hhusan_ and _Ras abu 'Ammar_; by our wayside lay a defaced +Roman milestone. + +A solitary peasant youth, from whom I inquired the names of the villages +about us, was so alarmed at the appearance of a European with a Turkish +attendant, in a place so remote from common high-roads, that he ran off; +but finding our horses keeping up with his fleet pace, he dropped behind +a large stone and levelled his gun at us in sheer terror; it was +difficult to get a rational reply from him. + +Before us, a little to our left, was _Hhubeen_, half down a hill, at the +foot of which was a valley green with waving crops of wheat and barley. + +In ten minutes more there opened a fine view of _Bait 'Atab_, in which +were some good new buildings. Before arriving at this village, which is +the chief one of the _'Arkoob_ district, ruled by _'Othman el Lehham_, I +dismounted for rest beneath a gigantic oak, where there were last year's +acorns and their cups shed around, and half a dozen saplings rising from +the ground, sheltered from the sun by being all within the shadow of the +parent tree; with arbutus bushes in every direction, wild thyme and other +fragrant herbs serving as pasture for numerous humming bees, bright +coloured bee-eaters were twittering in their swallow-like flight, and +under the soothing influence of the whole, I fell into a pleasant +slumber. + +Some boughs of "the huge oak" were decorated with bits of dirty rags +hanging upon the boughs as votive memorials of answers to prayers. +Probably the site was that of a burial-place of some personage of ancient +and local celebrity; but my attendant was positive in affirming that the +people do not pray at such stations more than at any other spot whatever. +There are many such venerated trees in different parts of the country. I +believe that the reason as well as the amount of such veneration is vague +and unsettled in the minds of the peasantry, yet the object remains a +local monument from generation to generation, honoured now, as were in +the Bible times--the oak of Deborah (Gen. xxxv. 8), the oak of Ophrah +(Judges vi. II), for instance, with others. + + "Multosque per annos + Multa virum volvens durando saecula vincit." + +By and by the groom overtook us on foot, having scoured about the +neighbourhood in search of us. After another half an hour's rest, we +followed him across very rocky and slippery hills towards the place of +our destination--dwarf shrubs of evergreen oak, honeysuckle, a spring of +water, and an old well near the village of Hhubeen, with doves cooing, +and a vulture poised in the sky above. Then a ruined village called +_Lesed_, {149} (as well as I could catch the sound from a distance,) near +which, among the shrubs, the gnats troubled our horses exceedingly as +evening drew on, which would imply the neighbourhood of water. + +Arrived at _Bait Nateef_ just at sunset, but no luggage had as yet +arrived. This is _Netophah_ in the lists of Ezra and Nehemiah. + +The chief and elders of the village were, according to custom of the +eventide, seated in a group, chattering or consulting, or calculating, +probably, about taxes, or respective shares of the common harvest, or the +alliances to be contracted for the next border-warfare, or marriages +being planned, or the dividing of inheritances, etc. My groom was +admitted into their circle, most likely welcomed as bringing the latest +news from Jerusalem, or as being able to describe this strange arrival, +and the road to be taken by us on the morrow. + +I passed forward to select a spot for pitching the tents when they and +the food should arrive. The village shaikh of course tendered all the +hospitality in his power to offer, but this was unnecessary beyond a +supply of water, milk, and eggs. + +We waited, and waited: the sun was down; the stars came out, and the moon +shone over us; but at length the mule bells became audible, and our +dwellings and supplies came up. Supper and sleep are needless to +mention. + +_Wednesday_ 2_d_.--The green hills around were enlivened by the clucking +of partridges among the bushes, and the olive-trees by the cooing of +doves. + +Leaving this position with its extensive prospect, and passing an +enormous evergreen oak we crossed a noble valley, and soon reached the +hill on which stands _Sh'weikeh_, (or _Shocoh_ in Hebrew.) This large +valley runs east to west, and is the _Elah_ of Scripture, the scene of +David's contest with Goliath--a wide and beautiful plain, confined within +two ranges of hills, and having a brook (dry at this season) winding at +half distance between them. The modern names for the vale of 'Elah are +_Musurr_, from the N.E. to near Sh'weikeh, and _Sunt_ after that. + +The plain was waving with heavy crops of wheat and barley, and the bed of +the stream, bordered by old trees of acacia, called Sunt, (in that +district called Hharaz.) These are of a brilliant green in summer, but +as there are no such trees elsewhere nearer than Egypt, or the Wadi +'Arabah, (for they require water,) the people relate a traditional +account of their origin, and say that once upon a time the country was +invaded by a king of Egypt, named Abu Zaid, bringing a prodigious army; +but on the occurrence of a sudden alarm, they decamped in such haste that +their tent-pegs were left in the ground, which, being made of Sunt wood, +struck roots at the next rainy season, and sprung up as we see them. Can +this be a confused tradition of the rout of the Philistines to Shaaraim +on the fall of Goliath? + +The vale or plain (for in Hebrew the word _Emek_ is often applied to the +latter also when lying between ranges of hills--sometimes even when they +are of considerable breadth, as at Rephaim and elsewhere) is about three +hours or twelve miles long, and spacious enough to allow of military +occupation and action; hostile armies might of course also occupy the +opposite hills. From the direction of Hebron other valleys fall into +this wide plain. On another occasion I entered it by that called _Wadi +'Arab_ or _Shaikh_, descending from _'Ain Dirweh_ and _Bezur_ or _Bait +Soor_. Wadi 'Arab is commanded at its mouth by _Kharas_ on the north and +_Nuba_ on the south. Near to the latter are the ruins of _'Elah_, which +I have no doubt gave name to the valley, and not any remarkable +terebinth-tree, as is generally guessed by commentators on the Bible, +unless, indeed, some remarkable terebinth-tree at first gave name to the +village. Neither Robinson nor Porter appears to have seen or heard of +this site of 'Elah, neither do they mention the route by the Wadi 'Arab, +which lies to the north of Wadi Soor, which they do mention. + +Southwards, but further inland, lies _Keelah_, which I suppose to be the +Keilah of 1 Sam. xxiii. I, the scene of a remarkable incident in David's +early career, before retiring to Ziph. The name is registered four +hundred years before that in Josh. xv. 44, among the cities of Judah. + +This, then, being the valley of 'Elah near to Shocoh, must have been the +scene of David and Goliath's encounter. How could the Latin monks of the +middle ages, and modern Roman Catholic travellers to Jerusalem, ever +believe that it took place at Kaloneh near that city? The perversion can +only be attributed to their ignorance concerning anything in the country +beyond the immediate vicinity of their convents. + +We halted at the ruined village of Shocoh (now made by a grammatical +diminutive form of Arabic into Sh'weikeh) after picking, each of us his +five smooth stones out of the brook, as memorials for ourselves, and for +friends far away, endeavouring at the same time to form a mental picture +of the scene that is so vividly narrated in sacred history, and familiar +to us from early childhood. + +There are now no regular inhabitants at the place; only a few persons +occasionally live in caves and broken houses about there. Some remnants +of antiquity, however, still exist, especially the wells, of fine masonry +and great depth, at the foot of the hill. This probably represents the +lower Shocoh mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome in the Onomasticon, +"_Soccho_, duo sunt vici ascendentibus Eleutheropoli AEliam in nono +milliario, alter superior, alter inferior, qui vocantur Socchoth in tribu +Judae." Some peasants wandering about brought me to the fallen lintel of +the door of a small mosque, bearing a rudely-executed Cufic-Arabic +inscription, illegible because, as they said, "it had been eaten by the +nights and days." + +Large flocks of sheep were pasturing over the stubble, (for some of the +harvest was already cut in that warm sheltered locality,) led by such +shepherd boys as David the Bethlehemite may have been, and large flights +of blue pigeons circling in short courses over our heads. Among the +demolished houses some women were churning the milk of the flocks in the +usual mode, by swinging alternately to each other a sewed up goat-skin, +(the bottle of the Old Testament, Josh. ix. 4; Judges iv. 19; Ps. cxix. +83;) a hill close at hand is crowned by a Mohammedan Weli (a kind of +solitary chapel) named _Salhhi_. + +The view in every direction is most imposing. This rough plan will give +a tolerably good idea of the Vale of 'Elah. Across the valley, opposite +to Shocoh, stands a very fine terebinth-tree. Possibly in ancient days +there were many such in the district, and so the valley and the village +of 'Elah may have acquired this name. + +_'Ajoor_ commands a view of the great plain and the sea. From that hill, +looking eastwards, the vale has a magnificent appearance as a ground for +manoeuvres of an army. + + [Picture: Plan of Vale of 'Elah] + +Near _Zacariah_ the Wadi es Sunt contains but few of those trees. We +passed close under that prosperous-looking village with its palm-tree, +mounted a rocky path, and went along a valley "covered over with corn," +(Ps. cxv. 13;) here the very paths were concealed by the exuberant grain, +so that we had to trample for ourselves a way through it. + +Emerging on the great plain, we had to wade monotonously through an ocean +of wheat. How I longed to have with me some of the blasphemers of the +Holy Land, who tell us that it is now a blighted and cursed land, and who +quote Scripture amiss to show that this is a fulfilment of prophecy. +{155} + +In many places, however, we saw how the rich produce had been trampled +down and rolled upon by camels, or by Bashi-bozuk soldiers on their +travels, after their horses were gorged to the full with gratuitous +feeding. We met a black slave of 'Othman el Lehham of Bait 'Atab, a fine +fellow, well mounted and armed, and he told us that a large part of this +wheat was his master's property. He had been travelling from village to +village upon business. His noble bearing, and his being thus +confidentially employed, reminded me of the Arabic proverb, that "Even a +Shaikh's slave is a Shaikh." + +In one place I remarked some hundred yards square of fine oats. This was +surprising, as I knew that oats are not cultivated in Palestine. The +people assured me that they were of wild growth, but they were of +excellent quality; and as the name (Khafeer) seemed to be well known, it +seems difficult to understand that oats have not been at some time +cultivated in that part of the country. With respect to its Arabic name, +it is worth notice how near it is to the German name (Hafer) for oats. +Wetzstein has since found wild oats growing on the N.E. of the Hauran. + +Arrived at _'Ain Shems_, the Beth Shemesh of the Bible, (I Sam. vi. 9, +_passim_,) where, instead of the large population of ancient times, we +found nothing but a weli and some fragments of peasant houses. + +Due north from us as we rested, lay on the summit of a hill, _Sora'a_, +which is Zorah, the birthplace of Samson, where the angel appeared to +Manoah and his wife. The people told us of _Amooriah_ to the left, but +we could not quite see it, and the same with respect to _Tibneh_, or +_Dibneh_, the Timnath of Samson's history. + +All the plain and the low hills formed one waving sheet of corn, without +divisions or trees; and often, as we had no tracks for guidance, we had +to take sight of some object on the horizon, and work straight forward +towards it. It was amid such a wonderful profusion that Samson let loose +the foxes or jackals with firebrands, taking revenge on the Philistines, +and he called it "doing them a displeasure!" I have seen from Jerusalem +the smoke of corn burning, which had accidentally taken fire in that very +district. + +On the summit of a hill, where were good square stones of old masonry, I +got into a sheepfold of stone walls, looking for antiquities; but, alas! +came out with my light-coloured clothes covered with fleas; fortunately +the clothes were not woollen. + +Further on we had _Bait Ziz_, or _Jiz_, on the right, with _Dejajeh_, or +_Edjajeh_, and _Na'ana_, or _Ra'ana_, on the left; _Khulda_ in the +distance at N.W.; a vast expanse of growing grain in every direction. + +The population hereabouts are a fine race for stature, and paler in +complexion than our peasantry on the hills; and it ought to be the +reverse, unless, as is certainly the case, they are a distinct people. + +We traversed the plain to _'Akir_, which is Ekron of Scripture, one of +the five principal cities of the Philistines, and chief place of the +worship of Baal-zebub, (2 Kings i. 3.) All our inquiries had been in +vain for any name that could possibly have been Gath. The utter +extinction of that city is remarkable--the very name disappearing from +the Bible after Micah, B.C. 730. Amos, B.C. 787, and Zephaniah, B.C. +630, mention the four other cities of the Philistines, omitting Gath. +The name never occurs in the Apocrypha or the New Testament. + +'Akir is now a very miserable village of unburnt brick; indeed, all the +villages of this district are of that material, owing to the extreme +rarity of stone. We saw women cutting bricks out of the viscous alluvial +soil, and boys swimming luxuriously in the pool of rain water settled +during winter in the excavation for bricks--quarry we might style it, if +the material were stone. There was plenty of ploughing in progress for +the summer crops of sesame, durrah, etc., and the people seemed rich in +horned cattle. + +This last feature constitutes another difference between them and the +hill country. In the mountains, where the Bedaween forays are almost +unknown, the cattle bred are principally sheep and goats. On the plains, +flocks of sheep might be easily swept off by those marauders, oxen not so +easily; the people, therefore, principally breed this species of cattle, +and instead of idle shepherd boys amusing themselves with little flutes, +and guiding the sheep by throwing stones at them, the herds here are +driven by mounted horsemen with long poles. The flatness of the country +and the frequency of oxen will serve to illustrate the exactness of Bible +narratives, particularly in the matter of the wheeled carriage and the +kine used for conveying the ark of God from this place, Ekron, to +Bethshemesh (I Sam. vi.) + +Forward we went to _Yabneh_, (Jabneel of Josh. xv. II, and Jabneh of 2 +Chron. xxvi. 6,) where it is mentioned in connexion with Gath and +Ashkelon. It was a border city of Judah, where the _Wadi Surar_, (called +here the river _Rubin_,) forms the boundary between Judah and Dan. I +think we may identify it as the "Me-Jarkon and the border that is over +against Japho," of Josh. xix. 46. It is the Jamnia, where, for a long +time after the Roman overthrow of Jerusalem, was a celebrated college of +the Talmudists, before, however, the traditions and speculations of the +rabbis were collected into volumes of Mishna and Gemara. It is believed +that the truly great and venerable Gamaliel is buried here. + + [Picture: Ancient church, now mosque, Yabneh] + +Yabneh stands on a rising ground, and although a village of sun-baked +bricks, it has remains of a Christian church, now used as a mosque, with +a tower of stone. + +While resting under a tree, awaiting the coming up of our baggage, +'Abd'errahhman Bek el 'Asali, a companion of ours from Jerusalem, threw a +stone at a young filly and cursed her, because the colours of her legs +were of unlucky omen. On such matters the native Moslems entertain +strong prejudices, which are based upon precise and well-known rules. + +On the arrival of our mules, we pitched the tents upon a pretty green +common with a row of trees; the verdure consisted of wild clover, and +leaves remaining of wild flowers--chiefly of the wild pink. It is an +Arab proverb that "Green is a portion of paradise." + +The villages in sight were _Besheet_ to the S.E., and _El Kubeibeh_ to +the N.E. Our day's journey from Bait Nateef had been one of only seven +hours, viz., from 8 A.M. to 3 P.M. + +The population seemed very industrious: they have cheerful _bayarahs_, or +enclosed orchards, and the open fields were exceedingly well cultivated. +The evening scene was most pleasing, comprising the return of flocks and +herds from pasture, and the barley-harvest coming home upon asses and +camels with bells on their necks--all enlivened by the singing or +chattering of women and children. + +As the day advanced I was happily employed at my tent door reading the +Arabic New Testament; it should have been in Hebrew at Yamnia, as being +more profitable than all the Pirke Avoth of the Talmud. At sunset our +party walked out in the fields to shoot the pretty bee-eaters. + +Of this village there is a tale current among the peasantry over the +country, which conveys an important lesson for the conduct of human life. + +An old Shaikh of Yabneh had five sons. When very old, a complaint was +brought to him that some one had stolen a cock; so he called together his +sons and ordered them all to search for the cock; but it was not found. +Some time afterwards it was represented to him that a sheep was stolen; +he then commanded his sons to go and search for the cock. They replied, +"O our father, it is not a cock but a sheep that is stolen;" but he +persisted in his command, and they did what they well could, but without +success. After that he was told that a cow was missing; he again +commanded his sons to look after the cock. They thinking he had lost his +senses, cried, "_Sallem 'akalak ya Abuna_, (May God perfect thy +understanding, O our father,) it is not a cock but a cow that is +missing." "Go look for the cock," persevered the old man; they obeyed, +but this time again without success. People wondered and thought him in +a state of mere dotage. Next came the news that a man was killed. The +father pertinaciously adhered to his first injunctions, and ordered his +sons to look for the cock. Again they returned without finding it, and +in the end it came to pass that the killing of the man brought on a blood +feud with his relations--the factions of several villages took up the +case for revenge, and the whole town was destroyed, and lay long in a +state of desolation, for want of sufficient zeal in discovering and +punishing the first offence, the stealing of the cock, which thus became +a root of all the rest. There is a good deal of wisdom contained in this +narrative or allegory, whichever it may be considered. Offenders become +emboldened by impunity, and the first beginnings should be checked. + +_Thursday_ 3_d_.--Early dew around the tents upon the green. We mounted +at half-past six. I rode up to the village and got to the top of the +tower in the village. + +After an hour and a half of level riding southwards, we arrived at a +broad old sycamore in the middle of the road. + +Another hour brought us to _Asdood_ (_Ashdod_) of the Philistines, with +_Atna_ and _Bait Duras_ on our left. I do not know where in all the Holy +Land I have seen such excellent agriculture of grain, olive-trees, and +orchards of fruit, as here at Ashdod. The fields would do credit to +English farming--the tall, healthy, and cleanly population wore perfectly +white though coarse dresses, and carried no guns, only the short sword +called the Khanjar. We rested in an orchard beneath a large +mulberry-tree, the fruit of which was just setting, and the adjacent +pomegranate-trees shone in their glazed foliage and bright scarlet +blossoms, the hedges of prickly pear were bursting into yellow fruit, +palm-trees rising beyond, the sky was of deep sapphire brilliancy, and +the sun delightfully hot. + +Here then had been the principal temple of the fish-god Dagon, which fell +nightly in presence of the Israelitish ark. Not the only temple, +however, for there is still a village near Jaffa with the name of _Bait +Dajan_, and another still further north, in the same plain, but in the +Nabloos district. Strange that this temple of Dagon at Ashdod should +have survived and preserved its worship so late as nearly to the +Christian era, when it was burnt by Jonathan the Jerusalem high priest, +(Josephus Ant., xiii. 4, 4; Macc. x. 84.) + +Ought not Gath to be sought between this, and Ekron, according to 1 Sam. +v.? See also 2 Chron. xxvi. 6. + +Soon after remounting we arrived at the ruin of a fine old _Khan_, one of +the numerous establishments of the kind upon the camel road from Damascus +to Egypt, but now every one of them is broken and unfit for use. There +was a noble column of granite lying across the gateway, and two Welies +close adjoining. + +Reached _Hhamameh_ at 11 A.M., from which we turned aside through lanes +of gardens, and over deep sand towards _'Ascalon_, leaving _Mejdal_ on +our left, with its lofty tower rising over an extensive plantation of +olive-trees. This tower is believed to be of Moslem erection. Passing +another village on our left, we at length came to _Jurah_, a wretched +brick hamlet, stuck as it were against the ancient walls of 'Ascalon. + +We were on the sea-beach at noon. Upon this beach lie stupendous masses +of overthrown city wall, and numerous columns of blue-gray granite of no +very imposing dimensions. A great number of these have been at some time +built horizontally into those walls, from which their ends protrude like +muzzles of cannon from a modern fortification. This arrangement, with +the same effect, is also found at Tyre, Caesarea, and other places along +the coast. + +The site or lie of the city is principally in two hollow basins, in which +the detrition of houses forms now a soil for grain, for fruit gardens and +good tobacco. + +We were shown the ruins of what the people call "the Church," where there +are several very large columns of polished granite lying prostrate, but +neither there nor elsewhere could any capitals be found belonging to the +columns. All over the East such objects are appropriated by townspeople +as ornaments inside the houses, especially at the mouths of wells. + +The people pointed out to us from a distance the spot where H. E. Zareef +Pasha had lately obtained the marble slab of bas-relief, which he sent to +the museum at Constantinople. + +The walls of 'Ascalan are clearly distinguishable in all their circuit, +and have been of great thickness. + +The position of this "Bride of Syria," as the Saracens designated it, is +very fine, and the prospect around must have been beautiful; but of this +prize of so many sieges and neighbouring battles, the joy of Richard +Coeur de Lion, where he laboured with his own hands in repairing the +broken walls, only its name with the scriptural and later romantic +history remain to claim our attention, and verify the prediction of the +prophet Zephaniah, ii. 4-6. + +I found no coins there, and none were brought to me; only some were +brought to me in an after-journey at Mejdal; I therefore pass by for this +time the classical allusions to the fish goddess, Deceto. A beautiful +head of a female statue, but blackened by fire, brought from Ascalon, has +since been sold to me, which I delivered to our museum. + +We remained there an hour, then rode to _Naaleea_. The fine plain over +which we galloped must have had many an English rider upon it in the +Crusading times--many a man who never saw "merrie England" again, even in +company with King Richard. + +_Naaleea_, though built of brick, bears an appearance of real +cleanliness; the olive plantation from Mejdal reaches thus far. + +The barley reaped at _Berberah_ was, I believe, the finest I have ever +seen; and there were pretty roads winding among olive groves, orchards +well enclosed by prickly-pear hedges, with bee-eaters skimming and +twittering before us. + +_Bait Jirja_ on the left; then after a good while _Bait Hhanoon_ also on +the left. + +Reached _Ghuzzeh_ (Gaza) at 5 P.M. The very remarkable approach is by an +avenue of at least a mile long, very wide like a boulevard, through an +immense park of olive grounds, with the city for an object of vista at +the end. + +We encamped on the further side of Gaza, having the old reservoir called +_Birket el Basha_ between us and the Lazaretto. + +Cheerful scene of camels and asses bearing the barley-harvest home, +attended by women and children; small flocks of sheep also, with their +shepherd lads playing sweet and irregular airs on their _nayahs_. + +_Friday_ 4_th_.--I resolved to stay here over Sunday. + +The morning was cool, and though our situation was entirely unsheltered, +I judged even the risk of exposure to the noontide sun, when it should +arrive, not to be refused, while it gave us the blessings of free air +from the sea and delivery from mosquitoes, which would certainly have +plagued us under the shade of the fruit-trees. There was a mean suburb +in front of our position, tenanted solely by Egyptians. + +The sound of the distant sea rolling on the beach (though this was out of +sight,) was music to my ears. Near us was a fence of the prickly-pear, +(named _Saber_, or "patience" in Arabic.) One of our party referred to +its extraordinary degree of vitality, even under disadvantageous +circumstances. "Yes," replied the 'Asali, "she has drunk of the water of +life." + +I went to visit the Lazaretto, and while conversing with the doctor (M. +Esperon,) and the Turkish superintendent, four wild Arabs were brought +in, their hands fettered and chains on their legs, accused of striking a +soldier near _Khan Yunas_. When identified by witnesses merely uttering +two or three words, they were removed, cruelly pushed about in their +chains and beaten on the head by the soldiers, who enjoyed the cowardly +fun which they would not dare to perpetrate had the fine tall fellows had +their limbs at liberty. + +The captain of the Bashi-bozuk, having called at my tents with his +mounted troop, followed me to the Lazaretto. + +Returning home, and after some rest, or rather a visit from some Greek +Christians which gave me no rest, I went to visit the newly-arrived +kaimakam, or governor, one of the celebrated 'Abdu'l-Hadi family of +Nabloos. His divan room was crowded with visitors of congratulation: +such as shaikhs of villages, and some dignified Arab chiefs; the latter +interceding on behalf of the men recently captured by the quarantine +people; the former soliciting their official investitures for their +several districts. The house was exceedingly mean and shattered, but +this medley of visitors formed an interesting subject of study. + +I next visited the kadi, (judge,) who was holding his court in the open +air, with a canvas screen to shelter his head from the sun, in the midst +of orchards and a flower garden. A cause, in which some women were +vociferating and screeching in Arabic, (to which that language lends +peculiar facility,) was suspended in order to receive my visit, and the +litigants had to remain in silence at some distance till I left, +returning to the tents. + +All the people here praise the air and water of Gaza, and declare that +disease of any kind is nearly unknown, except ophthalmia, which, of +course, can be generally prevented. Provisions are said to be cheap; but +the bread, as sold in the market, not so good as in Jerusalem or Nabloos. +Probably their excellent wheat is exported to a distance. + +_Saturday_, 5_th_.--Rode southwards on a day's excursion to Khan Yunas, +with my people and an escort of two of the quarantine Bashi-bozuk. One +of these, named Hadji Ghaneem, was a hardy old fellow, encircled by +pistols and swords; his old gun, that was slung at his back, had the +rusty bayonet fixed, perhaps fixed by the rust. The other, Hadji +Khaleel, was an amusing companion, with plenty to tell and fond of +talking. + +Started before 7 A.M., passing between cornfields, with numerous larks +trilling in the air. + +At some distance we came to a low hill lying on our right hand, all the +ground about being mere sea sand drifted inland. This is called +_Tell-ul-'Ejel_, "the Calf's Hill," so named from its being haunted by +the ghost of a calf, which no one has yet laid hold of, but whenever this +shall be accomplished the fortunate person will come into possession of +the boundless treasures concealed within the hill. Some say that this +good luck will happen to any one that is favoured with a dream of the +calf three times in succession. All our party professed to believe the +local tradition, especially one who had been in Europe, and from whom +such credulity had been less expected; but he was sure that some tales of +that nature are well founded, and if so, why not this? In my opinion, it +is probably a superstition connected with some ancient form of idolatry. + +Half-way along our journey we came to a village called _Ed Dair_, (the +convent, perhaps the _Dair el Belahh_ of the list;) but this appellation +Dair is often given to any large old edifice of which the origin is +unknown. Here was a loop-holed Moslem tower occupied by twenty men of +the Bashi-bozuk. Such towers are called _Shuneh_ in the singular, +_Shuan_ in the plural. + +_Khan Yunas_ is a hamlet of unburnt bricks, dirty and ruinous, which is +not always the case with other villages of that material; the reason of +this being so, I suppose to be, that most of its few houses are inhabited +by Turkish soldiers. This is the last station southwards held by the +sultan's forces, the next, _El Areesh_, being an Egyptian outpost. I was +desirous of visiting that place had time allowed, not only for the +satisfaction of curiosity on the above account, but in order to get some +idea from ocular inspection whether the little winter stream or Wadi +there could ever have been the divinely-appointed boundary of the land +promised to Abraham and his seed for ever. My prepossession is certainly +to the contrary. + +However, I rode ten minutes beyond Khan Yunas, and sat to rest in a field +beneath a fig-tree; the day was hot and brilliant, but there was a fine +breeze coming in from the sea. The scene was picturesque enough, for +there was a mosque-minaret and a broken tower rising behind a thick grove +of palm-trees and orchards of fig, vine and pomegranate--a high bank of +yellow sand behind the houses of the village, and the dark blue +Mediterranean behind that. + +With respect to the name of the place, there are many such in the +country, and it is a mistake to ridicule the Moslems for believing in all +of them as true sites of the large fish vomiting out Jonah, which they do +not. These are, I believe, merely commemorative stations, and we are not +in the habit of ridiculing Christians for having several churches under +the same appellation; also it is not quite certain that all the Welies +named after Yunas (Jonas) or Moosa (Moses) do refer to the Old Testament +prophets. There have been Mohammedan reputed saints bearing those names. + +Near this place is a village called _Beni Seheela_. On the return we +left behind us the old Hadji Ghaneem, with his brown bayonet, and took a +nearer road to Gaza, not so close to the sea as that by which we had left +it. It was an easy pleasant ride, and there were barley crops almost all +the way. We reached the tents in three hours from Khan Yunas. + +At sunset, which is the universal dinner time in the east, I went to dine +with the Governor Mohammed 'Abdu'l Hadi; it was a miserable degrading +scene of gorging the pilaff with the hands and squeezing the butter of it +through the fingers, without even water for drink supplied by the +servants. The guests were about a dozen in number, and they were crowded +so closely round the tinned tray as only to admit of their right arms +being thrust between their neighbours, in order to do which the sleeves +had to be tucked back; there was but little conversation beyond that of +the host encouraging the guests to eat more. + +Previous to eating, the governor and his younger brother performed their +prayers in brief, after experiencing some difficulty in finding the true +Kebleh direction for prayer, the rest of the company gossiping around +them all the time. Above our heads was suspended a rude copper lamp, and +the terrace just outside the door was occupied by slaves and other +attendants; boughs of adjoining palms and other trees were softly stirred +by an evening breeze, and the imperial moon shone over all. + +After washing of hands and a short repose, (the other guests smoking of +course their chibooks and narghilehs, and chatting upon topics of local +interest,) I asked leave, according to Oriental etiquette, to take my +departure. + +_Sunday_, 6_th_.--Read the eighth chapter of Acts in Arabic, and some of +our English liturgy in that noble language, with one of my companions. I +feel certain, concerning the dispute whether the word [Greek word] +(desert) in the twenty-sixth verse of the above chapter, refers to the +city or to the road, that the true sense of the passage is this, "Go +toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto +Gaza"--_i.e._, the way which is desert or free from towns and +villages--as in Matt. iii. 1, and other places where the word in question +does not imply the common European idea of any desolate wilderness. + +I enjoyed a Sabbath stillness during most of the day, the people having +been instructed that English Christians observe the Lord's-day with more +serious composure than it is the habit of native Christians to do. + +In the afternoon, however, the governor came on a visit with a long train +of attendants mounted on beautiful horses, for which, indeed, this +district is famed--there were specimens of Manaki, Jilfi, K'baishan, +Mukhladiyeh, etc., etc. Mohammed, of course, discoursed as well as he +could on European politics, and stayed long. + +After his departure I strolled to look at some short columns of marble +standing on a slight swell of ground; they are now inscribed to the +memory of certain Moslem martyrs in battle of our fourteenth century, +_i.e._, about seven centuries after the Hej'ra. These columns look very +much as if they had been taken from some old Christian church, then each +sawn into halves, and each of the halves partly sliced on one side to +receive the inscription. + +After sunset I dined with old Ibrahim Jahhshan, and his numerous +household, (the principal one of the Christian families,) and a troop of +friends. It was not a better entertainment than that of the kaimakam +yesterday; perhaps, it would not be desirable for him to surpass the +constituted authority of the city in such matters. + +Among the company was the Nazir el Aukaf, (the superintendent of +mosque-endowment property,) also a Durweesh from Lahore, consequently a +British subject,--he was full of fun, and wanted me to make him a present +of some fulminating balls and crackers; he assured me that in the Hharam +(sanctuary, commonly called the Mosque of Omar,) at Jerusalem, there were +at least thirty such British subjects as himself residing, including his +own brother. A Turkish soldier present drank wine, as soon as the +commissioner for inquiring into the delinquencies of the late governor +had turned his back upon the table. + +Before dinner I had accompanied the family to the church, (Greek rite,) +where the priest was waiting to receive me. It was a poverty-stricken +edifice, purposely kept so, in order to obviate the envy and malice of +the Mohammedans; and all the Christians that I saw in Gaza were a +stupid-looking people; they are few in number, and grievously oppressed +by their numerous Moslem fellow-townsmen, being far away from the notice +of consuls. One cannot but regard with compassion a people who have for +ages endured suffering for the name of Christ, while facilities are +offered for acquiring wealth and honour by apostasy. Generation after +generation remains still as firm in their Christian creed as those before +them, and now perhaps more so than ever. + +I was surprised to learn that it is only about two generations since the +Samaritans ceased to be a sect in Gaza, with their place of worship--they +are now found nowhere but in Nabloos. + +There is a slave-traffic in Gaza; but it only consists in the consignment +of articles already commissioned for in Egypt, on behalf of private +purchasers in Syria--at least, so the world is given to understand. The +boundary of the two countries is so near that the Arabic dialect spoken +here nearly approaches the Egyptian. + +I made some inquiries as to the popular ideas on the achievements of +Samson at Gaza, but only obtained such uncertain and even contradictory +answers, that on this journey it did not seem worth while to take any +great trouble on the subject; but I certainly had not expected to get +better information from either the Mohammedans or from the poor ignorant +Christians there. + +The night was most beautiful, with full moonlight streaming, and stars +peering between the swaying fronds of the lofty palm-trees, which grow +more luxuriantly in Gaza then I had seen elsewhere. + +The muleteers singing around their watch-fire. + +_Monday_, 7_th_.--Tents struck and march commenced at 7 A.M. We returned +through the great avenue by which we had arrived, but soon diverged upon +the road to Hebron. + +Alongside of _Bait Hhanoon_ by half-past eight, where there was abundance +of bee-eaters, and these imply fruit-trees. 'Abd'errahhman tried to +shoot some, but failed, having no small shot, but only bullets for his +gun. + +At nine we left _Timrah_ a little on our left. The people everywhere +busied in reaping barley--a very lively scene; the reapers, as usual all +over Palestine, wearing large leather aprons exactly like those used by +blacksmiths in England, only unblackened by the forge; the women had face +veils of the Egyptian pattern. Cows, goats, and sheep were feeding at +liberty in the fields upon the new stubble. + +In thirty-five minutes more we arrived at _Semsem_, leaving _Bait Nejed_ +on the right. + +At five minutes past ten we reached _B'rair_, near which we rested for an +hour, the day being very sultry, under an old tamarisk-tree, which on the +plains instead of _Turfa_ is called _Itil_. + +An intelligent old man named 'Ali came up to me from the reaping and +conversed much on the sad condition of agricultural affairs, complaining +of the cruel oppression suffered by the peasantry from their petty local +tyrants, and entreated me if I had any means of letting the Sultan of +Constantinople know of it, that I would do so. He particularly described +the exactions they had to endure from Muslehh el 'Az'zi of Bait Jibreen, +and all his family. + +Thence passing over an extensive plain, we had in sight for a long time a +distant Dair (so-called convent) and village of _Karateen_, also at one +time a village called _Hhata_. + +At twenty minutes to one we reached _Falooja_; the heat had become +intense, and incessant swarms of black stinging flies annoyed our horses +beyond patience. In fact the Philistine plain (which, however, we were +now soon to leave) was always noted for the plague of flies, and this +gave rise to the ancient deprecatory worship of Baal-zebub, "the lord of +flies," by that people; there is still a village upon the plain named +_Dair ed Duban_, "the convent (or temple) of flies." Later in the summer +this plague is said to be so intolerable to horses and animals of burden +that travelling is only attempted there by night-time. + +At length came a rustling noise along the fields and rain fell slowly in +drops large as good teaspoonfuls, yet the heat was so great that my coat +of nearly white linen did not for some time show marks of wetness; a +black cloud from which the water fell accompanied us along the line of +route, and the rain from it increased. + +Over the plain going eastwards we had for a long time in view a rocky +hill with a Weli crowning its summit; on our right, _i.e._ southwards, a +conspicuous object, and called _'Arak Munshiyah_ (the rock of Munshiyah.) +This is not to be confounded with the similar cliff cropping out of the +plain, but upon our left, and called _Tell es Safieh_. + +We noticed several deserted villages with small breastworks and turrets +of loose construction remaining where the peasantry had of late resisted +the raids of the southern Bedaween, but unsuccessfully. We were told by +a solitary foot-passenger of such incursions having taken place only a +day or two before, whereupon our muleteers took fright and hurried on +apace. We all examined the state of our firearms, while the storm was +driving furiously in our faces. + +The rain was over as we reached _Bait Jibreen_, just after 3 P.M. This +important place was our station for the day. We pitched in an eligible +situation under a line of olive-trees at some distance from the houses, +in view of the principal antique buildings. The principal people came +out to welcome us, especially 'Abdu'l 'Azeez, the brother of the Nazir +Shaikh Muslehh, for whom I had brought a letter of recommendation from +the governor of Gaza. + +We were fatigued as much as anything from the effect of the shirocco +wind. Then dark clouds from a distance with thunder surrounded us. As +the time of sunset approached, the preparations for dinner were +interrupted by the driving of a heavy shirocco, low, near the ground, +which soon became so strong that the tents began to tumble over, and we +took refuge in the house of 'Abdu'l 'Azeez; there was, however, no rain. + +Here then I was lodged in a house of sun-baked bricks plastered inside +with mud, but as clean as such a house could possibly be. There were +cupboard recesses in the walls, a fireplace and chimney, wooden nails +driven into "sure places" in the walls, (see Isa. xxii. 23,) strange +scratches of blue and red painting in fancy scrolls, etc.; a raised +Mastabah or dais, and a lower part of course near the door, for guests to +leave their shoes there; the whole being roofed by a few strong beams +wattled between with faggot-wood. A piece of ancient marble lay across +the doorway. + +The very rudely fabricated lamp was lighted from a huge clump of wood +taken burning from the hearth. Dinner as uncivilised but as hospitable +as could be expected at half-past nine. I should have had my own long +before but for the tempest outside. + +News arrived that eighty people from _Kuriet el 'Aneb_ (the well-known +village of Abu Gosh on the Jerusalem road from Jaffa) were escaping to us +across the hills, on account of troubles at their home. + +Then we very soon lay down to sleep. + +_Tuesday_ 8_th_.--'Abdu'l 'Azeez and his two young sons escorted us in +looking over the ruins of old Eleutheropolis, as their town was called in +the period of early Christianity. These consist of a church near the +great well, another on a hill farther eastwards called St Anna, or, as +the Arabs pronounce it, _Sandanna_, and numerous extensive caverns, +probably enlargements by art from nature. + +The former church has a roof remaining only over one of the aisles; the +ground plan of the whole edifice is, however, sufficiently marked out by +the fragments of columns _in situ_. + +St Anna is larger and more perfect than this; the semicircular apse is +entire, and there are remains of other buildings attached to the church. +It stands on high ground, and commands a very fine prospect. + +The caverns are formed in the substance of chalk hills, often in a +circular form, with a rounded roof, through which an aperture admits both +air and daylight. Antiquarians are puzzled to account for the origin of +these, as they are too numerous and capacious to be needed for supply of +water; besides that in common times the large well and aqueducts that +bring water from a distance would suffice for that purpose. They are +likewise too extensive and deep to be required for magazines of grain, +such as the villages on the open plains cut into the underground rocks +for preservation of their food from the raids of the Bedaween; perhaps, +however, some were used for one of these purposes and some for the other. + +Near the entrance of one of these excavations, in which there are +passages or corridors with running ornament sculptured along each side, +we found figures (now headless, of course, since the Moslem conquest) +resembling church saints in Europe--one, indeed, had its head remaining, +though disfigured, and the arms posed in the manner of the Virgin Mary +when holding the infant Saviour. These were sculptured in the chalk rock +itself, and standing in niches hollowed behind them. If these were +really what they seemed to be, they must have been made in the era of the +Latin kingdom, for the Oriental Christians have never made _images_ of +the saints. + +In two other of these caverns, high up on their sides or within the +cupola, we saw short inscriptions of black paint, (if I remember +rightly,) the large characters of which had very much the general forms +of Cufic-Arabic, but not the Cufic of the old coins. There was also an +ornamented cross in this cupola, and other crosses in other chambers. We +were totally unable to satisfy ourselves as to how the inscriptions could +have been written at such inaccessible heights. Certainly the present +race of people are unable even to deface them, were they disposed to do +so. + +One excavation we entered with some trouble near the top, and out of some +labyrinthine passages we descended a spiral staircase, with a low wall to +hold by in descending, all cut into the solid but soft rock; there were +also small channels for conducting water from above to the bottom--these +demonstrate the use of the whole elaborate work in this instance, namely +for holding water. + +Returning to rest awhile in the house, 'Abdu'l 'Azeez assured me that +immensely tall as he is, he had had eight brothers, all at least equal to +himself; most of them had been killed in their faction battles, and his +father, taller than himself, had died at the age of thirty-one. His sons +could neither read nor write; they at one time made a beginning, but the +teacher did not stay long enough to finish the job. "However," said he, +pointing to the one sitting by us, perhaps ten years of age, "he can ride +a mare so that none of our enemies can possibly overtake him." + +We left Bait Jibreen soon after 9 A.M., riding through a grove of olives, +and soon arrived alongside of _Dair Nahhaz_, {182} and afterwards +_Senabrah_. By noon we were quite off the plain, and entering a +beautiful green valley bounded by cliffs of rock sprinkled with dwarf +evergreen oak and pines, the spaces between them being filled up with +purple cistus, yellow salvia, and other flowers. This continued for an +hour, by which time we had gradually attained a considerable elevation, +where we had our last survey for that journey of the Philistine plain and +its glorious long limit, the Mediterranean Sea. + +In another quarter of an hour we rested among the wreck of _Khirbet en +Nasara_, (ruins of the Christians,) not far from Hebron. Thence I +despatched a messenger to my old friend the Pakeed (agent in temporal +affairs) of the Sephardim Jews in the city, and he sent out provisions to +my halting-place under the great oak, above a mile distant from Hebron. + +In regard to the researches after the lost site of Gath, I may mention +that on a later visit to Bait Jibreen, I got Shaikh Muslehh (the +government Nazir, and the head of his family) to tell me all the names of +deserted places he could recollect in his neighbourhood. I wrote from +his dictation as follows, but it does not seem that the object of inquiry +is among them. In Arabic the name would most probably be _Jett_ or +_Jatt_. + + +Merash. Munsoorah. Umm Saidet. +Sagheefah. Shemaniyeh. 'Arak Hala. +Lahh'm. Shaikh Aman. 'Attar. +Kobaibeh. Obeyah. St Anna. +Fort. Ghutt. Judaidah. +Martosiyah. Ahhsaniyeh. Ilmah. + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. HEBRON TO BEERSHEBA, AND HEBRON TO JAFFA. + + +In August 1849 I left my large family encampment under the branches of +the great oak of Sibta, commonly called Abraham's oak by most people +except the Jews, who do not believe in any Abraham's oak there. The +great patriarch planted, indeed, a grove at Beersheba; but the "_Elone +Mamre_" they declare to have been "plains," not "oaks," (which would be +_Allone Mamre_,) and to have been situated northwards instead of +westwards from the present Hebron. With a couple of attendants I was +bound for Beersheba. The chief of the quarantine, not having a soldier +at home, gave us a peasant to walk with us as far as the _Boorj_, +(Tower,) with a letter of _our own_ handwriting in his name, addressed to +the guard there, directing them to escort us further. + +Scrambling up a steep rough lane, due south from the tree, with vineyards +on either side richly laden with fruit, and occasional sumach-trees +bearing bright red berries, we were rewarded on the summit by a vast +prospect of country, hilly before us in the south, Moab and Edom +mountains to the left, and Philistia plains with the Mediterranean on the +right. + +All nature was revived by the evening sea-breeze, and the sun in +undiminished grandeur was retiring towards his rest. + +On a summit like this, with a wide expanse laid out for survey, there are +large and lively ideas to be conceived in matters of Scriptural +geography. Consider, for instance, on that spot Psalm cviii., with its +detail of territories one after another. That "psalm of David" declares +that God in His holiness had decreed the future dispensations of +_Shechem_, (there is its position, Nabloos, in the north of the circular +landscape;) then the _valley of Succoth_, (there it is, the Ghor, or vale +of the Jordan,) coasting between _Gilead_, _Manasseh_, and _Ephraim_; +also _Moab_, with its springs of water, where He would (speaking in human +poetic language) wash His feet, at the period of treading with His shoe +over _Edom_: that remarkable event paralleled in the Prophecy of Isaiah +lxiii., when, in apparel dyed red from Bozrah, the conqueror tramples +down the people in his anger. The Psalmist then has to triumph over +_Philistia_, that large Shephelah stretched between us and the +sea--concluding with the exclamation, "Who will bring me into the strong +city (Petra)? who will lead me into Edom?" + +All this was accomplished by the providence of God in the history of +David, that shepherd boy of Bethlehem, at whose coronation all Israel was +gathered together at Hebron, just behind the spectator on this eminence. + +To return, however, from the solemnity of these historical meditations to +the commonplace transactions of the journey, we had to carry on a +considerable amount of wrangling with the muleteers, who were continually +allowing their animals to stumble, and the ropes of the luggage to come +loose, so that the things fell to the ground; I sent them back, and we +proceeded without tents or bedding, only two blankets and our cloaks. +The true reason of the men's behaviour lay in their dread of being +attacked by wild Arabs, and having their animals carried off. + +It was about sunset, and our track lay over plains of arable land, +between hills clothed with the usual dwarf evergreens, of baloot, +arbutus, etc., then over eminences with tall fragrant pines, and the +evening breeze sighing among their branches, such as I had only once +heard since leaving Scotland, and that was in the Lebanon. Old stumps +and half trunks of large trees standing among myriads of infantile +sprouts of pines attested the devastation that was going on, by means of +the peasantry, for making of charcoal, and for supplying logs to the +furnaces of Hebron, where very rude manufactures of glass are carried on. + +Along a glen which opened into an arable plain with stubble of millet +(durrah) remaining, but no village near. There we met a party of Arab +women, and after them a boy mounted on a camel, who informed us that he +was coming from _Merj-ed-Dom_, lying between us and _Samua'_, where there +are remains of antiquity, such as large doorways, cisterns, etc. + +The country was all level enough for carriages; and it is probable that +all the way in the south is practicable in like manner, for we know that +Joseph sent carriages from Egypt to his father at Beersheba. + +The _Boorj_ is simply a look-out tower, now used for quarantine purposes, +ridiculous as they may be in the pure air of the desert. + +There are relics of a village about it; but as the people are living in +caverns rather than taking pains to rebuild their houses, we may infer +that they do not feel secure on the very last remnant of fixed +habitations towards the great southern wilderness, although under Turkish +government. + +They are, however, kept in considerable awe of the petty officers +stationed there; for when one of our party was impatient at the intrusion +of a cat near our supper cloth, the people besought us not to injure the +animal, seeing that it was the property of the _Dowleh_ (Government.) +They furnished us with eggs and milk; and, after our meal, we lay down on +the leeward side of the town, to await the rising of the moon. We had a +fire burning near us, its red light flickering over the wild scene; the +sky with its milky-way over our heads, and the polar star in the +direction of England, fixed in its well-known place. + +The villagers had their own chatting round the watchfire, discussing +local politics, chiefly, as to whether 'Abderrahhman the governor of +Hebron was likely to accept the Pasha's invitation to meet 'Abdallah Wafa +Effendi, who was sent with overtures of reconciliation between the +brothers of the Amer family. This being a question that bore very nearly +on their personal interests. + +I awoke just as the moon gleamed in the east, but did not arouse the +youths for another half hour, till I became apprehensive of evil effects +from their sleeping in the moonlight. + +After coffee we mounted and went forward, escorted by two of the +quarantine guardians. There were no more hills, but the remaining +country was all of hard untilled ground, with sprinklings of tamarisk and +kali bushes, which showed we were entering on a new botanical region. + +Arrived at an Arab encampment, where our escort were obliged to hire the +shaikh for showing us the way, as they either did not know it, or, which +I believe the more probable, did not dare to take travellers over his +land without his sharing in the profits, even though they were officials +of quarantine. He soon came up, riding a fine mare of the Saklawi race, +and his spear over the shoulder, glittering in the moonlight. His name +was _Ayan_, and his people were a small offset from the great _Tiyahah_ +tribe. We passed several other such stations, of which we were always +made aware beforehand by the barking of their dogs, and by seeing the +camels browsing or reposing at a little distance from the tents. + +As the night advanced, the mist rose and increased till the stars were +obscured and the moon scarcely perceptible; our clothes also became +nearly wet through. + +We reached Beersheba (now called _Beer-es-Seba_) perhaps a couple of +hours before daylight, and after sharing some food, wrapt the blankets +over our heads, and lay down with our heads against the parapet stones of +the great well, and fell asleep, notwithstanding the cold wet mist. + +I rose before the sun, and wrote two letters to friends in England by +morning twilight. + +The mist disappeared as the glorious sun came forth; and we walked about +to survey the place. The wide plain around was disused arable land, +showing in some places some stubble from a recent harvest, but only in +small patches, which in the early spring must have been cheerful to the +sight. + +Near us was a pretty water-course of a winter torrent, shallow and +comparatively wide, but then quite dry. + +The great well has an internal diameter at the mouth of twelve feet six +inches, or a circumference of nearly forty feet. The shaft is formed of +excellent masonry to a great depth until it reaches the rock, and at this +juncture a spring trickles perpetually. Around the mouth of the well is +a circular course of masonry, topped by a circular parapet of about a +foot high. And at a distance of ten or twelve feet are stone troughs +placed in a concentric circle with the well, the sides of which have deep +indentions made by the wear of ropes on the upper edges. + +The second well, about 200 yards farther south, is not more than five +feet in diameter, but is formed of equally good masonry, and furnishes +equally good water. This is the most common size of ancient wells +throughout Palestine. + +Two other wells of proportions about equal to the first well were shown +us, but they are filled to the brim with earth and stones; and Shaikh +Ayan told us of two others. The barbarous practice of filling up wells +from motives of hostility was adopted at this place very soon after +Abraham had dug them. (Gen. xxvi. 15, etc.) Who can tell how often +these have been opened, closed and opened again? + +All Arab-speaking people wish to count neither more nor less than seven +wells here, and so create the name _Seba_; but even in this way the +etymology would not hold good, for the term _seven wells_ would be _Seba +Bear_, not _Beer-es-Seba_. From the Hebrew history, however, we know how +the designation was first given. Gen. xxi. 31, "Wherefore he called that +place Beersheba, because there they _sware_ both of them," _i.e._, +Abraham and Abimelech. Yet it deserves notice that the verb _to swear_ +is identical with the numeral _seven_; and in the three preceding verses +we find Abraham ratifying the oath by a sacrifice of _seven_ ewe-lambs as +a public guarantee for the fulfilment of the conditions; the killing of +lambs with this view is a usage which still obtains in the country. + +On a rising ground near the wells are scattered lines of houses, covering +a considerable space; but all that now appears is of inferior +construction, and of no importance. + +Soon after sunrise the Arabs of the vicinity came to water their flocks +and camels at the troughs. Young men stripping themselves nearly naked, +two at each well, pulled up goat-skins of water by the same rope, hand +over hand, and singing in loud merriment, with most uncivilised screams +between the verse lines. These men were of very dark complexion--not +quite black, but nearly so. + +There were linnets singing also, but in far more agreeable melody; but +where they could be was more than I could discover--not a tree or a shrub +was within sight-distance. + +After an hour we commenced our return by a different route from that of +our arrival. Shaikh Ayan and Hadj 'Othman, of the quarantine, amusing +themselves with jereed-playing and other mimic manoeuvres of warfare, +which they performed very cleverly. + +The shaikh being dismissed with sufficient compliments on each side, we +proceeded upon the main track from Egypt across the plain towards +_Doheriyeh_, passing occasional parcels of durrah stubble rising out of +mere scratches of the soil, varied by the wilderness plants of tamarisk, +etc. When one remembers the fact of that same land in the days of +Abraham and Isaac producing a hundredfold of corn, (Gen. xxvi. 12,) how +deplorable it is to see it lying untilled for want of population, and +serving only as so much space for wild tribes to roam over it! Surely it +will not always remain so. + +Crossing a good road at right angles with ours, we met a large caravan of +camels going eastwards. The people told us they were going to _Ma'an_, +(beyond Petra,) one of the Hadj stations between Damascus and Mecca, +where stores of provisions are always laid up by the Government for +supply of the pilgrims at the appointed season of the year. + +Approaching the hills, we rested from the heat, which had become +considerable, beneath a neb'k-tree, where all the roads between Egypt and +Hebron meet at a point. + +At the entrance of a valley between the hills the quails were very +numerous, and so tame as to come almost under the horses' feet. +Unfortunately, just at the time when wanted, my fowling-piece was found +to be unloaded, that is to say, not reloaded after having gone off +yesterday by an accident. + +It was a relief from the great heat to mount the hills to Doheriyeh, +although the road was tiresome, winding round and among the bases of +almost circular hills in succession. At the village all the population +was cheerfully employed in threshing or winnowing the harvest, and their +flocks crouched in the shade of the trees. It was early in the +afternoon, and we lay down to rest under the branches of a fig-tree +growing out of a cavern, which cavern was so large that we placed all our +horses in it. + +We parted from the quarantine soldiers, and took a guide for Hebron. The +road was good and direct, through a pleasant country, so that we made +quick progress. At an hour and three-quarters from Doheriyeh we arrived +at a pretty glen of evergreen oak and pine; and at the entrance of this +glen is a fountain, called _Afeeri_, of beautiful water issuing from a +rock. + +Shortly after we joined the route by which we had left our encampment +yesterday, near the fountain of _Dilbeh_, where we had drawn water when +outward bound. Then came to an ancient well of good masonry, hexagonal +in shape, but without water. A cistern for rain-water was close +adjoining. + +Reached the oak of Sibta in twenty-eight hours after leaving it, well +pleased with having been able to visit Beersheba, the scene of many +ancient and holy transactions, in the days when the great patriarchs, +Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, walked humbly with their God, and God gave +them a faith capable of overthrowing mountains. + +In conclusion, I may express my regret that, although residing in the +country many years afterwards, I could not get an opportunity of visiting +either Beer-la-hai-roi or Isaac's well of Esek. (Gen. xxvi. 20.) +Concerning the former we find some indications in an appendix to +Williams' _Holy City_; and I have been assured personally that the latter +is still held in estimation by the Bedaween tribes, under the name of +_Esak_, and frequented as a rendezvous for making truces and covenants. + +On breaking up our camp at Abraham's oak, the family took the direct road +for Jerusalem, while I struck across the Philistine plain for Jaffa. + +With one horseman and a kawwas, I diverged westwards from the common road +just before the descent to 'Ain Dirweh, between it and the ruined town of +Bait Soor, (Bethzur of Joshua xv. 58,) leaving Hhalhhool of the same +verse on my right hand. Advanced gradually down a woody glen of the +usual evergreen oak and pine. The higher part of the valley is in +excellent cultivation, with careful walls, and drains to keep off the +winter rains that descend from the hills, although no villages were in +sight except in one place on an eminence to the left, where an apparently +well-built village was entirely abandoned. It is called _Ma'naeen_; and +the history of it, as I have since learned, is that it was only a few +years before built by a colony of refugees from oppression in sundry +villages, who concerted to set up on their own account, without regard to +the authority of their family connexions, or of the hereditary shaikhs. +So daring an innovation upon national customs was resented by a coalition +of all the country round, who made war upon them, and dispersed the +people once more to their miserable homes. The Turkish Government +allowed of this proceeding, on the ground that to suffer the +establishment of new villages (which of course implies new shaikhs to +rule them) would derange the account-books of the taxes, which had been +definitely fixed years before under the Egyptian Government. + +Lower down, where the glen became narrow and stony, a large rock has been +hewn into a chamber for some ancient hermit, not unlike the one in the +Wadi Ahhmed between Rachel's sepulchre and Batteer (Bether) near +Jerusalem, only in this case the entrance is shaded by venerable +karoobah-trees, so large as to cover the road also with their branches. + +We were met by various camel-parties carrying kali for the glass-works of +Hebron during the approaching winter, also fine mats and other goods from +Damietta, which, after being landed at Jaffa, are thus conveyed by +reliefs of camels to their destination of Hebron, Bethlehem, and +Jerusalem. + +On emerging from the valley (Wadi Arab or Shaikh) into the open Vale of +'Elah, we had _Kharas_ perched on an eminence close at our right, and +_Nuba_ similarly posted to our left. + +Also the ruins of _'Elah_ were on our left, and far behind our left hand, +in among the hills, on a commanding height, was Keelah. + +We were now traversing the Valley of 'Elah, which runs north-westwards, +and which I have described in my former journey. Now, as on that visit, +I saw young shepherd lads pasturing large flocks as David may have done +over the same ground. + +This time, however, I had entered the valley from a different +point--viz., from its eastern end at Kharas, and not where Shocoh and +Bait Nateef lie opposite to each other. + +We then traversed the same country as then as far as the village of +_Khuldah_, which is a very thriving place, and where, as usual, on the +wide plains there are not many flocks of sheep, but herds of horned +cattle instead, driven by men on horseback. This is an indication of +insecurity, on account of forays of Bedaween Arabs, from whom on their +approach they have to scamper as fast as they can. + +The same insecurity is attested by each of these villages having its +_Shuneh_, or little rude tower with a breast-work, in which the peasants +may defend themselves when in sufficient force to do so. + +Next came _Saidoon_, where we obtained a distant prospect of Ramlah and +Lydd, with Gimzo at the mouth of the Bethhoron Pass, (2 Chron. xxviii. +18,) and Ras-el-Ain still beyond, with its fountains and rich lands +conspicuous on the Great Plain, backed by the hills of Ephraim. Then we +passed the poor clay-built village of _Deaneh_, where the people were +winnowing a large harvest of millet, and the Government tax-farmers with +their soldiers, lent by the authorities, measuring the heaps. + +Lastly, we entered the vast olive grounds belonging to Ramlah, and found +our tents (which had been sent on by another road) just as the Moeddin in +the minaret was calling to sunset prayers. + +I am never weary of the scenery about Ramlah; we have there the most +picturesque Orientalism of all Palestine--a warm climate, numerous waving +palm-trees, with the large reservoir for cattle drinking, all gilded in +brilliant sunlight, together with the busy voices of a considerable +population. + +A burly fellow of a wandering durweesh or sorcerer, with rows of large +black beads round his neck, came up to us, and bellowed out one of the +ninety-nine attributes of God, according to the Moslems: "Ya Daeem," (O +thou everlasting!) This was by way of asking alms. My companion gave +him some, which I would not have done. + +In the morning we ascended to the top of the great White Tower, called +"the Tower of the Forty," meaning forty martyrs. This is a favourite +appellation of ancient ruins in Palestine. I do not know what it alludes +to. And from among the Comandalune windows I copied the following +vignette. + + [Picture: Window of the White Tower] + + + + +V. THE LAND OF BENJAMIN. + + +Who has ever stood upon the Scopus hill, north of Jerusalem, (his mind +first prepared by biblical reading and biblical feeling,) facing +northwards, and seeing at one glance, as upon a map, the land of the +tribe of Benjamin, without desiring to wander about there, were it only +to experience the reality of standing and breathing upon the sites of +'Anathoth, Michmash, Gibea of Saul, and Gibeon? It can be most of it +performed in one day, and sometimes a line through it is traversed in +that time by English residents of Jerusalem, namely, from Jerusalem to +Michmash and Bethel, and the return. + +There is also a pleasant spot above Lifta, in a grove of olives, figs, +and pomegranates, where Europeans have sometimes established summer camps +for their families. At that spot it is delightful to repose in the +evening shadows cast by the trees, and gaze over the landscape of +Benjamin, with a deep valley sinking in immediate front, only to rise +again to the greater height of Nebi Samwil and a landscape view extending +as far as the rock Rimmon, which stands in pyramidal form upon the +horizon. + +There are, however, several ancient and biblical sites known to exist +within that circuit that are not visible from either of those stations, +and only to be perceived on reaching the places themselves. For +instance, Bait Hhaneena of Nehemiah xi. 32. + +There is _'Adasa_, the scene of a great victory gained by Judas +Maccabaeus over the mighty host of Nicanor; this I discovered from the +peasants ploughing one day, while resting after a gazelle chase. It is +not far from Gibeon. "So Nicanor went out of Jerusalem, and pitched his +tents in Bethhoron, where an host of Syrians met him. But Judas pitched +in Adasa with three thousand men. . . . So the thirteenth day of the +month Adar [_i.e._ on the eve of Purim] the hosts joined battle: but +Nicanor's host was discomfited, and he himself was first slain in the +battle . . . . Then they pursued after them a day's journey, from Adasa +unto Gazera, sounding an alarm after them with their trumpets," (Macc. +vii. 39-45,) _i.e._ a day's journey for an army, perhaps, that day's +journey after fighting; for it is a pleasant ride with respect to +distance, as I proved by riding to _Jadeerah_, passing through Beer +Nebala. + +And on another day's expedition alone, I was riding near 'Anata +(Anathoth) eastwards from the village, thinking over the faith of the +prophet Jeremiah, in purchasing a family estate, the future occupation of +which was contrary to all human probability, and after recounting to +myself the cities of Benjamin allotted to the priests, as Anathoth, (to +which the treasonable priest Abiathar belonged, 1 Kings ii. 26,) Gibeon, +and Geba, wondering what had become of the fourth city Almon, (Josh. xxi. +17, 18,) I came up to a hill on which appeared some remains of an ancient +town; there my horse carried me up the steep side, and while passing +among the lines of foundations on the summit, a peasant who joined me +said the place was called _'Alman_. Some time afterwards, I was riding +on the other side of the same hill, in the direction of _Hhizmeh_, (the +Az-maveth of Neh. vii. 28, as I suppose,) when a peasant informed me that +the place on the hill was named _Almeet_. This corresponds to the other +name of the town as given in 1 Chron. vi. 60, and vii. 8, where it is +Alemeth. So remarkable a preservation of both names by another people +than the Jews, after long or perhaps repeated desolations, appears to me +almost miraculous, and is a fresh illustration of the exact verbal +inspiration of Holy Scripture. + +I once visited the rock Rimmon of Judges xx. 47. The first part of the +journey was made in company with Lieutenant Vandevelde, going from +Jericho to Bethel, a totally-unknown road; it must have been the same as +that taken by Joshua after the fall of Jericho. + +This was in 1852. The Arabs were unwilling to take us in that direction, +probably on account of some local hostilities to which they might be +exposed. At first they denied there was any road that way, then said it +was so difficult that we could not reach Bethel in less than two days, +which was ridiculous, considering the shortness of the distance. At +length we resolved to find a road without them, and ordered the luggage +to go round by Khatroon, or if necessary by Jerusalem, but to meet us at +Bethel that night. + +Shaikh Mohammed el Hejjaz then sent with us his slave Suliman. By his +having that Moslem name, I should suppose this to be a freed-man, +inasmuch as it is not the custom to give Moslem or Christian names to +slaves; they may be only called Jewel, Diamond, Cornelian, Thursday, +Friday, etc. It is not uncommon for a freed-man to be still called in +popular speech _a slave_; but not in serious earnest or in matters of +business, and not unless they are blacks from Africa. + +It is not unusual in the East for a slave, even though still in bondage, +to be educated in reading and writing, to be trained in military +accomplishments, and so to be employed as confidential agent of property, +or trainer of children in the family, riding the best horses and carrying +weapons of best quality. And this Suliman was a bright specimen of that +class of men,--of good bodily presence, merry-humoured, and +well-accoutred. + +The first part of the journey in crossing the Quarantana mountain was +precipitous, and even dangerous for strangers; but the summit being +attained, the whole of the remaining distance was a level plain. We were +upon remains of an ancient road, with wells frequently occurring by the +wayside; many of them, however, choked up with stones and earth. + +Plodded quietly along, when, about two hours from Jericho, we were +surprised by hearing human wailing and cries for mercy near us. This was +discovered to come from a boy of about twelve years of age who had +concealed himself behind a bush of _ret'm_, (juniper of Scripture.) He +had never seen Europeans before, and, on perceiving the Hejjaz slave at +our head, was apprehensive that we should plunder him of his ass and her +foal. He was a peasant of _Dair Dewan_, {203} a village on the way +before us. + +In half an hour more we came up to a cleanly-dressed and pleasant-looking +shepherd lad, who was not at all afraid of us. He conducted us to a well +of good water, named _Beer Mustafa_, a little off the road, at the +heading of the small wadi _Krishneh_; there we rested half an hour. + +In another hour we reached the ruins of Abu Sabbakh, from which we had +_Remmoon_ visible on our right. + +During all the day's journey we passed through a good deal of wheat and +barley cultivation, the crops ripening fast, it being at the beginning of +May. + +In another half hour we arrived at Dair Dewan, the Beth-aven of +Scripture, {204} a flourishing village,--remarkably so, as evinced by its +buildings, its fruit orchards, and corn fields all around. Progress in +such affairs is a sure token of a village being peopled by Christians. +In the well-kept cemetery belonging to the place, it was pleasant to see +an enormous quantity of large blue iris flowers growing between the +graves, and often concealing them from view till nearly approached. + +Turning abruptly westward, in twenty minutes we came to the hill of +stones called Tell-el-hajjar, which I had on a former occasion identified +as the site of Ai, lying as it does between Beth-aven and Bethel, (Josh. +viii.,) and having the deep valley alongside northwards. Here Vandevelde +took bearings, with his theodolite, of points within sight; and in a +quarter of an hour from this we reached Bethel, (now called Bait-een,) +that is in less than five hours, including an hour's stoppage at the Tell +from the 'Ain-es-Sultan by Jericho, where the Arabs had, for their own +reasons, tried to persuade us that the journey was impossible, or would +at least occupy two days. + +Our tents and luggage arrived soon after we did. Bait-een has been so +often described, and its biblical events so often quoted by travellers, +that it is not necessary to do so while professedly dealing only with +byeways in Palestine; yet this may be said, that no distance of time can +entirely efface the exquisite pleasure of exploring ground and sites so +accurately corresponding as this did to the topography of the Bible, and +belonging to events of such antiquity as the acts of Abraham and Joshua. + +In the morning I separated from my friends, who were preceding towards +Damascus, and, accompanied by Suliman and a kawwas, went on my way to +_Remmoon_, (the rock Rimmon.) Started at half-past seven in a thick +shirocco atmosphere, keeping on the northern high road for about a +quarter of an hour in the direction of _Yebrood_, then turned sharply +eastwards over corn-fields, and descended into a deep hot valley. The +flowers of the field were chiefly cistus, red or white, and hollyhocks +four feet high. Then ascended to at least a corresponding height into +terraces of fruit-trees well-cultivated; and still mounting, to a fine +plain of wheat, at the end of which was Remmoon, one hour and a quarter +from Bait-een. + +The village is built upon a mass of calcareous rock, commanding +magnificent views towards the south, including the Dead Sea and the line +of the Jordan; higher hills bounded the north, on which was conspicuous +the town of _Tayibeh_, near which is a _weli_ or _mezar_ (pilgrimage +station) named after St George, who is an object of veneration to both +Moslems and Christians. The people of Tayibeh are all or mostly +Christians, and have a church with a resident priest. + +We rode up the street of Remmoon, and found the shaikh and principal men +of the town lazily smoking in the shadow of a house. + +My object was of course to inquire for a cavern that might be capable of +containing six hundred men during four months. The people all denied the +existence of such a cavern, but after some parley I was conducted to two +separate caverns on the west side of the hill, then to two others on the +eastern side which are larger, and to each of which we had to arrive +through a house built at its opening. They told me of two others upon +the hill, but of much inferior size. Those that I entered were not +remarkable for dimensions above the many that are to be found over the +country. It is probable that the whole of the refugees might sleep in +these several places, if there were no village there at the time, which +seems probable; but it was merely my own preconceived notion that they +all lived in one vast cavern. The text of Judg. xx. 47 does not say so. + +The village is in good condition, and the cultivation excellent in every +direction around it. On leaving it for the return to Jerusalem I +proceeded due southwards. In the fields the people were industriously +clearing away stones--a sure symptom of peace, and consequent +improvement. + +Crossed a valley named _Ma'kook_, and arrived at _Mukhinas_ (Michmash) in +less than two hours from Remmoon. Rested in the fine grove of +olive-trees in the valley on the north of the town for an hour. The +birds were singing delightfully, though the time was high noon, and our +horses enjoyed some respite from the sanguinary green flies which had +plagued them all the way from Remmoon; their bellies and fetlocks were +red with bleeding. In this matter I particularly admired the benevolence +of the slave Suliman. Yesterday, after a sharp run across a field, +perhaps in the vain hope of escaping the tormentors, he dismounted, and +the mare followed him, walking like a lamb. He then sat down to switch +away the flies, and rub her legs inwards and outwards. To-day he had +taken off his Bedawi kefieh, or bright-coloured small shawl, from around +his head, and suspended it between her legs, then, as he rode along, was +continually switching between her ears with a long bunch of the wild +mustard-plant. + +On leaving Mukhmas in the hottest part of the day, we had to cross the +Wadi _Suaineet_, along which to our left appeared the northern extremity +of the Dead Sea. At a short distance down the valley there are +remarkable precipices on each side, which must be the Bozez and Seneh, +{207} renowned for the bold adventure of Jonathan and his armour-bearer, +and near these projections are some large old karoobah-trees. + +Emerging upwards from this wadi one comes to _Jeba'_, (the Gibeah of +Saul, so often mentioned,) upon a table-land extending due east, in which +direction I visited, five years before, an ancient ruin, which the people +of Jeba' call _El Kharjeh_; it consisted of one principal building of +contiguous chambers, built of nicely squared stones, put together without +cement, like several of the remains at Bethel. + +These stones are gray with weather stains, but seldom more than three +courses in height remain in their places, though in one place five. + +From this site, as well as from Jeba', there is a very striking view of +the northern extremity of the Dead Sea. + +The guide told us of a vast cavern in the Wadi Suaineet capable of +holding many hundred men, near to the above-mentioned karoobah-trees, and +therefore just the suitable refuge for the Israelites, (I Sam. xiv. 11,) +besides the Bozez and Seneh; and he told us that half-way down the +precipice there is a course of water running towards the Ghor. + +Few incidents in the Bible are so real to the eye and feelings as the +narrative of Jonathan and his office-bearers when read upon the spot of +the occurrence, or near it at Jeba'. + +We passed _Jeba'_ at about a quarter of a mile to our right, and in +another quarter of an hour were at the strange old stone parallelograms +under _Hhizmeh_, which had been often before visited in afternoon rides +from Jerusalem. + +These are piles of large squared stones of great antiquity, carefully +built into long parallel forms, and now deeply weather-eaten. No use of +them can be imagined. I have visited them at all seasons of the year, +and at different hours of the day, but they still remain unintelligible. +They are disposed in different directions, as will be seen in the +following drawing of them, carefully taken by measurement in my presence, +and given me by a friend now in England, the Rev. G. W. Dalton of +Wolverhampton. + + [Picture: Stone constructions under Hhizmeh] + +On one face of No. 4 is a kind of entrance, and on the top surface a +round hole about two feet in depth, but they lead to nothing, and are +probably the work of modern peasantry, removing stones from the entire +block; in the former case for the mere object of shade from the sun, and +the latter for the charitable purpose common among Moslems, who often cut +basins into solid rocks, to collect rain or dew for birds of the air or +beasts of the field. + +Corroded monuments like these, in so pure and dry an atmosphere, bespeak +a far more hoary antiquity than the same amount of decay would do in an +English climate. + +I know of a spot on the side of a wild hill upon the way between Ai (as I +believe the place called the _Tell_ to be) and Mukhmas, where there are +several huge slabs of stone, rather exceeding human size, laid upon the +ground side by side exactly parallel. These can be nothing else than +gravestones of early Israelitish period, but of which the memorial is now +gone for ever. + +Crossing the torrent-bed from the parallelogram, and mounting the next +hill, we were at Hhizmeh; then leaving 'Anata on the left, we traversed +the Scopus near the Mount of Olives, and reached Jerusalem in four hours +and a half of easy riding from Remmoon. + +One ought not to quit the mention of this land of Benjamin by omitting +the _Wadi Farah_. + +This is a most delightsome valley, with a good stream of water, at a +distance of rather more than two hours from Jerusalem to the N.E. + +The way to it is through 'Anata, already described, from which most of +the stones were quarried for the English church in the Holy City, and +then alongside the hill on which stands the ruins with the double name of +'Alman and 'Almeet, discovered by me as above-described. + +Once, in the autumn season, a party of us went to Wadi Farah, and +arriving on its precipitous brink found the descent too difficult for the +horses; these, therefore, were left in charge of the servants, while we +skipped or slid from rock to rock, carrying the luncheon with us. + +The copious stream was much choked near its source, which rises from the +ground, by a thick growth of reeds, oleanders in blossom, and gigantic +peppermint with strong smell. There were small fish in the stream, which +was flowing rapidly; wild pigeons were numerous, and a shepherd boy +playing his reed pipe, brought his flock to the water. Need it be said, +how refreshing all this was to us all after the long summer of Jerusalem. + +There were remains of a bridge and considerable fragments of old +aqueducts, _i.e._, good-sized tubes of pottery encased in masonry, but +now so broken as to be quite useless; these lead from the spring-head +towards the Jordan at different levels, one above another. There was +also a cistern of masonry, with indications of water-machinery having +been at one time employed there; but all these evidences of population +and industry are abandoned to savages and the action of the elements. + +Dr James Barclay of Virginia, author of "The City of the Great King," +believes this site to be that of "AEnon, near to Salim," where John was +baptizing, "because there was much water there," (John iii. 23.) + +There can scarcely be a doubt that it is the _Parah_, belonging to the +tribe of Benjamin, in Josh. xviii. 23, and that therefore it was a +settled and cultivated place before the children of Israel took +possession of the land. + +The district around,--indeed, all eastwards of 'Anata,--is now +unappropriated; parts of it, however, are sown--not always the same +patches in successive years--by the people of the nearest villages in a +compulsory partnership with the petty Arabs of the Jordan plain. The +peasantry are forced to find the seed and the labour, and yet are often +defrauded of their share of the produce by the so-called partners +bringing up friends and auxiliaries from the plain, just as the grain is +ripening, and carrying off the produce by night, or setting fire to +whatever they cannot seize in this hasty operation; and this takes place +about two hours from the citadel and garrison of Jerusalem. Do not ask +where is the Turkish government! + +The people are driven to sow the grain upon these conditions, under risk +of having their own crops destroyed or devastated near their homesteads, +and in no case dare they offer any resistance. + +I was once unwillingly present at a grievous scene near Elisha's +fountain. Nas'r Abu' N'sair, shaikh of the Ehteimat, one of the parties +at all times in the above-described partnerships, was seated smoking his +chibook beneath an old neb'k tree when some Christian peasants from +_Tayibeh_ approached him with deep humility, begging permission to sow +grain upon that marvellously fertile plain of Jericho. For some reason +which did not appear, it suited him to refuse the favour. In vain the +suppliants raised their bidding of the proportion to be given him from +the proceeds; they then endeavoured to get me to intercede in their +behalf, frequently making the sign of the cross upon themselves, thereby +invoking my sympathy as a fellow-Christian on their side; but on several +accounts it seemed most prudent for me to leave the parties to their own +negotiations, only speaking on their behalf afterwards by sending a +kawwas to recommend kindness in general to the Christian villages. It +may be that this step met with success, but I could not but be sincerely +desirous to have such Arab vermin as these mongrel tribes swept off the +land. + + + + +VI. SEBUSTIEH TO CAIFFA. + + +In October, 1848, I found myself at Sebustieh, the ancient Samaria, +having come thither from Jerusalem by the common route through Nabloos, +_i.e._, Shechem. Since that time I have often been there, but never +without a feeling of very deep interest, not only in the beauty of its +site, worthy of a royal city, or in the Roman remains still subsisting, +but also in the remarkable fulfilments of Biblical prophecy which the +place exhibits. The stones of the ancient buildings are literally poured +down into the valley, and the foundations thereof discovered, (Micah i. +6.) + +We left the hill and its miserable village by the usual track through a +gateway at its eastern side. Down in the valley lay fragments of large +mouldings of public buildings, and the lid of a sarcophagus reversed, +measuring eight feet in length. + +At first we took the common road northwards, and ascending the hill above +_Burka_, from the summit had a glorious prospect of the sea on one side, +and of the populous village country, well cultivated, stretched before +us; we left the common road to _Sanoor_ and _Jeneen_, turning aside under +_Seeleh_, a double village nearest to us, with _Atara_ further west. + +The muleteers had preceded us during our survey of Sebustieh, on the way +to 'Arabeh, and we could see nothing of them before us--the road was +unknown to us, and no population could be seen, all keeping out of sight +of us and of each other on account of the alarm of cholera then raging in +the country. + +At Nabloos that morning, two hours before noon, we had been told of +twenty having been already buried that day, and we saw some funerals +taking place. At Sebustieh, the people had refused for any money to be +our guides; one youth said, "he was afraid of the death that there was in +the world." + +So my companion and I, with a kawwas, paced on till arriving near sunset +at a deserted village standing on a precipice which rose above a +tolerably high hill, and which from a distance we had been incorrectly +told was 'Arabeh; at that distance it had not the appearance of being +depopulated, as we found it to be on reaching it. Numerous villages were +in view, but no people visible to tell us their names. The district was +utterly unknown to maps, as it lies out of the common travellers' route. +This village, we afterwards learned, is _Rami_, and antique stones and +wells are found there. Though our horses were much fatigued, it was +necessary to go on in search of our people and property, for the sun was +falling rapidly. + +Observing a good looking village far before us to the N.W., and a path +leading in that direction, we followed it through a wood of low shrubs, +and arrived at the village, a place strong by nature for military +defence, and its name is _Cuf'r Ra'i_. There was a view of the sea and +the sun setting grandly into it. + +For high pay, we obtained a youth to guide us to 'Arabeh; shouldering his +gun, he preceded us. "Do you know," said he, "why we are called Cuf'r +Ra'i?--It is because the word Cuf'r means blaspheming infidels, and so we +are--we care for nothing." Of course, his derivation was grammatically +wrong; for the word, which is common enough out of the Jerusalem district +and the south, is the Hebrew word for a village, still traditionally in +use, and this place is literally, "the shepherd's village." + +We passed an ancient sepulchre cut in the rock by our wayside, with small +niches in it to the right and left; the material was coarse, and so was +the workmanship, compared to ours about Jerusalem. + +The moon rose--a jackal crossed a field within a few yards of us. We +passed through a large village called _Fahh'mah_, _i.e._, charcoal, with +fragments of old buildings and one palm-tree. Forwards over wild green +hills, along precipices that required extreme caution. The villages +around were discernible by their lights in the houses. At length 'Arabeh +appeared, with numerous and large lights, and we could hear the ring of +blacksmiths' hammers and anvils--we seemed almost to be approaching a +manufacturing town in "the black country of England." {217} + +Arrived on a smooth meadow at the foot of the long hill on which the +place is built, I fired pistols as a signal to our people should they be +there to hear it, and one was fired in answer. To that spot we went, and +found the tents and our people, but neither tents set up nor preparations +for supper. Village people stood around, but refused to give or sell us +anything, and using defiant language to all the consuls and pashas in the +world. + +Till that moment I had not been aware that this was the citadel of the +'Abdu'l Hadi's factions, and a semi-fortification. [Since that time, I +have had opportunities of seeing much more of the people and the place.] + +Sending a kawwas to the castle, with my compliments to the Bek, I +requested guards for the night, and loading my pistols afresh, stood with +them in my hand, as did my second kawwas with his gun, and we commenced +erecting the tents. + +Down came the kawwas in haste to announce that the Bek was coming himself +to us, attended by his sons and a large train. + +First came his nephew from his part, to announce the advent; then a +deputation of twenty; and then himself, robed in scarlet and sable fur, +on a splendid black horse of high breed. I invited him to sit with me on +my bed within the tent, widely open. The twenty squatted in a circle +around us, and others stood behind them; and a present was laid before me +of a fine water-melon and a dozen of pomegranates. + +Never was a friendship got up on shorter notice. We talked politics and +history, which I would rather have adjourned to another time, being very +tired and very hungry. + +He assured me that when my pistols were heard at the arrival, between 700 +and 800 men rushed to arms, supposing there was an invasion of their +foes, the Tokan and Jerrar, or perhaps an assault by the Pasha's regulars +from Jerusalem, under the pretext of cholera quarantine--in either case +they got themselves ready. + +He stayed long, and then went to chat with my Arab secretary in his tent, +leaving me to eat my supper. He gave orders for a strong guard to be +about us for the night, and a party to guide us in the morning on our way +to Carmel. + +This personage (as he himself told me) had been the civil governor inside +of Acre during the English bombardment of 1840; and his brother had first +introduced the Egyptians into the country eleven years before that +termination of their government. + + * * * * * + +In 1852 I had arrived at 'Arabeh from Nabloos by a different route, and +turned from this place not seawards as now, but inland to Jeneen: whence +I again visited it on my return. It seems worth while to give the +details of this route. + +Starting from Nabloos at half-past ten we passed _Zuwatah_ close on our +right, and _Bait Uzan_ high up on the left. Here the aqueduct conveying +water from the springs under Gerizim to gardens far westwards, was close +to the high-road. Arriving at _Sebustieh_ and going on to _Burka_ we +quitted the Jeba' road, and turned to _Seeleh_ which lay on our left, and +_Fendecomia_ high up on the right, _Jeba'_ being in sight. + +Soon after this we turned sharply north-west to _'Ajjeh_, and thence +arrived at 'Arabeh in five and a half hours from Nabloos. + +After leaving 'Arabeh for Jeneen we got upon a fine plain, namely, that +of Dothan. On this, near to another road leading to Kabatiyeh, is a +beautiful low hill, upon which stands Dothan, the only building left to +represent the ancient name being a cow-shed; however, at the foot of the +hill is a space of bright green sward, whence issues a plentiful stream +of sparkling water, and here among some trees is a rude stone building. +This spot is now called _Hafeereh_, but the whole site was anciently +Dothan, this name having been given me by one peasant, and Dotan by +another. + +On my return hither a few days later I found a large herd of cattle, and +many asses going to drink at the spring. Dothan is well known to +shepherds now as a place of resort, and must have been so in ancient +times. Here then, in the very best part of the fertile country of +Ephraim, is the pasture-ground to which Joseph's brethren had removed +their flocks from the paternal estate at Shechem, and where they sold +their brother to the Arab traders on their way to Egypt. This may help +to mark the season of the year at which Joseph was bought and sold. It +could only be at the end of the summer that the brethren would need to +remove their flocks from exhausted pasture-ground at Shechem to the +perennial spring and green watered land at Dothan; this would also be +naturally the season for the Ishmaelite caravan to carry produce into +Egypt after the harvest was ended. Be it remembered that the articles +they were conveying were produce from the district of Gilead--("balm of +Gilead" is mentioned later in Scripture)--and it is specially interesting +to notice that Jacob's present, sent by his brethren to the unknown ruler +in Egypt, consisted of these same best fruits, "Take of the best fruits +of the land, balm, honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds." + +Dothan is about half an hour distant from 'Arabeh, and therefore six +hours or a morning's walk for a peasant from Shechem. + +More solemn, however, than the above interesting recollection, was that +of the horses and chariots of fire which had encircled the very hill upon +which I stood, when Elisha "the man of God," lived in Dothan, and smote +the Syrian army at the foot with blindness, and led them away to +Sebustieh, (Samaria,) 2 Kings vi. + +After leaving Dothan, at the falling in of this road to Jeneen with that +from Kabatieh, stands a broken tower on an eminence above the well +_Belameh_, which Dr Schultz has identified with the Belmen, Belmaim, and +Balamo of the Book of Judith, (chap. iv. 4; vii. 3; viii. 3.) + + * * * * * + +To resume--Away early in the morning. Paid the night-guard and sent a +present of white loaf bread and some tea to the Bek. + +It was promised that we should reach Carmel in nine hours, across an +unknown but pretty country in a different direction from Lejjoon and +Ta'annuk (Taanach of Judges i. 27,) which I had designed for my route, +and towards the sea-coast. + +Our guides were gigantic men, beside whom my tall peasant servant Khaleel +appeared to disadvantage, and their guns were of a superior description +to what one commonly sees in Palestine. The peasantry also were large +men with good guns. + +First, due west for quarter of an hour towards _Kubrus_, situated upon a +hill, but before reaching it, turned sharply northwards, through a rocky +defile of ten minutes, when we fell in with a better road which, they +said, came also from 'Arabeh, and on towards a fine village named +_Yaabad_ in a lovely plain richly cultivated; there were after the +earlier crops young plantations of cotton rising, the fields cleared of +stones and fenced in by the most regular and orderly of stone dykes. + +Before reaching _Yaabad_, we turned due west, our guides alone being able +to judge which of the many footpaths could be the right one. + +Reached the poor village _Zebdeh_, then over a green hill with a prospect +of the sea. Caesarea visible at a distance, and in the middle distance +_Jit_ and _Zeita_. Near us were ruins of a strong place called _Burtaa_, +said to have a supply of delicious water. Our journey was all over short +evergreens rising from stony ground. So lonely--none in sight but +ourselves for hours after hours. "Green is the portion of Paradise" +exclaimed our people. + +At _Cuf'r Kara_, a clean mud village in the fragments of columns lying +about, we rested beneath some huge fig-trees while the luggage, guarded +by some of the escort, jogged forwards; for muleteers never like resting +their animals, or at least do not like unpacking them before the end of +the day's march; the trouble is too great in reloading them. The riding +horses were tied up under the trees, and we got some melons and eggs from +the village. + +After an hour we remounted and went on steadily north-west. Soon reached +_Kaneer_, where was a cistern with wide circular opening of large +masonry, bespeaking high antiquity. + +Then to _Subariyeh_ on a small rise from a hollow with one palm-tree. +The well was at a distance from the village, and the women washing there. +One man asked one of them to move away while he filled our matara +(leathern bottle.) She said she would not even for Ibrahim Pasha, +whereupon he roared out, "One sees that the world is changed, for if you +had spoken in that manner to one of Ibrahim's meanest of grooms, he would +have burned down your town for you." The matara was then filled. + +In another quarter of an hour we were pacing through a wide Riding (as we +use the term in the old English Forests for a broad avenue between +woods.) This opened into a plain of rich park scenery, with timbered low +hills all about, only of course no grass: in the centre of this stands +_Zumareen_, perched on a bold piece of rock. Many of the trees were +entirely unknown to us Southerners; some of the evergreens were named to +us as Maloch, etc., and there were bushes of Saris with red berries. + +Out of this we emerged upon the plain of the sea-coast, at a wretched +village bearing the attractive name of _Furadees_ (Paradise.) Here the +people were sifting their corn after its thrashing, and we got a boy to +refresh us with milk from his flock of goats. Only those experiencing +similar circumstances of hot travelling, can conceive the pleasure of +this draught, especially after having had to gallop round the boy, and +coax and threaten him to sell the milk for our money. + +The way lay due north, hugging to the hills parallel to the sea, but at a +distance from it: numerous wadis run inland, and at the mouth of each is +a village. The first was _Suameh_, the next _'Ain el Ghazal_, (Gazelles +fountain,) wretched like the rest, but in a pretty situation--then +_Modzha_, and _Mazaal_, and _'Ain Hhood_, (a prosperous looking place,) +and _Teeri_. + +The sun set in the blue water, and we were still far from Carmel--our +animals could scarcely move: sometimes we dismounted and led them--passed +the notable ruins of Tantoorah, (Dora of the Bible,) and Athleet on our +left--moonlight and fatigue. There was a nearer way from Zumareen, but +it would have been hilly and wearisome. After a long while we overtook +our muleteers without the baggage, for the Kawwas Salim, they said, had +been so cruel to them that they had allowed him to go on with the charge +towards Carmel. + +At length we climbed up the steep to the convent. Being very late we +experienced great difficulty in gaining admission. There was no food +allowed to the servants, no barley for the horses, and for a long time no +water supplied. + +In the morning we found great changes had taken place since 1846. The +kind president had gone on to India--the apothecary Fra Angelo was +removed to a distance--John-Baptist was at Caiffa and unwell. The whole +place bore the appearance of gloom, bigotry, dirtiness, and bad +management. + +In the afternoon I left the convent, in order to enjoy a perfect Sabbath +on the morrow in tents at the foot of the hill, open to the sea breeze of +the north, and with a grand panorama stretched out before us. + +And a blessed day that was. We were all in need of bodily rest, +ourselves, the servants and the cattle--and it was enjoyed to the +full--my young friend and I derived blessing and refreshment also from +the word of God. The words, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are +heavy laden, and I will give you rest," seemed to have a reviving +significance, as well as those of "Whosoever drinketh of the water that I +shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him, +shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." + +Such a Sabbath in the Holy Land is true enjoyment. + + + + +VII. ESDRAELON PLAIN AND ITS VICINITY. + + + _May_ 1851. + +From Jeneen, (En-gannim, Josh. xxi. 29,) to Acre, _i.e._, towards the +north-west, and skirting the great plain under the line of the hills of +Samaria,--thus following the western coast of Zebulon to the south of +Asher. + +The road was enlivened by numerous companies of native people travelling +from village to village. + +In an hour and a half from Jeneen we were at _Seeleh_, a cheerful and +prosperous-looking place; and in three-quarters of an hour more we were +abreast of both _Ta'annuk_ and _Salim_, at equal distances of quarter of +an hour from the highway; the former on our left hand, and the latter on +the right. These places were at that time tolerably well peopled. + +Here we gained the first view of Mount Tabor from a westerly direction, +and indeed it was curious all along this line to see in unusual aspects +the well-remembered sites that lie eastwards or northwards from Jeneen, +such as Zera'een (Jezreel,) Jilboon (Gilboa,) Solam (Shunem,) or Fooleh +and Afooleh. In fact, we overlooked the tribe or inheritance of Zebulon +from Carmel to Tabor. + +With respect to the circumstance of numerous passengers, whom we met this +morning, it was a pleasant exception to the common experience of that +district, where it is often as true now as in the days of Shamgar the son +of Anath (see Judges v. 6), that the population fluctuates according to +the invasions or retiring of tyrannical strangers. That vast plain +affords a tempting camping-ground for remote Arabs to visit in huge +swarms coming from the East with their flocks for pasture; and in the +ancient times this very site between Ta'annuk and Lejjoon, being the +opening southwards, gave access to the Philistines or Egyptians arriving +in their chariots from the long plain of Sharon, or a passage over this +plain to that of the great hosts of Syria under the Ptolemies, with their +elephants. + +In all ages the poor peasantry here have been the victims of similar +incursions, "the highways were unoccupied, and the travellers walked +through byeways." Yet though chased away from their homes, the +populations returned, whenever possible, with pertinacious attachment to +their devastated dwellings, and hence we have still the very names of the +towns and villages perpetuated by a resident people after a lapse of +almost thirty-three hundred years since the allotment made by Joshua, +(xiii.-xxi., etc.,) and the names were not then new. + +I have myself known villages on the Plain of Esdraelon to be alternately +inhabited or abandoned. At one time Fooleh was a heap of ruins, while +its neighbour Afooleh had its residents; on my next visit it was Fooleh +rebuilt, and the other a heap of overthrown stones, or next time both of +them lying in utter silence and desertion. The same with _Mekebleh_, +sometimes inhabited, but more frequently a pile of broken-down houses, +with some remains of antique sculpture lying on the surface of its hill; +and the same occasionally, though not so frequent in vicissitude, with +_Iksal_. + +From this exposure to invasion of royal armies or of nomad tribes, +("children of the East," Judges vi. 33,) it has always been the case that +no towns were built in the central parts of this plain; and even when the +kings of Israel had their country residence at Jezreel, that situation +was selected because it was nestled close to the hills, and had ravines +on two sides of it, serving as fortifying trenches made by nature. + +At the present time there are no trees upon that broad expanse, not even +olives, to furnish lights for dwelling, either of villages or tents. The +wretched people grow castor-oil plants instead for that purpose, sown +afresh every year, because these afford no temptation to the hostile +Arabs. + +That year, however, of 1851, and probably for some time previous, the +plain (Merj ibn Amer is its Arabic name,) had been at peace, unmolested +by strangers; consequently I saw large crops of wheat there, and fields +of barley waving in the breeze. These were mostly the property of a +Turkoman tribe, who, like the Kenites of old, reside there in tents, +neither building houses nor planting vineyards, though to some extent +they sow seed. They have been long upon that ground, but move their +tents about, according to the exigencies of pasture for their flocks and +herds. I believe, however, that they pay "khooweh" (brotherhood,) _i.e._ +tribute and military aid, to the Sukoor Arabs for protection and peace +under common circumstances. + +We had frequently to cross small streams issuing from the ranges of +hills, along the base of which our road lay; but they accomplished only +short courses, for they were soon absorbed into the ground or settled +into morasses, which emitted strong miasma under the influence of the +sun. Some petty springs were seen rising from the ground itself, and +near each of these were sure to be met some relics of antiquity, such as +good squared building stones, or door-posts, or broken olive presses, or +fragments of sarcophagi, while the adjacent hills exhibited the hewn +lines in the form of steps, remaining from ancient quarrying. The deep +alluvium of the plain furnishes no stone whatever for such purposes. + +In forty minutes from Ta'annuk, we came to the small mills of _Lejjoon_, +(the Roman _Legio_, named from a military station there.) At that time +of the year the body of water was not considerable, and there is no +village there. + +In fifty minutes more we crossed a rivulet named _Menzel el Basha_, (the +Pasha's halting-place,) and in twenty minutes more, the _'Ain Kaimoon_ +with abundance of water. This is at the foot of a hill which has on its +summit the vestiges of the large ancient town _Kaimoon_. + +This hill is long, narrow, and curved like a cucumber, lying at the +south-east end of Mount Carmel, and having the Kishon river on its outer +or north-eastern side. Here, therefore, we come distinctly upon the +western geography of the Zebulon tribe. In Joshua xix. 11, the border of +Zebulon is given as reaching "to the river that is before Jokneam." I do +not doubt that this river is the Kishon, or that Jokneam is the "Jokneam +of Carmel," in chapter xii. 22, which was given to the Levites "out of +the tribe of Zebulon, Jokneam with her suburbs," (chap. xxi. 34.) This +place, Kaimoon or Yokneam, must have been one of particular value in a +military point of view, commanding as it did the pass of the Kishon +valley on one side, and the _Wadi Mel'hh_ on the other. Such a post +would be in good hands, when intrusted to the bold and warlike tribe of +Levi. In the same way several other defensible posts were committed to +their charge all over the country. {230} + +On my present journey I passed round the outer line of Tell Kaimoon, +having Kishon on the right. In so doing we crossed various tributary +streams--the first one, in quarter of an hour from 'Ain Kaimoon, was in +_Wadi el Kasab_, (valley of reeds or canes)--the stream was bordered by +reeds and a profusion of tall oleander in gorgeous pink flower. + +In this neighbourhood, the Turkomans had commenced reaping their grain. +They are a race of people not to be mistaken for Arabs, men of strong +build, and with a smiling expression on their clear, ruddy countenances. +Besides Arabic, they speak their own coarse dialect of Turkish--several +of them came running to us with handfuls of wheat from their harvest. +They possess large herds of oxen with good horses. + +In another half hour we were at _'Ain el Sufsafeh_, (the "fountain of the +willow-tree,") where the water issues from a rock, and in its bed are two +willow-trees; upon the bank were plenty of blackberry bushes. + +Just before this we had by the roadside a common looking Arab +burial-place, named _Shaikh Sad_; probably from some Mohammedan devotee +of that name interred there; and among the stones about the graves is a +fragment of an ancient cornice, deeply sculptured in the pattern here +shown. + +[Picture: Fragment of Sculpture at Shaikh Sad] + +In a quarter of an hour further we passed _Wadi Keereh_, with its full +stream of water, and plenty of oleander for adornment. + +Thence in about half an hour we arrived at _Wadi Mel'hh_ ("Salt valley,") +with its rivulet and wild holly-oaks, in which is a great highway leading +southwards. This separates the Samaria ridge and Kaimoon from the +extremity of the long Mount Carmel. + +Having thus passed from one end to the other along the side of the hill +of Kaimoon, we turned aside from the road, for taking refreshment under a +large oak halfway up that hill, where wild holly-oaks were springing from +the ground to mingle with the sombre yet shining boughs of the tree. +This was at the sudden contraction of the country into a narrow neck +leading to the Plain of Acre. This strait is bounded on one side by +Carmel, and on the other by the Galilean hills, both sides clothed with +abundance of growing timber; and through its midst is the channel of the +Kishon, deeply cut into soft alluvial soil, and this channel also is +bordered with oleander and trees that were enlivened with doves, +thrushes, linnets, and gold-finches. The modern name of the river is the +_Mokatta_ (the ford,) and that of the valley _El Kasab_, derived from the +spring and valley before-mentioned. + +At the narrowest part of this "Kasab" stands a hill, forming a serious +impediment to the progress of armies, named _Tell el Kasees_ (Hill of the +Priest,) which name may be a traditional remembrance of Elijah, slaying +the priests of Baal; but inasmuch as the word "Kasees" is in the singular +number, the appellation may be more likely derived from some hermit +residing there in a later age. At any rate, this Tell lies immediately +below the site of that memorable sacrifice, and at the point where the +Kishon sweeps round to the foot of the mountain a path descends from the +"Mohhrakah," _i.e._, the place of the burnt-offering, to the river. It +must therefore, have been the spot where the priests of Baal were slain, +whether the hill be named from the fact or not; and nothing can be more +exact than the words of the Bible in 1 Kings xviii. 40. + +We were preparing to remount for continuing the journey when our guide +espied four wild-looking Arabs walking with long strides up the hill, so +as to pass behind and above us; they were well armed, and made no reply +to our challenge. As our horses and the guide's spear would have +benefited us little on the steep hill-side, but on the contrary were +tempting prizes, and as our fire-arms were not so numerous as theirs, we +thought fit to pace away before they should obtain any further advantage +of situation over us. + +In another quarter of an hour we left the straight road to Caiffa, and +struck out northwards, crossing the Kishon at a fort opposite a village +on a hill called _El Hharatheeyeh_, just before we should otherwise have +come to a low hill covered with a ripe crop of barley, which, from its +formation and other circumstances, bore the appearance of an ancient +fortified place. This hill was named _'Asfi_, as I wrote it from +pronunciation. This, with the _Hharatheeyeh_, one assisting the other, +would prove a good military defence at this end of the valley, as Kaimoon +and the Kasees were at the other. + +Dr Thomson, in his "Land and the Book," chap. xxxi., considers this site +to be that of "Harosheth of the Gentiles," (Judges iv. 13,) and I have no +doubt that his supposition is correct; the topography agrees, and the +etymology in both Hebrew and Arabic is one, viz., "ploughed land." This +author, however, makes no mention of _'Asfi_ though he speaks of "the +double Tell." + +Whether 'Asfi was an aboriginal home of the people in the modern _Esfia_ +on the summit of Carmel, I have no means of knowing; but that a +population, when emigrating to a new settlement, sometimes carried their +name with them, appears in Scripture in the instance of Luz, (Judges i. +26,) and of Dan in the 19th chapter. + +Previous to this day's journey I had no adequate idea of the quantity of +water that could be poured into the Kishon channel by the affluents +above-mentioned, (since our passing the Lejjoon stream which runs in an +opposite direction,) namely, the Menzel el Basha, the 'Ain Sufsafeh, Wadi +Keereh, and Wadi Mel'hh, all these on the Carmel side of the river, and +omitting the more important spring called _Sa'adeh_, near _Beled esh +Shaikh_, on the way to Caiffa. + +Still portions of the channel are liable to be dried up in that +direction, although the bed extending to Jeneen if not to Gilboa contains +springs from the ground at intervals, but the level character of the +country and the softness of the ground are unfavourable to the existence +of a free river course. There was but little water at Hharatheeyeh when +we crossed in the month of May. The 'Ain Sa'adeh, however, which I did +not then visit, never fails, and in full season, the Kishon near the sea +becomes a formidable river, as I have more than once found. + +To return to the valley "El Kasab," we were assured that in winter time +the whole breadth is sometimes inundated, and even after this has +subsided, the alluvial soil is dangerous for attempting to travel in, it +becomes a bog for animals of burden. Thus it is quite conceivable that +at the occurrence of a mighty storm, divinely and specially commissioned +to destroy, the host of Sisera and his chariots would be irretrievably +discomfited. + +Where the scene opened upon the plain of Acre there was extensive +cultivation visible, and the town of Caiffa appeared with the grove of +palm-trees in its vicinity. + +The view hence of the Caiffa bay reminds us of the prophetic blessing +pronounced by the patriarch Jacob. "Zebulon shall dwell at the _haven_ +of the sea, and he shall be for a haven of ships." I am convinced that +this Hebrew root [Hebrew text] (English _haven_ and the German _hafen_) +is perpetuated not only in those words but in the modern appellation, +Caiffa, or as it may be more properly written _Hhaifa_. The Arabic +letter [Arabic letter] is the real equivalent for [Hebrew letter] in +Hebrew; by grammatical permutation the letter [Hebrew letter] rightly +becomes [Arabic letter] in Arabic, and this we have + + [Picture: Arabic word] + +Hhaifa which Europeans turn into Caiffa. + +We then reached a low natural mound on which are ruined walls of great +thickness, the levelled surface on the summit had been probably all +occupied by one castle with its outworks, but we saw it yellow with a +ripe crop of barley. This place is _Hurbaj_, and the neighbourhood +abounds with destroyed villages, the natural consequence of being so near +to Acre, and being the _paloestra_ or wrestling ground of great nations +in successive ages. + +We arrived at Acre in exactly twelve hours from Jeneen, and pitched the +tents outside upon a bank between two trenches of the fortification, +commanding extensive views in every direction, and were fanned by sea +breezes from the bay. + +In conclusion, I may observe that the plain called by the Greeks +_Esdraelon_, as a corruption of Jezreel, is that named "Megiddo" in Old +Testament Scripture. In the New Testament it bears the prefix of the +Hebrew word _Har_ (mountain) minus the aspirate, being written in Greek, +and so becomes "Armageddon" in the book of Revelation. + +For topographical reasons it is very likely that the city of Megiddo was +at Lejjoon. There is a village of _Mujaidel_ on the north side of the +plain, not far from Nazareth, but this is a diminutive of the Arabic +_Mejdal_, so common in Palestine as a variation from the Hebrew Migdol. + + * * * * * + +Besides the above journey I made an excursion in 1859 on the summit of +Carmel itself. + +Leaving the Convent, which is at the western termination of the mountain, +we proceeded along the top of its main ridge to the opposite extremity, +the _Mohhrakah_, undoubtedly the locality of Elijah's miraculous +sacrifice in presence of King Ahab with the priests of Baal and of the +groves; thence we returned to encamp for a time at the cleanly Druse +village of _'Esfia_; after which a few hours' ride westwards led us by +the village of _Daliet el Carmel_, {238} also inhabited by Druses, to the +romantic _'Ain ez Zera'ah_ and over the sites of ruined places, +_Doomeen_, _Shelaleh_, and _Lubieh_, where the hewn stones lying +scattered over the ground were indications of much better buildings than +those of modern villages. + +Then down the long and wearisome descent to _Teeri_ on the sea-coast +south of Caiffa. + +For topographical purposes chiefly, let me give an outline of a few other +journeys made about the same neighbourhood. + + + +1. FROM SAFED TO CARMEL. + + + _Sept._ 1846. + +Going in the direction of the sea, that is, from Naphtali downwards into +Zebulon, we crossed westwards the _Jebel Rama_, a long hilly range ending +in the south at Rama, and richly wooded, but to our surprise there were +numerous fires left by the people to consume trees and large shrubs at +discretion, for the making of charcoal. Fortunately for us there was no +wind blowing, but several times as the fiery ashes had been drifted upon +the road, our horses had no choice but to step into them. On that +eminence I picked up specimens of Geodes which abound there, being lumps +resembling fruits outside, but when broken found to be a crust of bright +spar, and hollow in the centre; some of these were remarkably large. The +hills were fragrant with wild herbs, and the views from them delightful. + +After _Semwan_ we strayed from the right road and got to _Shemuata_, +where we procured a guide to conduct us in the direction of Carmel; he +undertook to conduct us as far as _Abu 'Atabeh_, from which Carmel would +be visible, and the distance equal either to Acre or to Caiffa. From the +heights we descended to _Ekwikat_, and there found ourselves too tired to +get further that night. + +In the morning we passed the _Bahhjah_, which had been the luxurious +summer residence of Abdallah Pasha, but was in a ruinous condition, and +came to _Abu 'Atabeh_, which is not a village but a collection of a few +houses, perhaps formerly some outlying dwellings belonging to the +Bahhjah. Here was a fountain, and a small aqueduct for conveying water +to gardens. + +Crossed the _Naaman_ river, anciently named the _Belus_, on the banks of +which, according to Pliny, the primitive idea of glass-making was +discovered by accident. Along the beach we came to the Mokatta' or +Kishon, found it deep for fording, but got over to Caiffa, and mounted to +the Convent of Carmel. + + + +2. NAZARETH TOWARDS ACRE. + + + _Oct._ 1849. + +Passing _Sefoorieh_, (the Sepphoris so often mentioned in Josephus) with +a distant view of Carmel on the left, like a huge rampart of dark blue, +we came to the ruined Khan with a fountain called the _'Ain el +Bedaweeyeh_, then through delightful wooded glades, on issuing from which +we saw _Shefa 'Amer_, a handsome-looking place, with which I made better +acquaintance in after years. + +On the plain of Acre I picked up a cannon ball, probably a twelve +pounder. + +(This journey was repeated in March 1852, and in March 1859.) + + + +3. FROM TIBERIAS TO ACRE. + + + _March_ 1850. + +From _Hhatteen_ to _'Eilaboon_, a quiet and pretty village, after which +we had a long stretch of "merrie greenwood" with furze in golden blossom, +birds singing, and the clucking of partridges. At one place where the +old trees echoed the shouts of country children at their sports, there +rose above the summits a bold round tower, which on nearer approach we +found to be an outwork of the fortification of a venerable convent called +_Dair Hhanna_, which in comparatively recent times had been converted +into a castle, but convent, castle, and tower are now become a +picturesque ruin. + +Near this we saw squatted on the ground a family of three generations, +almost entirely naked; they had a fire lighted, and the women were +washing clothes in the water heated by it, a great rarity in Palestine, +for they usually wash with cold water at the spring. Some Metawaleh +peasants ran away from our party when we wished to make some inquiries of +them. + +From an eminence we saw before us a flat plain inundated like a lake, +left by the wintry floods. This occurs there yearly around the +flourishing village of _'Arabet el Battoof_, at which we soon arrived, +after which we galloped for miles over green pastures of grass +interspersed by trees. + +In three quarters of an hour further we came to _Sukhneen_, a large +village with good cultivation extending far around. Still traversing +green undulations with wooded hills to the right and left, in another +hour we were at a small place called _Neab_, where the scenery suddenly +changed for stony hills and valleys. In a little short of another hour +we saw _Damooneh_ at half an hour's distance to the left. In twenty +minutes more we stopped to drink at the well _Berweh_, then pressed +forward in haste to arrive at Acre before the gates (being a +fortification) should be closed. We got there in fifty minutes' hard +riding from _'Ain Berweh_. + + + + +II. THE REVERSE WAY FROM WEST TO EAST. + + +1. ACRE TO TIBERIAS. + + + _March_ 1850. + +Crossed the river Naaman, and paced slowly over the extensive marshes, +making for _Shefa 'Amer_. + +Among these marshes was a herd of about two hundred horses at free +pasture upon the grass, weeds, and rushes, so succulent at that season of +the year; these were on their way from Northern Syria, and were intended +for sale. + +Also among the marshes was a temporary village of tabernacles or huts +made of plaited palm-leaves, and papyrus canes or reeds, such as one sees +on the line of the Jordan or about the lake Hhooleh, with the same class +of proprietors in both cases, the Ghawarineh Arabs. Strange that this +race of human beings should prefer to inhabit feverish marshes. + +We came upon a paved causeway (called the _Resheef_) leading from a large +mill towards the sea, but only the portion nearest to the mill now +remains entire. Probably this was turned to some account during the +French military operations against Acre in 1799. + +At Shefa 'Amer we had _'Ebeleen_ in sight. Both places are conspicuous +over the district around. At some distance from the town is a large well +for its supply, and along the broad road between the well and the town, +the Druse women are constantly passing with their horns over the forehead +and their jars on the shoulders. + +Shefa 'Amer is crowned by the remains of the Palace Castle erected by +Shaikh Daher, (celebrated in Volney's "Syria,") and the shell of a large +old Christian church; near these are some very ancient wells cut into +solid rock, but now containing no water. + +The majority of the inhabitants are Druses. There are a few Moslems and +a few Christians; but at that time there were thirty Jewish families +living as agriculturists, cultivating grain and olives on their own +landed property, most of it family inheritance; some of these people were +of Algerine descent. They had their own synagogue and legally qualified +butcher, and their numbers had formerly been more considerable. {243} + +I felt an especial interest in these people, as well as in the knowledge +of a similar community existing at a small village not far distant named +_Bokea'h_. + +Upon the road that day, and in half an hour from the town, I met a couple +of rosy-faced, strong peasant men, with sparkling Jewish eyes, who set to +speaking Hebrew with some Rabbis in my company. It was in a scene of +woodland and cornfields under the blue canopy of heaven; their costume +was that of the ordinary Metawaleh peasantry, _i.e._, a scarlet and +embroidered short coat with large dark blue trousers. I shall never +forget this circumstance, of finding men of Israel, fresh from +agricultural labour, conversing in Hebrew in their own land. + +Our road then led through glades of exceeding beauty: an English park +backed by mountains in a Syrian climate. The gently undulating land was +clothed with rich grass, and sprinkled (not thronged) with timber, +chiefly terebinth. Linnets and thrushes were warbling among the trees. + +_Cuf'r Menda_ was on our left; _Sefoorieh_ at a distance on the right; +_Rumaneh_ and _'Azair_ before us. Then we entered upon the long plain of +_'Arabet el Battoof_, and rested a short time before sunset at _'Ain +Bedaweeyeh_ for refreshment. Carpets were spread upon long grass which +sank under the pressure. The horses and mules were set free to pasture, +and we formed ourselves into separate eating groups; one Christian, one +Jewish, and one Moslem. Some storks were likewise feeding in a +neighbouring bean-field, the fragrance of which was delicious, as wafted +to us by the evening breeze. + +On remounting for the road to Tiberias, several hours beyond, we put on +cloaks to keep off the falling dew, and paced on by a beautiful +moonlight, at first dimmed by mist or dew, which afterwards disappeared; +the spear carried by one of the party glimmered as we went on; and the +Jews whiled away the time by recitation of their evening prayers on +horseback, and conversing in the Hebrew language about their warrior +forefathers of Galilee. + + + +2. CAIFFA TO NAZARETH. + + + _July_ 1854. + +Passing through the rush of _'Ain Saadeh_ water as it tumbles from the +rocky base of Carmel, and by the _Beled esh Shaikh_ and _Yajoor_, we +crossed the Kishon bed to take a road new to me, namely, by _Damooneh_, +leaving _Mujaidel_ and _Yafah_ visible on our right, upon the crests of +hills overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon. We passed through a good deal +of greenwood scenery, so refreshing in the month of July, but on the +whole not equal in beauty to the road by Shefa 'Amer. + + + +3. CAIFFA TO NAZARETH. + + + _Sept._ 1857. + +By _Beled esh Shaikh_ and _Yajoor_, where threshing of the harvest was in +progress in the Galilean fashion by means of the _moraj_, (in Hebrew the +_morag_, Isa. xli. 15 and 2 Sam. xxiv. 22,) which is a stout board of +wood, with iron teeth or flints on the under surface. The plank turns +upward in front, and the man or boy stands upon it in exactly the +attitude of a Grecian charioteer: one foot advanced; the head and chest +well thrown back; the reins in his left hand, and with a long thonged +whip, he drives the horses that are attached to it at a rapid pace in a +circle, shouting merrily or singing as they go,--a totally different +operation from the drowsy creeping of the oxen or other animals for +threshing in our Southern Palestine. + +In due time we crossed the bed of the Kishon, which was quite dry in that +part above the _Sa'adeh_, except where some green stagnant puddles +occurred at intervals. + +We passed a herd of camels belonging to the Turkomans, walking +unburdened, whereas all other animals that we met were laden with grain +for the port of Caiffa. At the commencement of the ascent on the +opposite hills we rested under the _Tell el Hharatheeyeh_, beneath a +noble tree of the evergreen oak; and near there we passed alongside of a +camp of degraded Arabs called _Beramki_, in a few tattered tents, but +they had some capital horses picketed around them. The villagers regard +these people with ineffable disdain, as "cousins of the gipsies." It +seems that they subsist by singing songs among real Arab camps, and by +letting out their horses as stallions for breeding, with variations of +picking and stealing. We saw some of their women and children, filthy in +person, painfully employed in scraping away the ground wherever black +clay showed itself, in the hope of reaching water, however bad in +quality. + +There was threshing at _Jaida_ as we passed that village. We halted at +the spring of _Samooniah_, and at _Ma'alool_; the priest of the village +was superintending the parish threshing: his reverence was covered with +dust from the operation. + + + +4. CAIFFA TO SHEFA 'AMER. + + + _June_ 1859. + +From _Beled esh Shaikh_ and _Yajoor_, across the Kishon channel, upon the +plain of Acre, and rested a short time at the _Weli of Jedro_, (very like +a Hebrew name,) and then near us, all close together were the three +villages of _Cuf'r Ita_, _Ja'arah_ and _Hurbaj_. Thence to Shefa 'Amer, +first diverging somewhat to _'Ebeleen_. + + + + +III. SOUTH SIDE OF ESDRAELON. + + +1. PLAIN OF SHARON TO CAIFFA. + + + _Oct._ 1849. + +At _Baka_ we leave the plain of Sharon, at its northern end, if indeed +the extensive level from the Egyptian desert up to this point, may come +under this one denomination; and we enter upon the hilly woodlands of +Ephraim and Manasseh, so clearly described in Joshua xvii. 11, 17, 18. + +In mounting to the higher ground, there is obtained a fine view of the +sea, and the oak and karoobah trees were larger as we advanced; from +certain stations we obtained a totally unexpected prospect of a stretch +of large forest scenery below us, extending towards _Sindianeh_ in the +west. + +At one spot we passed among scattered stones of excellent masonry, large +and rabbeted at the edges, lying confusedly about, enough for a small +town, but evidently belonging to a period of ancient date; a few mud huts +were adjoining these. + +Thence we descended into a long valley, several miles in extent, called +_Wadi 'Arah_, fully occupied with cotton crops, and stubble of the last +harvest of grain. The valley was bounded on either side by well timbered +hills, and its direction was N.E. by E. + +After an hour in this long enclosure, the pleasing features of the scene +became less defined in character, and, uncertain of our way, we climbed +up to a village called _'Ararah_, where, after an hour's trouble, we got +a guide at high price for the rest of the day's journey. The evening was +then advancing, and the gnats from the trees and shrubs plagued the +horses. Among these trees were grand old oaks of a kind that bear +gigantic acorns with mossy cups. At length the verdure ceased, and we +had only stony hills. There was, however, a weli with a spring of water, +and fruit trees by the roadside, crowded with a shoal of singing birds +all rustling and chirping at once among the boughs as the sun was +setting, and throwing a glorious red over the clouds which had been +gradually collecting during the afternoon. + +We left the village of _Umm el Fahh'm_, ("Mother of Charcoal"--a name +significant of a woodland district) upon the right, and night closed in; +our old guide on his little donkey singing cheerily in front, till +darkness reduced us all to silence. + +We crossed the small rivulet at _Lejjoon_ by starlight; and the rest of +the journey in the night was not only monotonous, but even dangerous, +over marshes and chinks in the Plain of Esdraelon. Our course was in a +direction N.E. to Nazareth, which we reached in sixteen hours from the +morning's starting at _Cuf'r Saba_. + +There were fortunately no roaming Arabs to molest us in this night +passage across the _Merj ibn 'Amer_. + + + +2. PLAIN OF SHARON TO CAIFFA. + + + _June_ 1859. + +As before, we left the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon, but +this time at the eastern and minor village of _Baka_, and thus we missed +the ruined town before noticed, but got into the same valley of _'Arah_; +and in the great heat of summer, confined between the two ridges of +hills, we crept on to the extremity of the valley, and mounted a hill to +the village of _Mushmusheh_, opposite to _Umm el Fahh'm_. All the +villages in that region are situated on hills, and are of no easy access. + +This place enjoys abundance of water springing out of the ground, and at +any risk so precious a treasure ought not to be lost; therefore, although +the houses were abandoned and the people scattered, they come there +stealthily, and as opportunity arises, to do the little service to the +ground that it required, and watch its oranges, lemons, and pomegranates, +(from the name it would seem that formerly this place was famous for +apricots.) As we halted and pitched tents there, one by one some of the +people came about us, although they had been preparing to leave for the +night, in order to sleep at "Charcoal's Mother," (the village opposite.) +They stayed under our protection, and got for us certain supplies from +over the way. + +Close beside us was a gigantic mulberry tree, around which two very large +vines climbed to a great height, and a channel of running water almost +surrounded the roots. + +I never heard such sweet-toned bells as the flocks about there carried, +and which gave out their music near and far at every movement of the +goats and sheep. + +In the morning we left this very pleasant spot and went on to _Lejjoon_; +crossed the Sufsafeh and the other streams with their oleander borders, +and enjoyed the magnificent prospects of Hermon, Tabor, and the plain; +rested on the hill of _Kaimoon_ under the fine oak-tree of former +acquaintance, and at length arrived in Caiffa. + + + + +IV. FROM CARMEL SOUTH-EASTWARDS. + + + _April_ 1859. + +The usual way by _'Ain Sa'adeh_, _Beled esh Shaikh_ and _Yajoor_; the +woody sides of Carmel diversified in colour at this season of spring; +there was the dark green of the bellota oak, the yellow of the abundant +broom, the dark red-brown of the sprouting terebinth and the pale green +of young-leafed trees of many other kinds. There was, moreover, the +fragrance of an occasional pine, and of the hawthorn, (Za'aroor,) which +is of stronger scent than in England; and the ground was sprinkled with +purple and yellow crocuses; also with anemones of every shade of purple +and white, besides the scarlet, which alone are found in Judaea, but +there in profusion. + +Turning off from the road to Jeneen, I rose upon high ground, and came to +_Umm ez Zeenat_, (mother of beauties.) Our people were of opinion that +this name did not apply so much to the daughters of the village as to the +landscape scenery, for near it we commanded an extensive prospect, +including Hermon with its snows one way, and the "great and wide sea" in +the opposite quarter. + +We lost our way for a time, leaving _Rehhaneeyeh_ on our left, and +straying as far as _Daliet er Rohha_; on recovering the right road we +arrived at _Cuferain_, (the "double village") and to _Umm el Fahh'm_, +marching among silent woods often tangled by neglected growth, and +abounding in a variety of unknown trees, besides the Seringa and the oaks +with much broader leaves than are ever seen in the south; also, for a +long period we had frequent recurring views of snowy Hermon in the N.E. + +The considerable village of _'Aneen_ we found almost entirely broken up, +by the recent warfare between the partisans of Tokan and 'Abdu'l Hadi. +At length our repeated calls and promises echoing among the apparently +forsaken houses, brought out an old man, and he promised to procure a +guide to take us within sight of _'Arabeh_, after which several women +peered out of their miserable dwellings. + +The guide conducted us through large woods on heights and in depths, +among fragrant herbs and blossoming trees growing wild, till some time +after sunset, when we stopped for the night at a poor village called +_Harakat_; we were all tired, but especially the two women of a Christian +party going to Jerusalem, who had attached themselves to us all the day +for the benefit of our protection. + +The ground on which the tent was set up was wet, as there had been some +rain at the place that day, and springs of water were running to waste +near us; the village people served as guards around us, on being fed at +our expense; the pilgrims spread their beds in one direction outside the +tent, and the kawwases in the opposite. + +By the light of a brilliant morning we marched forwards to _'Arabeh_, +which was being besieged by the Turkish government, in force of infantry, +cavalry, and artillery. + + + + +VIII. BELAD BESHARAH. + + +This is the mountainous district lying east and south of Tyre, probably +the "Galilee of the Gentiles;" bounded on the north by the river +_Kasimiyeh_, the ancient Leontes; on the west by the plain of Tyre; on +the east by the plain of Hhooleh and of the Upper Jordan; on the south by +hills around Safed: the district is very little known to Europeans, and +was much less so in 1848. + +In that year I entered it from the North, after traversing the Sidon +country, crossing the pleasant river with its rose-coloured border of +oleander and wild holly-oak at a ford wider than the average breadth of +the Jordan. + +There we found abundance of noble trees, and some cottages near them, the +vines belonging to which climbed up those trees to a surprising height; +and the thickness of the vines exceeded any that I had any where or at +any time seen. + +In front was the village of _Boorj_, and we mounted into a high +table-land commanding prospects of indescribable grandeur, which +comprised parts of both Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, the extreme heights of +Sannin and Hermon being visible at once. + +The day was one of hot shirocco, and there were fires of lime-kilns +visible in several directions, this season (late in autumn) being that +appropriated to such employment, after all the harvests are gathered in. + +There were innumerable villages appearing in every direction. We passed +_Abasiyeh_ on our right; _Dar Meemas_ and _Izereiriyeh_ distant on the +left; _Tura_ on the right; _Dar Kanoon_ we almost entered; _Bidias_ near +us on the left; _Dair Thecla_ on our right; _Bursheen_ on the right; +_Durtghayer_ on the left; _Arzoon_ further on the left; then we rested +under some olive trees, with _Dar esh Shems_ on the right; _Mezra'a_ on +the left; _Dar Zibneh_ with a castle on our right. + +In the distance appeared the mighty old castle of _Shukeef_ (_Belfort_ of +the Crusaders) upon an eminence, with Jebel esh Shaikh, or Hermon, rising +majestically behind it. + +As we descended into a deep glen between verdant hills, the partridges +were clucking in multitudes, and so unaccustomed to intrusion, that +sometimes they came running up towards us; magpies were flying about, and +we were told that the glen abounds in wild beasts, which there seemed no +reason to doubt. For hours we wound round and round within this cool and +refreshing labyrinth of arbutus, bellota or evergreen oak, aspen, +clematis, broom, and what looked like the sloe, besides other and unknown +vegetation. The bellota was often respectable-sized timber in girth, +though of no considerable height; sometimes our path was overshadowed by +their branches stretching across, and we had to stoop beneath them. On +the sides of the hills were many fires of the charcoal burners. + +As evening came on, we could see our lofty green prison walls tipped with +the setting sun. + +At length the glen seemed to be terminated by a fine round hill, crowned +with a village standing across the passage. The appearance improved as +we drew nearer; inhabitants were not few; large flocks and herds were +winding by several ways towards it. The people named it _Khirbet +Sellim_, (Sellim in ruin) but how could all this cheerful scene belong to +a ruin? + +The sun set and we had another hour of the lovely glen to thread by +starlight. At last we emerged by a gently inclined plain, which +gradually became rougher, and we mounted the steep hill on which +_Tibneen_ is built. There we determined to halt for the night, as our +cattle were unable to hold on to _Bint el Jebail_. + +We pitched on the threshing floor between the village and the castle. + +This castle is the citadel of all the Belad Besharah, from the Leontes to +Safed, and Ahhmad Bek, its owner, is called by his people "the Shaikh of +Shaikhs;" by the Turkish government he is recognised as Kaimakam of the +province. + +The people were of ill behaviour, and talked about quarantine, but the +population of the district are at all times a churlish race, being of the +Sheah or 'Ali sect of Moslems; they curse and loathe our Mohammedans, and +oppress the sparse families of Christians within their reach. They are +called the Mutawaleh. + +At first they refused to let us have anything, till the governor, on +ascertaining who we were, sent us down some lemonade; still we got but +few articles of food, and our horses were left without water. + +My kawwas Salim was then taken ill from the effect of having slept the +preceding night with his head uncovered, and with reluctance our own +people put up the small tent that travelled with us, on purpose for them; +they always prefer sleeping in open air, only covering the head well with +the cloak. + +This was Saturday night, and we had not an agreeable prospect for a +Sabbath rest on the morrow. + +The wind was strong all night on that lofty situation, but there was no +dew. + +In the morning, the people would not supply us with milk, even for the +horses, and so it was impossible to stay there; we marched on towards +Bint el Jebail, about three hours' distant, a considerable place, which +often contests with Tibneen for supremacy in the local government, and +where the governor is a distant relative of him at Tibneen. + +From the tents, before starting, we could see the following villages in a +curved line from S.E. to N:-- + + Haddata or Haita ez-Zoot. + Bait U'oon. + Berasheet. + Hhooleh. + Shakrah. + +And they told us of _El Yehudiyeh_ on the N.W. behind the castle. The +Mediterranean in sight [I became better acquainted with Tibneen, and on +better relations with the people in after years.] + +Passed on through a pretty country, like all the Belad Besharah, with +numerous villages in sight; excellent beaten roads, and plenty of them; +with everywhere the magnificent objects in view of Mount Hermon, and part +of the Lebanon, but not always the Mediterranean. + +Rested at half-way of our short journey under a large evergreen oak on +the summit of a rising ground, with a refreshing breeze blowing; thence +descended to a plain where there were about a dozen wells, and people +drawing water for large herds of neat cattle. Here our horses got drink. + +Arrived at _Bint el Jebail_, a nice-looking place, with a commanding +house for the governor, (Hhusain Suliman,) but the people were at first +even more inhospitable than those at Tibneen, for they drove away our man +Khaleel from the village fountain, and covered up their mouths and noses, +in fear of cholera. + +On application to the Bek, we got permission to draw water for ourselves, +and he allowed us eggs and bread, with barley for the horses, and it was +with difficulty they accepted any money in return. + +The Bek also invited me to visit him in his house, but stipulating not to +shake hands. + +On coming near the Serai, (governor's house,) the ladies of the Hhareem +were looking out of the lattices upon the cavalcade. A crowd of servants +were at the door to receive us, in attendance on one of his sons, who had +a large hunting-hawk upon his wrist; silver bells upon her legs. + +We were shown into a large baronial-looking hall, and chairs were placed +for us upon the divan. + +The great man sat in the right-hand corner, upon a panther skin, one of +the prey of the country, his brother at his right hand, and his sons +ranged on his left. He wore a robe of the true Moslem apple-green, with +a Cashmere shawl round his waist, and another on his turban. His +countenance and deportment were truly aristocratic; he and all his family +were handsome, with intelligent expression of countenance. + +The son who had been outside came in, and put his hawk upon her perch, +then took his place. They gave us sherbet, coffee, and abundant +compliments: we talked of hawking in England, and English ladies riding +to the sport. London, and the Queen on the throne were discussed; also +Jerusalem, where the Bek had never been. On the whole the reception was +satisfactory. Pity that the people were afraid of cholera; they did not +exhibit the virtue of resignation to Divine predestination any more than +our Sooni-Moslems of the south had done. + +Our tents were in a sunny situation, but still we had in them a rest for +Sunday afternoon. + +At sunset the Bek sent me a present of grapes, those that were purple +were of large size. + +Starlight night, but no dew; jackals were howling in troops, sometimes +very close to us. An armed nominal quarantine was placed over us during +the night--ridiculous enough after a pretty free intercourse of the +people all day. + +The morning very cool. A poor Maronite priest from 'Ain Nebel came to me +in his black robes and dark blue turban, and, leaning on his staff, gave +a lamentable account of persecutions suffered by the four or five +Christian villages about there, and imploring English help on their +behalf. Alas! nothing could be done for him, only the case of the +servant of the governor of Tibneen shooting a poor Christian, while on +compulsory work at the lime-kilns, got inquiry made into it at Bayroot. +On asking his name, and writing it down, the miserable man said to the +secretary, "Tell the consul that I have already written his name on my +heart." + +Hitherto our journey had been entirely novel--there is no record +published of any traveller passing through that country, from the +Leontes, its northern boundary, before that date. Going forwards, we +passed through pretty green lanes along the sides of hills. From the +crest of a hill, whence the view was very extensive, we had _Yaroon_ on +the right, and beyond it the ruined convent of St George. I afterwards +learned that the church there exhibits proof of great size and +magnificence. + +By the roadside was a huge undecorated sarcophagus, in excellent +preservation, standing on a raised platform of masonry; single and alone +in a wide expanse, no village or remnant of human works near it. The +masonry in front had been wilfully damaged, enough to make the +sarcophagus lean, but not to fall, and the ponderous cover was removed +from its place--total length, eight feet by five, and four in height, the +hollow cut out from the body left the thickness of a foot all round it. +No inscription gives any record of the doubtless important personage for +whom it was prepared, and no embellishments even provide a clue to the +period to which it belongs. It stands well-preserved, great in its +simplicity and position. + +Villages of _Farah_ and _Salchah_ on our left. + +Thence we descended into a glen of blazing white stone, without any +verdure, in which were a diversity of paths, and a petty runlet of water +issuing from the ground, but soon showing only stagnant green pools and +mud, with frogs in abundance, then evaporated altogether. Near this, +Salim was taken with vomiting and purging, and was hardly able to remain +on his horse; the dragoman also fainting and giddy, and the rest +frightened with the terrors of expected cholera. Our guide wanted to +desert us and return home. + +The muleteers and luggage had taken another road, but after a time we met +again. Moving on, the ground became a gradual rise, and a stream coming +down it toward us, became clearer as we ascended, and fruit-trees were +rather numerous. + +Under some fig-trees the kawwas laid himself down, and we stayed there +three hours with him; water was poured over his head to obviate fever, +and I administered some pills. + +During the interval I found some sculptured stones with Hebrew +inscriptions, which I have elsewhere described, and took pains to +decipher the words, but without much result. They were lying in a +ploughed field by the roadside. We were now entering on classic ground +of the Talmudists, and upon a precipice above us, upon wide table-ground, +was the village of _Jish_, the Giscala of Josephus. + +When evening brought coolness, we proceeded towards Safed. + +A peasant passing us was carrying home his plough upon his shoulder, +except the iron share, which his little daughter, of two or three years +old, carried on her head. + +Some of our horses were so stung by flies that the blood flowed to the +stones under their feet as they went along. + +There were traces of ancient pavement along the road, and cavern holes in +chalk-rock sides. Then traversing a few miles of dark volcanic stone we +neared a crater in the ground, whose gloomy aspect was fully in keeping +with the destruction which such a phenomenon bespeaks as having +occurred--silent as the death it produced, and void of all pleasurable +features, of wild flowers, or even the thorns of nature. + +The whole vicinity bore traces of the earthquakes that have often +occurred there, especially that of 1837. + +After this a glorious prospect burst upon us of Safed, "set upon a hill," +and the gloomy hill of Jarmuk beside it. Tabor also in view far in +advance, throwing a vast shadow of late afternoon-time over other hills, +and glimpses of the lake Tiberias. + +Encamped on our former site among the great old olive-trees north of the +town. Some Jewesses gleaning olives from the ground were frightened +away. Visitors were out at once to welcome us in English, Arabic, and +Judisch, (Jewish-German.) We were surrounded by fair and rosy +complexions of Jews, the effect of the pure bracing air of the mountain. + +My sick people took to their beds, and only after a week's care (medical +such as we could get) were able to continue the journey, one remaining +behind to recover strength. The complaint, however, had not been +cholera, it was rather what is denominated "Syrian fever." + + + + +IX. UPPER GALILEE.--FOREST SCENERY. + + +Tibneen has been already mentioned as one of the two capital villages of +the Belad Besharah, and lying S.E. from Tyre. We have now before us the +Galilean country that lies southwards between that place and Nazareth. + +_July_ 1853.--After honourable entertainment and refreshing sleep in the +Castle of Tibneen, I awoke early to look out on the dark and broad mass +of Mount Hermon by starlight. + +Coffee was served, and I was mounted on my "gallant gray," still by +twilight, parting with some friends who had been rambling with me for +three weeks over Phoenicia and the Lebanon. I set my face in the +direction of Jerusalem. + +We were guided by the Shaikh of _Rumaish_, a Christian village that lay +upon the road before us, he being furnished with a written mandate from +Hhamed el Bek, the ruler of Tibneen, to take four men of his place as our +escort through the forest. + +In the outskirts of the forest belonging to the castle we found peasants +already proceeding to the threshing-floors; women in lines marching to +the wells with jars cleverly balanced upon their heads; and camels +kneeling on the ground munching their breakfast of cut straw, with most +serious and unchanging expression of countenance, only the large soft +eyes were pleasant to look at. + +In half-an-hour we were at _Aita_. + +This country is famous for the quality of its tobacco, a plant that is +most esteemed when grown among the ruined parts of villages, because the +nitre contained in the old cement of houses not only serves to quicken +the vegetation, but imparts to the article that sparkling effect which is +admired when lighted in the pipe. + +Vines are also extensively cultivated, and the people take pleasure in +training them aloft upon the high trees, as oak, terebinth, poplar, etc., +and allowing them to droop down in the graceful festoons of nature, which +also gives an agreeable variety of green colour among the timber trees. + +We were entering the gay woodland and reaching the top of a hill, when +the sun rose at our left hand, and the glory of that moment surpassed all +common power of description. Crowds of linnets and finches burst +suddenly into song; the crested larks "that tira-lira chant," {265} rose +into the merry blue sky, with the sunlight gleaming on their plump and +speckled breasts; the wood-pigeons, too, were not silent; but all, in +harmonious concert, did their best to praise the blessed Creator, who +delights in the happiness of His creatures. + +Forwards we marched with light spirits, through dense woods, varied by +the occasional clearings, which are called "the rides" in old English +forests, and sometimes we drew near to snug villages, or got glimpses of +such, by the names of _Teereh_, _Hhaneen_, and _'Ain Nebel_; the latter +at two hours from Tibneen; the people there are Christian, and they +cultivate silk and tobacco. In some places we observed ancient +sarcophagi, hewn into solid rock without being entirely detached, they +had therefore been left unfinished, though partly ornamented. + +On a ground rising opposite to us I saw the screw of a large press, +standing out of the field; this I was told is used for extracting resin +from the red berries of terebinth trees for domestic lamp-lighting--a +circumstance which of itself bespeaks the prevalence of woodland round +about, and is a variation from the practice of that unhappy thin +population on the plain of Esdraelon, who are obliged to use castor-oil +for the same purpose, because the _palma Christi_ plants which produce +the oil are of less value to Bedaween marauders than olive-trees would +be, and damage done to them is of less importance than it would be among +the latter. + +Arrived at _Rumaish_, the Shaikh rode up to his village while we awaited +him under the branches of an old oak overshadowing the road. Rumaish is +a neat little place, but, like almost every village throughout Palestine, +oppressed by the heavy debts incurred with the forestallers of their +produce (generally Europeans) in the seaport towns. + +Our friend returned with another horseman, and three men on foot, all +armed with guns, as our future way lay through a Druse neighbourhood. + +These men for our escort were Maronite Christians, and they showered upon +me abundant salutations, expressing their satisfaction at the +circumstance of a Christian (myself) being treated with such +distinguished consideration in Tibneen Castle, and concluding with the +hope that I would visit them yearly, in order to give countenance to +poor, depressed Christianity. The two priests of the village had desired +to come out and greet me, but their people had persuaded them that the +distance was too great for their walking in the sun--near mid-day in +July. + +Resting for a while before resuming the journey, the newcomers sat round +in a circle to smoke their fragrant local tobacco, and find some relief +to the mind in relating tales of suffering under persecution. They said +they had more reason to be satisfied with the rule of my host, Hhamed el +Bek, than with that of Tamar Bek at Bint Jebail, which they described as +most cruel and capricious. That I could easily believe after the +incident that came to my knowledge in that vicinity five years +before,--that of the wanton murder of a poor Christian, at the lime-kiln +works, by a servant of that governor. I have already mentioned that it +was narrated to me by the village priest of 'Ain Nebel. An inquiry was +instituted into the case by the authorities at Bayroot; but there must be +many such instances occurring that are never known by those who would or +could bring them to light and justice. + +At length the signal was given for mounting. The mules were collected +together, after straying about for such pasture as could be got, their +bells gently ringing all the time, and the pipes were stowed away: those +of the muleteers being placed down the backs of their jackets, with the +bowls uppermost, reaching to the men's necks. + +We then plunged into the forest of _Tarsheehhah_, where the Shaikh of the +principal village, that which gives name to the district, is a fanatic +Moslem, who was then preaching religious revivals, and was said to +engraft upon his doctrine the pantheism of the Persian Soofis. This was +not considered improbable, seeing that the Moslems of the Belad Besharah +are all of the Sheah sect, (here called _Metawala_,) out of which the +Soofi heresy is developed. The new doctrines had spread rapidly in +various directions, and were professed by several of the Effendi class in +Jerusalem--the old story repeated of Sadducean principles obtaining among +the rich and the luxurious. This Shaikh was described as excessively +intolerant of Christianity, and at that period, viz., the commencement of +the Russian war, was in the habit of travelling about with a train of +disciples, all carrying iron-shod staves in their hands, and +distinguished by having a portion of the muslin of the turban hanging +loosely behind, doing their utmost to excite tumult and hatred of the +Christians by shouting aloud the Mohammedan formula of belief, "There is +no God but Allah, and Mohammed is the Apostle of God," striking the +ground with their iron-shod staves by way of emphasis. + +Among the evergreens, and the gall-oaks, and karoobah-trees, our path +often became very narrow--sometimes subsiding into sunless hollows, then +mounting afresh into a chequered brilliancy--but always passing between +woods of dark and glossy foliage. At one place was a pretty spring of +water, where one of the party halted to drink while the rest proceeded. +On finding him fail to come up with us, a horseman and two footmen were +despatched in search. Their shouts gave animation to the scene, but +gradually became fainter as the distance between us increased. + +The whole of the day's journey hitherto was remarkable for absence of +human population. + +Came to _Herfaish_, a Druse village, in the very heart of the forest, but +passed on, still toiling in the hot sunshine. Occasionally the paths +were so rocky that we had to dismount and lead the horses. + +It was evident from the deportment and conversation of our guides, that +whenever Christians (who in that neighbourhood are all Maronites) enter +that division of the forest where the Druses of Herfaish prevail they +find it necessary to travel in companies and armed. Fortunately we +encountered none of the fanatics of Tarsheehhah. The escort told me that +they themselves only became acquainted with these cross roads in the +direction of Nazareth by means of their journeys thither at the +ecclesiastical festivals of Easter, Christmas, etc. + +At this hot season there were not many flowers to be noticed, beyond some +varieties of salvia, yellow broom, bright-coloured thistles, the pink +flax, blackberry blossoms, and one kind of heath, together with some +plants unknown to me. + +The trees were not of large dimensions, but mostly evergreen and of slow +growth; many were very wide-spreading, and all dense enough to afford +good shelter from either sun or rain. + +After six hours and a half of uninterrupted forest we arrived at a small +trickling spring called _'Ain Noom_, when large trees began to give place +to shrubs and underwood, and human inhabitants again cheered the sight, +they bringing cattle to the water for drinking. + +At _Bait Jan_ we were overtaken by the missing member of our party. At +this place there is considerable vine cultivation. Very soon afterwards +we were suddenly upon the brow of a deep descent--sheer steep down to the +plain of _Battoof_, and the prospect from that spot was amazing, not only +beyond expectation, for we had not expected any remarkable scene to come +in our way, but beyond all previous experience. + +The whole of Lower Galilee, Samaria, and Gilead, was laid like a map at +our feet; and from so great an elevation the Mediterranean and the Sea of +Galilee were brought close together. Among the most conspicuous +geographical points were Tabor, a very small object beneath; then the +line of Carmel; and Ebal in Samaria; there was Hhatteen, the last +battle-field of the Crusaders; King Baldwin's castle of Cocab; the +entrance of the Jordan into the lake, and both the supposed sites of +Capernaum; also Acre with her blue bay, and a small amount of shipping +off Caiffa. Pity that I had no aneroid barometer for ascertaining the +elevation of that site. + +The map-like appearance of the wide panorama suggested to memory the song +of Deborah the prophetess, with her recapitulation of the succours +furnished or omitted by the several tribes of Israel at the battle of the +Kishon and Harosheth of the Gentiles. From such a site she would turn to +the left hand for expostulation with Reuben, and to the right for +rebuking Dan and Asher upon the sea-coast, after that the Lord had +defeated the national foe without them, and sold Sisera into the hands of +a woman. + +Our descent was by a narrow path of zig-zags, veering alternately towards +Acre or Tiberias, although those towns were soon concealed by intervening +hills; the plain below was a large dark patch of olive plantation. + +In an hour and ten minutes of wearisome toil in leading the horses down, +with no possible interval of rest, we came to the village of _Rama_; +having long before lost sight of the Mediterranean. + +We took refuge from the sun in the house of a Christian named Ibrahim +Hhanna, and after an hour's sleep rose up to a feast of eggs, olives, +bread, and cream cheese, after sharing in which our guides from Rumaish +took their leave, with kindly wishes on both sides. + +Next we hired a guide for our crossing the plain to 'Arabeh el Battoof on +the way to Nazareth, and travelled over alternate corn stubble and +balloot underwood. In one short valley that we crossed there were six +_jeldeh_ or short aqueducts to water-mills. + +The weather was still extremely hot. + +Passed near _Dair Hhanna_, a large ruin of a fortification upon a hill +rising out of the plain; probably, as the name would seem to intimate, an +old castle of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. A few poor people +here have built huts for themselves within the great walls, in the manner +of the Italian peasants in Goldsmith's "Traveller," who do the same +within the confines of a Caesar's palace-- + + "And wondering man can want the larger pile, + Exult and own their cottage with a smile." + +Two small towers, now also in ruin, flank the castle at short distances. +These were erected by Shaikh Daher about eighty years since, who employed +the whole for military defence in his revolt against the Turks. + +Near this 'Arabeh lie some time-eaten fragments of large old columns. +There we dismissed the guide, as he wished to be at home again before +dark, and we traversed the plain of _Sefuriyeh_, the celebrated Sepphoris +of Josephus' wars. + +It is to be observed that in that afternoon we had crossed three narrow +but long parallel plains, all running east and west, and divided from +each other by lines of rocky hills. The northern one contains _Rama_ and +_'Arabeh_; the middle one has _Sefuriyeh_; and the southern one has +_Tura'an_ and _Cuf'r Cana_, the place of the miracle at the marriage in +St John's Gospel. + +Hoping to reach our destination by a shorter track, after passing +_Rumaneh_ and Jerjer we mounted a hill to _Mesh-had_, that was in sight, +but as darkness came on, lost our way for a considerable time; rain +threatened and fell a short time. Once we came near a large cattle-fold, +which we afterwards learned belonged to the Latin Convent of Nazareth, +but no people appeared to answer us; then we got a gloomy view of Mount +Tabor; at length, however, we were cheered with discovering the window +lights of Nazareth, after being fourteen hours in the saddle, omitting +the two hours' rest at Rama, and the half-hour at Rumaish. + +The whole country we had traversed is particularly interesting; but at +the close of the day the company were all too tired to sing aloud, as +might have been performed under other circumstances, that Arab song well +known over the country, with its wild high note (not cadence) at the end +of each line: + + "If thy horse be indeed + A creature of speed + Thou wilt lodge for the night in Nazareth." + +In December of the next year (1854) I traversed the Rama plain +lengthwise, that is to say, from Tiberias to the plain of Acre. + +After _Mejdal_ and the _Wadi el Hamam_, or "Valley of the Doves," we soon +struck out due westwards, and passed under a hill with ruins on its top +called _Sabaneh_; then some more considerable ruins in a similar position +called _Memileh_. At a good way to our left a small village was pointed +out called _'Ailabool_, containing, among other inhabitants, a few +Christians, who have their chapel and a priest. + +The whole road was extremely picturesque--the scenery consisting of +broken rocks of ochreous tinge and shoots of balloot oak; and for a long +distance at every turn, in looking backwards, there showed itself the +still lovely lake of the Gospel narratives--that object which no one can +ever forget who has had once the privilege to be near it. + +We kept _Mansoorah_ steadily before the eye, but on arriving at the hill +upon which this stands, the road deviated a little, and rose over an +eminence side by side with the village. Here we got a view of those +several separated objects--Tabor; the Sea of Galilee; and Dair Hhanna. + +We were accosted by some Druse peasantry when the village of _Moghar_ was +somewhat on our left. + +While passing the large olive plantations of _Rama_, we gazed up at the +long and steep ladder of the precipice by which we had descended last +year. + +Rama is at some height above the level of the plain, although low in +proportion to the mountain at its back. + +Just before sunset we halted under the trees for refreshment about a +quarter of an hour, then engaged a guide to conduct us to _Yerka_, on the +plain of Acre. + +The man purposely led us up to the village of Rama, over a very stony +road, hoping to induce us to stay there for the night on the way to +Yerka. When I refused to remain, and insisted on going forwards, he took +us into places even worse for travelling, to the peril of limbs to +ourselves and the horses and mules: and great was our just wrath on +finding ourselves every few minutes in augmented trouble in utter +darkness; for there was no moon, and the stars were hid by clouds. The +horses' feet were sometimes caught between close-wedged rocks, so that we +had to lift them out with our hands, and our boots were with difficulty +extricated from the same catch-traps; nevertheless the traitor trudged on +nimbly a-head of us, heedless of our embarrassments. Had he not led us +up to Rama at the beginning we should have kept upon a pleasant, +well-beaten road on the level of the general plain. + +At length by our own efforts we got down to this highway, and trudged on +at a good pace, the guide still trotting on in advance, out of reach of +our hands, fearful of consequences, until we reached _Mejdal Croom_, (or +_Migdol_, or Tower of the Vineyards in Hebrew,) where he swore that Yerka +was still three hours before us, and that he was exhausted with fatigue. +As we were so in reality, we halted, and with great trouble obtained a +room in the village for the night. + +In the morning it was discovered that Yerka was only half-an-hour in +advance, but the mischievous fellow was already gone back to where we had +unfortunately picked him up. + +In the house of our lodging I was amused by seeing rude paintings upon +the white-washed walls, rather good for native Palestine artists of the +nineteenth century. The principal object was a three-masted ship, +actually containing what were intended for human figures; (perhaps it was +a Christian, not a Mohammedan house.) On the masts were very large flags +of no special nationality, but one of them in exactly the opposite +direction from the others. The three men, (constructed of lines for +limbs and a dot for the head,) looking through telescopes, were taking +observations in different quarters; but perhaps this may be allowed--two +men formed the crew. There were no sails, and the mainmast had one +yard-arm, the rest had none. Up in the air, near the ship's masts, were +two Arabs on horseback carrying spears; the whole tableau was coloured, +as such works in the East always are, of a uniform dull red. + +_N.B._--We were within sight of the sea and the fortress of Acre. + + * * * * * + +The three previous chapters, and this one at its commencement, relate in +no inconsiderable proportion to woods, glens, and glades included in +proper forest scenery; but inasmuch as travellers in Palestine, +describing only what they have themselves seen along high-roads from town +to town, under the guidance of professional dragomans and muleteers, +generally deny the existence of forest scenery in Palestine, I may +subjoin some remarks on this particular subject. + +Passing over the extensive olive plantations of Gaza, and the Sahara of +twenty square miles between Bayroot and Saida, as not exactly belonging +to the class of timber trees; and the "pine forest" near Bayroot, which +is of artificial formation for accomplishing a preconceived design; also +the neb'k and other thorny trees unfit for mechanical purposes, extending +for miles in wild profusion beyond Jericho, and adding beauty to the +scenery; there remain the veritable forests of Gilead and Bashan beyond +Jordan, seldom visited by European travellers, and the two large forests +in Western Palestine, accessible to the tourists who have leisure and +will for knowing the country. + +First, the Belad Besharah to the north, north-east, and east of Tibneen, +and also west and south-west of Safed, through all of which I have +travelled with unceasing admiration and indulgence of the early taste +implanted in childhood among old forests of England. The verdure and the +shade from the Syrian sun were delightful, with the glades and vistas, as +well as the amusing alternations often occurring of stooping to the +horse's neck in passing below the venerable branches that stretched +across the roadway. Those sylvan scenes abound in game, and are known to +contain formidable wild animals. + +Secondly, the forest extending in length at least thirty miles from below +Caesarea, northwards to the plain of Battoof beyond Sepphoris. This was +designated the "ingens sylva" by the ancient Romans. I have crossed this +in several lines between Nazareth and Acre or Caiffa; and twice from the +Plain of Sharon to Carmel through the _Wadi 'Arah_ by _Umm el Fahh'm_, a +village, the very name of which ("mother of charcoal") belongs to a +woodland region; besides the line from Carmel to _'Arabeh_. + +The portion of this forest immediately contiguous inland from Carmel is +named "the Rohha," clearly from the fragrance exhaled by the pine and +terebinth trees, with the wild herbs upon the hills; this, together with +the dark wooded sides of the long mountain, constitutes "the forest of +his Carmel" mentioned in the boasting of the King of Assyria, (Isa. +xxxvii. 24; also x. 18, in Hebrew,) and it is the _Drymos_ of the +Septuagint and of Josephus, (Wars, i. 13, 2,) in the which a battle was +fought by those Jews who were aiding the Parthians on behalf of +Antigonus. No wonder that the loss of men was considerable among the +woods and thickets there. I note the accuracy of assigning the name +[Greek text] to this region, consisting as it does almost exclusively of +oak. + +Besides these wide tracts of woodland, there are also the summit and +sides of Tabor, with woods along its north-eastern base. + +And the district south and south-west of Hebron, in which, besides oak, +etc., pine timber is frequent,--I should rather say was, for of late +years it has been much devastated, and that too in an unmethodical +manner, to meet the increased requirements of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, etc., +for fuel; nay, as I have been told, shiploads of it are constantly +conveyed away to Egypt, especially for works on the Suez Canal. In like +manner, in creeks of the sea between Acre and Bayroot, may frequently be +seen small vessels loading with wood for Egypt. + +Throughout all the period of my experience in Palestine, I have had +reason to deplore destruction of the growing timber by charcoal-burners +in various provinces. I have seen the sides of whole hills in a blaze, +purposely kindled and then left by these men to perform the work with +least trouble to themselves: the Government takes no heed in the matter, +and no care is employed for propagation of new trees to succeed the +blackened ruin thus produced. + +So it would appear that in ancient periods, when the land was well +peopled, the very wants of that population would, as in every other +country, keep down the growth of forests. In the military periods of +Roman and other invasions, large timber was required for offensive and +defensive operations; and in our generation, when the population there is +exceedingly diminished, the ignorance, the bad government, and the +wastefulness of uncivilisation, produce the same result of destroying or +hindering the increase of timber growth. + +There are not many parts of Palestine more bare of timber trees than the +interval between Jerusalem and Bethlehem; yet there are old houses in the +latter town whose owners pride themselves on the strong, stout rafters +and planks they contain, of a quality known far around by the name of +Bethlehem oak, and there are persons still living who can remember +oak-trees near Solomon's pools. + +That this neighbourhood was formerly well wooded is still proved by the +tufts of evergreen oak which spring up everywhere over the hills. These +tufts of brushwood are found to come from immense roots, each one enough +for several camel-loads of fire-wood. They are dug up by the peasantry, +and sold in Jerusalem for fuel, under the name of Carameh. + +It is popularly said that "once upon a time" a man of Jerusalem went to +reside at Hebron, and the usual chequered events of life occurred, ending +in the calamity of losing his eyesight. In extreme old age he resolved +upon returning to his native city, and when he reached the Convent of Mar +Elias, half-way between Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the weather being hot, +he took off his turban to rest it on the saddle before him. "Oh, our +father," said his sons, who were walking by his side, "why art thou +uncovering the bareness of thy head?" "It is," he replied, "that I may +enjoy the coolness that is to be enjoyed beneath the trees that I +remember to have been by the roadside all the way hence to Jerusalem." +They assured him that not only did no such avenue exist, but that not a +tree was to be seen in any direction, right or left, and that much of the +change was owing to the hostilities that had been carried on among the +villages under the laxity of the Turkish government. "Is it so?" said +he: "then turn back, my sons, and let me die where I have lived so long; +Jerusalem is no longer what it was." + +This anecdote, current among the peasantry, describes strongly, by its +very simplicity, the process that for centuries has been in operation to +reduce that country to the condition in which we now find it. + +I ought not to leave the subject of forest scenery in Palestine without +inviting attention to the eloquent passages in Dr Thomson's "Land and the +Book" upon that subject. This veteran missionary of the Lebanon knows +the whole country well, and being an American of the Far West, has been +accustomed to large forests, huge trees, and charms of woodland scenery; +yet he speaks with rapture of the groves about Banias--the solemn glens +and verdure of the Belad Besharah, and the magnificence of the Sindianeh. +This author has a keen relish for all the varied beauties of nature, and +possesses the faculty of describing them so as to enable us to share in +its healthful gratifications. + + + + +X. A TEMPLE OF BAAL AND SEPULCHRE OF PHOENICIA. + + +About midway between Tyre and Sidon lies what has been called by Porter +and Tristram a kind of Syrian Stonehenge; but neither they nor +Vandevelde, who likewise mentions it, really visited the spot. + +The remains are not even mentioned in Carl Ritter's elaborate +compilation, the "Erd-Kunde," nor in Robinson or Thompson; but as I have +visited them five times, namely in October 1848, October 1849, September +1855, October 1857, and September 1859, I may as well tell what I know of +these monuments, which I believe to be of some importance. + +The site on which they stand is a large open cultivated ground, nearly +opposite _Sarafend_, (Sarepta,) between the high-road and the sea, a +quarter of an hour south of the vestiges of _Adloon_, whose broken +columns and large pieces of tesselated pavement lie actually upon the +highway, so that our horses and mules walk over the household pavements, +or the road pavement of hexagonal slabs. Adloon may be at half distance +between Soor and Saida. It has been conjectured that the name is an +Arabic modification of _Adnoun_, and that again derived from _Ad nonum_, +meaning the ninth Roman mile from Tyre; but as far as my memory serves +me, that does not correspond with the real distance. + +There are upright stones standing from four to six feet each above the +present level of the ground, but which may not be the original level. +There may have been a considerable rise accumulated in process of time. +The largest stone still shows six feet by a breadth of two. They +anciently formed a parallelogram, (not a circle, which is commonly +believed to be an emblem belonging to Baal-worship,) as may be seen in +the following plan, which represents their present appearance:-- + + [Picture: Ancient construction at Adloon] + +The twelve stones marked _0_ are still erect; the rest, whose places are +marked by dots, are either prostrate on the ground, or have entirely +disappeared. Between them all are spaces of two or three yards each. +The stones appear to have been carefully hewn originally, though now the +edges are worn off, or pieces have fallen away from the substances of +most of them. They bear, however, no chisel-indications of having been +connected by lintels across the tops: they have not been placed as +trilithons. + +Outside the parallelogram, at the distance of six yards, stand two other +stones of the same description, which probably served as a portal of +approach. + +Within the enclosure is a depression of ground, in an oval shape, almost +filled up with weeds, which demands but little effort of imagination to +suggest the position of an altar now removed, leaving only the hollow +orifice of a channel for carrying away blood or ashes. This may be worth +an examination hereafter. + +There are tokens of buildings having stood near, but these may have been +of later date. I picked up a fragment of tesselated pavement there, but +that may have come there by means of any conceivable accident from +Adloon. + +Such is my simple account of what I cannot but believe to have been a +temple of Baal-worship for the old Phoenicians, certainly of earlier +period than any Greek or Roman architecture in the country; and vestiges +such as these, of antique Syrian monuments, may, on careful examination, +furnish us with data, useful in enabling us to understand the Celtic +remains still found in Europe. + +The nearest village to these remains, though at some distance upon the +hills, is _Sairi_, hence the place is named _Sook Sairi_, from the +circumstance of a "market" of cattle and general goods being held there +periodically for the district around. But why should this spot above all +others in the long-deserted plain be used for such a market? Is it not a +traditional continuance of some remote custom in connexion with the +importance conferred by the ancient temple and its now-forgotten worship? +Who can tell us through how many ages this rural fair has been held at +Sairi or Adloon? + +The peasant account of the stones is that they were formerly men, whom +God, or a prophet in His name, turned into stones for their wickedness, +while they were employed in reaping a harvest; further my informant could +not tell. The narrative closely resembled the explanation given me by +country people in England respecting some almost similar stones at +Long-Compton, on the border between Oxfordshire and Warwickshire; and I +think I remember to have read of similar instances in other parts of +England. + +Vandevelde was told that this miracle was wrought by Nebi Zer, (whose +weli is in the neighbourhood,) and that this prophet Zer was nephew to +Joshua, the son of Nun,--_i.e._, if he understood his interpreter aright. + +I cannot well leave that vicinity without mentioning the long lines of +sepulchres excavated in the cliff-line which runs parallel to the sea, +eastwards of the highway, and upon the crest of which line Sarafend and +other villages are posted. These sepulchres have been noticed by +travellers generally, even while merely passing along without leaving the +beaten track, others have taken the trouble to visit them, but without +finding any inscriptions. I have seen one inscription, the following in +Greek, and apparently unfinished:-- + + [Greek text] + +Although in some respects these resemble the sepulchres near Jerusalem, +they are not so elaborately formed into passages and inner chambers as +the latter. Many of the excavations high above the ground have been at +some era adapted to residences for hermits. + +Near Saida I have been shown sepulchres that were entered by steps and +passages, and coated with very hard stucco, on which were pictures in +fresco of festoons of olive and vine leaves alternated, these leaves +being diversified sometimes with tints of autumnal brown, also trees of +palm or olive, with birds upon their branches; the birds being all of one +kind, with long tails, and coloured bright yellow and red, with brown +backs. Inasmuch as these portray living creatures they must be ascribed +to some classical, _i.e._, ante-Islamitic epoch. The designing and +colouring of them are excellent, and the work remains in good +preservation; they are most likely of Roman art, for their style much +resembles the wall pictures of Pompeii. + +I have met with no mention of these decorated sepulchres, but in Ritter's +quotation from Mariti, (Saida's Umgebungen in vol. iv. I, page 410,) and +that only lately. + +The sepulchre which I entered consisted of one principal chamber, at each +side of which were three smaller recesses, besides two such opposite the +entrance. These latter have others proceeding further within them. +There are no low shelves as in the Judaean sepulchres, but the dead were +laid in shallow trenches sunk in the rocky floor. The stucco has only +been employed to the right and left of the principal chamber. + +I pass over, as not belonging to this subject, the more recent discovery +by others near the town in 1855 of the two sarcophagi, one of them +bearing a Phoenician inscription. + + [Picture: Temple of Baal (see p284)] + + + + +XI. JERUSALEM TO PETRA, AND RETURN BY THE DEAD SEA. + + +During the last twenty years there have been many English and other +visitors to Petra; but they have usually taken it in the way from Egypt +towards Jerusalem, which is probably convenient with respect to the +season of the year, inasmuch as they thereby get a warm winter before the +"sights" of Jerusalem (as some irreverently speak) begin. It would not +be so well to take Egypt after Easter. + +But, on hearing that several travellers had been unable to reach Petra +even after 'Akabah, on account of hostilities arising between the Alaween +and the Tiyahah Arabs, or on account of the exorbitant demands of money +made by the former of these, I thought the time had arrived for me to +show the practicability of getting at the wonders of Petra from +Jerusalem, under escort of the Jehaleen Arabs near Hebron. + +I went accordingly, and treated with the Fellahheen of Wadi Moosa in the +place itself; and numerous travellers have since availed themselves of +this advantage, though none have published an account of their +expedition. + +On looking back at my notes of the journey, I am astonished at the rapid +flight of time; for although my recollection is on the whole very vivid, +these notes are dated in April 1851. Full occupation during the +intervening period has seemed to shorten the interval. The scene, too, +is now changed; for instead of the arid desert and the blasted porphyry +cliffs of Edom, then before my eyes, these lines are penned among the +bright green meadows of England, with the broad Thames in view, bearing +large three-masted ships on its tide, freighted with imports from the +most distant parts of the world. + +With an officer of dragoons, being a traveller in Jerusalem, and under +escort of Hamzeh, the Hebron agent for the Jehaleen, we proceeded across +country to meet the Arabs in their wilderness. + +Leaving the Hebron road at _'Ain Dirweh_, we ascended the lofty hill to +the little village and weli of _Nebi Yunas_, (Prophet Jonah,) which is so +conspicuous an object far away in every direction,--the minaret which +rises from the building giving it very much the appearance of a rural +church in Europe. Thence through well-cultivated fields of wheat and +barley,--green at that season,--towards the village of _Beni Naim_; but +at quarter of the intermediate distance, passed considerable remains of +good masonry, named Khirbet _Bait Ainoon_, (ruins of Beth Enon.) At +_Beni Naim_ is the reputed sepulchre of the Prophet Lot, according to the +Moslems; that of his daughters being on an opposite hill at no great +distance. This village commands a grand prospect of the Dead Sea, +although there is no view of the kind from all the country around. Is +not this the place whence Abraham, after the departure of the angels, saw +the smoke of Sodom and Gomorrah rising as the smoke of a furnace? (Gen. +xix. 27, 28.) + +Here was a travelling durweesh, fantastically dressed, amusing the +peasants by dancing and cracking a long whip; while a lad accompanying +him thumped a large drum,--both the thonged whip and the large drum being +rare objects in that country. + +In a quarter of an hour we terminated our short day's journey (about six +hours and a half) in a meadow of long green grass. The site is called +_Beerain_, from the two wells there. Selameh, the brother of the Arab +chief, with several of his people, were awaiting our arrival; and they +were to lead us forward in the morning. + +_April_ 2.--My right knee was much swollen from the strain of a sinew, +caused by an unexpected step down a bank taken by my horse when near +_Hhalhhool_, on the road from Jerusalem; consequently, feeling feverish, +and with a headache all night, I was not soothed by the camels groaning, +quarrelling, or champing their food close to my tent. + +In the morning we made our bargain with Selameh, for the hire of camels, +the escort, etc. The captain and I, with my attendants, were to ride our +horses in the desert,--taking camels to carry an extra supply of water +for them. + +We started, but in a very short time became disgusted at the slow +travelling of our caravan, as we were compelled to moderate the pace of +our riding to suit the leisurely tread of the camels. Selameh bestrode a +very young colt of the K'baishi race; but I rated my pony, of the Jilfi +stock, still higher than his. + +The wide expanse before us was sprinkled with wild flowers, including the +yellow furze, (I have beside me, while writing this, a bunch of the same, +of English growth;) and the ret'm, or juniper, seven or eight feet in +height, covered with white blossom, the fragrance of which resembled, or, +if possible, was an improvement upon, the smell of a bean-field in +flower. + +Near _Ziph_, the rocks have many ancient wells cut into their solid +substance. About noon we halted at a rough natural cistern, for the +purpose of filling our barrels and kirbehs (goat and camel skins) with +water. This task occupied an hour, during which I contrived to find just +enough shade for my head under a big stone, but took refuge in the +cistern itself while the camels were being reloaded. + +Leaving this, we found the waste plains abounding in locusts innumerable, +and not full grown. As a natural consequence, there were storks hovering +about and feasting upon them. On account of the benefit thus conferred +on mankind by these birds, the Arabs call them _Abu Sa'ad_, _i.e._, +"Father of good fortune." + +In the middle of the afternoon we arrived at the encampment of the +Jehaleen, under the north-east side of Tell _'Arad_, the site of the +Canaanitish city in Num. xxi. I, xxxiii. 40; Judges i. 16. It was a +cheerful green site, though the verdure consisted merely of a thin and +poor grass. + +We had to be introduced to the real shaikh on his own territorial domain, +namely, Hadji Daif Allah abu Dahook,--a sharp fellow in driving a +bargain,--a taller and stouter man than any of his people, who were all +extremely dirty in person and dress, and several of them but small, +withered-looking old men. One of the women, however, was tall, and +walked with exceeding dignity of manner. + +Our European tents were pitched at some distance from the black hair +tents of the Arabs and we observed, soon after our arrival, that three +strangers came up on horseback, carrying spears tufted with black ostrich +feathers, on a visit to our shaikh. They were well received; and songs, +with clapping of hands, continued during a great part of the night, with +a monotonous accompaniment of the women grinding corn in their +hand-mills! + +_April_ 3.--We rose early, enjoying the indescribable beauty and purity +of starlight in an oriental desert, thermometer, Fahrenheit, 53.25 +degrees, at sunrise; but before sunrise I mounted to the summit of the +hill, where I found no vestiges of a city, only the foundation of a +castle, or some such edifice, of about a hundred feet by sixty. In fact, +this covered nearly the whole surface of the summit. The city must, +therefore, have been situated on the plain, the metropolis of a petty +Canaanitish king; but every trace of it is gone. + +Low hills bounded the view on every side, over which some peaks of the +Moab mountains showed themselves in the east. + +When fairly started on the march at 10 past 6 A.M., we went along very +cheerily, accompanied by Hadji Daif Allah and the three strangers, till, +on a sudden, the latter wheeled about, and required from us the ghuf'r, +or toll, for our future passage through their country. The shaikh +recommended us to make them a present of a couple of dollars, as they +were neighbours of Petra, and without their good-will we should not be +able to succeed in the expedition. + +We complied, and they rode off southwards, Abu Dahook returning to his +camp. + +Wearisome indeed is travelling with camels; but what would it have been +had we been mounted upon them, as is generally the case with travellers +from Sinai and 'Akabah! We horsemen frequently imitated the practice of +old Fadladeen in _Lalla Rookh_, when he rode ahead of his caravan, and +alighted now and then to enjoy the spectacle of the procession coming up +and passing, then mounted again to repeat the pleasure. + +The strongest and worst tempered one of our camels having the barrels of +water to carry, suddenly lay down and rolled them from him. Had his +burden been the skins of water instead, they would have burst, and we +should have lost their precious contents. Our Arabs not being accustomed +to the convoy of travellers, were as yet unskilful in loading the camels, +or in poising the burdens in equal divisions; and most extraordinary +noises did they make in urging the beasts forward,--sounds utterly +indescribable in European writing, or even by any combinations of the +Arabic alphabet! + +We had about half a dozen men, mostly trudging on foot, and but slightly +armed, commanded by Selameh; and one of them, named Salem, was the +merry-andrew of the party, full of verbal and practical jokes. The ride +was exhilarating,--over a level plain, green with thin grass or weeds, +and low shrubs, whose roots extended to surprising distances, mostly +above the surface of the ground; the morning breeze delicious, with larks +trilling high above us in the sky, and smaller birds that sang among the +bushes. + +Sometimes we caught distant views of innumerable storks devouring the +infant locusts upon the hill-sides. + +Passed _'Ain Mel'hh_, (Salt-fountain,) which Robinson identifies with the +Moladah of Joshua xix. 2, by means of the transition name of Malatha in +Greek. The only building now remaining is a square weli, surmounted by a +dome. Here we were not far from Beersheba, upon our right, and fell in +with the common route from Gaza and Hebron to Ma'an. Finding a flock of +goats, we got new milk from the shepherd; when diluted with water, this +is a refreshing beverage. + +On coming up to a camp of Saadeen Arabs, our cook, a vain-glorious +Maronite from the Lebanon, and ignorant of Arab customs, attempted to +fire upon a watch-dog at the tents for barking at him; and it was judged +necessary to deprive him of his pistols for the rest of the journey. Had +he succeeded in his folly, we should have got into considerable trouble; +for an Arab watch-dog is accounted so valuable, that to kill one of them +might have entailed upon us a long delay, and a formal trial in a council +of elders of different tribes, collected for the purpose; followed by the +penalty awarded by the unwritten laws which obtain in the desert, namely, +a payment of as much fine wheat as would entirely cover the dog when held +up by his tail, and the nose touching the ground, and this is no small +quantity; such delay would have probably thwarted our whole journey. + +At a narrow pass, called _Daiket 'Arar_, was the shell of an old +building, now roofless. Near this, and by the wayside, as we advanced, +were considerable remains of foundations of houses. There must have been +a town of note at that place, it is the 'Aroer of 1 Sam. xxx. 28. Our +course now suddenly trended towards the east, instead of southwards. + +In less than another hour we came to _Kubbet el Baul_, merely the +foundation of a small weli. Selameh told us that this had belonged to a +tribe called Bali, (or Baul in the plural.) I have no doubt that this is +the site of _Balah_ of Joshua xix. 3; and that from it the Arabs, +settling near it afterwards, derived their appellation. + +We soon afterwards, 3 P.M., passed _Curnub_, a ruined place on the right, +and descended the slope of _Muzaikah_. + +In another hour and a half, namely, at half-past four, we halted for the +night, after a journey of ten hours. It was on a smooth, pebbly plain, +dotted with shrubs, having lines of chalky hills to the south-west, for +which our people had no other name than _Jebel el Ghurb_, or the "western +mountain." The whole scene was that of a mere desert; no creatures were +to be seen or heard but ourselves. No Turkish authorities ever intrude +into this purely Arab wilderness; still less was the landscape spoiled by +the smoke of European factories. No speck of cloud had we seen the whole +day through. + +Not far from this must have transpired the incidents recorded of Hagar +and Ishmael,--incidents that might have occurred yesterday, or last week; +for a few thousand years count but little in so primitive a region. + +Our ragged fellows ran about singing, in search of thorns or long roots, +or even the straggling plants of bitter colocynth, as fuel for our +cooking-fire. + +Stars arose, but such stars! not like the spangles of the English poet's +conception, those "patines of bright gold," though that idea is +beautiful; but one could see that they were round orbs that flashed +streams of diamond light from out their bigness. + +So luxurious a bed as that spread upon the desert sand, amid such pure +air for breathing, is scarcely to be obtained but in exactly similar +circumstances; and we were undisturbed by cries of any wild beasts, +although jackals and hyenas are common at night in the more cultivated +parts of Palestine. + +_April_ 4.--Thermometer, Fahrenheit, 53.75 degrees at sunrise. We had +our breakfast, and were off again by sunrise. It is said that + + "Early to bed, and early to rise, + Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." + +It remained to be seen what the effect would be upon us. + +The groom being left behind a short time for packing up the kitchen +utensils, allowed us to get out of sight without his observing the +direction we had taken; and, when mounted, he took a wrong course. It +was therefore necessary to give chase towards the hills to recover him. + +In an hour we reached two tul'hh (acacia or mimosa) trees, from which, I +believe, the gum-arabic is obtained, and the stump of a third. These +were the first that we had seen. Then descended, during about half an +hour, to the broken walls of a town called _Sufah_, below which commenced +the very remarkable nuk'beh, or precipitous slope into the great Wadi +'Arabah. Before commencing this, however, we paused to survey the savage +scenery around us, and the glorious expanse of the plain, which extends +from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea, and is bounded on one side by the hills +of Judaea, and on the other by the mountains of Edom,--on an average of +3500 feet above the level,--including Mount Hor, the most conspicuous +peak among them. At that time, however, the range was capped with +rolling mists of the morning. + +This _Sufah_ is most likely the _Zephath_ of Judges i. 17,--the frontier +town of King Arad the Canaanite, which the tribes of Judah and Simeon +destroyed, and called the site Hormah, (_i.e._, "devoted to +destruction.") If so, it is strange that the Canaanitish name should +outlive the one intentionally given by the early Israelites. Probably, +the surrounding tribes never adopted the Hebrew name, and preserved the +original one. + +We were standing among crevasses of shivered mountains, whose strata are +tossed about in fantastic contortions; and what we had yet to traverse +below this, was something like a thousand feet of very slippery rock, +lying in flakes, and sloping two ways at once. The greater length forms +a rough line, at an angle of what seemed to the eye to be one of +forty-five degrees,--not so steep as the Terabeh that we came to +afterwards, but longer and more perilous. Yet this is the only approach +to Jud_ae_a from the desert for many leagues around. Was it here that +King Amaziah destroyed his Edomite prisoners after his victory in the +"valley of salt?" (2 Chron. xxv. 12.) + +Half way down, one of our barrels of water slipped off a camel, and +rolled into a chasm with noise and echoes like thunder. Wonderful to +relate, it was not broken, and we were thankful for its preservation. + +At the bottom of the precipice, just beyond the shingle or debris of the +mountain, the captain and I rested, and drank some camels' milk. This +the Bedaween consider very strengthening. There were several +tul'hh-trees in a torrent-bed beside us, and some neb'k. With some twine +that we gave him, and a stout thorn of tul'hh, one of our Arabs mended +his sandal, which was in need of repair. We, having preceded the beasts +of burthen over the slippery rock, sat watching them and the men creeping +slowly down, in curved lines, like moving dots, towards us. + +Upon the ground we found some dried palm-branches and slips of vine, +which must have belonged to some former travellers, passing from the +western towns to Ma'an, for neither palm nor vine grows in this +wilderness, of which it may be truly said, "It is no place of seed, or of +figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates," (Num. xx. 5;) and it is now +become like a past dream, that Virgil and Lucan mentioned the palm-trees +of Idumaea. {301} + +So at length we were upon the great 'Arabah, or "wilderness of Zin," of +the Israelitish wanderings; and our path was to be diagonally across +this, pointed direct at Mount Hor in the south-east. + +On crossing a shallow wadi named _Fik'r_, they told us of a spring of +water to be found in it, at a good distance to the north-east. + +After some hours, we came to _Wadi Jaib_, sometimes styled the Jeshimon, +as well as its corresponding plain on the north of the Dead Sea, and in +Arabic both are called "the Ghor," in the shallow bed of which were +receptacles for water, concealed by canes and brushwood laid in the +utmost disorder, so as to produce the appearance of mere random drift of +winter storms. Without the Arabs, of course, we should never have +suspected the existence of such valuable stores. Probably also the +Bedaween from a distance would not be aware of such resources there. The +covering would, besides, serve to prevent a speedy evaporation of the +water by the sun's heat. These spots were shaded likewise by tul'hh, +sunt, and neb'k-trees. There we watered the cattle and filled our +vessels. {302} In another half hour we rested for the night, having made +a march of nearly twelve hours, over more tiring ground than that of +yesterday. + +_'Ain Weibeh_ was to our right, which Robinson conjectured to be Kadesh +Barnea. + +We perceived footprints of gazelles and of hyenas. + +_April_ 5. Sunrise, Fahrenheit, 62.25 degrees. Our Jerusalem bread +being now exhausted, we took to that of the desert-baking, which is very +good while fresh and hot from the stones on which the improvisation of +baking is performed, but not otherwise for a European digestion: and our +servants, with the Bedaween, had to chase the chickens every morning. +The survivors of those brought from Jerusalem being humanely let out of +their cages for feeding every evening, the scene of running after them, +or flinging cloaks in the air when they took short flights, not to +mention the shouts of the men and the screams of the birds, was very +ludicrous, but annoying, when time is precious. The merry little Salem +enjoyed all this, as well as the amusements of our people, during the +monotony of daily travelling: as, for instance, the captain rolling +oranges along the ground, as prizes for running, or his mounting a camel +himself, or riding backwards, etc.--anything for variety. + +The desert may be described as a dried pudding of sand and pebbles, in +different proportions in different places,--sometimes the sand +predominating, and sometimes the pebbles,--with occasionally an abundance +of very small fragments of flint, serving to give a firmer consistency to +the sand. Round boulders are also met with on approaching the +hill-sides. In one place large drifts of soft yellow sand were wrinkled +by the wind, as a smooth sea-beach is by the ripples of a receding tide. +These wrinkles, together with the glare of a burning sun upon them, +affected the eyes, so as to make the head giddy in passing over them. + +Wild flowers and shrubs are not wanting; and the former are often very +fragrant. I observed among those that are so, a prevalence in their +names of the letter [Arabic letter] (gh); as Ghurrah, Ghubbeh, Ghurkud, +Ghuraim, etc. They brought me a handful of _meijainineh_, which was said +to be good for pains in the stomach; and the starry flower, called +_dibbaihh_, not unlike a wild pink, is eaten by the people, both petals, +calyx, and stalk. + +The tul'hh, or mimosa-tree, has a strange appearance, very like an open +fan, or the letter V filled up. + +The green foliage of it is particularly vivid at the season when we saw +it, and the thorns long and sharp. {304} + +Distances are hard to judge of in such extensive plains and in so clear +an atmosphere. We had been nearly two days in sight of Mount Hor, +straight before us; yet the mountain only grew in size as we approached +it, not in distinctness. + + [Picture: Tul'hh Trees] + +As we came nearer to the eastern mountains, we found innumerable and huge +blocks of porphyry rock scattered over the ground. The Arabs called the +range of Seir by the name of _Jebel Sherreh_. + +At about eight hours from our last night's station, we turned off the +Wadi 'Arabah by the narrow _Wadi Tayibeh_ into the heart of the +mountains, at the foot of Hor. + +Ascended a series of precipices, and, at some elevation, met two young +English gentlemen, with a pair of double-barrelled pistols shared between +them, and their fingers ready on the triggers. They had a tale to relate +of grievous exactions made by the Fellahheen of Petra,--which, however, +seemed to me, by their account, to have been brought on unconsciously by +themselves, in having taken an escort of Tiyahah Arabs from Nukh'l +instead of the Alaween; and they informed me that a clergyman from +Cambridge was still detained there, as he refused to comply with the +excessive demands of the people. + +On what a stupendous scale is geology to be studied in Mount Seir, where +you have masses of red sandstone 1500 feet in depth; yellow sandstone +extending miles away in ranges of hills, and the sandy desert beneath; +all of this incapable of cultivation; and inspiring a sensation of deep +sadness, in connexion with the denunciations of God's prophecies! + +At a quarter before four we caught the first glimpse of the Mezar of +Aaron's tomb, and at five pitched our tents on the rugged side of Hor, +among crags and scented plants, enlivened by numerous cuckoos, and the +sweet warbling of one little bird. What reminiscences of dear old +England the song of the cuckoos awakened! Now, however, from henceforth, +being in England, their song will infallibly recall the memory to large +bare mountains, extreme heat of climate, and the fragrance of Elijah's +ret'm plant. + +During the last hour we had seen some blue pigeons, one partridge, and, +separately, two large eagles, to which our attention had been drawn by +their shadows moving on the ground before us; then, on looking upwards, +the royal birds were seen sailing along, silently and slowly, against the +blue vault of ether. + +This had been the hottest day of our whole journey; and the atmosphere +became thick as the evening stole over the hills. + +_April_ 6_th_.--Sunrise, Fahrenheit 77 degrees. In the morning we +advanced upwards towards Aaron's tomb. Walking in front of the luggage, +we met the clergyman of whom we had heard the day before. He had been +allowed to leave Petra on suffering the people to take money out of his +pockets,--reserving to himself the intention of complaining against them +officially to the consul in Jerusalem. + +He had been to the summit of Hor, and pronounced the view from it to be +more grand and striking than that from Sinai. On bidding him farewell, +we took Selameh and one kawwas, for clambering on our hands and knees to +the summit, leaving the luggage to proceed and wait for us farther on; +but had to rest occasionally in the shade of large trees of 'Arar, which +Robinson considered to be the true juniper, and not the ret'm. The +latter (the _rothem_ of the Hebrew Bible, under which the Prophet Elijah +reposed) was very abundant, and covered with white blossom, shedding the +richest perfume. Is it possible that all this fragrance, and the +warbling of the birds, is but "wasted in the desert air?" + +The mountain is all of dark-red colour; and the higher we ascended, the +more difficult we found the progress to be. At length all farther +advance seemed impossible, till, on looking round, we observed an +excavation for a well, with masonry around it; and beyond this were steps +cut into the rock, which rock was sloped at an angle of between fifty and +sixty degrees. This encouraged us to persevere. + +Still higher, I picked up some tesserae of mosaic, and morsels of marble +and alabaster,--a piece of the latter now lies on the table before me. + +At length we attained the highest peak, where there was scarcely more +space than sufficient to contain the small weli-building, which was at +the time untenanted, though we had expected to find a Moslem devotee in +permanent residence there. + + [Picture: Small weli-building] + +I utterly despair of being able to describe the prospect around us; and +can only say that extensive mountain-peaks lay in lines below, and might +be compared to those made upon embossed maps, but that the whole scene +was vast, savage, and abandoned to sombre desolation--both the hills and +the desert--in every direction. + +The atmosphere was too thick and hazy to allow of very distant views. +Neither of the two waters--the Red Sea or the Dead Sea--was visible. + +Let those who take pleasure in doing so, doubt that on that peak lies +interred Aaron, the first high priest of Israel, "the saint of the Lord," +and that there was effected the first personal transfer of the pontifical +office from him to Eleazer his son. Rather let me believe that there my +unworthy footsteps have been placed on the same pieces of rock with the +two venerable brothers who led up the redeemed people from Egypt, "the +house of bondage," and that it was there they parted, leaving Moses to +carry on the task alone. + + "Three Hebrew cradles, the Nile-palms under, + Rock'd three sweet babes upon Egypt's plain: + Three desert graves must those dear ones sunder, + Three sorrowful links of a broken chain. + Kadesh and Hor, and Nebo yonder, + Three waymarks now for the pilgrim train." {309} + +I seated myself, and wrote a brief letter to a dear relative in England. + +Entering the weli, we found near the door a common-looking tomb, with an +Arabic inscription,--which, however, I found too illegible to allow of +its being copied; and over the tomb was spread a pall of silk, striped in +red, green, and white, but much faded. Against a pillar, which supports +the roof, were hung rows of coloured rags and threads of yarn, with +snail-shells and sea-shells strung among them by way of further ornament. +A wooden bowl, at one end of the tomb, was probably intended to receive +alms for the support of the devotee who claims the place, and who +practises the curing of diseases by charms among the wild Arabs. + +The floor of the chamber has been handsomely paved with tesselated bits +of coloured marble, much of which still remains. Over the tomb are +suspended some ostrich eggs on a line, as is common in oriental churches; +and near it is a mihrab, or niche in the wall, to indicate the southerly +direction for Moslem prayers. + +In a corner of the floor, a flight of steps leads down to a crypt; and, +providing ourselves with a light, we descended thither, in expectation of +finding there the more ancient tomb, believed to be genuine, as it is the +usual practice in Moslem welies to have an imitation tomb on the common +floor at the entrance, while the true one is exactly beneath it. But we +only found an iron grating, swinging loose to the touch, and within it a +plain wall, from which part of the plaster having fallen away, allowed to +be seen the corner of a kind of stone sarcophagus. The portion visible +was not, however, sufficient to enable us to judge of its probable era. +The ceiling of the crypt is blackened by the smoke of lamps. + +I then mounted, by the outside of the building, to the top of the dome, +but could see nothing thence of Petra, so deeply sunk is that valley +betwixt high hills. + +Descending the mountain by the opposite side of that of our +arrival,--namely, on the side next to Petra,--we discovered that more +pains in roadmaking had been bestowed there, and that the ascent in that +direction would be comparatively easy. Cuckoos and partridges were heard +plentifully; and, on looking back, I saw a very large raven hovering over +the weli. + +In an hour's descent we rejoined our servants and horses, but were not +yet at the foot of the mountain. + +Entering a valley of red rocks, much streaked with blue in wavy lines, +the first work of antiquity that met our view was a square turret on each +side of the road. Then we passed some tombs, or chambers, cut into the +massive red cliffs with architectural cornices, pediments, and pilasters, +some of them very handsome. Next was what Laborde marks in his map as +"the solitary column." It is standing solitary; but then near its base +lie other columns of the same edifice, with the circular slices (or +_drums_, as architects term them) that composed them, scarcely disturbed +as they slid down in falling. + +In five minutes more we halted for the night close to what Laborde +designates the Acropolis, where a pile of fine building lies prostrate, +and the columns on the ground, in their segments, still touching each +other. + +At the foot of this heap stands what is named the Palace of Pharaoh; and +our station within it appeared, from the black relics of fires there, to +be a frequent resting-place for travellers. + +Here, then, we were fairly lodged among the wonders which so deservedly +excite the curiosity of the world, and proceeded to improve time, before +the Fellahheen of the district should arrive to annoy us, by crowding and +importunity. + +It is not my design to recount in detail the marvels of the place,--this +has been done by Laborde, Lord Lindsay, Wilson, and Robinson,--but just +to say, that having with me the small edition of Laborde and some +manuscript notes extracted from other books, by their help I saw most of +what was to be seen. I wandered through streets of the middle town; +surveyed and entered palaces hewn into crimson rocks; sat reading on the +solid benches of the theatre, and walked along its stage; then gazed with +unwearied admiration on the beautiful Khazneh, its delicate tints and +graceful proportions, and went to rest upon a green bank opposite to it, +with a running stream at my feet, bordered by gorgeous oleanders, where I +chatted with some wild Arabs arriving from the south. Such a harmony of +ruddy tints, from the darkest buds of the oleander, through gradations on +the rocks, to the most delicate pink, was truly a feast of nature for the +eyes. + +These are incidents never to be forgotten, and the memory of them is +unspeakably charming. I made a few rough sketches; but it may be +sufficient here to give only a specimen of the capitals of columns that +are peculiar to Petra. + + [Picture: Capital of column] + +During the afternoon the thermometer stood inside the tent at 95 degrees +Fahrenheit. + +The captain, my companion, went alone to explore the chasm called the +_Sik_, as my slight sprain, after being almost forgotten during the +journey, had become painful again from the effects of climbing upon Mount +Hor. + +But I had come to Petra for business; and the indigenous peasantry of +Wadi Moosa were gathering around our tents from different directions. +They had not been prepared for the reception of guests arriving from the +north, _i.e._, Jerusalem, as travellers usually come from 'Akabah or +Sinai, through Nukh'l. + +Our Arabs, both Jehaleen and some strangers, set to making themselves +comfortable. There arrived a large body of the Fellahheen, headed by +Shaikh Suliman es Said, a ragged and ugly crew, he as dirty as the rest, +but strutting about in a robe of bright scarlet. + +Then commenced the negotiations and disputes between them and ours; noise +and menace speedily ensued, alternated with diplomatic manoeuvres, for +our champion, Selameh, was an able practitioner in such matters, at least +he had a reputation for it. The stormy scenes were not concluded till +late in the night, and they ended by an arrangement that travellers, +arriving by the new road from Jerusalem, should pay the same pecuniary +acknowledgment to the territorial owners as had been hitherto claimed +from those arriving under Alaween escort from Nukh'l or 'Akabah; and this +agreement I ratified orally, as writing or sealing would have been +altogether out of place there. One might think that so simple a matter +could have been finished in five minutes; but just as in European +business of that nature, it is always necessary for the contracting +parties to be allowed scope for the display of their professional +talents. + +_April_ 7_th_.--Sunrise, Fahrenheit 65.75 degrees. An inundation of +strange Arabs from the desert had arrived during the night, and it was +computed that there were not less than two hundred guns round our tents, +while our party had not more than five, with a few pistols. We were +hemmed in by the newcomers, and the crags over us were occupied by men +with guns laid in position between crevices. Some men were scattered +about, shooting at birds; but it seemed to me their real object was +rather the making of signals. + +These people were 'Ali Rasheed's branch of the Alaween, from a district +not so distant as 'Akabah. Our Jehaleen party looked very insignificant +among them; they had evidently not expected this turn of events. + +As soon as we Europeans showed ourselves after breakfast, the Fellahheen +rushed forward to serve as guides in exhibiting the curiosities. Feeling +rather lame, I decided on remaining at the tents with my two kawwases as +sentinels; the more disposed to do so, as the strangers had, during the +night, purloined some articles from the Jehaleen. + +It was a warm, misty morning, and in the absence of my companion I found +considerable amusement in the screams of multitudes of wild birds, high +aloft "among the holes of the rocks, and the tops of the rugged +rocks,"--probably all of them birds of prey,--which echoed and +reverberated with sounds closely resembling the laughter and shouts of +children in their vociferous games. On their return, the Fellahheen were +rapacious in demands for remuneration of their services, but were at +length contented. This was the signal for the others to take their +advantage. They wanted toll to be paid for crossing part of the desert +on which they thought the Jehaleen had no right or precedent for bringing +strangers. So, on our preparing to leave the ground, they rushed up the +bank, secured commanding points for their guns, and thus exacted their +fee. The screams and hubbub were at length terminated by some small +backsheesh, (to our surprise, how little was required,) and we all +marched away in a northern direction, the opposite to that of our +arrival. + +This gave us an opportunity of passing again in front of the principal +edifices, if they may be so denominated, including what I had not before +seen, the sepulchre with the Latin inscription in large letters, QVINTVS. +PRAETEXTVS. FLORENTINVS. + +It is to be noticed that Petra itself is called by the Arabs, Wadi +Pharaon, {316} not Wadi Moosa. The two valleys are adjoining, but in the +latter there are no antiquities or wonders. At a distance, however, the +journey to Petra is usually called a journey to Wadi Moosa, because the +Fellahheen of the region about there, and to whom toll is paid, are +cultivators of the Wadi Moosa. + +Before leaving the place, it may be observed that the neighbourhood must +have been kept in a high state of cultivation during the Roman empire for +the maintenance of so numerous and luxurious a population of the city, +instead of the absence of necessaries of civilised life that we now see +there; and that good state of things must have continued in later +Christian periods, when the district formed "the third Palestine," and +deputed bishops to the synods of Jerusalem and elsewhere. + +With respect to the colouring of the hills and rocks, it is truly +surprising to behold such huge masses of deep red colour, variegated with +wavy lines of violet and purple and blue, especially in the direction +towards Mount Hor. We did not, however, remark so much of yellow and +orange as Laborde or Irby and Mangles describe. + +I find since that Dr Wilson states these rocks to be highly saliferous, +and says the Arabs scrape them with knives to obtain saltpetre for making +their rude gunpowder. He is of opinion that in some geological era the +whole place has been formed in a salt-water lake. Few people have had so +much leisure for making researches there as he had. + +The temperature was high in the valley, because closely confined between +lines of hills; notwithstanding that the elevation is supposed to exceed +2000 feet above the Mediterranean. What it may be in a more advanced +season than April I cannot tell; but I perceived neither scorpions nor +serpents there, (as some represent the place to abound in,) no creeping +things worse than earwigs. + +When on the march, we learned that the robbery of the night by 'Ali +Rasheed's people, amounted to one camel, one gun, and old Selameh's +sandals. Also, that those three men whom we saw on the 2d April at Abu +Dahook's camp were of the same faction, probably also my visitors of the +Khazneh yesterday. Selameh thought that for a couple of gazis (about +three shillings and sixpence) he might succeed in a redemption of his +goods. These I gave him, and he trudged back over the hills with one of +his people, while we kept on our way. He was to meet us at our night's +station. + +The last glance given to Petra showed us the palace of Pharaoh, and the +peak of Hor with Aaron's tomb. + +Our way led us over a tolerable plain, made agreeable by the fragrance of +the ret'm, as wafted along by the breeze; this plant sometimes almost +covering the small branch valleys. + +Soon after noon we were in the _Wadi Nemela_, through which we travelled +for nearly two hours,--a scene of broken rocks on each side, and the +intermediate space with a profusion of oleander, ret'm and 'arar, all in +flower, some of the latter having trunks of ten feet in circumference. + +Thence we issued upon a heath covered with low fragrant herbs; our Arabs +singing, and the camels striding on famously, followed by a poor little +lamb that we had bought at Petra. This, of course, we did not intend to +convey all the way to Jerusalem; but his presence constantly reminded me +of the text, (Isa. xvi. 1,) "Send ye the lamb (to) the ruler of the land +from Sela [_i.e._ Petra] to the wilderness, unto the mount of the +daughter of Zion." This is no longer the time when the king of Moab paid +tribute "to the king of Israel, 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams, with the +wool," (2 Kings iii. 4.) + +Soon after two P.M. we were passing over ledges of porphyry +mountain-cliffs, dark and gloomy, but enlivened by large yellow salvia in +bloom, and plenty of flowers visible in the hollow below; the whole scene +most romantic and fantastic in formation. Such huge piles of porphyry I +had not seen since those of the coast of Peterhead and Buchan, lashed by +the great billows coming from the Baltic Sea. Occasionally we came to +standing pools of water, which, lying on this hard kind of stone, could +not filter away or be absorbed, as in our Palestine limestone would be +the case. From these settlements our water vessels were supplied. +Thermometer in shade of a rocky cliff, 75.75 degrees Fahrenheit. + +We were soon again upon sandstone cliffs, but wildly broken, and +descending into lower ground with its juniper and oleander. Then +ascended again, and attained our greatest elevation by half-past three, +at least equal to Robinson's calculation of 1500 feet above the 'Arabah. +For two hours more we had to traverse cliffs, gullies, crags, and +precipices of red porphyry or green syenite alternately, in enormous +masses, split by convulsions of nature, and next arrived in a valley +strewed with huge fragments, angular, not rounded boulders, yet fallen +from the adjacent mountains. But we were still high above the wide level +of the 'Arabah. + +Halted at half-past five; thermometer, Fahrenheit 71.25 degrees, and, +during our dinner, old Selameh rejoined us, having failed in his dealings +with the Alaween, who refused to restore their plunder, as they said +their object was to punish the Jehaleen, for bringing travellers through +their country, instead of making them go by way of Egypt. {320} He +reported that thirty more Arabs had arrived at Petra, half-an-hour after +our starting. + +_April_ 8_th_.--Sunrise, Fahrenheit 59 degrees. Moving again at six +o'clock. In half an hour we were clear of the mountains of Seir or Edom; +but for another hour the ground was still strewn with blocks of porphyry +and green syenite, too hard for any of our implements to break off bits +from them, and fragments small enough to be carried away were very +difficult to find; however, we got some. These large stumbling-blocks, +together with dry watercourses, rendered our travelling unusually +troublesome to the horses and camels, and wearisome to ourselves. + +At length we got upon the free 'Arabah, among green shrubs and trees of +tul'hh and neb'k. + +At nine o'clock we came to a high sandbank, beneath which was a verdant +line of tamarisk, and ghar, and tall canes, with frogs croaking among +them. All of these were indications of water; and, accordingly, we found +a spring named _'Ain Taasan_, being one of those which together form the +stream of _Buwairdeh_. Here we filled our water vessels to the utmost, +as it was not expected we should find any more good water for two days to +come. + +The surrounding prospect was one of utter desolation, and I took out my +Bible and read the words of 2 Kings iii. 8,-9, and 20: "And he said, +Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the +wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, +and the king of Edom; and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: +and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed +them . . . And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat-offering +was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the +country was filled with water." + +On the spot, as well as at the present time, I remembered with pain the +deplorable weakness and wickedness of the remarks on this event contained +in Paine's "Age of Reason," and which I do not choose to repeat. The +most charitable opinion that one can entertain of such writers is that +they know nothing of the nature of the country under consideration. +Thank God that the world at large, and that land in particular, is now +better known than formerly, and, as a consequence, our evidences of the +truth of the blessed Bible are daily the more confirmed. + +We then proceeded northwards along the bed of that stream; but in a few +minutes its water was lost in the sand. In another hour we entered the +dry bed of the _Wadi el Jaib_, and continued along its course in the +direction of the Dead Sea. + +The hills were misty on both sides, and the ground hot beneath, as we +tramped along, all our voices hushed during the "strength of the heat," +(according to Arab expression,) and the footfall of the camels entirely +without noise. + +Who can sufficiently admire the adaptation of this creature to the +desert, in which the Maker and Ruler of all has placed him? No heat +exceeds the power of his endurance; steadily, patiently, silently he +stalks his long strides over the yellow ground--one animal following +another in regular military step. And during our travels at least he +never flagged--the large eyes never lost their brightness; and who ever +saw a camel, even though his master may seek rest or shade as he finds +opportunity, shrink from the blazing brightness of the sun? + +Halted for the night shortly before five P.M., the journey having been +one of eleven hours. But the Arabs insisted on our being placed behind +the corner of a re-entering valley, in order that our fire and smoke +might not be seen during the night by hostile people from a distance. + +Thermometer at sunset, 81.5 degrees Fahrenheit. + +We found footprints of gazelles, storks, and hyenas. + +Mount Hor at that distance, and in that direction, very much resembles +the Salisbury Crags of Edinburgh. + +_April_ 9_th_--Sunrise, Fahrenheit 63.5 degrees. Tents struck, and all +on the march by half-past five. Losing sight of Mount Hor. + +At a quarter to eight a breeze sprung up from the north, so refreshing in +that hot and dry wilderness as to merit the praise of the Bedawi poem, +beginning-- + + "Shemali, ya hawa ed-deeret shemali." + + "The north! O thou wind of the northern direction, + It has increased my blessing, and all that belongs to me, + And after weakness of state, has changed my condition." + +I find, however, that this literal translation gives but a very poor idea +of the feeling concentrated in the words of the original, and only feebly +expresses the reminiscence of that time as still preserved at the moment +of this writing. + +Soon after eight o'clock we were out of the Wadi el Jaib, that is to say, +the high cliffs of marl on each side abruptly terminated, previous to +which, they had been at first more than a hundred feet above our heads, +and then gradually diminishing in height as we advanced. We descended +gradually into the semicircular expanse of marshes called El Ghuwair or +the Little Ghor, with the large Dead Sea and the _Khash'm Usdum_, or salt +mountain of Sodom, spread out before us. + +The course of the wadi we had left trended from south-east to north-east, +on issuing from which we took the line on the western side of the +Ghuwair, and easily descended over small eminences. This place is most +probably the "ascent of Akrabbim," (Num. xxxiv. 4, and Josh. xv. 3,) the +southern boundary of the land given to Israel, and named after its +abundance of scorpions. In our hasty passage over it we saw none of +these. + +Among the marshes we found several palms growing wild. They were stumpy +in stature, and ragged in form for want of cultivation, or perhaps of +congenial soil. The miasma was strongly perceptible to the smell, and +our horses were plagued with flies and gnats. How great was this change +from the pure dry air of the mountains! + +Quarter to ten at _'Ain 'Aroos_, (the bridegroom's fountain,) but the +water was brackish. + +Thermometer in the shade, 83.5 degrees Fahrenheit. + +For an hour past our people had been on the alert, on account of a feud +between them and the Ghawarineh Arabs. On coming up to the print of a +human footstep, this was carefully examined as to its size, direction of +the tread, etc. The circumstances were not, however, exactly parallel to +the occurrence in Robinson Crusoe, which naturally came to mind. + +At twenty minutes to eleven, having completed the western curve of the +Ghuwair, we fell in with the _Wadi Hhuggereh_, which came up from the +south-west, and on looking back, perceived a distinct mirage visible over +the dry sands which occupy part of the Ghuwair, probably the effect of a +salty deposit. + +About noon we arrived at a clear, running stream of water, but which +proved, on tasting, to be highly impregnated with salt. The surface of +the plain was in a great measure covered with a white efflorescence. +Along the middle of this plain there was a sunken channel of a mile and a +half in length, occupied by an overflowing of the Dead Sea, which, +however, did not interfere with our track. + +At the end of this, and on approaching the corner of the salt mountain, +we had an _incident_ to enliven the tediousness of the hot journey. A +party of Arabs came in sight. Our men discovered them first, and running +forwards, primed their guns, or lighted the match of the lock, drew their +swords and screamed, making bare the right arm, as if prepared for awful +deeds. The others took up position behind low rocks, unslung their +fire-arms, and screamed _not_. Presently a real or fictitious +recognition took place, the guns on both sides were fired up in the air, +and swords were brandished for very joy. Both parties rushed into each +other's embraces, smiling and kissing with the greatest fervour. + +The comers proved to be some of their own Jehaleen, escorting some Hebron +townsmen to Kerak. There were two women among the latter, some old men, +and some conjurers with monkeys, who thereupon set up a dance to the +music of tambourines. Upon something like equanimity being restored, the +strangers informed us of certain doings that had taken place, on our +account, since we had passed by there, and which nearly concerned us. + +The two parties soon separated, taking opposite directions. + +As we were close upon the western side, there was the southern end of the +Dead Sea at our right hand, coming up imperceptibly upon the land, flush +with it, so that no limit could be distinguished between water and the +wet beach. + +At a few minutes past one we all alighted before the large cavern which +runs into the heart of the salt mountain; and a picturesque group our +party formed, spread about in some shade of the hill, with a great +variety of costumes and colours--the camels kneeling and the horses +picketed upon the bay of the sea of Sodom and Gomorrah. + +Entering the cavern, we found relics of the recent French expedition +thither, under M. de Saulcy, such as egg-shells and torn paper coverings +of candles, with French shopkeepers' names upon them. We did not +penetrate far inwards, but could see traces of occasional overflowings of +the lake into the interior. + +The mountain itself is a wonder: five miles of salt above ground, and a +hundred feet, probably in some places two hundred feet high. The colour +is not bright, but of a dull gray. The best parts of it are very hard to +break, and with difficulty we brought away some pieces for curiosity. + +As for Lot's wife,--the pillar of salt, mentioned and portrayed by the +American expedition in 1848, and of which it is said they took a fragment +for a museum at home,--after a good deal of search, we only discovered a +crooked thin spire of rock-salt in one place of the mountain; but it +would not have been very remarkable if many such had been found to exist +in similar circumstances. + +It was a place for inducing solemn reflections and intense sensations, +such as one could hardly venture to record at the time of being there, or +endeavour to repeat now after so long an interval. Much may, however, be +imagined by devout readers of the holy Scriptures--not only as contained +in the records of the Book of Genesis, but also as inculcated with +intense emphasis in the Epistle of Jude in a later period. Still, there +is a vividness of impression to be derived only from being actually on +the spot, and surveying the huge extent of water that differs from any +other in the world,--placid and bright on its surface, yet awful in its +rocky boundaries. But where are the cities and their punished +inhabitants, except in the Bible, and the traditions preserved by +Tacitus, the Koran, and by the present inhabitants of the country? + +Some morsels of bitumen were found upon the beach; but the principal +season of the year for finding it is in winter, especially at the +commencement of winter, when the lake becomes unusually agitated, and +breaks off masses of it from the bottom, often of very large size--the +peasants of Hebron, with exaggeration, say, "As large as ships;" but I +have seen many camel-loads of it brought up to Jerusalem at a time, for +export to Europe. It is, however, a monopoly of the crown. + +We should note that in Gen. xiv. 10, the district was full of bitumen +pits previous to the overthrow of the cities of the plain. + +At twenty minutes to three we came to a rude heap of stones called +_Zoghal_ or _Zoghar_. This cannot well be Zoar, among other reasons, +because it lies upon the beach, and is not upon an eminence. It is well +to mention that M. de Saulcy's extravagant ideas of the Pentapolis of +Sodom, etc., had not then been published. + +In another quarter of an hour we had reached the extremity of the "Salt +Mountain," with all its distorted, sometimes even perpendicular +stratification. By this time we were convinced that the whole of the +mountain is not salt, but that a good deal of the upper length of it is a +mixture of salt and marl or sand. Between it and the water's edge we +frequently saw blocks and spires of rock-salt protruding through the flat +beach. + +There can be no doubt that the Arabic name, _Usdum_, is identical with +Sodom, by a well-known custom of the language to invert the consonant and +vowel of the first syllable. But even this is brought back to the +original state in the adjective form. Thus I heard our guides speak of +the Jebel Sid'mi, meaning the Khash'm or Jebel Usdum, or promontory of +Sodom. + +The _Wadi Netheeleh_ comes up from the southwest to the shore at this +northern end of the mountain, parallel to the Wadi Hhuggereh at the +southern end. + +We kept along the sea-side, and on rising to a higher level, near five +o'clock, halted for the night at the mouth of a valley where some water +was to be procured, and near us was a broken tower. This site is named +_Mobugghek_ or _Umm-Bugghek_. As we were scarcely out of the reach of +the Ghawarineh Arabs, our people had to go out in armed detachments for +collecting firewood. + +During the process of pitching the tents, one of our men, named 'Odeh, +perceived a stranger at a great distance, and half stripping himself, ran +nimbly up a steep sand hill, ready for whatever operation might be +necessary. Our European, I might rather say, our civilised eyes, could +not have discovered the ill-omened object at that distance, but those of +desert Arabs are far more powerful than ours. I do not know that I shall +ever forget the ardent brilliancy of Shaikh Selameh's eyes at all times, +as witnessed constantly during our excursion. + +While we rambled on the beach in search of bitumen or sulphur, we +suddenly heard a furious screaming in the direction of our tents, and +hastily returning, found a number of strangers coming down a winding +path. Our men were gathered together, and armed. The captain also +examined the state of his double-barrelled pistols. However, on their +arrival, the newcomers were recognised as people _not hostile_ to the +Jehaleen, and their general location is near 'Ain 'Aroos. So, after some +squabbling and arrangement, they agreed to share our supper with us in +peace. Had the case been otherwise, our position was not an enviable +one; for we were shut in between their hills and the sea, they were more +numerous than our Arabs, and they had entire command of our spring of +water. Our camels, too, were all unloaded, and the packages scattered on +the ground. + +The scenery was desolate and gloomy in the extreme, undoubtedly blasted +by the wrath of Almighty God, although a place which had at one time been +"well watered everywhere . . . even as the garden of the Lord, like the +land of Egypt," (Gen. xiii. 10;) and it required strong faith to expect +the possibility of this "wilderness" (_'Arabah_) being again made "like +Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord," (Isa. li. 3.) Indeed, +that promise does not seem to apply to this peculiar locality, by +comparing it with Ezek. xlvii. 10, 11, although these unwholesome waters +are to be healed, and are to have fish of various kinds in them, with +fishermen's nets employed there. + +It deserves observation, that now the sea is so utterly lifeless that the +American explorers there were unable, by the most powerful microscopes, +to find any animalculae in its water. Yet Lynch was of opinion that the +atmosphere or vapour there was not in any way prejudicial to human +health; and since then, Mr Holman Hunt spent a considerable time near the +brink without injury derived from it. + +The air was very warm all night, with no freshening dew, and the sound of +slow, rippling water on the strand, during the still starlight hours, was +one to which our ears had not been of late accustomed. + +The Arab figures and conversation round the watch-fire were romantic +enough. Thermometer at eight P.M., 90.5 degrees Fahrenheit. + +_April_ 10_th_.--Sunrise, Fahrenheit 70.25 degrees. In taking this last +note of the thermometer at sunrise, I may observe that the marking of it +at that moment gives but a feeble idea of the heat that we experienced +during the days' marches throughout this excursion,--the temperature +rapidly increased after sunrise, and at later hours within the confined +hollows, such as Petra and the basin of the Dead Sea, rose to that of (I +suppose) an Indian climate--but above all the effects of heat was that +produced by the weight of atmospheric pressure at probably the lowest +position in the whole surface of the globe: about 1300 feet below the +Mediterranean. + +Before six o'clock we were on the march, over broken and precipitous +rocky paths, on which the progress was slow and toilsome. Then down +again upon the beach. I am sure that if the Dead Sea were already +covering the ground that it now does, before the time of Chedorlaomer, +the "four kings against five" could not possibly have mustered or +manoeuvred their armies on any side or place between the mountains on +each side of the water. {332} At a quarter past seven the thermometer +stood at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. + +There is always a close, heavy heat in this depressed region, inducing +profuse perspiration. + +At ten minutes past nine we were at the spot where the great eastern +peninsula projects nearest to us, having in view the two extremities, +north-east and south-west, now named on the maps, the former as Point +Costigan, after the unfortunate explorer of 1835, and the latter, Point +Molyneux, after my friend, the lieutenant of H.M.S. _Spartan_, who was +there in 1847. But at that season of the year we could perceive no +traces of the shallow or ford by which the Arabs occasionally pass over +to it on the way to Kerak. + +At half-past nine we were in front of _Sebbeh_, with a view of the ruins +of Masada on its summit, to which, however, we did not climb, but +contented ourselves with recalling to memory the heroic events of the +Jewish defenders, as related by Josephus. Here the sea, retiring towards +our side, forms a semicircular bay, terminating at _'Ain Jidi_, +(Engeddi,) where we arrived at two o'clock. There we were at a +considerable elevation above the shore, which we now abandoned, not only +because all further advance in that direction is impracticable, but +because our route towards Jerusalem lay in a different direction. + +We were upon a platform abounding in springs of water and luxuriant +neglected vegetation. The pleasure derived from the sound of gushing +streams can only be appreciated by those who have been in our +circumstances. The contrast is not to be understood merely from words +laid before a reader, between this and the dry wilderness of Edom or the +salt beach of Sodom. One of our camels not only drank his fill, but +rolled himself in the water. + +There were some neb'k trees, some trees of the _'osher_, (apple of +Sodom,) and some of the shrub _solanum melongena_, all of which may be +found near Jericho, though not peculiar to that region. Canes and large +weeds almost filled the watercourses, but not a blossom of any +wild-flower could I find upon the ground. + +The streams abound in petrifactions of vegetation, which would show that +the water cannot be very wholesome for drinking. A monster crab was +brought us out of a channel; my horse in drinking had been startled at +the sight of it. + +There were traces of buildings about the place, such as foundations of +walls almost razed to the ground, and one broken tower. + +But the prospect eastwards, including the peninsula, and the mountains +and huge crevasses of Moab, or southwards, including Sebbeh and the Salt +mountain, are magnificent beyond expression. We could not be sure that +Mount Hor was distinguishable. At a quarter past three, and under shade +of trees, the thermometer was at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. + +After considerable repose and some feeding there, we prepared for the +remaining ascent, called by our people "The Ladder of _Terabeh_." This +was a very toilsome climbing of near two hours up a nearly perpendicular +cliff, by means of curves and zigzags turning away four or five yards. +Most of the way we were dismounted, but still the horses and camels were +greatly distressed by the effort of the ascent. At first the +camel-drivers sang to cheer their animals. This, however, dwindled into +occasional prolonged notes, which again were deteriorated into groans +instead of music. + +It was a curious sight for us who were untroubled with the care of +camels, and consequently getting on faster than they, to look down upon +the wavy lines of moving creatures, and hear the echoes of their voices +from below. + +Reached the summit at half-past four, and after an hour's progress upon +level ground, we halted for the night. Poor old Selameh fell down flat, +not so much from the effect of mere fatigue, as from having had his ankle +bitten by a spiteful camel in the morning, and then the long climbing in +addition. + +This was to be our last night together, and we enjoyed to the utmost the +social gathering round the bivouac fire with our Arab companions, to +whom, after ten days association, to the exclusion of all the rest of the +world, we could not but feel something of temporary personal attachment. +There was Selameh, with his mended shoe and his bitten ankle, who had +been our officer and diplomatist, ready for fun or a row at any minute; +'Odeh the champion, called out upon emergencies; Khamees, the slave boy, +a general domestic, if this latter word may be allowed for a Bedawi Arab; +and Salem the merry-man, short in stature, and drawing into the vale of +years. We chatted over the fire about the events of the expedition, +while some of the men were kneading and baking fresh bread upon stones +made hot in the fire. + +Yet this is a sad aimless life that such people lead--of course our +excursion under their protection was an event to supply matter for many a +conversation afterwards. + +As for religion: they seem to have little or no sense of its +responsibility or benefit, or even its formalities. I asked Selameh +about prayers or reading, and all he had to say was that annually in +Ramadan they hire a reader from some mosque of a town to come and read +the Koran to them; but not one, not even Abu Dahook could read for +himself. I never heard these Jehaleen mention either the word _Moslem_ +or _Ghiaour_, much less the technical words _Mushrakeen_ or _Seerat el +Mustakeem_. Thermometer at sunset, 79.25 degrees Fahrenheit. + +_April_ 11_th_.--Our camels were loaded for the last time, as usual +grunting, groaning, and tossing the head backwards while the burdens were +placed upon them, and, as must be known to all desert travellers, the +smell exhaled from these animals after a long journey is particularly +disagreeable. + +We were marching forward at half-past five, and in an hour and a half we +caught a distant view of our old familiar Frank mountain, which was lost +again afterwards. About ten o'clock, we saw in a valley at our left an +encampment of Sair Arabs; and soon afterwards in a valley at our right, a +circle of the Ta'amri tents. In another hour we arrived at a square +enclosure of very large ancient stones, which was denominated _'Arkoob +Sahaba_. The breezes on this high land were most refreshing after our +southern excursion. + +Passed _Thekua'_ or Tekua', (Tekoa,) and at some distance forwards, to +the north-east, some ruins called _Abu'n-jaib_, or perhaps Abu N'jaim. + +Then we approached the well-remembered fragrance of the wild herbs on the +uncultivated hills about Urtas and Bethlehem, redolent of homeward +associations, and between two and three o'clock were at Jerusalem, +grateful for special and numerous mercies of Divine Providence. + +Jewish friends were much interested in my report of Aaron's tomb on Mount +Hor, and regarded it as a great achievement to have visited and returned +from "Joktheel," as they called Petra, in compliance with 2 Kings xiv. 7, +where King Amaziah restored its more ancient name from _Selah_, (see +Joshua xv. 38.) + + * * * * * + +In conclusion of this expedition to Petra, I have a few observations to +make, arising from local peculiarities connected with it. + +A. _On the payment of toll_, _or Ghuf'r_, _as it is termed_, _for +traversing unfrequented districts_. + +Of course, this custom could never obtain in a country enjoying the +benefits of a vigorous central government; but it is, and perhaps always +has been, common in the far East. In Persia or Tartary, wherever a chief +is able to lay hold of a tower, and collect around him a band of +followers, he invariably exacts this tribute from strangers; just as in +our middle ages of Europe was done by the same class of persons in +countries where feudal institutions prevailed. The petty barons were the +shaikhs of their place and period. + +But some considerations may serve to show that there is, after all, +something useful in the practice. + +1. In such countries, the payment of this toll exempts the traveller +from the violence of all other claimants. + +2. Those who get the toll, (I speak now of Palestine,) are always ready +to perform small services in return, which would be assuredly missed if +omitted, independently of the price paid for hire of camels. + +3. If there were a better government existing, the traveller would +expect that government to provide good roads and bridges, and to +establish military posts for guarding them. This expense would be +defrayed from tolls, or some such mode of taxation, and so the fee or +duty would be only removed from one receiver to another. This is done at +present, and probably has been for many centuries, at the _Jis'r benat +Ya'koob_, between Safed and Damascus. + +One cannot be surprised at the peasantry of Wadi Moosa exacting a toll +from travellers on entering the valley of Petra, to see the wonders of +antiquity which are attracting the attention of the most remote nations; +remembering, too, the position of the place, viz., in a hollow, +surrounded by crags and hills, where no Turkish rulers have ever been. + +In like manner, we shall only be in a condition to remonstrate on paying +ghuf'r in the shape of presents to the Adwan beyond Jordan, when we are +able to find our way to Amman and Jerash without them, or to keep off the +Beni Sukh'r and 'Anezeh, either by our own right hand or by means of the +Turks. {339} + +Finally, it must be borne in mind that the Turkish government itself pays +ghuf'r to the Eastern Bedaween for allowing the Hadj pilgrims to pass +from Damascus to Mecca. + +B. _On the Fellahheen_, _or peasants of Wadi Moosa_. + +The most experienced travellers that have visited Petra, have remarked +that these men are of a different race from the Bedaween Arabs around +them. They are ugly, bad in expression of countenance, and have a +reputation for cruelty and treachery. + +Laborde says, that the Alaween looked upon them "with contempt _and +fear_." Lord Lindsay says, that Shaikh Hhussain, from 'Akabah, "was _in +fear_ all the time of being there." Irby and Mangles were told by the +Jehaleen that these Fellahheen murdered thirty Moslem pilgrims from +Barbary, the year before their visit. + +Dr Wilson stayed among them longer, I believe, than any other European, +and he did not like them, yet found them gradually improve under civil +treatment, which always, like some other things, + + "Emollit mores nec sinit esse feros." + +He divides them into two classes as cultivators of land. First, Those +residing in a village called _Eljy_; and, second, Those residing in tents +under one Abu Zeitoon. + +He describes them as a very exclusive people, never intermarrying with +Arabs, nor burying in common grounds with them; and having a different +set of personal names among them from those used by Arabs, which names +greatly resemble those found in the Old Testament Scriptures. + +He concludes that they are descendants of the ancient Edomites. + +A most remarkable circumstance that he observed, was their calling +themselves children of Israel, (Beni Israin.) This he regards as a +feeble traditional reminiscence of their proselytism to the faith of +Israel by the sword of the Maccabaean conquerors. + +For my own part, I distinctly aver that during the altercation upon my +arrival there, between them and my Jehaleen, I did hear the words +"children of Israel" used. I had not chosen to take a part in the +conference, or to remain long at a time among the disputants, but only +passed occasionally in and out of the tent, and my mind was chiefly +engrossed with the subject-matter in hand, so that on hearing the words, +"children of Israel," I thought they were alluding to some history or +tradition of the Hebrew people. But afterwards, on connecting the fact +with Dr Wilson's assertion, I cannot but consider it very remarkable. + +But the whole subject of these Fellahheen seems to merit closer attention +from those who have the leisure and opportunity for it. + +I know that numerous travellers, including ladies, have been there in +safety; and it is probable that some of the disputes which have arisen +were occasioned either through ignorance, or from insolence of the +dragomans. It would be interesting to compare the accounts of those who +have suffered annoyances in Petra, so as to ascertain how far the +Fellahheen were to blame, or whether difficulties are not rather due to +the Arab tribes who are in the habit of tyrannising over the Fellahheen +from the outside. + +C. _On the 'Arabah and the Dead Sea_. + +While on the spot, I had wished to believe in the theory of Leake in +1822, and afterwards turned almost into poetry by Lord Lindsay, +notwithstanding the demonstrations of Bertou in 1838, and of the American +expedition of 1848, namely, that the Jordan formerly flowed the whole +length from the Anti-Lebanon to the Red Sea, and that the Asphaltite +Lake, or Dead Sea, is only formed by a stoppage of its stream. + +Two facts, however, which militate against this theory, were visible to +our eyes on this journey. + +1. That the valleys south of the Dead Sea all point towards it, and +incline the slope of their beds in that direction. This was most +particularly the case with the Wadi el Jaib, where the banks between +which the torrents had cut a channel became higher, which is equivalent +to saying that the water fell lower as it passed northwards. + +2. That wherever there were trees or shrubs to arrest the currents of +water, we found that all the rushes, thorns, or reeds carried on by the +streams, were arrested on the south side of those trees, and there they +remained in the dry season. + +The course of the torrents was therefore from the south, towards the Dead +Sea. + +The best dissertation on the relative levels of lands and seas, bearing +on this subject, and that which I believe to be exhaustive on the +subject, till we get more of scientific realities, is contained in vol. +xviii., part 2, of the Royal Geographical Society's Journal of 1848. + +Still, allowing the facts that I myself observed, as well as all the +scientific calculations in the Journal above referred to, (indeed, making +use of them,) there seem to remain certain considerations undisposed of, +in favour of the theory that the Jordan formerly ran into the Red Sea. + +1. The 'Arabah, south of the Dead Sea, and the Ghor on its north, are +one continued hollow between the same parallel lines of hills; and +Robinson has shown that by the Arabian geographers they are both called +the 'Arabah; the native Arabs also still call by the name of Ghuwair, or +little Ghor, a space at the southern extremity of the water. + +In the Hebrew Bible also, the northern part is called 'Arabah, as in +Joshua iii. 16, where it is said the Israelites crossed "the sea of +'Arabah, namely, the sea of salt." In 2 Sam. iv. 7, the murderers of +Ish-bosheth went all night from Mahanaim to Hebron along the 'Arabah, +this was clearly not south of the Dead Sea. Josh. xii. i., "From the +river Arnon to mount Hermon, and all the 'Arabah on the east," going +northwards; this is explained in the 3d verse as "the 'Arabah, (beginning +at Hermon,) unto the sea of Chinnereth, (sea of Tiberias) on the east, +and unto the sea of the 'Arabah, the sea of salt, on the east." The same +words occur also in Deut. iii. 17, and iv. 49. That the present Arab +'Arabah on the south of the Dead Sea bore the same name, may be seen in +Deut. ii. 8, where Moses speaks of "the way of the ''Arabah' from Elath, +and from Ezion-gaber." + +Therefore, according to Hebrew and Arabic authorities, the 'Arabah and +Ghor form one line from the Lebanon to the Red Sea. + +2. The Book of Job takes cognisance of the river Jordan, and describes +river scenery in the land of Edom, _i.e._, south of the Dead Sea. + +3. No lake existed in that locality before the catastrophe of Sodom, +although a river may have traversed it. This I deduce from the march of +the army of Chedorlaomer, shortly previous to that catastrophe, (Gen. +xiv.) After the taking of Seir and Paran, he crossed the valley to +Hazezon-Tamar, which is Engedi, (2 Chron. xx. 2,) and the confederates +were met by the kings of the plain in the vale of Siddim. And I have +heretofore shown that this is utterly impossible to be done with the +present lake in the way. The words, therefore, of Gen. xiv. 3 obviously +signify, as given in the Latin Vulgate and in Luther's German, "the vale +of Siddim, which is _now_ the Salt Sea." + +The inference from all these points is, that between the time of +Chedorlaomer and Moses, some tellural convulsions took place which +impeded the course of the river towards the Dead Sea, and thereby formed +the present lake. There is no mention of a river in the lower 'Arabah +during the wanderings of the Israelites under the leading of Moses. + +It is another matter to discuss whether the overthrow of the guilty +cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is connected with that convulsion of nature, +with or without miracle, which formed the depression of the great valley; +yet it is remarkable that the deepest part of the lake is at the spot +which tradition has always pointed out for the site of those cities, and +nigh to the salt mountain, which still bears the name of Sodom. + +To this spot the slopes both ways tend, and there they meet. Calculating +the whole line of depression, as Petermann does, at 190 miles, the slope +from the north, _i.e._, from the "Bridge of the daughters of Jacob," near +Safed, is comparatively gradual for 140 miles; and that from the south, +_i.e._, from the elevation in the southern 'Arabah, where the level meets +again from the north, is more precipitous for 50 miles. Action and +reaction being equal in natural effects, the rapid declivity in the +shorter distance is equal to the more gradual declivity in the longer +measure. + +But that centre of _seismal action_ is taken for the site of Sodom--hence +the site of the destruction of Sodom and the starting point of earthquake +are the same. The record of the destruction is, therefore, the record of +some dreadful convulsion capable of stopping the Jordan, so as to form a +lake there; and the only _adequate_ cause in nature assigned by +geologists for such a depression, is earthquake accompanied by volcanic +action. + +While on the subject of possible depression of the Jordan bed, I may +mention an indication which I have often pointed out to others, namely, +the remarkable ledge traceable along the face of the Moab mountains at a +considerable height, as seen from the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. It is +distinctly marked, and forms a curious record of some natural change +having occurred on a large scale. + +Dr Wilson, in his "Lands of the Bible," contends that an earthquake +capable of depressing a straight line of the length of the Ghor and +'Arabah, must have convulsed all the lands of Canaan, Moab, Ammon, Edom, +and the Desert, with their inhabitants; but that no such convulsion took +place, for Zoar on the east, and Hebron on the west, are known to have +remained. + +Does it, however, necessarily follow that seismal devastation spreads in +_every_ direction? On the contrary, earthquakes act in oscillations from +east to west, returning from west to east; or from north to south, +returning from south to north: but not in the manner of a flood of water +spreading in every direction at once. If so, a mighty earthquake, +extending along the whole Ghor and 'Arabah, would be exactly such a cause +as might spare a city on each side of its progress. + +The whole subject still admits of much careful investigation on sundry +points; but, meanwhile, until geologists have given us more data from +which to form conclusions, I must take my stand upon the distinct record +of Genesis; that what was the Salt Sea when Moses wrote, had been the +Vale or Plain (Emek) of Siddim, containing cities with kings, who fought +and were subdued by Chedarlaomer upon that plain in the time of Abraham; +and that those cities were the same as those that were penally destroyed +soon after. + + + + +XII. ACROSS THE LEBANON. + + +I have traversed the Lebanon eastwards and southwards of Bayroot several +times; once in 1849; again in 1853; and also in 1855: but it seems +advisable to narrate the incidents separately, and although on two +occasions I passed over nearly the same ground, it will be curious to +compare or contrast those journeys, inasmuch as the circumstances were +dissimilar. + +PART I.--1849. + +The course of the first journey was as follows:--From Sidon on the +sea-coast we gradually climbed the Lebanon range eastward; then +descending by tortuous roads, and turning somewhat to the south, we +crossed to where Hhasbeya lies at the foot of Anti-Lebanon; after which +we followed the general direction of the streams southwards, and uniting +above the waters of Merom form the Jordan. Holding on at the western +side of the plain we arrived at Safed in Galilee. + +_Oct._ 25_th_.--We left Saida for Joon, which had been for many years the +residence of Lady Hester Stanhope, and the vice-consul furnished us with +a kawwas who had been a servant of her ladyship. + +Turned off from the high road of the sea-coast, at the river Awali, which +is believed by the native Christians to have been the limit of our Lord's +ministry on earth, when it is said that He went into "the coasts of Tyre +and Sidon." + +We outflanked the rich scene of fruit plantations belonging to the town, +but picked blackberries, hips, and haws, from their hedges alongside the +runnels of water which supply those gardens. + +On its approach to the sea the river Awali has two separate channels, +along either of which it flows in different years, according to the +volume of water at the beginning of winter, but never in both at the same +time. + +Through lovely scenery we gradually mounted higher and higher, till +arriving at the village of _Joon_, where rooms were to be prepared for us +in a native house. + +The nature of the district thereabout is that of numerous round hills, +separated from each other by deep valleys. On one of these hills stands +the village, on another the large "Convent of the Saviour," (Dair el +Mokhallis,) which is the central station of the Greek Catholic sect; +_i.e._, of those who, while retaining their Oriental rites and calendar, +acknowledge the supremacy of the Pope of Rome; and on the third hill is +Lady Hester Stanhope's house, the three forming the points of nearly an +equilateral triangle. The village commands a fine prospect of the +Mediterranean. + +Without dismounting, we proceeded at once to the desolate house of Lady +Hester, but, owing to the precipitous nature of the ground, it takes some +considerable time to reach it, yet voices are easily distinguishable from +one place to the other. + +The house presents a melancholy spectacle, though, from the purity of the +atmosphere, the walls appear clean and almost new; no roof remains, all +timbers having been purposely removed immediately after her death, +according to legal right of the proprietor from whom the place was +rented. There has been an extensive suite of rooms, not adapted to +stateliness, but meant for the reception of guests; these are all of +small dimensions, and were mostly built by Lady Hester. We were told +that she kept an establishment of a hundred servants, forty of whom were +women. For the last five years she never travelled beyond the garden, +and during that time the renowned two mares, Leilah and Lulu, (the former +of which was the one with the hollow back, reserved for entering +Jerusalem together with the new Messiah,) became so broken in health for +want of exercise, that when Lady Hester died, they were sold with +difficulty for 300 piastres (less than three pounds) each. + +The stables still remaining were very extensive. + +The gardens and terraces must have been beautiful, for we were told they +were carefully kept and arranged. We saw large myrtle shrubs in +abundance, besides fruit trees now utterly neglected-- + + "And still where many a garden flower grows wild," + +for there were red roses blooming without the least care or notice. + +No one now resides on any part of that hill. + +The eccentric lady is buried in the garden, and in the same grave (we +were assured) with Captain, son of General Loustaneau, a crazy French +enthusiast who lived for above twenty-five years a pensioner on her +bounty. The grave is covered with this simple stone monument, of a +pattern very common in the country. + + [Picture: Tomb of Lady Hester Stanhope] + +At the distance of a few yards is the monument over a former Moslem +proprietor of the house. + +Lady Hester died in June 1839, lonely and miserable, and so ended her +wild dreams and fancied importance. During her long residence there she +had meddled in local dissensions, patronising the Jonblats of Mokhtarah +against the Ameer Besheer and the Egyptian invaders; she kept spies in +the principal towns, as Acre and Saida, and had even supplied ammunition +to the citadel of Acre for the Turks, but did not live to see the +Egyptians ousted from the country. + +There was good deal of exaggeration afloat at the time respecting her and +some of her habits of life, though scarcely more extraordinary than the +reality of other matters, as we are now able to judge of them; but at +that period Syria and the Lebanon were very little understood in Europe, +_i.e._, from 1823 to 1839. She was not so utterly removed from human +society as is often supposed. She was not perched like an eagle on an +inaccessible mountain, for there are villages near, besides the great +Convent of Mokhallis, and she had constant communication with Saida for +money and provisions. + +The view around is indeed stern and cheerless in character, devoid of +romantic accessories, without the rippling streams, the pines or the +poplars of either Mokhtarah or Beteddeen; her hill like its neighbours +was a lump of stone, with some scanty cultivation in the valley below, +very little of this, and her small garden attached to the dwelling. + +Before leaving this subject, I may as well state with respect to the +common belief of Lady Hester being crowned Queen of Palmyra by the desert +Arabs, that from information which I consider reliable this is all a +mistake, or as it was expressed to me, a "French enthusiasm," the truth +being that in consequence of her lavish largesses among the wild people, +they expressed their joy by acclamations in which they compared her to +the "Queen of Sheba" who had come among them; and then by her flatterers, +or those who were unskilled in the language, the term "Melekeh" (Queen) +was interpreted as above: and as for a coronation the Arab tribes have no +such a custom; the greatest chiefs, nay, even the kings of the settled +Arabs, such as Mohammed and his successors, have never received such an +inauguration. + +Returning to the village, we found our lodging provided in the house of a +Greek Catholic family; unlike to our south country houses, it was built +with ponderous rafters of timber in the roofs, and these rafters and +planks between them are painted in coloured patterns. It was a cheerful +scene as the family sat inquiring about Jerusalem, or chatting otherwise +on the mustabeh (a wide stone seat) outside, with the effulgence of the +setting sun reflected on the convent before us, and then the twilight +pink and violet tints upon the mountain-range behind. + +Then again in the early morning, how delicious were the air and the +scenery of the mountains! + + "Yet sluggards deem it but a foolish chase + And marvel men should quit their easy chair, + The weary mile and long, long league to trace; + Oh, there is sweetness in the mountain air, + And life that bloated ease may never hope to share!" + +While mounting for the departure, our host pressing his hospitality upon +us, adjured us in these words:--"May your religion be your adversary if +ever you pass my door without entering it." + +Arriving at Dair el Mokhallis we were there also received with +cordiality. In the church a service was going on, gabbled over by a +priest arrayed in white silk and gold, waving incense before the altar, +his congregation consisting of one person, a sort of sacristan or beadle. +There were some good pictures on the walls, but others together with them +of degraded rank as works of art. + +On being invited to visit the President, we found him a jovial, handsome +man of middle age, reclining on cushions at a large window with wide +views of the sea and the mountains before him, besides _Dar Joon_, Lady +Hester's house. + +This establishment is not only the largest convent and church of the +Greek Catholic sect, but also a college for clerical education; their +most celebrated clergy have been trained there. The inmates at this +time, of all employments, were 110 in number, exclusive of servants. +Those whom we saw appeared very well fed, and we were not a little +surprised to find so many women servants employed within the walls. + +A nunnery of the same rite, and rules of St Basil, with forty persons +under vows, is a good building at half-a-mile distance, between which and +the male institution a very excellent road has been made, notwithstanding +the hilly nature of the ground; other roads are being improved, and all +the contiguous grounds are in a state of the highest cultivation. + +As we proceeded on our journey, the scenery became more and more +romantic, till on a sudden turn of the road a wondrous picture of nature +was opened before us, consisting of mountains, including our own, all +sloping down into a plain in which was a river, and a village with its +orchards and poplars; cascades rolled down the furrowed sides of these +hills, their bounding and dashing were evident to the sight, but no sound +audible owing to their distance; it was a fairy scene, or like a +beautiful dream. + +In the descent we passed a Maronite priest riding, attended by a guide on +foot; the former was greeted by our party with his title of Abuna, a +novelty to us Jerusalemites. + +We forded the river _Barook_, a tributary to the Awali, in front of the +above-mentioned village, which is _Bisrah_, amid tall poplars quivering +in the breeze, for their foliage had stalks long like the aspen. + +Our luggage having gone on during the visit to the convent, we could get +no tidings of it and our people, but a guide was procured for part of the +day's journey before us; and we betook ourselves to a hill over which +was, what we were assured, the only road to Hhasbeya. A road so steep +and thickly entangled by bushes and trees, that we inquired of every +passer-by in his turn whether we could possibly be upon the _Sultaneh_, +or high road. At first through an olive plantation, then among evergreen +oak, and higher still the fragrant mountain pines. The zigzags of the +road were necessarily so short and abrupt, that at each turn we had to +peer up perpendicularly, guessing which way the next twist would go. +Then still higher, towards the frowning sombre cliffs that seemed to +touch the brilliant blue sky, the arbutus glowed with their scarlet +berries, and the pine-trees became more tall, straight, and numerous. No +wonder that the Assyrian king, when he boasted of being able to cut down +the cedars of Lebanon, included also "the choice fir-trees thereof," (2 +Kings xix. 23.) + +Near what seemed to be the climax, we unexpectedly reached a village, +named _'Azoor_, where a school of boys hummed their lessons in the open +air on the shady side of a house; and near them a plank of wood was +suspended, such as serves for a church-bell in parts of the country where +the Moslems predominate, and bells are not tolerated. Here in the +Lebanon every village and convent may have its bells; and they generally +have them, for the Mohammedans scarcely exist throughout "the mountain," +as the whole range is popularly termed from Tarabulus to Saida. + +The higher we ascended, the more we obtained of a brisk breeze playing +and sighing musically among the noble pines, and the ground was clothed +with heather and fragrant herbs. Still onwards, "excelsior," the pines +were more straight and lofty; there were patches of wild myrtle on the +ground, some in white blossom; and we looked down upon the flat roofs of +villages below, an appearance so strange to us after the round domes of +the south country. + +About noon we overtook the luggage, and the servant-boy of the muleteer +swore that his head had turned gray since we left him, four hours ago, by +reason of the bodily labour and anguish of mind that he had suffered on +so fearful a road. He was incessantly calling upon God by epithets out +of the Koran, as "O thou Father of bounty!" "O thou knower of former +things!" mingled with curses hurled at the mule, or prayers that her back +might be strengthened: being a Jerusalemite, he had not been accustomed +to travelling of that description. This youth was nicknamed by his +fellows as _Abu Tabanjah_, "the father of a pistol," from his carrying a +single pistol in his girdle: it being unusual for persons in his +employment to carry any belligerent weapons. + +Next came the descent to _Jezzeen_, over a slippery road, with purple +crocuses in blossom at intervals. + +Jezzeen is romantically situated among broken rocks, with a stream of +water, called the _Zaid_, bordered by a profusion of sycamore, (_i.e._, +what is called so in England, a variety of the plane-tree,) walnut, and +aspen trees. We halted beneath a spreading walnut-tree, whose leaves had +already begun to change colour. + +The inhabitants are Greek Catholic, Maronite, and a few Mutawaleh. Here +we had to get another guide for an hour or two forwards--a task not +easily accomplished--and he assured us that the road before us was far +worse than that we had already traversed--he would on no account go the +whole day's journey with us. + +Forwards.--Thin white clouds were resting upon the peaks high above us, +the vine terraces and poplars were succeeded by whitish-gray rocks and +olive-trees, till we issued upon a comparative level of confused chaos of +rugged rocks pitched and hurled about in the most fantastic combinations, +rendering the road almost impassable for our cattle. Darker clouds than +before were around, but not immediately over us; and the atmosphere was +hot like the breath of a furnace, with now and then a momentary gush of +piercing cold coming between sharp peaks and round summits. + +In little more than two hours from Jezzeen we were at _Cuf'r Hooneh_, a +pretty village surrounded by sycamore, walnut, poplar, and vineyards, +with numerous running streams of water, bordered by oleanders in rosy +blossom, very tall--girt in with romantic precipices, and rooks were +cawing overhead. A spring of water issuing from the ground, of which we +drank, was cold like ice. + +After this the road improved, the rocks were more friable, and were often +streaked with pink and yellow colour; indicating, I suppose, the +existence of copper mineral, (see Deut. viii. 9,) "out of whose hills +thou mayest dig brass," _i.e._, copper. + +All about this region fossil shells were numerous. + +In half an hour we attained our greatest elevation, with a long line of +Mediterranean visible in the west. The Anti-Lebanon stretched before us +on the east, and among the hills to the south our guide declared he could +distinguish Safed. Here he left us, returning homewards. + +Upon this eminence the air was reviving, and as the fervour of the sun +abated, our horses recovered energy. Thence we descended to a green +level space as void of inhabitants as the wild scenes that we had +traversed; and from that to a stage lower, over a very long fertile plain +running southwards, where we fell in with two or three of our fellow +human beings, and over this the wind blew very cold. Forwards into +another level, a glen of wild verdure, then through chalk fissures and +red slopes, till in a moment there burst upon our view a prospect beyond +all power of description in words; Mount Hermon, (Jebel esh Shaikh,) and +the intervening long plain, also the Litani river on our right, winding +between tremendous cliffs, and passing the castle of Shukeef towards the +sea. + +That river passing the foot of our mountain, and over which we had +afterwards to cross, appeared like a narrow ribbon of pale green, so +silent was it to us, for no sound from that depth could reach up so high; +to this we had to descend by a precipitous path of zigzags roughly made +in the face of the hill. + +Half way down I first distinguished the rushing sound of the water; a +flock of goats upon its margin resembled mere black spots, but the bells +among them became faintly audible. + +On reaching the river Litani, (the classic Leontes, and named the +"Kasimiyeh" when debouching to the sea near Tyre,) we found it to be a +strong stream, and the dark border, which from a distance had seemed to +be low bushes, were in truth gigantic and numerous trees; on our way to +the bridge, along the river side for some distance, were parapets erected +for the safety of travellers and flocks of cattle. + +It was after sunset, but we rested awhile to stretch our limbs after the +cramp brought on by the steep and long descent. + +The moon was shining as we crossed the bridge, and its light was broken +in the heady dashing of the stream; the land swelled gradually upwards as +we proceeded S.-E. till we passed a ridge and turned N.-E. to the village +of _Cocaba_ on the great plain, which has the river _Hhasbani_ flowing +through it, from which village we got directions how to find Hhasbeya. +Thoroughly tired as we all were, the rest of the way was most wearisome, +though not so much so as it would have been in the heat of day, after so +many hours on horseback. The night was bright and clear. + +Reached _Hhasbeya_ in thirteen hours from Joon in the morning. + +The town is perched up in the line of the Anti-Lebanon, at the end of a +_cul-de-sac_ running inwards from the plain, and stands at an elevation +of more than 2000 feet above the sea-level, though this is scarcely +apparent by reason of the lofty mountains everywhere around, especially +Hermon, under the shadow of which Hhasbeya is nestled. This was the +cleanest town and the one in best repair at that time that I had hitherto +seen in Palestine or Syria; what it may be since the calamities of 1860, +I know not. The majority of the inhabitants were Christian, with a good +many Druses, and a few Moslems and Jews. + +We had a most friendly reception from the native Protestants, and from +the governor, Ameer Saad ed Deen Shehab and his family. + +In the afternoon of the next day we passed on to _Banias_. How different +a matter is travelling in that country from merely drawing a pencil line +across the map from one point to another, and measuring the distance of +that line. By such a method of making a journey it is but a trifle of +thirty miles from Soor to Hhasbeya, and less than a hundred and twenty +from the latter to Jerusalem. (I mention these places because they +belong to the journey here described,) and it may be said by stay-at-home +travellers in a carpeted saloon, at a mahogany table, that these +distances can be covered on horseback in a determinate number of hours, +allowing so many miles to an hour; but Palestine is not so smooth as the +greater part of England, and the ways (one cannot well call them roads) +are not drawn in direct lines; climate also counts for something; and +unforeseen incidents will occur to mar the plans of even those habituated +to the country. + +To-day's progress, however, was tolerably plain, though not level, and it +occupied six or seven hours. + +In an hour and a half we caught first sight of the lake _Hhooleh_ (the +Semechonitis of Josephus) in the due south, and at this point we entered +upon a district strewn with volcanic basalt, in dark-brown pieces, porous +and rounded at the edges. A peasant directed us forwards to the _Tell el +Kadi_, which at length we reached--an eminence rising from the plain, out +of which issues a river all formed at once, gushing from the hill over a +stony bed. This is one of the heads of the Jordan, and the place is that +of _Dan_, which Josephus erroneously supposed to supply the last syllable +of that river's name. + +But beyond all question it is the site of the city Dan known throughout +Scripture history for many ages, and under a variety of circumstances: +among the rest for the forcible invasion of it by a number of colonists +from the tribe of Dan in the south of Palestine, where they found their +allotted district too strait for their possession; and being established +here, they gave the city the name of their patriarchal chief. + +That history of their migration reads with peculiar interest and force on +the spot, and strange to say that Tell el Kadi seems to retain their +tribal name, inasmuch as _Tell_ signifies "a hill," and Kadi is but the +Arabic for the Hebrew word _Dan_, "a judge," (Gen. xlix. 16.) It is not +however common, very much the contrary, for names to be transmitted in +this way according to their signification through the lapse of ages--they +are usually perpetuated through their orthography. + +The Amorite or Sidonian people living here "at ease" were worshippers of +Baal and Ashtaroth, or Astarte. Suddenly they were assailed by the +Danites, who "smote them with the edge of the sword, and burned their +city with fire;" and the newcomers set up "the graven image, and the +molten image, and the teraphim," which they had stolen on their way +thither over Mount Ephraim, appointing the young Levite, the owner of the +images, to be priest of their idolatry. In later times it was a station +of the golden calf of Jeroboam's institution, that is to say, the revived +emblem of Baal, going back to the practice of the Leshemites; and there +is yet an idea prevailing in our days that the Druses of the +neighbourhood retain that emblem or idol among them--a remarkable +instance of the perpetuity of idolatry, and one form of idolatry under +different names, modified only by circumstances in the same locality. I +forbear to pursue further the reflections that can be evolved at large +from that idea, as they might bring us into other countries than Syria or +Palestine. + +Riding our horses up the full stream for a short distance, we forded it, +and entered into the shade upon the hill, where we reposed under a large +evergreen oak, decorated with rags as votive offerings to an Arab shaikh +buried beside it. Near this tree is an extraordinary jungle of brambles +and gigantic flowering shrubs, through which it seemed impossible to +penetrate, but out of which tangled mass the copious stream issues, as +also a minor current, which after some deflection meets the other, and +forms one stream on leaving the hill, and this, when joined by the waters +of Banias, to which we were now going, combines into one river, Jordan, +then enters and passes through the Lake Hhooleh. For the present I omit +the consideration of the Hhasbani and its spring, which not only helps to +form the Jordan, but actually commences further beyond the springs of Dan +and Banias. + +It wanted about an hour to sunset when we turned in eastwards, round the +foot of old Hermon, for _Banias_, the Caesarea Philippi of the New +Testament, whose hill and ancient castle appeared not far distant. + +We observed numerous small runlets of water flowing from the north and +east towards the Tell el Kadi, one especially of nearly four feet wide. +Yet with all these blessings the district is mostly neglected, and +abandoned to a sparse population of wretched Ghawarineh Arabs and their +buffaloes. + +We passed through neb'k trees and stunted oaks, some karoobah trees and +sumach about twenty feet high, with their red berries, besides myrtles +almost as lofty. Signs of the existence of inhabitants appeared in +patches of cultivation and an occasional flock of goats. Trees became +closer together than at first, and at length Banias stood in face of us, +touching the foot of Hermon, which formed a magnificent background of +receding heights, but its summit withdrawn from view at that position. +An ancient castle crowns a high peak rising above the village, and which +for grandeur of situation and noble aspect is unsurpassed by any ruin +that I have seen in Syria. Yet how small was all this in comparison with +the mighty mass at its back! I regret the having been unable to examine +this remarkable fortress, the modern name of which is the _Kula'at es +Subeibeh_. + +The halt was in an olive plantation, and while the tents were being +raised, I rode forwards to the other celebrated source of the Jordan, +namely, that issuing from the cavern, and drank of its water, but first +had to swim the horse through a strong current. + +How beautiful was the evening scene of rocks, trees, blue mountains, and +the extended plain, with the thread of the Hhasbani winding through it on +the western side! There were also herds of cattle coming in, and a +shepherd boy playing his rural pipes. What a scene for Poussin! I +offered to buy the Pandean pipe (of several reeds joined laterally) from +the boy, wishing to have it for my own, obtained at the mythological home +of Pan himself-- + + "Pan primus calamos cera conjungere plures + Instituit," + +but the lad asked an exorbitant price for it, and strode away. + +Then rushed up to make use of the fading twilight for catching at least a +glimpse of the Greek inscriptions and Pan's grotto, from which the river +issues, not in infantile weakness, but boldly striking an echo against +the sides of the natural cavity. + +"Great Pan is dead!" as the superstitious peasants of Thessaly said, when +they imagined they heard the echo formed into words, sixteen hundred +years ago; and while musing on the "rise and fall" of the classic +idolatry, a bat flew past me out of the grotto, but I saw no moles for +the old idols to be thrown to, (Isa. ii. 20.) + +Pan was the mythological deity presiding over caverns, woods, and +streams, from whom this place received its denomination of Panion or +Paneas in Greek, or Panium in Latin; and the word Paneas becomes Banias +in Arabic, as it is at this day. Here costly temples and altars were +raised, and Herod built a temple in honour of Augustus Caesar. These +edifices have fallen to the ground, the idols have been demolished by +early Christians, Jews, and Mohammedans; but niches with pedestals, on +which the dumb figures stood, accompanied by inscriptions, still remain +in attestation of written history. + +Of these inscriptions I took copies next morning, as others have also +done, but with special pains to insure accuracy. Every one of them has +the name of the god Pan; two of them have the name of Agrippa; one is set +up by a priest of Pan, "for the welfare of the lords the emperors;" and +another is dedicated by Agrippa, son of Marcus, who had been for eight +years Archon, and had been admonished in a dream by the god Pan. The +breaks in the words caused by defaced letters make it difficult to get +more signification out of them. + +Some further remarks on the same, as well as copies of the tablets, will +be found in appendix B. + +In a field near our tents, were two prostrate granite columns of about +fifteen feet length of shaft by two in diameter; besides a piece of +column of common stone three feet in diameter. In another part of the +same field was a square capital of pilaster with some plain moulding, and +an abundance of squared stones of two to three feet dimensions; such, +however, are to be seen scattered in every direction around. + +A small ancient bridge crosses one of the several streams branching away +from the main course, and all running between steep banks. By this +bridge I approached a noble gateway, leading into a very large square +fortress, with strong ancient towers at each corner. The arches of both +gate and bridge were Roman; parts of the walls remained in their regular +courses, and numerous large rabbeted stones were rolled down in disorder +upon the slope and into a military trench. But the whole scene, whether +of rugged rocks or of the work of man, was fringed and clothed with +brambles, ferns, evergreens, and the rosy oleander. + +The principal charm, however, belongs to the grotto with the river which +it discharges--the site of which may be described as a semicircular +termination of a valley on a natural platform half way up a cliff--the +water tumbles down in short cascades for some distance; the grotto inside +is untouched by chisel squarings or embellishment, just as Juvenal wished +the grot of AEgeria to be. + +All this is particularly romantic, but a more exalted interest is +attached to the town and vicinity of Banias from its being a certainly +known station of our Redeemer's journeys--He who in all His travels "went +about doing good"--but, inasmuch as some records of His blessed footsteps +are connected with incidents of higher importance than others, this one +rises into transcendant value, as being the place where His eternal +divinity was distinctly enunciated. + +At that very time the temple of Augustus, erected by Herod, was in its +freshest beauty; the votive inscriptions with the name of Agrippa were +newly chiselled; and the priests of Pan were celebrating sacrifices and +incense, together with rustic offerings, upon his altar; the worship, +too, of Baal was still in existence, under some modifications, upon the +mountain overhead. At such a place, and under such circumstances, was +the Church universal promised to be founded on the rock of faith to which +Peter had given utterance. + +It may be here observed that at that period this Caesarea Philippi was +not a secluded spot, as commentators generally make it, because Banias is +so now; but the town was one of notoriety, adorned, as we have just seen, +with expensive public edifices. + + * * * * * + +On returning to the tents, the shaikh of the village came, attended by +some of his relatives belonging to Hhasbeya, begging for some quinine +medicine: I gave him eight of my twelve remaining pills. On the adjacent +plain there must needs be fever and ague; in fact, so unwilling was I on +account of malaria to remain longer at Banias, that we resumed our +travelling by night. + +At three o'clock, A.M., we were mounted--there was a little rain at the +time, and clouds that threatened more of it obscured the setting moon; +there was lightning also in the same direction. I even altered my plan +of going on to "the bridge of the daughters of Jacob," (the thoroughfare +between Safed and Damascus,) in order to escape from the plain as quickly +as possible. For this purpose we turned westwards, and had to struggle +through marshes and rough ground by starlight and lightning. Most +unwisely we had neglected to take a meal before starting, not expecting +the district to be so plashy and unwholesome as it proved to be. The +plain, north of the Lake Hhooleh, is traversed by innumerable channels of +water, among which rice is grown, of which I gathered a handful as a +trophy to exhibit in Jerusalem. And there were lines of tents of the +poor Ghawarineh Arabs upon dry ground, besides small scaffolds standing +in the rice marshes, from which elevations the people watch the crops and +fire upon wild beasts that come to injure or devour the crops; dogs +barked as we passed, and fires were visible in several directions. + +Arriving at the bridge of _El Ghujar_, my companion and I both felt sick, +and had to dismount and rest for a time. + +Our guide's account of the river differed from that given in Robinson; +instead of the stream being the Hhasbani and the bridge named El Ghujar, +he averred that the river is El Ghujar, and that it rises out of the +ground like the waters of Banias and of Tell el Kadi. Perhaps this may +account for Porter more recently placing the bridge El Ghujar in a +different situation, much farther north. The circumstance is not without +value in inquiries as to the collective formation of the Jordan. + +As daylight broke we could see herds of buffaloes among the marshes, or +swimming in the water with only their heads raised above the surface; the +village of _Khalsah_ was half way up the hill-side. + +From this point the road was level, dry, and comfortable, running due +southwards along the western margin of the plain, but with streams +occasionally crossing it, rushing from the hills towards the lake. + +Near _'Ain el Mellahhah_ two Arabs rode up to us and planted their spears +in the ground near our horses heads as a warning to stop, and I suppose +to pay ghuf'r. I kept on, leaving the kawwas to parley with them. + +Not far from the fountain we rested under a terebinth tree (not a +favourable specimen) upon a rising ground; beneath us, but at a short +distance, the strong stream turns a mill, passing through a house, and +escapes to the plain. + +The Arabs met us again, and said they were looking for a horse that was +lost, and we saw no more of them. + +In another hour my companion was taken with a strong fit of ague, which +urged us the more to press onward for Safed. From the hills, as we rose +higher and higher, the Lake Hhooleh was perceived to be, above one-third +of it, choked up with weeds and rushes. Old Hermon showed himself in +surpassing grandeur; not a confused mass--as he does from the plain +looking upwards from close beneath him--but as one grand "monarch of +mountains." + + "On a throne of rocks, with a robe of clouds, + And a diadem of snow." + +The sun was hot and the hills chalky over which we passed. In one place +by our wayside, and at considerable elevation, I found squared masonry +stones and traces of houses, with fragments of columns. + +A poor Arab peasant, driving an ass laden with a wooden box, was groaning +with pain, and implored us for a draught of water, but I fear that our +people had neglected to bring any with them, as they expected to be so +soon in Safed. + +Rested under the shade of some large stones, and sent on a message before +us to the town. In quarter of an hour, however, some peals of thunder +roused us to pursue the journey; the strong wind that arose at the same +time was not good for ague patients. Across the great plain as we looked +back was a broad faint piece of rainbow, and the huge mountain, mantled +with clouds about his shoulders, but bright below, appeared peculiarly +fantastic, with flickering shadows of clouds chasing over his sunny +sides. + +On the outskirts of Safed we found, as customary at that season, +(Bairam,) the newly white-washed graves of the Moslems, adorned with +bunches of myrtle. + +At Safed we lodged in the house of a Russo-British Jew, and letters from +Jerusalem that had awaited us came safe to hand, after which followed the +necessary reception of visitors, very troublesome to weary and exhausted +travellers, and at last a supper which had been long in preparing--at +least so it seemed to be. + +PART II. + +This, like the journey last described, of six years before, was portion +of a much longer tour, but I omit all that cannot come under the +designation of a Byeway in Palestine. The two routes were very similar +to each other, with the exception of the passage from Banias to Safed. + +Starting from Saida, and trending south-eastwards towards Hhasbeya, we +climbed the mountains, which here rise almost from the sea-shore, and +crossed romantic passes of rugged eminences and deeply cleft ravines. + +From Hhasbeya the line was due south to Banias, thence westward by Tell +el Kadi, and Hhuneen, and Tibneen, the capital of the Belad Besharah, +thus almost reaching once more the plain of Phoenicia on its eastern +verge; next by the antiquities of Kadesh Naphtali southwards to Safed; +and homewards to Jerusalem, but this latter route is not to be described, +for the reason given above. + +I was accompanied by my niece and another lady, a settled resident of +Jerusalem. The first object after quitting Saida was to visit Joon, and +to show my companions the residence of Lady Hester Stanhope in years gone +by. This we reached just before sunset, on the 2d of October 1855. + +The tomb was found much dilapidated; in 1853 it was no longer in so good +a condition as it had been in 1849, but it was now even worse, and the +whole spectacle of house, stables, and gardens, was melancholy in the +extreme: the deprivation of roofs gives a peculiar aspect of desolation +to any abandoned dwelling, especially when the gardens have still their +cultivable flowers remaining, but running riot within their marked-out +beds; these had now been sixteen years neglected, yet the roses and +myrtle only required pruning. + +We proceeded to the convent, the road was stony, and we had to find the +way by twilight and starlight. + +At the great door we were received by the new president, and several of +the clergy chanting psalms for welcome, and the great bell was ringing at +the same time. I could not but attribute all this unusual display to the +operation of political affairs in Europe. + +On taking possession of the rooms allotted to us, I received a visit of +the Greek Catholic Bishop of Saida, he being there on business connected +with the election of a new patriarch in the place of Maximus; his +deportment was that of a man of polite society. Our rooms were lighted +by huge ecclesiastical tapers of wax. + +Next morning, after returning the visit of the bishop at the patriarchal +residence in front of the convent, we breakfasted in the corridor with +the president and another of the convent clergy. Our ladies then set +themselves to sketching the view from the window, and talking about +church singing from notes, whereupon the president sent a deacon to fetch +his book, and the latter sang for us an anthem, the vociferation and +screechings of which was so alarming, not to mention the nasal twang, +that my niece had to run away to indulge in an obstreperous laugh, and +her senior companion had also much difficulty in refraining from the same +kind of expression of opinion. The Oriental system of church musical +notation is very complicated, having no stave-lines or bars, but only +certain arbitrary marks over the notes to designate high or low, plain or +flourishing. + +Afterwards we inspected the church; then the refectory, and there they +showed us the desk at which one of the community reads to the rest at +meal time, triumphantly assuring me that they read the Bible, yet the two +books I found on the desk were, one the Apocryphal writings, the other +some homilies of St Basil, under whose rule the convent is constituted. + +Next we walked over the roof, and looked at the great bell, and the gong; +the view, as might be expected, repaid the trouble. After this the +kitchen and the store-rooms. + +On leaving the convent we proceeded to the nunnery in the neighbourhood. +The ladies visited the inmates, while I remained in an outer apartment +chatting with a priest, till a curtain was drawn aside, and there, +behold! were the lady-president and her flock, curious to see a consul, +and blaming the servants for not having admitted me together with my +companions. + +The latter gave me afterwards as their opinion of the establishment, that +it very much resembled a comfortable asylum or almshouse for old women. + +By this deviation from the high roads we lost the fairy view in that +neighbourhood which had charmed me so much in 1849. + +There is a pleasing novelty to us non-Lebanonites in being in a native +Christian country. Every hill there has its convent, every convent its +bells; clergy are continually passing along the road; and on our descent +of the hill we met a nice old gentleman in clerical dress, with a very +white beard, holding a crimson umbrella over his head, (this is not +uncommon in Palestine,) and preceded by a kawwas with a silver-headed +official staff, also accompanied by a few peasants carrying guns,--this +was a Maronite bishop. + +Crossed the river Barook at _Bisrah_, and ascended the usual highway +leading to Hhasbeya. + +At the village of _Ineer_ we took further directions, and followed over a +very wild scene to nearly the summit of a mountain called +_Rummet-er-Room_, (the Ramah, or high-place, of the Greeks,) from which +the glorious landscape surpasses all power of description--it is one not +to be forgotten. + +At _'Azoor_, a clean pleasant village, the women and girls ran in crowds +to gaze at my ladies; one of the women shouted "Bon soir" in good French, +and a man, accompanied by his wife, saluted us in Italian. + +Rested in a beautiful wood of pines, though rather late for luncheon, as +the sun was falling below the western mountains. Rising higher on the +march we got into rolling misty clouds, and the brilliant effect of +sunbeams between the hills and clouds could not but be surprising. Our +clothes, however, got damp and chill. + +At _Jezzeen_ our tents were found ready pitched in a grove of noble +walnut-trees, with the brook _Zaid_ running among them; near alongside +was a Maronite convent, with a bridge. + +The muleteers having left us in the morning, lost their way, and had +taken the more precipitous road by _Dair Mushmushi_. + +Here the people behaved with great hospitality to us. + +The night was very cold, and in the morning the water for washing felt +like ice. The position of our encampment, as perceived by daylight, was +so low between hills that the sun could not reach us till the day should +be considerably advanced, yet we were at a very high altitude. Pity that +we had no aneroid barometer with us to ascertain the amount of our +elevation above the sea. The poplar-trees and walnut-trees, with fruit +trees of various kinds, showed we were in a totally different region from +that of Jerusalem. + +Jezzeen is almost exclusively a Christian village, with a Greek Catholic +church, besides two Maronite churches, and the small convent mentioned +above. + +There were clergy walking about; the people cleanly and well clothed, the +children modestly behaved, and even when rendering a service, not asking +for bakhsheesh. + +At the time of our leaving, a party of women were wailing over a dead +body under a tree. + +The scene gradually became more romantic; and we soon came to a village, +if such it may be denominated, where the only dwellings are dispersed +among vineyards. These vineyards were, at that autumn season, becoming +of a brown and golden tint. + +After traversing the wondrous chaos referred to in the former journey, we +passed through the villages of _Cuf'r Hooneh_ and _Deheedeh_, adjoining +each other; where there was abundance of water, and oleander bushes +fringing the streamlets, with poplar and maple trees. + +The rest of the journey had no remarkable difference from that of 1849, +except that on the brow of the great descent to the plain, between +Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, we rested beneath an olive-tree entwined +with honeysuckle, enraptured with the magnificence of the scene, which +would require a Milton to portray it in words, or a Martin in painting. +I observed that the prevailing tints of the whole great prospect were of +russet and ochreous colours. + +Crossed the bridge, charmed with the beauteous verdure and freshening +rapid stream of the Leontes river; and when arrived at Hhasbeya, repaired +to the house of the native Protestant pastor, (Mr John Wartabed,) till a +house could be prepared for us. + +Next morning some deputations of the religious sects of the town called +upon me; also the Ameer Saad ed Deen and his five sons in rich dresses; +and lastly, an old Druse who had distinguished himself as a friend of the +Protestant movement. Among all these, my visit there had a beneficial +effect upon the existence and progress of native Protestantism. In the +Lebanon the Druses have always favoured the missionaries, their schools +and their chapels, while the native Christian communities, under the +direction of their clergy, have naturally opposed them by every possible +means of the direst persecution. In proper time and place I may +hereafter have more to say respecting this visit to Hhasbeya. + +In the afternoon, Mr Wartabed and the Khoja Bashi, (representative member +in the town-council,) of the Protestants, named Naseef er Reis, rode with +us to the source of the Hhasbani river, which ought to be regarded as the +origin of the Jordan, even though Banias lower down has been for ages +recognised as such. We saw the bubbles at their earliest birth issue +from the ground, and in a few yards this becomes a flowing stream. +Higher above this spot the bed of a torrent brings down water in rainy +seasons, adding to the springs of the Hhasbani, but this not being +permanent, cannot fairly be counted as having part or lot in the Jordan. + +The ladies sat down to take sketches, and in haste I pencilled down in +short-hand-- + + O Jordan, dear Jordan, the feelings that throng + And press on the heart must awaken to song, + When the bubbles from pebbles break forth into view + As clear as the spangles of morn's early dew. + + 'Mid the poplars that rising surpass other trees, + And twinkle as moved by the scarce mountain breeze, + And the wild oleander in rose-colour'd bloom, + With trill of the linnet, and shrubs of perfume. + + I have drunk from each source that advances a claim + To share with our Jordan its time-honour'd name; + Here now at Hhasbeya--and the old site of Dan; + Or the gush that escapes from the grotto of Pan. + + How oft on far banks of its tortuous course, + In the scenes of repose or of cataract force, + Where the bulbul, 'mid willows and tamarisk shades, + Still warbles-- + +"Now, ladies, the horses are ready, and we have further to go," broke in +upon the muse of Lebanon. The day's work had to be finished, and time +was short; so we rode away to the bitumen pits in the neighbourhood of +Cocaba. These are not worked in warm weather, for the people are afraid +of the possible effects of their gas generated under a hot sun. One of +the pits is seventy ells, or cubits, deep, and the bitumen is reached +through a crust of chalky soil. The property is a government monopoly, +rented by natives, and the business is lazily and irregularly carried on; +therefore, sometimes the success is greater than at others. We found two +men living in a tent as guardians of the place, who were very civil to +us, and permitted us to carry away some specimens. These were all of a +very soft consistency; but at the bitumen works at four hours north of +Hhasbeya, the mineral is of a still softer description, almost liquid. + +Next morning, the Kadi paid us a visit, accompanied by a merchant of +Damascus, a correspondent of an English house in India for indigo. + +On Sunday we attended divine service at the native Protestant church, +which the people call the English church, and in virtue thereof have set +up a bell above it; because, although the mission is carried on by +American money and under the direction of American agents, the American +consuls are forbidden by their home-government from taking any steps in +behalf of their undertakings; and thus, but for the protection given them +by Mr Wood, British consul of Damascus, and his consular friends at +Bayroot, the American Mission, with all their schools and +printing-presses, would, upon all human calculation, have been crushed +long ago. + +In conformity with Oriental usage, the congregation was divided according +to the sexes. In the old Eastern churches the women are placed in a +gallery above the men, but here the equality of the sexes was maintained +by their occupying the same floor, while separated from each other by a +wall built rather higher than the usual stature of a man; the pulpit +being equally visible from each division. A large jar of water stood in +the corner within the door, to which the men repaired occasionally, as +they felt thirsty. There were no chairs or benches, except such as were +brought from the house for our party, the congregation were sitting on +their heels, in which posture they sang the hymns, and remained so during +the prayer, only covering the face with the right hand; a few men, +however, stood up. + +The singing (Arabic) was good, of course all in unison. The first hymn +was to the tune of our "Old Hundredth," the chapters read by the minister +were Ezek. xviii. and Rom. iii., and the text of the sermon was Ps. +lxxxix. 14, "Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy +and truth shall go before thy face." The style of language in the sermon +was that of good Arabic, but of simple, unpretending character, without +admixture of foreign words or phrases: this was insured by the +circumstance of the minister being a native of the country, though +originally belonging to the Armenian Church. + +At the afternoon service the chapters read were Num. xxiii. and Heb. +xiii. The text for the sermon was Heb. xiii. 8, "Jesus Christ, the same +yesterday, to-day, and for ever," and the hymn was sung to a sweet +plaintive air of American origin. + +Afterwards, that is after sunset, we spent some hours with the pastor's +family, who all understood English well. Mr Wartabed played the flute to +the hymn-singing, and his sister's voice was clear as a flageolet. The +evening was one of comfort and refreshment on both sides; it was one of a +Sabbath, "a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable," (Isa. lviii. 13.) + +The poor Protestants have not always been in such satisfactory +circumstances. Their principal man had narratives to relate of chains +and imprisonment endured in past times from the present Ameer, whose +policy was now in their favour. + +Next morning we left Hhasbeya, and I have not been there since. Little +could it be foreseen that in five years afterwards one indiscriminate +butchery would be made of the Ameer and his son, notwithstanding their +high descent of family and profession of Islam, together with all the +Christians of whatever sect in the town, driven like sheep within the +walls of his palace--a deed of treachery unexampled even in that period +of bloody Turkish treachery. Since then my lady companions are both in +their graves, the one at Jerusalem, the other at Bayroot, let me rather +say in "a better country," while I am left alone to narrate this in the +distant security of England. + +On our way towards Banias we met a party of Druses returning from a small +lake beyond Hhooleh, carrying leeches in earthen jars and cotton bags +upon asses, they themselves walking. A green hill on our right was said +to be frequented by wild boars--all the rest of our scenery was bare and +stony. + +A weli was a conspicuous object at some distance to the south, and near +to the Lake Hhooleh, which the Moslems name after "Judah the son of +Jacob." One of the Hhasbeya Protestants, who was with us, quoted in his +native Arabic "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah," etc. + +At Tell el Kadi we reposed beneath the great tree near the gush of its +branch of the Jordan, the same tree (evergreen oak) as afforded us +shelter in 1849. Both this spring of the river and that of Banias are +far more striking objects than the humble source of the Hhasbani, into +which stream they run as affluents, making up the Jordan. + +It was a beautiful evening of mellow sunlight, and the scene most +peaceful at the foot of Hermon. + +On nearing Banias we were met by the son of the shaikh of the village, +sent out to invite us. It was harvest time of the Simsim, (Sesame,) and +the produce was very abundant; sheaves of it were piled up into large +stacks, and the length of the plant in stalk exceeded all I had ever seen +before,--a natural effect of growing on these well-watered plains. + +There were also my old friends the myrtles scattered about among the +other trees. + +At Banias our attendants had pitched the tents, to our disgust, near the +village, and with the stench of carrion not far off; much better places +might have been taken, but this was selected probably in consequence of +the invitation from the shaikh. Our short remainder of twilight was +employed in viewing the inscriptions and the grotto of Pan. + +Next morning I was making fresh transcriptions of the Greek votive +dedications before the sun was up, so as to get them as accurately as +possible without sunshine and shadows. Then the same once more after +breakfast, with the sun full upon them. These, together with the copies +taken in 1849 by afternoon sunlight, and consequently the shadows thrown +in the reverse direction, ought to ensure for me a correct delineation, +saving and except those letters that are defaced by the action of weather +during fifteen centuries, or across which small cracks have been made by +the same cause. + +The shaikh came to transact some business of consequence to him. Before +noon we resumed our journey; going due west through the Sesame harvest +and the myrtle trees to Tell el Kadi; straight across the plain through +marshes, frequent small streams, and large fields of rice, which they +said would be fit for reaping in twenty days more, that is, by the end of +October. + +Crossed the Ghujar bridge, but did not as before turn off to Safed; our +object now was to reach Tibneen in the Belad Besharah, and therefore we +kept on due west, ascending up to the great crusading castle and the +village of _Huneen_, from which the look back upon Jebel esh Shaikh +(Hermon) was indescribably grand. + +A little farther on, a glimpse was caught of the Mediterranean Sea! the +mountain breeze most delightful. Rested by the roadside for luncheon; +came to the village of _Hhooleh_, thence into lower valleys of green +woods, often with scarce room to pass ourselves, our horses, and the +luggage between branches of trees for some successive hours. Then under +the village of _Jahharah_, where were charcoal burners working at their +kilns. + +The scene opened into verdant glades, alternated with woodland; the +breathing most pure as exhaled from trees upon firm dry ground, +contrasted with the noxious vapours from the marshes in the early +morning. + +Flocks and shepherds appeared, and there was the sound of the axe busy in +the woods; not the ringing sound of the bright large English axe, this +being wanted in the stroke of the petty Oriental tools. + +As evening drew on, and broad shadows fell from green hills across our +way, Tibneen Castle came nobly into view, and there a goodly reception +awaited us. A strange medley of splendour, with fleas and dust, obtained +throughout the establishment, and our ladies visited those of the +Hhareem, concerning whom they brought back no agreeable report. + +We remained over two nights at Tibneen; the latter of which was, +throughout its whole duration, one of furious storm, rattling the wooden +lattices that served for windows; a storm not uncommon in the East, when +an adverse wind meets and drives back a strong shirocco. At daybreak the +first sound of the morning was that of a large trained hawk near the +window, chained to his perch, and screaming out his delight in the +bluster of the tempest. Mount Hermon appeared, not in his summer glow, +but in solemn majesty, defying the clouds and the winds that raged in +vain against his solid substance. + +Our progress was thence towards Safed, which, however, we did not reach +in less than eleven hours and a half, instead of six, because of our +circuit made to see the antiquities of Kadis and Cuf'r Bera'am. + +Turning off before Bint el Jebail, we came to _'Ain Atha_, and next to +_Aituran_. At Kadis (Kedesh Naphtali) I found that much of the principal +and beautiful temple had been lately despoiled by our late host of +Tibneen ('Ali Bek) for the ornamentation of his Hhareem or women's +apartments, and balconies or galleries. Then to _Yaroon_, near which was +still the ponderous sarcophagus upon a platform in the open country, and +likely to stay there for ages to come. It is too plain and devoid of +ornament or inscription for antiquarians from Europe to covet it, and to +remove it for no particular use would demand too much exertion from the +natives of the country. My groom, however, thought it might be useful as +a depository of barley in the stable! + +We overtook a party of Safed people returning from the weekly market at +Bint el Jebail. + +At Cuf'r Bera'am we inspected the ancient buildings now bearing Hebrew +inscriptions, and I was more than ever convinced in my own mind, that +neither these nor any edifices at Kadis have any relation to the Jewish +people, in their origin or intention. The Hebrew writing is of inferior +style, and very modern character, far, far unequal to the beauty of the +architecture; besides having evident traces of animal figures which have +been hastily chiselled off. + +The sun set, and a bad road had to be traversed in order to reach our +destination at Safed. + +PART III. + +In my two journeys just described, the route was over the southern part +of the long Lebanon range, not only on the main ridge, but crossing some +of the innumerable spurs thrown out towards the sea. This time, however, +we have to deal with a more northerly and higher region; and it is +because of its being in a different direction from those of 1849 and 1855 +that I have not observed the consecutive order of date--this was in 1853. +We shall start from the coast, where the most projecting and western spur +subsides into Ras Bayroot, and the climbing begins almost immediately +after leaving deep yellow sands and the pine forest. + +The object was to reach Mokhtarah, perched high in the heart of the Shoof +or central ridge of Lebanon, like an eyrie, as it was then, for the +princely house of Jonblat. Mokhtarah lies S.-E. from Bayroot, and to +arrive there we had to cross the intervening spurs, climbing as we went. + +The town of Dair el Kamar and the palace of Beteddeen, formerly the +headquarters of the house of Shehab, lay upon the road. The remainder of +the journey after Mokhtarah consisted in a rapid descent to Sidon, the +great port in antiquity for Damascus, Phoenicia, and the Lebanon. + +This tour comprised the finest range of the territory occupied by the +Druse nation. + +1853. _July_.--From Bayroot, with its bewitching scenery and its +gorgeous colouring of mountains and the sea, we went to _'Abeih_, the +best known of the American missionary stations in the Lebanon. + +Through the woods of pines, with their reviving fragrance, and through +_El Hadeth_, an entirely Christian village, where the bell of the +Maronite convent was ringing as we passed, we came to _Shuwaifat_, and +rose still higher towards the mountain pines and the breezes so desirable +in Syria in the month of July, leaving below the olive in abundance, the +mulberry and the fig-trees. + +Beside the fountain called _'Ain Besaba_ was a pottery factory. The +nature of the rocks around was soft sandstone; a gigantic pear-tree stood +conspicuous among the excellent cultivation of the neighbourhood; higher +still, between straight tall pines and wild holly-oaks, our road curved +round and round the hills. + +We overtook a company of Christians, the women riding and the men +walking--this circumstance alone would show they were not Mohammedans. +The two parties had to pass each other with much caution, as the path was +narrow and the precipice deep below. + +At _'Ain 'Anoob_, where a copious supply of water issues from three +spouts, the fountain has on each side the representation of a chained +lion, sculptured in stone. One's first impression would be that this +were a relic of the Genoese or Venetian crusaders; but these figures, +whatever their meaning or origin, are not infrequent upon fountains about +the Lebanon, even when only rustically daubed in red ochre; and it has +not been often noticed that there are similar lions facing each other, +only without the chains, one on each side of St Stephen's Gate at +Jerusalem. Some of the women at the fountains wore the horns on their +head, the fashion for which is gradually passing away. The terraces on +the hills were in the highest state of cultivation, and gave abundant +promise of fruit for the coming season; the sun was near setting, the +rooks cawing overhead, and we saw two little girls each bring a lamb to +the fountain to drink and then proceed to wash them. + +Sidi Ahhmad, a Druse 'Akal, with, of course, a white turban, undertook to +be our guide as far as 'Abeih. + +Fresh air to breathe! how different from the oppressive heat of Bayroot! +We all drank of every spring by the way, and by consequence lifted up the +drooping head, (Ps. cx. 7,) thinking each fountain colder than that +before it. + +The most rugged portion of the road was between _'Ain 'Anoob_ and +_'Ainab_, and zigzag were the worn tracks of the way. Sometimes a +musical jingle of bells announced the coming of travellers in front, who +were however invisible till they pounced upon us from between two +pinnacles of rocks. On the steepest ascents it was necessary to halt and +await the coming up of our baggage mules. + +From mountain heights it is often difficult to distinguish the blue +expanse of the Mediterranean Sea from the similar blue expanse of the +sky, until the actual moment of sunset, when the bright orb becoming +suddenly flattened on its lower curve reveals the exact horizon line; and +so it was this evening. + +Wearied with the climbing position of the saddle, hour after hour, I +passed _'Ain Kesoor_ on foot, the 'Akal leading the horse. This was +shortly before 'Abeih, but there I rode up to the mansion of Kasim Bek, +the local governor, to ask hospitality; it was dark night, and Saturday. +My intention was to spend the Sunday in a Christian manner among the +American missionaries. The journey had been one of five hours and a half +from Bayroot. + +We were heartily received into a fine old house, in which were shaikhs +and chiefs of sundry grades seated on the divan with the host, and +immediately the means for washing were brought by the domestics with +great respect. A good supper was prepared, the Bek eating with us, to my +surprise, but I afterwards learned that this is not uncommon with a +non-'Akal Druse, as he was. + +_Sunday_.--Quiet morning. Bell of the Capuchin Convent almost adjoining +the house. From the windows there is a fine prospect of Bayroot and the +coast-outline. + +After breakfast I went up to the chapel of the American missionaries, and +entered just as the Arabic service was about to commence--Dr de Forest in +the pulpit; and his sermon was preached with fluency of language equal to +that of a native. The subject was taken from 1 Cor. i. 12, 13, +concerning those who named themselves followers of Paul or of Apollos. +The women were screened off from the men in the congregation. + +After service Dr de Forest welcomed me, and led me up the hill to the +mission-house, where I found my old friend, Dr Eli Smith, who was unwell, +and about to leave them on the morrow for his home at B'hamdoon. With +Mrs de Forest there was a young lady just arrived from the United States +to be a teacher in the school. + +The residence is a good one; with the girls' school on the ground plan, +and the dwelling apartments above. The scenery and prospect equal all +that the highest imagination could conceive of the Lebanon. Over the +sea, the island of Cyprus can occasionally be distinguished from the +terrace, that is to say, three peaks of a mountain show themselves at +sunset, particularly if the wind be in the north, in the month of May or +the beginning of June. This view, therefore, gives the outskirts of "the +isles of Chittim," as seen from the Holy Land, (Num. xxiv. 24, and Jer. +ii. 10.) + +After dinner we all went together to the English service in the chapel. +Mr Colquhoun preached a simple but impressive sermon from John x. 4; +which text he illustrated by an incident that he had witnessed in a +recent journey northwards. + +A shepherd with a flock arrived at a river of some impetuosity. He +entered it first, trying the depths with his staff, got over at the best +place, and then with his voice called over the sheep to him. From which +the following points were deduced:-- + +1. That the shepherd led the way, and the flock waited for his call. + +2. That the sheep followed when he called, although not all of them at +the precise ford he had discovered. Some of them trusted to their own +judgment, and these generally got out of their depths for a time. His +way was certainly the best one. + +3. That as the shepherd stood on the opposite bank, he showed no +symptoms of uneasiness, for he was confident that every one of the flock +would get safely across. + +4. That the sheep in passing over used each his own efforts to get +across, apparently just as much as if there were no one present to help; +although no doubt the presence of the shepherd had a good effect upon +their exertions. It is beyond our reach to explain the metaphysical +mystery of this. + +5. The shepherd in first crossing the stream himself tested the force of +the stream. Each individual creature had to do the same; but those who +followed the closest upon his track had an easy passage, while those who +tried new ways for themselves were some of them swept down the current +for a distance, and had to make hard struggles to rejoin their companions +and to reach the beloved shepherd. + +6. All got safely over, for they were his sheep; he knew them all by +name; he had tried the way before them and shown it; he then called them +to himself. + +Of course each of these points was made use of as personally applicable +to the hearers. The sermon did me much good from its quiet and truthful +character. + +At this service, it is needless to observe, that there was no separation +of sexes in the congregation. The girls of the school (who are all +taught English) were there placed by themselves, and prettily dressed, +wearing the Oriental _izar_, (or large white veil,) with flowered +borders, a novelty to us. + +Returning to the mission-house, the late afternoon and the time of sunset +and twilight were spent in rational conversation of Christian character. +And such was our Sabbath-day of devotion and repose. + +How glorious were the colours spread over the vast extent of mountain and +sea, modified by length of shadows as the sun declined! Oh how deep are +such beauties and the perception of their value laid in the innermost +recesses of our soul's nature, only to be completely gratified in the +eternity to come. Here, below, we have gorgeous tints differing in +succession, even after actual sunset, to be followed by a delicate +after-glow, which again gives place to the splendour of night. And as in +earth, so in heaven, with the exception of night; for surely there will +be alternations of beauteous scenes above; surely there will be +developments and variety in light, colour, music, harmony, and the rest +of those "pleasures for evermore," which are everywhere emanations from +the direct love of "Him who first loved us,"--His gifts, who even here +bestows prismatic hues upon icebergs in the arctic circle, and a rosy +flush to the peaks of Jebel Sanneen in the Lebanon. + +_Monday_.--Letters were brought at a late hour last night in four hours +from Bayroot, giving recent intelligence from our fleet--all political +affairs going on successfully. + +Everybody speaks well of our host the governor, and his family. He is a +studious man, and has acquired from the Americans a good deal of history +and general knowledge; his youngest brother attends the natural-history +class of the mission-school. He is a relative of the famous Abu Neked, +and his wife (Druses have but one wife each) is of the Jonblat family. +The ancestral mansion he inhabits was built by one of the ancient race +called the T'noohh, who flourished there from the 10th to the 17th +century, and artists had been brought for the purpose from +Constantinople; the symmetry of the masonry is admirable, and +consequently the shadows formed from it are particularly straight and +sharp in outline. + +The village contains specimens of every form of religion to be found +throughout the Lebanon; each sect, however, keeps somewhat apart from the +rest, which practice being common in the mountain, may account for the +villages appearing to a stranger to consist of separate pieces not quite +joined together. + +Some women still wear horns, although the Christian clergy set themselves +strongly against these ornaments; some even refusing the +Communion-Sacrament to those who persist in retaining that heathenish +emblem derived from ancient mythology. + +Among the Druse men, the 'Akal are not so marked in their difference of +costume from the Juhal as formerly, except in the extreme cleanliness and +careful plaiting of the white turban. My host, notwithstanding the +antiquity of his family and his studious character, is not one of the +initiated, he is but a Jahel, yet he probably serves his people best in +that capacity, as he is thereby enabled to hold government employments. + +From his windows we could see on the south side of Ras Bayroot several +small vessels engaged in sponge-fishing; the crews of these are generally +Greeks from the islands: yesterday with the telescope we had a good view +of the mail-steamer arriving. + +We went to take leave of the American friends, who showed us some +excellent specimens of English writing, and of drawing from the girls' +school. + +Returning to the Druse friends, I visited Seleem, a brother of the Bek. +On hearing that we were proceeding to Mokhtarah, Naaman, (brother of Said +Bek Jonblat,) who has retired from worldly affairs, and become a devout +'Akal, requested one of my party to ask Said to send him some +orange-flower water. I have no doubt that this message ([Greek text]) +covered some political meaning. + +The house of Seleem was simplicity and neatness in the extreme, the only +ornamentation being that of rich robes, pistols, swords, and the silver +decorations of horses, suspended on pegs round the principal apartment; +all thoroughly Oriental of olden time. + +The Christian secretary of the Bek attended us to _Cuf'r Natta_ on a fine +Jilfi mare, where he got for us a pedestrian guide to Dair el Kamar. A +very deep valley lay before us, into which we had to descend, lounging +leftwards, and then to mount the opposite hill, returning rightwards, to +an elevation higher than that of Cuf'r Natta. Down we went by zigzags +through groves of pine that were stirred gently on their tops by the +mountain breeze, and there was plenty of wild myrtle on the ground; we +frequently met with specimens of iron ore, and pink or yellow metallic +streaks in the rocks, to the river Suffar, being the upper part of the +river that is called Damoor upon the sea-coast. This is crossed by the +bridge _Jisr' el Kadi_, (so named from an ameer of the house of T'noohh, +surnamed the Kadi, or Judge, from his legal acquirements, and who erected +the bridge in old times,) near which the limestone rock of the water-bed +is worn into other channels by the occasional escapements of winter +torrents. There are mills adjoining. + +We all rested in a coffee-station at the end of the bridge. Several +parties of muleteers had halted there at the same time. By the little +fireside a large hawk was perched, and the owner of the place had his +apparatus for shoemaking in the middle of the room. + +Flowering oleander and fruit trees imparted liveliness to the scene +outside, our several parties in variegated costumes adding not a little +to the same. + +Crossing the bridge, (which is level, and has no side parapets,) we +commenced the great ascent; the hill-side was largely planted with +sherabeen, (sprouts,) of a kind of cedar, not the real cedar of Lebanon. +At a spring half way up we found a poor Turkish infantry soldier resting +all alone, he was a pitiable object in a district so unfriendly to him. + +What a different country would Palestine or all Syria be were it like the +Lebanon, industriously cultivated inch by inch! How different would the +Lebanon be were this industry and its produce never interrupted by +intestine warfare! + +Higher still we saw a train of shaikhs on horseback, attended by men on +foot, coming in our direction longitudinally on the opposite hill from a +remote village. + +All the distance, I think, from Jis'r el Kadi forwards, notwithstanding +the steep nature of the country, was over a paved or made road. There is +no such a thing in the south; here, however, the desolation of Turkish +rule is but little known, and the people are not only industrious, but a +fine muscular race. + +We overtook small groups of village people who had, it seems, gone out to +meet the important riding party lately seen by us. Suddenly, at a turn +of the road, the cheerful town of Dair el Kamar opened out to view, with +the hills and palaces of Beteddeen behind. This was at three hours from +'Abeih, exclusive of the hour's rest at the bridge. + +The town appeared to be well built, better than many a European town, +notwithstanding the destruction arising from recent warfare, and the +people cleanly; it was, however, no proof of the latter quality that I +saw a pig being fed at a house-door as we passed along. + +We alighted at the best Arab house I had ever entered, namely, that of +the influential Meshakah family. After some repose the host took me and +the friends who had accompanied me from Soor and Saida to look about the +town. Through streets and bazaars we came to a large open place occupied +by silk weavers at work, among whom was the father of Faris, the Arabic +teacher in the Protestant school at Jerusalem, he having been instructed +by the Americans at 'Abeih, and whose sister I had seen there the day +preceding. The silk stuffs of the town maintain a respectable rivalry +with those of Damascus. + +Turkish soldiers were dawdling about the streets. + +We called at some Christian houses, in one of which (very handsome, with +a garden) the recesses in the wall of one side of the divan room, +containing bedding as usual in the East, were screened by a wide curtain +of white muslin spangled with gold. Upon the other sides of the room +were rude fresco paintings. Opposite the door on entering was the Virgin +and Child; over the door was a dove with an olive branch; and the +remaining side was embellished by the picture of a fine water-melon, with +a slice cut off and lying at its side, the knife still upright in the +melon, and an angel flying above it, blowing a trumpet! + +The town is romantically situated upon successive levels of terraces in +the hill, and environed by orchards of fruit. As evening approached, the +opposite hill was suffused in a glow of pink, followed by purple light, +and the Ramadan gun was fired from Beteddeen when the sun's orb dropped +upon the horizon. Suddenly the hills exchanged their warm colours for a +cold gray, in harmony with the gloaming or evening twilight. + +The population of Dair el Kamar at that time numbered 700 full-grown men +of Maronites, 220 of Greek Catholics, 150 of Druses, with a few Moslems +and Jews--each of the sects living apart from the rest. The silk +manufacture was more extensive than that of Saida, and a constant +communication was kept up with Damascus, which is at twenty hours' +distance. The Christians are far more hardy than their fellow-Christians +the Maronites are in their special district to the north. The whole +population is industrious, and the Druses maintain their characteristic +steadfastness of purpose, secrecy, and union among themselves. + +The house in which I was so hospitably received had been almost entirely +destroyed in the war of 1841; and its proprietor (brother of the two +brothers now its owners) shot dead in his own court, by persons who owed +him money, namely, the Druse party of Abu Neked, two hundred of whom had +for a fortnight lived at free quarters there. + +The two brothers who were my hosts are Christians of the Greek Catholic +sect, named Gabriel and Raphael. A third surviving brother is the +talented Protestant controversialist residing in Damascus, and practising +medicine as learned from the Americans. The one who was shot by the +Druses was Andrew; the eldest of all is Ibrahim, settled in Bayroot, and +his son named Khaleel is dragoman of the English consulate there--it was +he who furnished us with the introduction to this house in Dair el Kamar. + +How curious is the domestic life of these Oriental families. Eating +takes place in the principal room, with a throng of women and children +passing heedlessly about, or visitors entering as they please. Among +these, during the dinner time, came in a Jew speaking Jewish-German. He +was a dyer, who had known me at Jerusalem, and conversed with remarkable +self-possession: it seemed as if the mountain air, and absence from the +Rabbis of Jerusalem, had made a man of him. In attendance on the meal +was an ancient woman-servant of the family, very wrinkled, but wearing +the tantoor or horn on her head. + +On retiring from the table, if we may use that expression as applicable +to an Oriental dinner, there came in the Greek Catholic Bishop of Saida, +and several heads of houses of the Maronites, on visits of ceremony. + +The fatigue of the day was closed, and rewarded by a night of sleep upon +a bed of down and crimson silk, under a covering of the same. + +In the morning our journey was resumed; but before quitting this +interesting town, I cannot forbear quoting Dr Porter's admirable +description of Dair el Kamar, from Murray's "Handbook for Syria and +Palestine," part ii. page 413:-- + +"Deir el Kamr is a picturesque mountain village, or rather town, of some +8000 inhabitants, whose houses are built along a steep, rocky hill-side. +A sublime glen runs beneath it, and on the opposite side, on a projecting +ledge, stands the palace of Bteddin. Both the banks, as well as the +slopes above them, are covered with terraces, supporting soil on which a +well-earned harvest waves in early summer, amid rows of mulberries and +olives and straggling vines. Industry has here triumphed over apparent +impossibilities, having converted naked rocky declivities into a +paradise. In Palestine we have passed through vast plains of the richest +soil all waste and desolate--here we see the mountain's rugged side +clothed with soil not its own, and watered by a thousand rills led +captive from fountains far away. Every spot on which a handful of soil +can rest, every cranny to which a vine can cling, every ledge on which a +mulberry can stand, is occupied. The people too, now nearly all +Christians, have a thrifty well-to-do look, and the children, thanks to +the energy of the American missionaries, are well taught." + +This was in 1857, and the description corresponds to what I witnessed in +1853; but, alas! how great a change ensued in 1860. I must refrain, +however, from enlarging upon the melancholy tragedy that occurred there +during the insurrection of that memorable year. + +First we went to Beteddeen, and witnessed the sad spectacle of the Ameer +Besheer's luxurious palace in a process of daily destruction by the +Turkish soldiery, who occupied it as a barrack. Accounts had been read +by me in Europe {405} of its size and costliness, but the description had +not exceeded the reality. + +The officer in command gave us permission to be guided over the palatial +courts and chambers. We wandered through the Hhareem-rooms, and saw +baths of marble and gilding, sculptured inscriptions in the passages, +coloured mosaics in profusion on the floors, painted roofs, rich columns, +brass gates, carved doors, marble fountains, and basins with gold fish. +We entered the state reception room, and the old ameer's little business +divan, in a balcony commanding a view of the approaches in every +direction, of the meidan for equestrian practice, of the inner courts, of +the gardens below, and of a cascade of water rolling over lofty cliffs, +at the exact distance whence the sound came gently soothing the ear, and +from that spot also was obtained a distant view of the Mediterranean; not +omitting the advantage of witnessing every important movement that could +be made in the streets of Dair el Kamar, across the deep valley. + +Beteddeen had been a truly princely establishment, but now adds one more +lesson to the many others of instability in human greatness. Fourteen +years before, it was all in its glory--the courts were thronged with +Druse and Maronite chiefs arrayed in cloth of gold, with soldiers, with +secretaries, with flatterers and suppliants; whereas now, before our +eyes, the dirty canaille of Turkish soldiers were tearing up marble +squares of pavement to chuck about for sport, doors were plucked down and +burned, even the lightning-rods were demolished, and every species of +devastation practised for passing away their idle time. + +I shall not here describe the political movements that led to this great +reverse of fortune, or to the present condition of the family of Shehab. + +The mountains around were still in careful cultivation, chiefly with the +vine and olive; and the aqueduct still brings water from the springs of +Suffar at several miles' distance, and this it is which, after supplying +the palace, forms the cascade above described, and afterwards turns two +mills. + +At short distances are smaller palaces, erected also by this powerful +ameer for his mother and his married sons; but the same fate has +overtaken them all--Turkish devastation. + +Before leaving the place, I visited the tomb of the ameer's mother and +that of his principal wife, who was a Christian; they are near the house, +and surrounded by five cypresses. + +Took the road towards Mokhtarah, the seat of the rival chief, the Druse +Jonblat. For some distance after Beteddeen the roads have been carefully +constructed, over an unusually level plateau for the Lebanon; but an +enormous ridge of mountain stands conspicuous in the N.-E. This is the +highest part of the Shoof, near the sources of the river _Barook_, so +named from being the first place where the Arab camels _knelt_ on +arriving in the Lebanon in A.D. 821. The sad spectacle of villages and +good farm-houses desolate and blackened by fire, frequently met the view; +for this open tract, called the _Sumkaniyeh_, has frequently been a scene +of conflict between the leading factions; it was especially the ground of +the considerable battle of the Ameer Besheer and the Jonblatiyeh in 1825. +At length, from the commencement of a descent, we saw Mokhtarah upon an +opposite hill, commanding the view of our approach--a great advantage in +times of warfare. Our road lay downwards by odd turns and twists, and +over a precipice to the river Barook, with its romantic banks and +fruit-trees peering between overhanging rocks. + +On our arrival, the great man, Said Bek Jonblat, {408} came out with a +train of 'Akal councillors and a crowd of humbler retainers. He was a +handsome man of about twenty-eight, and richly apparelled. Beneath a +large abai or cloak of black Cashmere, with Indian patterns embroidered +about the collar and skirts, he wore a long gombaz of very dark green +silk embossed with tambour work; his sash was of the plainest purple +silk, and his sidriyeh or vest was of entire cloth of gold with gold +filigree buttons: on the head a plain tarboosh, and in his hand sometimes +a cane ornamented with ivory or a rosary of sandal-wood. His gold watch +and chain were in the best European taste. + +I need not here expatiate on the sumptuous reception afforded us; it may +be enough to say, that having some hours to spare before sunset--the +universal time for dinner in the East--we walked about, and the Bek +shewed me the yet unrepaired damages, inflicted in his father's time, at +the hands of the victorious Ameer Besheer's faction, on that palace and +paradise which his father Besheer had created there, thus teaching the +Shehab Ameer how to build its rival of Beteddeen,--and the limpid stream +brought from the high sources of the Barook to supply cascades and +fountains for the marble courts, which the other also imitated in +bringing down the Suffar to his place. We sat beside those streams and +cascades, so grateful at that season of the year, conversing about the +Arab factions of Kaisi and Yemeni, or the Jonblat and Yesbeck parties of +the Druses, or his own early years spent in exile either in the Hauran or +with Mohammed 'Ali in Egypt,--but not a word about actual circumstances +of the Lebanon, or about his plans for restoring the palace to more than +its former splendour, which he afterwards carried out. This was all very +agreeable, but a curious fit of policy assumed at the time rendered my +host to some degree apparently inhospitable to us Christians. + +It is well known that the Druse religion allows its votaries to profess +outwardly the forms of any other religion according to place and +circumstances. The Bek was now adopting Moslem observances; +consequently, it being the month of Ramadan, we could have nothing to eat +till after sunset. What could have been his reason for this temporary +disguisement I have never been able to discover. Even the adan was cried +on the roof of his house, summoning people to prayer in the canonical +formula of the Moslems, and Said Bek, with his councillors, retired to a +shed for devotional exercises, as their prayers may be appropriately +termed; and I remarked that at every rising attitude he was lifted +reverently by the hands and elbows, by his attendants,--an assistance +which no true Mohammedan of any rank, that I had ever met with, would +have tolerated. + +At length the sunlight ceased to gild the lofty peaks above us, and +pipes, sherbet, and ice were served up as a preparation for the coming +dinner. + +There is in front of the house a square reservoir of water, with a +current flowing in and out of it; this is bordered by large +cypress-trees, and in a corner near the house wall grows a large +acacia-tree, the light-green colour and drooping foliage of which gave +somewhat of an Indian appearance to the scene. + +Lamps were then lit beneath an arcade, and near the water a huge cresset +was filled with resinous pine splinters, and the light of its burning +flickered fantastically over the pool, the house, and the trees. + +Next came the dinner, late for the appetites of us travellers, and +tedious in its duration--with music outside the open windows. + +After the meal the Bek withdrew to the corner of his divan for +transaction of business with his people, as the Moslems do at that +season. His part of the affairs consisted in endorsing a word or two +upon the petitions or addresses that were produced by the +secretaries--these were written on small rolls of paper like tiny +cigarettes, pinched at one end. How very un-European to carry on +business in so few words, either written or spoken! + +Said Bek was a man of few words in such transactions, but what he did say +seemed always to hit exactly the point intended; and the wave of his +finger was sufficient to summon a number of men to receive his commands. +He was evidently a person of a different stamp from the coarse leaders of +Lebanon factions, the Abu Neked, the Shibli el 'Arian, and such like; he +is proud of his family antiquity, refined in dress and manners, and has +always, like the rest of the Druses, courted the favour of the English +nation. + +On the entrance of his son, named Nejib, probably four or five years old, +all the Akal councillors and military officers rose to receive him. + +In the morning we took our departure, when Said Bek accompanied us as far +as the Meidan, and a profusion of Druse compliments filled up the +leave-taking. + +We now passed for some hours along the river side, through the utmost +loveliness of Lebanon scenery. Among other trees that lined its banks, +or adorned the precipitous cliffs, or followed the rising and falling +road, were noble specimens of platanus (plane) and lofty zanzalacht, (the +peepul of India;) crystal rills tumbled down the rocks, as if sparkling +alive with enjoyment; then the usual poplar, walnut, evergreen oak, and a +large plantation of olive: the river sometimes smiled with the fringe of +oleander. We halted for a time under a wide-branching platanus at the +end of a bridge, between the masonry of which grew bunches of the caper +plant, then in blossom of white and lilac, and at the piers of which grew +straggling blackberry brambles and wild fig-trees in picturesque +irregularity, while the water bubbled and gurgled over a pebbly bed or +fragments of rock. + +Peasantry passed us with ass-loads of wood for fuel, (camels being +unknown in that region.) The same features continually repeated +themselves as we advanced; large broken cliffs were overhanging us, and +birds singing in the solitude; it need not be added that the sun was +cloudless the whole day long. + +Forward we went to the Convent of the Dair el Mokhallis, which we reached +in four hours and a half from Mokhtarah, where we rested a few hours; +then visited once more the house of Lady Hester Stanhope. + +Thence descending to the sea beach, we crossed the river Awali, and +looked back with regret to the heights of Lebanon. Just as the last gun +of Ramadan was fired, (for it was the termination of that fast and the +commencement of Beiram,) we galloped our horses into the sea-wave near +the walls of Sidon, which they enjoyed as refreshing to their heated +fetlocks, and we found a luxury in the breeze and in the rustling sound +of the endless roll of wavelets upon the shelly beach. + +How different were the temperature and the scenery from those of +Mokhtarah in the early morning! + + * * * * * + +Even now in the nineteenth century one can understand how it was that in +ancient Bible times the peoples inhabiting those romantic districts were +distinct from each other within a small space, having separate kings and +alien interests, for here in the lapse of few hours I had traversed +regions where the inhabitants differed greatly in religion, in manners, +customs, dress, and physical aspect. The Maronite and the Druse of +Lebanon; the Syrian and the Turk of Bayroot, Saida, and Soor; the +Metawali of the Phoenician district, no more resemble each other than if +they were men or women of different nations, as indeed they are by +derivation; each of these is but a fragment of antiquity, representing to +us his several ancient race; yet all these fragments are united for the +present by the slenderest of bonds, those of using one common language, +the Arabic, and of an unwilling subjection to the Ottoman scymitar. + +Alas! for the beautiful country thus parcelled out by peoples, who, +cherishing ancient rivalries and modern blood-feuds, have, and can have +no national life, or sentiment of patriotism. + + + + +XIII. NORTH-WEST OF THE DEAD SEA. + + +In December 1856, I met, by appointment, at Jericho the Rev. A. A. +Isaacs, and my friend James Graham, who were going with photographic +apparatus to take views at the site called Wadi Gumran, near 'Ain +Feshkah, where a few years before M. de Saulcy, under the guidance of an +ardent imagination, believed he had found extensive and cyclopean remains +of the city Gomorrah, and had published an account of that interesting +discovery. + +It was on Christmas eve that we rose early by starlight, and had our cups +of coffee in the open air, beside the _Kala'at er Reehha_, (Castle of +Jericho,) while the tents were being struck and rolled up for returning +to Jerusalem, where we were to meet them at night. + +Only the artistic apparatus and a small canteen were to accompany us; but +the muleteer for these was even more dilatory in his preparations than is +usual with his professional brethren--and that is saying much; no doubt +he entertained a dread of visiting the Dead Sea at points out of the +beaten track for travellers; considerable time was also occupied in +getting a stone out of the mule's shoe; then just as that was +triumphantly effected, my mare happened to bolt off free into the +wilderness; when she was recovered, it was ascertained that my cloak was +lost from her back; during the search for this, the guide abandoned us, +and it was with much difficulty that we hired one from Jericho. + +At length we commenced the march, leaving the kawwas to look for the +cloak, (which, however, he did not succeed in recovering; it would be a +prize for the thieves of the village, or even, if it should fall in their +way, for one of the Bashi-bozuk,) and got to _'Ain Feshkah_, much in need +of a real breakfast. There the water was found to be too brackish for +use--as unpalatable, probably, as the water of 'Ain es Sultan was before +being healed by the prophet Elisha; so we drank native wine instead of +coffee, while seated among tall reeds of the marshy ground, and not +pleased with the mephitic odour all around us. + +Our photographers having ascertained the site for their researches by +means of the guide, and by the indications furnished in the work of De +Saulcy; they set themselves to work, during which they were frequently +uttering ejaculations at the exaggerations of size and quantity made by +my French friend. The cyclopean ruins seemed to us nothing but remnants +of water-courses for irrigation of plantations, such as may be seen in +the neighbourhood of Elisha's fountain, or heaps of boulders, etc., that +had been rolled down from the adjacent cliffs by natural causes during a +succession of ages. + +Mr Isaacs has since published a book descriptive of this expedition, +containing illustrations from his photographs taken on the spot. In this +he has given the reasons for our differing from M. de Saulcy, and +considering his theories unfounded. + +At the end of a strip of beach, which the discoverer calls "the plain," +the cliffs have a narrow crevasse, down which water rushes in the season +when there is water to form a cascade. This is difficult to reach from +"the plain," and very narrow; and it is what our Arabs called the Wadi +Gumran. In front of this opening is a hill with some ruins upon it; +thither we mounted easily, and saw vestiges of some ancient fort with a +cistern. + +When all the observations were taken upon points considered necessary, we +prepared to return home by way of Mar Saba, hardly expecting to arrive by +daylight at Jerusalem. We were, however, desirous of spending Christmas +day there rather than in the bleak wilderness. + +On the way we fortunately got some camel's milk from a party passing near +us. The weather was hot, but exceedingly clear. The Salt mountain of +Sodom, (Khash'm Usdum,) showed itself well at the southern extremity of +the lake, thirty miles distant; and from a raised level near its northern +end we gained superb views of Mount Hermon (Jebel esh Shaikh) in the +Anti-Lebanon, capped with snow. This was entirely unexpected and +gratifying; but I could nowhere find a spot from which both Hermon and +Sodom could be seen at once. Perhaps such a view may be had somewhere on +the hills. + +We turned aside through the _Wadi Dubber_, as the guide termed it, within +a circuitous winding, out of which, at a spot called 'Ain Merubba', I had +passed a night in the open air some years before. + +Long, dreary, and tiresome was the journey; the two Bashi-bozuk men +complained of it as much as we did. At sunset we came to a well with +some water left in troughs near it, but not enough for all our horses, +and we had no means of getting more out of the well. This was in a wide, +treeless, trackless wilderness. + +No one of our party felt quite sure of being on the true road, but we +followed slight tracks in the general direction in which the convent lay; +we guessed and went on. Occasionally we got sight of the summit of the +Frank mountain or lost it again, according to the rise or fall of the +ground. Conversation flagged; but at length we struck up a Christmas +hymn to enliven us. + +In the valley of Mar Saba we saw lights in the convent, but passed on. +Saw an Arab encampment, with fire and lights glimmering, where the dogs +came out to bark at us; another such in half an hour more; and a larger +camp in another half-hour, where men were discussing matters with much +vociferation in a cavern by a blazing fire; a scout called out, inquiring +if we were friends or foes? + +The night grew very cold, and I should have been glad had my cloak not +been lost near Jericho. The temperature differed greatly from that of +the Dead Sea--a keen wind was in keeping with the end of December. The +stars were most brilliant: Venus richly lustrous; Sirius, dazzling; and +the huge Orion showing to best advantage. The road was alternately rough +in the valley, or over slippery ledges. At length, however, we got +cheered by coming to known objects. Passed Beer Eyoob, (En Rogel,) and +saw the battlemented walls of the Holy City sharply marked against the +sky. + +The key had been left by the authorities at the city gate, to allow of +our admission; but the rusty lock required a long time for turning it, +and the heavy hinges of the large gate moved very slowly, at least so it +seemed in our impatience to reach home. + + * * * * * + +It is said above that I once spent a night at the 'Ain Merubba'--this was +on the occasion of an attempt, which ended in failure, to reach 'Ain Jidi +(En-gaddi) from the 'Ain Feshkah in the common way of travelling. {419} + +Hhamdan, Shaikh of the Ta'amra, with about a dozen of his men, escorted +me and one kawwas in that direction. Instead of proceeding to Jericho or +Elisha's fountain, we turned aside into the wildest of wildernesses for +passing the night. Traversing the length of an extremely narrow ridge, +something like the back of a knife, we descended to a great depth below; +but the risk being judged too great for conveying the tent and bed over +there by the mule, these were left spread upon the ground for the night +under the canopy of heaven; while the men carried our food for us to make +the evening meal. Crawling or sliding, and leading the horses gently, we +got to the bottom, and then followed up a very narrow glen, winding in +and out, and round about between extraordinary precipices rising to +enormous heights, till all at once the men halted, shouted, and sang, and +stripped themselves to bathe in small pools formed in holes of the rock +by settlements of rain-water. + +This was our halting-place, but the scene beggars all power of +description. We were shut into a contracted glen by a maze of tortuous +windings, between mountains of yellow marl on either side; but broken, +rugged, naked of all vegetation,--referring one's imagination to the +period when the earth was yet "without form and void," or to the +subsiding of the deluge from which Noah was delivered. + +Looking upwards to a great height we could just see the tops of the +imprisoning hills gilded awhile by the setting sun, and a small space of +blue making up the interval between the precipices. Those precipices +were not, however, entirely yellow, but variegated with occasional red or +somewhat of brown ochre. So fantastic in position or shape were the +masses hurled or piled about, and the place so utterly removed "from +humanity's reach," that it might be imagined suitable to mould the genius +of Martin into the most extravagant conceptions of chaos, or to suggest +the colouring of Turner without his indistinctness of outline. + +The echoes of the men's voices and bursts of laughter (the latter so +uncommon among Arabs) when splashing in the water, were reverberated from +hill to hill and back again; but there were no wild birds among the rocks +to scream in rejoinder as at Petra. + +After a time a voice was heard from above, very high, (it is wonderful +how far the human voice is carried in that pure atmosphere and in such a +locality,) and on looking up I saw a dark speck against the sky waving +his arms about. It was one of the Ta'amra asking if he should bring down +my mattress. Consent was given, and, behold, down came tumbling from +rock to rock the mattress and blanket tied up into a parcel; when +approaching near us, it was taken up by the man who followed it, and +carried on his back; and when still nearer to us it was carefully borne +between two men. Thus I enjoyed the distinction above all the rest of +having a mattress to lie upon; the shaikh had a couple of cloaks, the +kawwas had one, and the others were utterly without such luxurious +accessories, and slept profoundly. + +Our people called the place _'Ain Merubba'_, (the square fountain.) I +saw no fountain of any form, but there must have been one, for we had a +supply of good water, and the designation "'Ain," or fountain, is one of +too serious importance to be employed for any but its literal +signification. + +Very early in the morning we started afresh, and took the beach of the +lake towards 'Ain Feshkah. + +A great part of the day was spent in clambering our ponies over broken +rocks of a succession of promontories, one following another, where it +seemed that no creatures but goats could make way; the Arabs protesting +all the while that the attempt was hopeless, and besides, that the +distance even over better ground was too great for one day's march. + +At length I relinquished the undertaking to reach 'Ain Jidi by that way, +and for that year had no leisure from business to try it from other +directions. + +Hhamdan and I sat on a rock in his free open air dominion, discussing +possibilities, and what 'Ain Jidi was like, as well as the "Ladder of +Terabeh," (see p. 334.) At length we rose and turned towards Jerusalem. +I am not sure that I ever saw him again, for not long afterwards he was +drowned in the Jordan while attempting to swim his horse through the +stream at its highest, after assisting in a battle on the side of the +Deab 'Adwan. + + + + +XIV. SOBA. + + +On the crest of a high hill two or three hours west from Jerusalem, +stands the village of Soba, and it has long been imagined to be Modin, +the birth-place and burial-place of the Maccabaean heroes; though I never +heard any reason assigned for that identification, except the +circumstance of the sea being visible from it, and therefore of its being +visible from the sea, which was supposed to tally with the description +given in 1 Macc. xiii., 27-30, of the monuments erected there,--"Simon +also built a monument upon the sepulchre of his father and his brethren, +and raised it aloft to the sight, with hewn stone behind and before. +Moreover, he set up seven pyramids, one against another, for his father, +and his mother, and his four brethren. And in these he made cunning +devices, about the which he set great pillars, and upon the pillars he +made all their armour for a perpetual memory; and by the armour ships +carved, that they might be seen of all that sail on the sea. This is the +sepulchre which he made at Modin, and it standeth yet unto this day." + +I never was persuaded that the words implied that ships carved on pillars +at Soba, could be distinguished from the sea, or even that the columns +themselves were visible from ships off the coast; but only this, that the +deliverers of their country from the intolerable yoke of the Syrians, +having opened up communication with the Grecians and Romans, marine +intercourse had become more frequent than before, a matter that the +Maccabaean family were proud of; and therefore they had ships carved on +the pillars, as might be observed by seafaring people who might go there; +yet, whatever the words might signify, they could not prove that Modin +was so far inland, and among the hills, as Soba. + +However, in 1858, I went with my son and a couple of friends to inspect +the place itself, considering it at least worth while to make one's own +observations on the spot. + +We passed through _'Ain Carem_, the _Karem_ of the Septuagint, to +_Sattaf_, and rested during the heat of the day in a vineyard, near a +spring of water and plots of garden vegetables, belonging to the few +houses that had been rebuilt after several years of devastation by +village warfare. + +The approach to the place from any direction is through the very rough +torrent bed of the Wadi Bait Hhaneena, and along very narrow ledges upon +the sides of steep hills, quite as perilous as any that are used for +travelling in any part of the Lebanon; too dangerous to admit of +dismounting and leading the horse after the risk has once begun, by far +the safest method of advancing is to hold the reins very loose, and if +you wish it, to shut your eyes. + +Opposite to Sattaf, directly across the valley, the Latins had lately +rebuilt a small chapel of former times, said to have been the prison of +John the Baptist; they name it the Chapel of the _Hhabees_, _i.e._, the +imprisoned one. + +Leaving Sattaf we gradually ascended to Soba; at first through lemon and +orange plantations near the water, and then through vineyards with a few +pomegranate-trees interspersed. + +It is noteworthy how, throughout most of the tribe of Judah, small +springs of water are found dribbling from the rocks, (besides the larger +sources of Urtas, Lifta, Faghoor 'Aroob, Dirweh, and Hebron,) which were +doubtless more copious in the ancient times, when the land was more +clothed with timber, and there were men, industrious men, aware of their +blessings, and ready to prevent the streams from slipping away beneath +the seams of limestone formation. + +At Soba we mounted the steep hill to the _Shooneh_, or small look-out +tower at the summit, enjoying the breadth of landscape and the stretch of +the Mediterranean before our eyes. + +In the village we found remains of old masonry, most likely the basement +of a fortification of early Saracenic or the Crusaders' era; besides +which there was a piece of wall in excellent condition of the best +character of Jewish rabbeted stones. + +One man invited us to see some old stones inside of his house; but they +formed a portion of the basement above-mentioned, against which the rest +of his house was built. The people were unanimous in declaring that +there was nothing else of such a nature in the village. So that our +researches issued in no corroboration of Soba being Modin. + +Leaving the place we descended to the high road of Jaffa to Jerusalem, +and saw a number of olive-trees dead of age; none of us, however long +resident in Palestine, had seen such before or elsewhere; we concluded +them to have been withered by age from their bearing no visible tokens of +destruction, while the ground was well ploughed around them, and from +finding others near them in progressive stages of decay, down to the +utter extinction of foliage. + +Arrived at _Kaloneh_ upon the highway, certainly the site of a Roman +garrison or "colonia," (see Acts xvi. 12,) leaving Kustul behind, which +is also a derivation from the Latin word for a castle. + +Near the bridge of Kaloneh, where there are good specimens of ancient +rabbeted stones, one gets a glimpse of 'Ain Carem through the olive +plantation; and the return that day was by a cross way from _Dair Yaseen_ +through vineyards to Jerusalem. + + * * * * * + +It is only at a comparatively late period that attention has been +directed to the text of Eusebius and Jerome in the "Onomasticon," where +it is distinctly said that Modin was near Lydd, and that the monuments +were at that time (in the fourth century) still shown there. + +Porter considers that therefore _Latroon_ is the true site of Modin: in +this supposition I wish to concur; for the general run of the Maccabaean +history becomes peculiarly intelligible when read with the idea in the +mind that Modin lay in just such a situation, namely, upon a hill, rising +alone from the great plain, but adjacent to the mountain ridge, and to +defiles into which the insurgents might easily retire, or from which they +might issue suddenly and surprise regular armies in their camp. I know +of no place so suitable for such operations as Latroon. + +The word [Greek text], used for the armour and the ships, must mean +"carved in relievo," and such objects could never be distinguished by +persons actually passing upon the sea, if placed either at Soba, Latroon, +Lydd, or even Jaffa; it is difficult enough to imagine that the pyramids +and columns were visible from the sea at Latroon. + + + + +XV. THE TWO BAIT SAHHOORS IDENTIFIED WITH BETHSURA AND BATH ZACHARIAS. + + +There are two villages in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem bearing the name +of Bait Sahhoor. One lies near to the city, beyond En-Rogel, a little +way down the valley of the Kedron; the other is farther off, close under +Bethlehem. By way of distinction, the former is called "Bait Sahhoor of +the Wadi," and the latter, "Bait Sahhoor of the Christians." I think +that it can be shown that these places, though now fallen from their high +estate, once played their part in important events,--that Bait Sahhoor of +the Wadi is identical with Bethsura,--and that Bait Sahhoor of the +Christians is identical with Bath Zacharias--both of Maccabaean history. + +In the year 150 of the Seleucidan era, being the fifth year of the +liberty of Zion, (the term used upon the Maccabaean coins,) a vast army +of Syrians invaded Palestine from Antioch, headed by King Antiochus +Eupator, in the twelfth year of his age, and under the official command +of Lysias, one of his relatives. The army consisted of both subjects and +hired aliens, even from the islands of the sea. They numbered "a hundred +thousand infantry, and twenty thousand cavalry, with thirty-two elephants +exercised in battle," (I Macc. vi. 30.) + +The object of the expedition was to crush the Maccabaean insurrection, +and wipe out the disgrace of defeats already sustained. The first +attempt was to be the relief of the garrison at Jerusalem, which was at +this time beleaguered by Judas from the temple part of the city. + +"The army was very great and mighty," (ver. 41.) "When the sun shone +upon the shields of gold and brass, the mountains glistered therewith, +and shined like lamps of fire," (ver. 39.) Each of the thirty-two +elephants was attended by "a thousand men armed with coats of mail, and +with helmets of brass on their heads; and besides this, for every beast +was ordained five hundred horsemen of the best--these were ready at every +occasion: wheresoever the beast was, and whithersoever the beast went +they went also, neither departed they from him; and upon the beasts were +there strong towers of wood, which covered every one of them, and were +girt fast unto them with devices; there were upon every one thirty-two +strong men that fought upon them, beside the Indian that ruled him," +(ver. 35, etc.) + +This strange host marched along the Philistine plain southwards to +Idumea, which is on the south of Hebron: this being the only way for such +an army and its elephants to get at Jerusalem. Thence they swept the +land before them northwards, "and pitched against Bethsura, which they +assaulted many days, making engines of war, but they of the city came out +and fought valiantly," (ver. 31.) + +Whereupon Judas desisted from his siege of the citadel--which, I may +remark in passing, must have been on Acra, not like David's citadel taken +from the Jebusites, on Zion--and hastened to attack the royal host, +mighty though it was. + +Some have supposed that Bethsura is to be found at Bait Zur, near Hebron, +the Beth Zur of Josh. xv. 33; whereas this place is more than a hundred +furlongs from Jerusalem, being not much more than an hour (north) from +Hebron, and is altogether too far removed to answer the description of +Bethsura, and the operations carried on there, close to the Holy City. + +The 5th verse of the 11th chapter of 2 Maccabees sets the whole question +at rest; the words are distinctly, "So he (Lysias) came to Judea and drew +near to Bethsura, which was a strong town, but distant from Jerusalem +_about five furlongs_, and he laid sore siege unto it." Again, +immediately after taking the city of Jerusalem and dedicating the temple, +Judas "fortified Bethsura in order to preserve it," (that is, Mount +Zion,) that the people might have a defence against Idumea, (I Macc. iv. +61.) And the accusation which had been formerly made to the King +Antiochus Epiphanes in Persia against Judas and his men was "that they +had compassed about the sanctuary with high walls as before, and his city +Bethsura;" also to the present king at Antioch, "that the sanctuary also +and Bethsura have they fortified," (chap. vi. 7, 26.) It is clear that +one was an outwork of the other, Bethsura being the defence of Jerusalem +against incursions from the south. + +I know not how to doubt that Bait Sahhoor of the valley is the very +place. It lies upon a lofty hill across the valley not far beyond +En-Rogel. This is at present a wretched village, only inhabited for a +few weeks in the year; but the position is naturally one of great +strength. The distance from the city answers precisely the requirements +of the history,--a signal by trumpet, if not the human voice, could be +heard from one garrison to the other. I have ridden repeatedly to the +spot and examined the ground. The south-eastern angle of the temple wall +at Jerusalem (where the great stones are found) is distinctly visible +from the houses. I sat there upon my horse and remarked how unassailable +by cavalry and elephants this site must have been, and how great its +value for a military outwork to the sanctuary of the temple. The +pediment and moulding of a column lay at my feet,--around and opposite +across the valley were numerous sepulchres hewn in the solid rock; yet +the infantry of the Syrians were sufficient to overwhelm the gallant +defenders. Judas in this emergency resolved to come to their relief, +raising the siege of the citadel and outflanking the enemy. For this +purpose he "pitched at Bath Zacharias over against the king's camp," +(ver. 32.) This was seventy stadia, or nearly nine Roman, or eight and a +half English miles distant from Bethsura, (Josephus' Antiq. xii. 9, 4.) +I believe Bath Zacharias to be the village which now bears the name of +"Bait Sahhoor of the Christians," close to Bethlehem. {432} I have +ridden over the space between the two villages called Bait Sahhoor; the +distance upon a well marked and rather winding road, answers well to the +description of the historian. The stratagem of Judas becomes here very +intelligible, which was to take the invaders in the rear, and placing +them between two hostile Jewish forces, to draw away the main attack from +Bethsura and Jerusalem; besides cutting off any assistance from the +south. Antiochus did face round in order to attack him, and was met in +narrow straits between the two localities. This I take to be the broken +ground south-east of Mar Elias, where certainly it would be just as +impossible now for two elephants to go abreast as it was when Josephus +wrote his lively description of the engagement that ensued; of the shouts +of the men echoing among the mountains, and the glitter of the rising sun +upon the polished accoutrements. It was summer, for they excited the +elephants with the blood of the grape and the mulberry. The road is to +this day defined by true tokens of antiquity, such as lines of stones +covered with hoary lichen, old cisterns, especially a noble one called +the _Beer el Kott_, with here and there steps cut in the shelves of solid +rock. The last part of the road on the south is among slippery, rocky, +narrow defiles and paths, half-way down the hill-sides. + +Here six hundred of the Syrian army were cut off and Eleazar, the heroic +brother of Judas, was crushed under an elephant which he had killed. Yet +the fortune of the day was not decisive in favour of the Maccabaean army, +which retired and entrenched itself within the temple fortress. + +The outlying post of Bethsura was obliged to capitulate. + +Philological grounds for the above identification are not wanting. +Bethsura and Bath Zacharias may have easily represented the Arabic or +Hebrew form of Bait Sahhoor. The guttural letter in the middle naturally +disappears in the Greek text, just as the Greek word "Assidean" +represents the Hebrew Chasidim in the same history. + +The following is a simple demonstration of the transition:-- + +[Picture: Transition from Hebrew via Greek to Arabic] + +It may be asked, why did neither Josephus nor the author of the Books of +Maccabees tell us that Beth Zachariah was near Bethlehem? I answer: +first, the narrative did not make this necessary; secondly, Bethlehem was +then "among the least of the thousands of Judah," her great day had not +yet arrived; and thus it might have been quite as necessary to say that +Bethlehem was near Beth Zachariah, as to say that Beth Zachariah was near +Bethlehem. + +The modern name "Bait Sahhoor of the Christians" arises most likely from +the fact that a majority of the inhabitants,--thirty families to twenty +in the year 1851,--were of that religion, and from its nearness to the +field where it is believed the angels appeared to the shepherds +announcing the birth of Christ, with its subterranean chapel, the crypt +of a large church in former times. + +The other Bait Sahhoor (El Wadiyeh) is so named from its position on the +side of the Wadi in Nar, or valley of the Kedron. It is only +occasionally inhabited, the people who claim it being too few to clear +out the encumbered cisterns for their use, but prefer to identify +themselves during most of the year with other villages, such as Siloam +near at hand, where water is more abundant. + + + + +XVI. THE BAKOOSH COTTAGE. + + +At about seven miles from Jerusalem lie the Pools of Solomon, commonly +called the "Burak," upon the road to Hebron, which passes by the head of +the westernmost of them, on the left hand of the traveller to that city; +while immediately on the right hand, stands a hill with some cultivation +of vineyards and fig-trees, with a few olive-trees; apparently half-way +up that hill is a stone cottage, roughly but well built. It is of that +cottage and its grounds that I am about to speak, for there I resided +with my family for some weeks in 1860, and through the summer of 1862. + +There is no village close at hand, the nearest one being _El Khud'r_, (or +St George, so named from a small Greek convent in its midst,) which, +however, is only visible from the highway for a few minutes at a +particular bend of the road before reaching the Pools; the next nearest, +but in the opposite or eastern direction, is Urtas, with its profitable +cultivation, nestled in a well-watered valley. + +After these, in other directions again, are _Bait Jala_, near Rachel's +sepulchre, and Bethlehem, the sacred town whose name is echoed wherever +Christ is mentioned throughout the whole world, and will continue to do +so till the consummation of all things,--"there is no speech or language +where its name is not heard." + +Adjoining the Pools is the shell of a dilapidated khan, of old Saracenic +period, the outer enclosure alone being now entire. Two or three +Bashi-bozuk soldiers used to be stationed there, living in wretched +hovels inside the enclosure, made of fallen building stones, put together +with mud. On account of this being a government post, the peasantry of +the country, ignorant of all the world but themselves, denominate this +old square wall, "The Castle," and that name is repeated by dragomans to +their European employers. + +These were our nearest neighbours. + +Close to the khan-gate and to the Pools is a perennial spring of +excellent water, which, of course, is of great value, and considering how +several roads meet at that point, and what a diversity of character there +is continually passing or halting there, it would seem to form the +perfection of an opening scene to some romantic tale. + +Thus the Hebron highway lay between the Pools, with the khan on one side, +and the Bakoosh hill on the other, and no person or quadruped could pass +along it unobserved from our window. + +From the cottage, the more extended prospect comprised the stony, +treeless hills in every direction, the Pools forming the head of the +valley leading to Urtas, and the outskirt beginning of green cultivation +there; then the streets and houses of Bethlehem; also the Frank mountain; +and at the back of all the Moab range of mountains. + + [Picture: Ancient Sepulchre on the Bakoosh] + +Within the wall enclosing the property of the cottage, with its fruit +trees already mentioned, there is one of the little round towers such as +are commonly seen about Bethlehem for summer residence of the cultivator +and his family during the season of fruit ripening, and which are meant +by the Biblical term of a tower built in the midst of a vineyard, (see +Matthew xxi. 33, and Isaiah v. 2.) It is remarkable how perfectly +circular these are always built, though so small in size. We had also a +receptacle for beehives, and an ancient sepulchre. + +The hill rises very steeply, but being as usual formed into ledges or +terraces, upon one of these, in a corner near the wall, the stable was +constructed of a small tent, near a big tree, within the shadow of which, +and of a bank, the horses were picketed. + +Upon the other ledges were arranged the tents for sleeping in at night, +and alongside of the cottage a kitchen was made of a wall and a roof made +of branches of trees brought from a distance. + +Such was our abode in the pure mountain breezes, with unclouded sunshine, +and plenty of good spring water within reach. + +Inside the stone walls of the house we stayed during the heat of the day; +the children learned their lessons there, and I transacted business in +writing, when my presence in Jerusalem was not absolutely required by +those carrying on the current daily affairs; indeed the reason for +resorting to this place was the necessity for obtaining recruitment of +health, after a serious illness brought on by arduous labour. Had not +unforeseen anxieties come upon us, no lot on earth could have been more +perfectly delicious in the quality of enjoyment, both for body and +spirit, than that sojourn upon the wild hill; among ourselves were +innocence and union, consequently peace; time was profitably spent; and +our recreations were, practice in the tonic sol-fa singing lessons, with +sketching and rambling on foot or on horseback over the breezy heights of +Judah. + +And whether by evening twilight, or at the rising of the sun out of the +Moab mountains, or earlier still, by summer morning starlight, when +Sirius and Canopus (the latter unseen in England) vied with each other in +sparkling their varied colours to praise their Maker in the firmament, +His handiwork; those rambles were sources of delight that cannot be +expressed in human language; they were, however, not novelties after so +many years' residence in that Asiatic climate, but had become wrought +into our very existence. + +Our Sabbaths were happy and conscientiously observed; we kept up the +services of the Church of England as far as practicable, and sometimes +had a visitor to join us in the same, not omitting the hymn singing. + +The two domestic servants were of different Christian communities; for +the woman was a Latin, and would sometimes repair to her church-service +at Bethlehem, and the Abyssinian lad might be heard morning and evening, +or at night in the moonlight--such moonlight as we had there!--reading +the Gospels and Psalms in his soft native language, or even singing to a +kirar (or lute) of his own making, hymns with a chorus of "Alleluia, +Amen." + +Another of our gratifications should not be omitted, namely, the hearing +of the large church bell of the Latins in Bethlehem on certain occasions, +and always on Sunday mornings; at the moment of the sun peering over the +eastern horizon that great bell struck, and was followed by a gush of the +sweetest irregular music from smaller bells, probably belonging to the +Greeks, and then by the nakoos (plank) of the Armenians, a relic of their +primitive customs, serving for a bell, {440}--all these acting with one +consent and with one intention, that of celebrating "the Lord's day," as +the early Christians delighted to call the first day of the week. + +From our window we had the city of David and of David's Lord before us, +and over the window on the inside I had inscribed in large Arabic +inscription-characters, "O Son of David, have mercy upon us!" we had +therefore the writing and the town at the same glance of view. + +We were not without visitors: sometimes a friend or two or three would +arrive from Jerusalem--travellers along the road would mount the hill to +see us--rabbis of Hebron on the way to Jerusalem, or Jews from the +distance of Tiberias passing to Hebron, would turn aside to pay their +respects--Arab chiefs, such as Ismaeen Hhamdan of the Ta'amra--Turkish +officers, or even the Pasha himself, found the way to the cottage--also +officers of the British navy, when visiting the sacred localities from +Jaffa. Among these I would not forget the chaplain of one of our +men-of-war, who brought up ten of his best men, namely, the Bible and +temperance class under his charge, to see the venerated places, +Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the Mount of Olives. On one occasion we had a +surveying party with their instruments from H.M.S. _Firefly_, who passed +some nights with us. + +On the higher boundary the land was still in its natural condition of +stones, fossil shells, and green shrubs with fragrant herbs. There might +be seen occasionally starting up before the intruding wanderer, +partridges, hares, quails, the wild pigeon, the fox, or even + + "The wild gazelle on Judah's hills + Exultingly would bound," + +and escape also, for I carried no gun with me. + +Mounting still higher we came upon the _Dahar-es-Salahh_, a mountain +whence the prospect of all Philistia and the coast from almost Gaza to +Carmel expands like a map--no, rather like a thing of still life before +the eye, with the two seas, namely, the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, +visible at once, with likewise the mountains of Samaria and Gerizim, +besides the Moab country eastward, and Jerusalem and Bethlehem nearer +home. + +Close at hand upon the mountain on which we thus stand, are vestiges of a +monastic house and chapel called "Khirbet el Kasees," (the priest's +ruins,) and even more interesting objects still, the remains of older +edifices, distinguished by ponderous rabbeted stones. + +On the mountain top is a large oval space, which has been walled round, +fragments of the enclosure are easily traceable, as also some broken +columns, gray and weather-beaten. This has every appearance of having +been one of the many sun-temples devoted to Baal by early Syrians. + +By temple I here mean a succession of open-air courts, with a central +altar for sacrifice; a mound actually exists on the highest spot of +elevation, which may well have been the site of the altar. + +What a vast prospect does this spot command, not only of landscape in +every direction, but of sky from which the false worshipper might survey +the sun's entire daily course, from its rising out of the vague remote +lands of "the children of the East," and riding in meridian splendour +over the land of Israel's God, till, slowly descending and cloudless to +the very last, it dips behind the blue waters of "the great sea!" Alas! +to think that such a spot as this should ever have been desecrated by +worship of the creature within actual sight of that holy mountain where +the divine glory appeared, more dazzling than the brightest effulgence of +the created sun. + +Sloping westwards from the _Dahar-es-Salahh_ were agreeable rides over a +wilderness of green shrubs with occasional pine and karoobah trees, and +rough rocks on the way to _Nahhaleen_ or _Bait Ezkareh_, from which we +catch a view of the valley of Shocoh, the scene of David's triumph over +Goliath, and beyond that the hill of Santa Anna at _Bait Jibreen_. The +region there is lonely and silent, with some petty half-depopulated +villages in sight, but all far away; sometimes a couple or so of peasants +may be met upon the road driving an ass loaded with charcoal or broken +old roots of the evergreen oak. Evening excursions in that direction +were not infrequent for the purpose of seeing the sun set into the sea, +from which the breeze came up so refreshingly. + +The home resources gave us among the fruit trees, goldfinches, bee-eaters +in blue or green and gold, and beccaficas, the latter for food, but so +tame that they would stay upon the branches while the gun was levelled at +them; in fact, little Alexander, returning one day with several of them +that he had shot, complained of want of sport, quoting the lines of his +namesake Selkirk in Cowper,--"Their tameness is shocking to me." + +Occasionally we got water-hens or coots that had been shot upon the Pools +of Solomon; only sometimes it was not possible to fish them out as they +fell into the water, and so became entangled among the gigantic weeds +that grow up from the bottom to the level of the surface, and among which +the men were afraid to venture their swimming. Pelicans we did not see, +although one had been previously brought from thence to Jerusalem, and +was stuffed for the Museum. Then we had water-cresses from the aqueduct, +at a place where its side was partly broken between the upper and the +second pool. Often for a treat we had water particularly light for +drinking brought from the spring of Etam, (2 Chron. xi. 6.) Figs and +grapes were furnished from the ground itself, and at the end of August +the Shaikh Jad Allah sent us a present of fresh honeycomb, according to +the custom on opening a hive at the end of summer, (in that country the +bees are never destroyed for the sake of the honey;) presents thereof are +sent round to neighbours, and of course presents of some other produce +are given in return. Palestine is still a land abounding in honey. + +Occasional incidents occurred on the plain at the foot of the hill,--such +as a long line of camels kneeling and growling upon the high road, while +their drivers were swimming during the blaze of noontide in the parts of +the large pool free from weeds; or military expeditions passing on to +Hebron during the night, and called up by bugle after resting a couple of +hours at the castle-gate; or camel-loads of pine-branches swinging in +stately procession from the southern hills beyond Hebron towards +Jerusalem, to furnish tabernacles for the Jewish festival; or an immense +party of Kerak people from beyond the Dead Sea, with their camels, asses, +mules, besides flocks, for sale, conveying butter and wheat to Jerusalem, +encamped below us and singing at their watch-fires by night. + +Large fires were sometimes visible upon the Moab mountains at the +distance of thirty or forty miles in a straight line. These may have +arisen from carelessness, or accidental circumstances, among either +standing corn or the heaps of harvest in the open air; or they may even +have been wilful conflagrations made by hostile tribes in their raids +upon each other. In any case they showed that wherever such things +occurred in ancient times, Ruth the Moabitess, when settled in Bethlehem, +might still have been reminded in that way of her native country, which +lay before her view. + +At the Bakoosh we heard the single gun-fire at sunrise or sunset while +the Pasha had his camp at Hebron; and from the highest part of our hill +could see the flash of the guns in the castle of Jerusalem when saluting +the birthday of Mohammed. + +For domestic incidents we had the children pelting each other with acorns +by moonlight; bonfires made by them and the servants on the terrace to +show us the way when returning at a late hour from Jerusalem; large +bunches of grapes from the adjoining vineyard, the _Karaweesh_, suspended +against the wall, reserved to become raisins. Then family presents upon +a birthday, all derived from the ground itself,--one person bringing a +bunch of wild thyme in purple blossom,--another some sprigs from a +terebinth tree, with the reviving odour of its gum that was exuding from +the bark,--and another a newly-caught chameleon. + +The latter was for several days afterwards indulged with a fresh bough of +a tree for his residence, changed about, one day of oak, next of +terebinth, then of sumach, or of pine, etc. + +Such was our "sweet home" and family life on the Byeways of Palestine. + +But a time came when care and anxiety told heavily upon mine and my +wife's health. For some days I was confined to bed in the tent, unable +to move up to the house; yet enjoying the reading of my chapters in +Hebrew in the land of Israel, or ruminating over the huge emphasis of St +Paul's Greek in 2 Cor. iv. 17, [Greek text]. The curtains of the tent +were thrown wide open at each side for the admission of air; the children +were playing or reading on the shady side of another tent; muleteer and +camel parties I could observe mounting or falling with the rises and dips +of the Hebron road; and the jingle of bells or the singing of the men was +audible or alternately lost according to the same circumstances. I lay +watching the progress of sunshine or shadow around the Frank mountain as +the hours rolled on; then as evening approached the Egyptian groom took +down the Egyptian mare to water at the spring, followed by the foal of +pure Saklawi race, that never till the preceding day had had even so much +as a halter put across his head,--a Bashi-bozuk soldier with his pipe +looking on,--the Abyssinian lad carrying pitchers of water to the several +tents, and the pools of bright blue becoming darker blue when rippled by +the evening air. All this was food for enjoyment of the picturesque, but +at the same time God Almighty was leading us into deep trials of faith in +Himself, and bringing out the value of that promise,--"When thou passest +through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they +shall not overflow thee." + +As the autumn advanced, some slight sprinkling of rain fell--dews at +night were heavy--mists rose from below--mornings and evenings became +cooled--new flowers began to appear, such as the purple crocus, and +certain yellow blossoms belonging to the season, the name of which I do +not know. We therefore began to take farewell rides about the +neighbourhood, as to places we were never to see again. One of these was +to a very archaic pile of rude masonry, deeply weather-eaten, at a ruined +site called _Bait Saweer_, through green woods and arbutus-trees, glowing +with scarlet berries; a place which had only recently been brought to my +notice, and of which no European had any knowledge. + +The old building, whose use we could not discover, was composed, not of +ordinary blocks of stone, but of huge flat slabs, unchiselled at edges or +corners, laid one over another, but forming decidedly an intentional +edifice. It is well worth further examination. At the time we had with +us no materials for sketching, and never had an opportunity of going +thither afterwards. + +It lies among the wild green scene west from the Hebron road, near where, +on the opposite, or east side, is the opening of the Wadi 'Aroob, with +its copious springs. + +Then we went to _Marseea'_, beyond the _Dair el Benat_--equally unknown +to Europeans--and, lastly, to the green slopes and precipices towards +_Nahhaleen_, where, lingering till after sunset, we became in a few +minutes enveloped in a cloud of mist tossed and rolled along by gusts of +wind, and several large eagles rose screaming from perches among rocks +below us into the misty air, as if rejoicing in the boisterous weather. + +Three months before, we had been on the same spot at the moment of +sunset, and saw the whole Philistine plain hidden in a white mist in a +single minute, but, of course, far below us; and this, we were told, was +the usual state of things, and would remain so for another month, after +which the plain would have no mist, but we should have it all on the +mountains at sunset--so it was now found to be the case. + +From one spot on our own grounds we were able to point out as objects in +the magnificent prospect--the Moab mountains, the crevasse of the Jabbok +into the Ghor, that of Calirrhoe into the Dead Sea, Hhalhhool near +Hebron, El Khud'r below us, Rachel's sepulchre, Bethlehem, Nebi Samwil, +the Scopus, Jerusalem, and our house there, to which we were soon to +remove. + +Before, however, quitting this subject of the Bakoosh, I may refer to one +very special attraction that held us to the place, namely, an +agricultural undertaking in its neighbourhood. A friend, of whom I hope +to speak more in another time and place, superintended for me the +rebuilding of an ancient Biblical village that lay a heap and a +desolation, and cleared out its spring of water, which, by being choked +up with rubbish, made its way unseen under ground, it thus became nearly +as copious as that alongside of Solomon's Pools. I gathered people into +the village, vineyards were planted, crops were sown and reaped there, +taxes were paid to the government; and the vicinity, which previously had +been notorious for robberies on the Hebron road, became perfectly secure. + +On one of my visits, a list was presented to me of ninety-eight +inhabitants, where a year and a half before there was not one. +Homesteads were rebuilt; the people possessed horned cattle and flocks of +sheep and goats, as well as beehives. I saw women grinding at the mill, +and at one of the doors a cat and a kitten. All was going on +prosperously. + +Purer pleasure have I never experienced than when, in riding over +occasionally with our children, we saw the threshing of wheat and barley +in progress, and heard the women singing, or the little children shouting +at their games. Sixty cows used to be driven at noon to drink at the +spring. + +We returned to Jerusalem on the 21st of October, and on the 28th of +November that village was again a mass of ruin--the houses +demolished--the people dispersed--their newly-sown corn and the vineyards +ploughed over--the fine spring of water choked up once more--and my +Australian trees planted there torn up by the roots. All this was +allowed to be done within nine miles of Jerusalem, to gratify persons +engaged in an intrigue which ended in deeds far worse than this. + +Our village was _Faghoor_, and had been one of the ancient towns of the +tribe of Judah. Its place in the Bible is Joshua xv., where it is found +in the Greek Septuagint together with Tekoah, Etham, and Bethlehem, all +noted places--neither of which is contained in the Hebrew text, and +therefore not in the English translation. + +It seems difficult to account for this; but it may possibly be that +neither of these towns were ever in the Hebrew of that chapter, that they +were not well known at the time of the original Hebrew being written; but +that when the translation of the Septuagint was made, the writers knew by +other means, though living in Egypt, that Tekoah, Etham, Bethlehem, and +Faghoor had been for a long period famous within the tribe of Judah, and +therefore they filled up what seemed to them a deficiency in the +register. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +A.--Page 32. + + +The signs here referred to were guessed by Buckingham (about 1816) to be +possibly some distinctive tokens of Arab tribes; but he seemed rather +inclined to connect them with marks that are found in Indian caverns, or +those on the rocks about Mount Sinai. + +He was thus nearer to the truth than the latest of travellers, De Saulcy, +who, with all his knowledge of Semitic alphabets, says of some of these +_graffiti_, or scratchings, at 'Amman, which he copied: "Tout cela, je +regrette fort, est lettre close pour moi. Quelle est cette ecriture? Je +l'ignore." (Voyage en Terre Sainte. Tom. i. p.256. Paris, 1865.) + +They are characters adopted by Arabs to distinguish one tribe from +another, and commonly used for branding the camels on the shoulders and +haunches, by which means the animals may be recovered, if straying and +found by Arabs not hostile to the owners. + +I have, however, seen them scratched upon walls in many places frequented +by Bedaween, as, for instance, in the ruined convents, churches, etc., on +the plain of the Jordan, and occasionally, as at 'Amman, several such +cyphers are united into one complex character. + + [Picture: Appendix A characters] + + * * * * * + + + +B.--Page 367. + + +Considerable discrepancy may be found among the transcripts furnished by +travellers in their published works, of the Greek votive inscriptions +about the entrance of the cavern of Pan at Banias. + +I give the following as the result of careful study of them in 1849, and +again, after the lapse of six years, in 1855, each time examining the +writing, under varieties of light and shade, at different hours of the +day. + +There are some other inscriptions, which are entirely blackened with +smoke, in the niches, made perhaps by ancient burning of lamps or of +incense there. This is particularly the case in one large hollow made in +the rock, which has almost its whole surface covered with Greek writing. +Within this hollow a niche is cut out, now empty. + + [Picture: Sculptured niche] + +One small niche has its inscription so much defaced by violence that only +the letters [Greek text] are connectedly legible. + +This sculptured niche has no inscription, but only the pedestal on which +the statue was placed. + + [Picture: Ornamental niche] + +This ornamental niche has beneath it, on a tablet, the words as at +present legible. + +The inscription in the highest situation is as follows:-- + + [Picture: Inscription in the highest situation] + +Beneath this is the following:-- + + [Picture: Inscription beneath] + +Above the smoked recess, but below an upper niche, we find-- + + [Picture: Inscription below upper niche] + +In this inscription "the emperors" can mean no others than Vespasian and +Titus, who had had one and the same Triumph in Rome on account of the +conquest of Judea; and this very title is used in Josephus, ("Wars," vii. +xi. 4,) + + [Picture: Greek title] + +It is peculiarly suitable to that place, inasmuch as Titus, previous to +leaving the country, had celebrated there the birthday of his brother +Domitian, with magnificent public spectacles--amid which, however, more +than 2500 Jews were destroyed for popular amusement, by burning, +fighting, and in combats with wild beasts. + +Although these are copied with much painstaking, there may be errors +unperceived in some of the letters; but at least one of the words is +misspelt by the provincial artist, namely, [Greek word]. + + + + +INDEX OF PLACES. + + +N.B.--_Names with the asterisk are ancient and not modern_. + +A + +Aaron's tomb 306 +Abadiyeh 80 106 +Abasiyeh 254 +Abdoon 34 +Abeih 392 +Abu Atabeh 239 +Abu Dis 1 +Abu Mus-hhaf 47 +Abu'n Jaib (Jaim) 337 +Abu Sabakh 203 +Acre 237 +Adasa 200 +Afeeri 193 +Afooleh 227 +Ahhsaniyeh 183 +Ai 204 +'Ainab 391 +'Ain 'Anoob 390 391 +'Ain 'Aroos 324 +'Ain Atha 387 +'Ain Bedawiyeh 240 244 +'Ain Berweh 241 +'Ain Besaba 390 +'Ain Carem 424 +'Ain Dirweh 151 194 290 +'Ain Ghazal 34 +'Ain Ghazal 224 +'Ain Hhood 224 +'Ain Jadoor 41 +'Ain Jidi 333 +'Ain Kaimoon 230 +'Ain Kesoor 392 +'Ain Mel'hh 296 +'Ain Mellahhah 371 +'Ain Merubba' 48 +'Ain Merubba' 417 419 +'Ain Nebel 259 266 +'Ain Noom 270 +'Ain Saadeh 235 245 250 +'Ain Shems 156 +'Ain Sufsafeh 231 250 +'Ain Taasan 321 +'Ain Weibeh 302 +'Ain Yebrood 89 +'Ain Zera'ah 238 +Aita 265 +Aituran 387 +Ajjeh 126 219 +'Ajloon 38 56 69 79 +'Ajoor 153 +'Akir 157 +Alma 108 +'Alman 201 +'Almeet 201 +'Amman 24-36 +Amooriah 156 +'Anata 200 210 +'Aneen 251 +Annabeh 127 +'Arabah 301 320 etc +'Arabeh 217 etc 251 +'Arabet el Battoof 241 +'Arak el Ameer 19 +'Arak Hala 183 +'Arak Munshiyah 177 +'Ararah 248 +'Arkoob 147 +'Arkoob Sahhaba 336 +Arzoon 254 +Ascalan 163 182 +Asdood 164 +'Asfi 234 +'Asker 90 +Atarah 126 215 +Athleet 224 +Atna 162 +'Attar 183 +Aujeh 133 134 +Awali 348 412 +'Azair 244 +'Azoor 355 377 + +B + +Bahhjah 239 +Bait Ainoon 290 +Bait Atab 147 +Bait Dajan 163 +Bait Duras 162 +Bait Ezkareh 443 +Bait Hhaneena 200 +Bait Hhanoon 175 +Bait Jala 436 +Bait Jan 271 +Bait Jirja 166 +Bait Jibreen 178 443 +Bait Nateef 147 149 196 +Bait Nejed 176 +Bait Sahhoor in Nasara 428 +Bait Sahhoor el Wad 428 +Bait Saweer 447 +Bait Soor (see Bezur) +Bait Uksa 140 +Bait Unah 140 +Bait U'oon 257 +Bait Uzan 219 +Bait Ziz (Jiz) 157 +Baka 247 249 +Bakoosh 435 etc +*Balah 297 +Banias 364 384 385 +Barook 354 376 407 411 +*Bashan 66 +Batteer 195 +Battoof 271 +Bayroot 390 +Beerain 291 +Beeri 88 +Beer Eyoob 418 +Beer El Kott 433 +Beer Mustafa 203 +Beer Nebala 200 +Beer es Seba (Beersheba) 189 etc +Beisan 94 96 etc +Beka' el Basha 40 46 +Balameh 221 +Beled esh Shai'kh 235 245 247 250 +Belhhamiyeh 80 +Belka 19 79 +*Belus 239 +Beni Naim 290 291 +Beni Saheela 171 +Berasheet 257 +Berberah 165 +Berga'an 45 +Besheet 160 +Buteadeen 405 etc +*Bethany 1 +*Bethlehem 436 437 440 +Beth Zacharias 432 +Bezur 152 194 430 +Bidias 254 +Bint el Jebail 114 255 257 388 +Bisrah 355 376 +Boorj (near Hebron) 184 287 +Boorj (near Saida) 253 +Brair 176 +Burak 435 +Burka 214 219 +Bursa 48 +Burtaa 222 +Bursheen 254 +Buwairdeh 321 + +C + +Caiffa 236 +*Carmel 44 67 224 +*Caesarea Philippi 364 +Cocab el Hawa 80 82 83 103 +Cocaba 360 381 +Cuf'r Bera'am 121 388 +Cuf'r Cana 126 +Cuf'r Enji 57 +Cuf'r Hhooneh 358 378 +Cuf'r Ita 247 +Cuf'r Kara 222 +Cuf'r Menda 244 +Cuf'r Natta 398 +Cuf'r Rai 126 216 +Cuf'r Ruman 127 +Cuf'r Saba 132 etc +Cuf'r Yuba 58 +Cuferain (beyond Jordan) 9 +Cuferain (near Carmel) 251 +Curnub 297 + +D + +Dabook 39 +Dahair el Hhumar 23 80 +Dahar es Salahh 441 +Daiket 'Arar 297 +Dair 68 +Dair 'Ammar 137 +Dair el Belahh 169 +Dair el Benat 448 +Dair Dewan 203 204 +Dair ed Duban 177 +Dair Hhanna 240 272 +Dair el Kamar 400 etc +Dair el Mokhallis 348 374 412 +Dair el Musha'al 136 +Dair el Mushmushi 377 +Dair en Nakhaz 182 +Dair Thecla 254 +Dair Yaseen 427 +Daliet Carmel 238 +Daliet er Rohha 238 251 +Damooneh 241 +*Dan 362 +Dar Joon 349 353 +Dar Kanoon 254 +Dar Meemas 254 +Dar Shems 254 +Dar Zibneh 254 +Dead Sea 3 4 12 326 etc +Deaneh 197 +Deheedeh 378 +Dejajeh 157 +Desrah 136 +Dibneh 156 +Dilathah 107 +Dilbeh 193 +Doheriyeh 192 193 +Doomeen 238 +Dothan 127 219 etc +Duhheish'meh 146 +Durtghayer 254 + +E + +Ebeleen 242 247 +Ed Dair 169 +Edjajeh 157 +Eilaboon 240 +Ekfairat 17 +Ekwikat 239 +Elah 150 151 153 196 +'Elealeh 13 17 18 +El 'Areesh 170 +El Hhabees 425 +El Khait 108 +El Kharjeh 208 +El Khud'r 146 435 +El Mergab 34 +El Muntar el Kassar 34 +Er-Ram (beyond Jordan) 9 +Er-Ram (near Jerusalem) 87 +Er-Rihha 4 414 +Esak 194 +'Esfia 235 238 +Es-Salt 12 17 33 41 +Esh-Shemesani 33 +Esh-Shwaifiyeh 33 +Etam 444 + +F + +Faghoor 449 etc +Fahh'mah 216 +Falooja 176 182 +Farah 108 260 +Farra'an 127 +Fendecomia 126 219 +Ferdisia 127 +Fooleh 227 +Fort 183 +Fountain of Apostles 2 +Furadees 224 + +G + +*Gadara 77 +*Gath 157 163 183 +Ghawair 324 325 +Ghor 3 12 301 +Ghoraniyeh 5 +Ghujar 370 +Ghutt 183 +Ghuzzeh (Gaza) 166 etc +*Gilboa 67 102 +Gumron 414 416 + +H + +Haddata 257 +Hadeth 390 +Hafeereh 220 +Haita ez Zoot 257 +Harakat 252 +Herfaish 270 +*Hermon 67 78 264 359 364 371 +Hhalhhool 194 291 449 +Hhamameh 163 +Hhaneen 266 +Hhanooneh 136 +Hharrasheh 140 141 +Hharatheeyeh 234 246 +Hhasbani 360 380 +Hhasbeya 360 379 381 etc +Hhata 176 +Hhatteen 126 240 +Hheker Zaboot 13 +Hhesban 13 16 +Hhizmeh 201 209 210 +Hhooleh (Lake) 361 +Hhooleh 257 386 +Hhubeen 147 +Hhusan 147 +*Hor 301 etc +*Hormah 299 +Huneen 386 +Hurbaj 236 247 + +I + +Idsaid 182 +Iksal 228 +Ilmah 183 +Ineer 376 +Irtahh 127 +Izereiriyeh 254 + +J + +Ja'arah 247 +Jadeerah 200 +Jahharah 386 +Jaida 246 +Jalood 83 +Janiah 138 +Jarmuk 117 118 262 +Jawah 17 +Jeba' 126 219 +Jeba' (Gibeah of Saul) 208 +Jeba' 147 +Jebel el Ghurb 297 +Jebel Mahas 39 +Jebel esh Shaikh (See Hermon) +Jebel Sherreh 305 +Jehaarah 24 +Jelaad 43 48 +Jelboon (Gilboa) 96 227 +Jelool 17 +Jeneen 84 126 226 +Jerash 18 48 etc +*Jericho (See Er-Rihha) +*Jeshimon 301 +Jezzeen 357 377 +Jifna 88 +Jish 114 115 121 261 +Jis'r el Kadi 399 +Jit 222 +*Jokneam 230 +*Joktheel 337 +Joon 348 353 373 +*Jordan 5 6 77 104 105 364 380 384 +Judaidah 183 +Julis 182 +Jurah 164 + +K + +Kabatieh 219 +*Kadesh Barnea 302 +Kadis 107 +Kadita 116 +Kaimoon 230 250 +Kala'at er Reehha 414 +Kala'at Rubbad 44 +Kala'at Subeibeh 365 +Kalinsawa 127 +Kalkeeleh 127 +Kaloneh 426 +Kanneer 223 +Karatiya 176 +Karaweesh 446 +Kasimiyeh 253 +Kassar Waijees 33 +Kayaseer 94 +Keelah 152 196 +Kelt 3 +Kerak 14 18 34 +Khalsah 370 +Khan em Meshettah 17 +Khan Yunas 169 etc +Kharas 151 196 +Khash'm Usdum 324 etc +Khatroon 3 202 +Khirbet el Kasees 442 +Khirbet en Nasara 183 +Khirbet es Sar 38 +Khirbet Saleekhi 47 +Khirbet Sellim 255 +Khuldah (beyond Jordan) 39 +Khuldah (on the Plain) 157 196 +Kifereh 83 +Kobaibeh 183 +Krishneh 203 +Kubbet el Baul 297 +Kubeibeh 160 +Kubrus 222 +Kuriet el 'Aneb 179 +Kuriet es Sook 17 +Kustul (beyond Jordan) 17 +Kustul (near Jerusalem) 426 + +L + +Lahh'm 183 +Laithma 90 +Latroon 427 +Lejjoon 221 229 249 250 +Lesed 149 +Litani 359 +Lubban 90 +Lubieh 126 238 + +M + +Ma'alool 246 +Ma'an 192 301 +Main 17 +Maisera 44 +Ma'kook 206 +Ma'naeen 195 +Manjah 17 +Mar Saba 418 +Marseea' 448 +Martosiyah 183 +Mazaal 224 +Medeba 17 +Mejama'a 71 104 +Mejdal 163 182 +Mejdal Yaba 127 128 etc +Mekebleh 228 +Menzel el Basha 230 +Merash 183 +Meroon 117 etc +Merj ibn Amer 228 249 +Merj ed Dom 187 +Med Merka 34 +Mesdar Aishah 34 +Mesh-had 126 +*Me-Yarkon 158 +Mezer 67 +Mezra'a 19 140 +Mezra'ah 254 +Mobugghuk 329 +Modzha 224 +Mohhrakah 233 237 +Mokatta' 233 +Mokhtarah 407 etc +*Moladah 296 +*Moreh 90 +Mujaidel 237 245 +Mukhmas 207 210 +Mukhneh 90 +Munsoorah 183 +Mushmusheh 249 +Muzaikah 297 +M'zeera'a 136 + +N + +Naa'eea 165 +Naaman 239 +Na'ana 157 +Na'oor 18 19 +Nabloos 44 90 +Nahhaleen 147 443 448 +*Nazareth 126 +Neab 241 +Neba' 17 +Nebi Hhood 56 +Nebi Moosa 2 +Nebi Osha 44 +Nebi Samwil 44 +Nebi Sari 136 +Nebi Yunas 290 +*Negeb 145 +*Nimrin 126 +Nooris 83 +Nuba 152 196 + +O + +Obeyah 183 +*Olivet 1 16 + +P + +*Parah 212 +*Pelesheth 144 +Petra 311 etc +Point Costigan 332 +Point Molyneux 332 + +Q + +Quarantana 202 + +R + +Ra'ana 157 +Rabbah 34 +Raineh 126 +Rama 238 272 +Ram Allah 87 143 +Rameen 126 +Rami 216 +Ramlah 128 197 +Ras el Ahhmar 108 114 +Ras el 'Ain 131 132 +Ras abu Ammar 147 +Ras Kerker 135 137 etc +Rehhaniyeh 251 +Remmoon 203 205 206 +Resheef 242 +Rubin 158 +Rumaish 264 267 +Ruman 48 +Rumaneh 244 +Rummet er Room 376 +Runtieh 136 + +S + +Safed 107 117 262 372 +Safoot 47 +Sagheefah 183 +Saida 348 412 +Saidoon 197 +Salem 90 +Salhhah 108 260 +Salhhi 153 +Salim 226 +Salt Mountain 326 +Samakh 76 +Samek 17 +Samma 71 +Samooniah 246 +Samua' 187 +Sanneen 254 +Sanoor 126 +Sasa 121 +Sattaf 424 +Sawafeer Mesalkah 182 +Sawafeer Odeh 182 +Sawiyeh 90 +*Scopus 199 +Sebustieh 15 111 215 219 +Se'eer 10 +Seeleh 215 219 +Seeleh (on Esdraelon) 226 +Sefooriyeh 240 +*Seir 305 306 +*Selah 337 +Selwan 1 +Semsem 176 +Semwan 239 +Senabrah 182 +Setcher (Seeker) 22 +Sha'afat 86 +Shaikh Aman 183 +Shaikh el Bakkar 63 +Shaikh Sad 231 +Shakrah 257 +Sharon 15 127 etc +Shefa 'Amer (beyond Jordan) 15 +Shefa 'Amer (near Acre) 240 242 243 247 +Shelaleh 238 +Shemuata 239 +Shemaniyeh 183 +*Shephelah 145 +Sheree'ah (See Jordan) +Shereeat el Menadherah 76 +Shibtain 136 +Shukbeh 136 +Shukeef 254 +Shutta 83 +Sh'waifat 390 +Sh'weikeh (Shocoh) 150 152 196 443 +Sibta 193 +Sik 313 +Sindianeh 247 +Sinjil 90 +Siphla 145 +Soba 423 425 +Solam 227 +Sora'a 156 +Santa Anna 179 183 443 +Suameh 224 +Subariyeh 223 +Sufah 299 +Sufsafeh 231 250 +Sukhneen 241 +Sumkaniyeh 407 + +T + +Ta'annuk 221 226 +Tabakra 47 +*Tabor 44 67 226 +Taitaba 107 116 +Tallooz 48 +Tantoorah 224 +Tarsheehhah 268 +Tayibeh (beyond Jordan) 68 69 +Tayibeh (near Jerusalem) 205 213 +Teereh (on Sharon) 136 +Teereh (in Galilee) 266 +Teeri 224 238 +Tela'at ed Dum 3 +Tell 'Arad 293 +Tell u'l 'Ejel 169 +Tell el Hajjar 204 +Tell el Kadi 362 384 +Tell el Kasees 233 +Tell es Safieh 177 +Thekua' (Tekoa) 337 +Terabeh 334 422 +Thuggeret el Baider 33 +*Thuggeret el Moghafer 48 +Tiberias 78 105 +Tibneen 255 264 387 +Tibneh 156 +Tibni 68 +Timrah 175 +Tool el Ker'm 127 +Tubas 92 +Tuleh 67 +Tura 254 +Tura'an 126 + +U + +Umm el 'Aamed 17 +Umm Bugghek 329 +Umm ed Damaneer 47 +Umm el 'Egher 47 +Umm el Fahh'm 248 249 251 +Umm Kais 62 71 72 +Umm el Kanater 77 106 +Umm Malfoof 33 +Umm er Rumaneh 17 +Umm Saidet 183 +Umm Sheggar 17 +Umm es Swaiweeneh 34 +Umm ez Zeenat 251 +Ursaifah 34 +Urtas 435 + +W + +Wadi Ahhmed 195 +Wadi 'Arab (or Shaikh) 151 196 +Wadi 'Arab 248 +Wadi 'Aroob 448 +Wadi Bait Hhaneena 424 +Wadi Bedan 91 +Wadi Berreh 82 +Wadi Dubber 417 +Wadi En-nab 91 +Wadi Farah 210 +Wadi Fara'ah 91 +Wadi Fik'r 301 +Wadi Fokeen 147 +Wadi el Hharamiyeh 94 +Wadi Hhuggereh 325 +Wadi el Jaib 301 322 +Wadi el Kasab 231 +Wadi Keereh 232 235 +Wadi el Kharnoob 136 +Wadi Mel'hh 230 232 +Wadi Moosa 316 +Wadi Musurr 150 +Wadi Nemela 318 +Wadi Netheeleh 329 +Wadi Pharaon 316 +Wadi Soor 151 +Wadi Sunt 150 154 +Wadi Surar 158 +Wadi Suaineet 207 +Wadi Tayibeh 305 +Wadi Zahari 72 +Weli Jedro 247 +Weli Sardoni 40 + +Y + +Yaabad 222 +Yabneh 158 159 +Yaero 126 +Yafah 245 +Yajoor 245 247 250 +Yakook 125 +Yarmuk 75 +Yaroon 260 388 +Yehudiyeh 257 + +Z + +Zacariah 154 +Zaid 357 377 +Zebdeh 222 +Zeita 182 +Zenabeh 127 +*Zephath 299 +Zer'een 67 83 226 +Zerka 48 49 +*Zin 301 +Ziph 152 292 +Zoghal 328 +Zubairah 17 +Zumareen 223 224 +Zuwatah 219 + + + + +FOOTNOTES. + + +{3} This is one of the frequent instances of Arabic local names +preserving the sound, while departing from the signification. + +{5} This ford was called _Ghoraneyeh_. The other is called _El +Meshraa'_. + +{17} Tristram has since expressed (p. 535) a doubt of the verity of this +name of a site, but I had it given to me both at Heshbon and Jerash, and +De Saulcy has since been there. + +{19} How often have I regretted since that we did not know of the +existence of 'Arak el Ameer, which has of late commanded so much +interest. We might have so easily turned aside for that short distance. + +{20} This word signifies "a desert." It is often found in the Arabic +Bible, especially in the prophetic books. + +{33} See Appendix A. + +{39} The largest sort grown there. + +{58} The officer deputed from the Porte lives in a pretty village called +Cuf'r Yuba, and is said to have become enormously rich upon the levies +which he does not transmit to Constantinople. + +{61} Travellers of late report that enormous sums are exacted by the +'Adwan for their escort upon this same journey as ours. It may, +therefore, be acceptable to learn what was our contract, and that it was +honourably acted upon--namely, three of the party to pay 1000 piastres +each, and 200 each for all the rest. As there were twelve in the party, +the amount was + + 1000 x 3 = 3000 + 200 x 9 = 1800 + ---- + 4800 + +This total we among ourselves divided equally, equal to 400 each. + +We also agreed to make a present from each when in the territory, besides +giving a feast at 'Amman, and another at Jerash--the feasts were a mere +trifle. + +A hundred piastres came to rather less than a pound sterling. + +I am glad to confirm the recent testimonies of Tristram and De Saulcy as +to the honourable and noble deportment of Gublan and the other leaders of +the 'Adwan people. + +{65} Were not these the altars or other objects employed in idolatrous +worship by the Geshurites and Maachathites who remained among the +Israelites of Gad and Reuben?--(See Josh. xiii. 13.) + +{67} I mean Jebel esh Shaikh of the Anti-Lebanon, as I do not believe in +the existence of any _little Hermon_ in the Bible. + +{94} He afterwards died of fever in my service, caught by rapid +travelling in the heat of July 1860, during the Lebanon insurrection, +whither he accompanied my Cancelliere to rescue some of the unfortunate +Christians in my district. + +{109} According to the Talmud, private roads were made four cubits wide; +public roads sixteen cubits; but the approaches to a city of refuge were +thirty-two cubits in width. See Lightfoot's "Decas Chorographica," VII. +Latitudo viarum Tradunt Rabini. Via privata [Hebrew text] est quatuor +cubitorum--via ab urbe in urbem est octo cubitorum--via publica [Hebrew +text] est sedecm cubitorum--via ad civitates refugii est triginta duorum +cubitorum." Bava Batra fol., 100 From Lightfoot's "Centuria +Chorographica." "Synhedrio incubuit vias ad civitates hasee accommodare +eas dilatando, atque omne offendiculum in quod titubare aut impingere +posses amovendo. Non permissus in via ullus tumulus aut fluvius super +quem non esset pons erat que via illuc ducens ad minimum 32 cubitorum +lata atque in omni bivio, aut viarum partitione scriptum erat [Hebrew +text] _Refugium_ ne eo fugiens a via erraret."--Maimon in [Hebrew text] +cap. 8. + +{110} On visiting Kadis some years after, I was grieved to find all this +much demolished, and the ornamentation taken away, by Ali Bek, to adorn +the new works at his castle of Tibneen. + +{111} Since fallen almost to the ground. + +{131a} [Greek text]. + +{131b} [Greek text]. + +{133} I have been there three times, twice late in autumn, and once in +July, and always found water abundant. + +{136} Since writing the above I have seen the photograph taken of this +temple by the Palestine explorators in 1866. + +{149} I do not find this place in any lists or books of travels. + +{155} Since that journey I have been told by the country people that +between Gaza and Beersheba it is the practice to sow wheat very thinly +indeed, and to expect every seed to produce thirty to fifty stalks, and +every stalk to give forty seeds. + +{182} In a journey to Gaza from Hebron, in the spring season of 1853, I +was proceeding from the great oak down a long valley--but I was induced +to deviate from the direct line by the tidings of _Bait Jibreen_ being +infested or taken by the Tiyahah Arabs. + +We everywhere found the peasantry armed, and on arriving before _Dair +Nahhaz_, almost within sight of that town, and communicating with the +village for water to drink, as I rested under a tree, Mohammed 'Abd en +Nebi sent me word that Bait Jibreen was recovered from the Arabs, and now +occupied by themselves; that thirty-five corpses of Arabs were lying +round Bait Jibreen, and one of the two Arab chiefs (Amer) was slain--he +himself was wounded in the knee. + +From hence to Gaza we passed _Zeita_, where a breastwork had been hastily +thrown up by the peasantry, and into which a number of armed men rushed +from a concealment, and parleyed before they would allow us to pass on. +Then to _Falooja_, and between _Idsaid_ and _Karatiyah_ on our right, and +the Arak Munshiyah on the left. Halted at Brair for the night. + +The return from Gaza was by Ascalan, Mejdal, Julis, the two Sawafeers, +Kasteeneh, Mesmiyeh, and Latron, on the Jaffa road to Jerusalem. + +{203} Pronounced sometimes _Dewan_, sometimes _Debwan_. + +{204} _Beth_ is represented by the modern word _Dair_, and _Aven_ has +become _Ewan_, with the Syriac _d_' signifying _of_. + +{207} It is worthy of notice that Suwan (in Arabic) (diminutive, +_Suwaineet_) signifies "flint." These rocks being flinty, it is possible +that _Seneh_ in Hebrew may have had the same meaning. + +{217} 'Arabeh does not appear in any map before Vandevelde in 1854. + +{230} As Hebron, Bethshemesh, Gibeon, Shechem, Beth-horon, Ta'annuk, +Jeneen, etc., besides the cities of refuge. + +{238} It is worthy of note, that in this single place the ancient name +of Carmel is preserved among the people. This being called _Daliet el +Carmel_ to distinguish it from the Dalieh of the Rohha district, yet the +denomination Carmel is not otherwise given to this mountain by the Arab +population. Dalieh signifies "a vine," this, therefore, is the "vine of +Carmel," and Carmel itself signifies "God's vineyard!" + +{243} They afterwards dwindled to two families, the rest removing to +Caiffa as that port rose in prosperity. + +{265} Shakespeare; or as Ronsard has it:-- + + "qui _tire l'ire_ + Des esprits mieux que je n'ecris." + +{301} Yet there was a "city of palm-trees" towards the south, which the +Kenites abandoned for this district south of Arad,--probably the present +_Nukh'l_; the name has that signification. + +{302} There are many such _cachets_ of water in the desert, but known +only to the tribes of each district. During the Israelitish wanderings, +Hobab, a native of the desert, may have guided them to many such. + +{304} It is not to be supposed, however, that this is a just +representation of all that "great and terrible wilderness" through which +the Israelites were led for forty years. It is indeed "a land not sown," +(Jer. ii. 2,) and a land of pits and drought fearful to contemplate, as a +journey for a wandering population of nearly two millions of souls, +especially in the hottest seasons of the year; but the peculiarly +terrible wilderness must have been among the defiles, hemmed in by +scorching cliffs in the Sinaitic peninsula. + +In that direction also were the "fiery flying serpents," concerning which +I have never been able to learn anything more satisfactory than that, in +the hot and unpeopled gorges west of the Dead Sea, there is a thin and +yellow serpent called the Neshabiyeh, which flings itself across from one +point to another in the air with astonishing velocity and force. It is +therefore named after Neshabeh, a dart or arrow in Arabic. The natives +also apply to it the epithet of "flying." The wound which it inflicts is +said to be highly inflammatory and deadly, and from this effect it may be +called "fiery." It may be also that, from being of a yellow colour, it +may glitter like a flame when flying with rapidity in the sunshine. + +It is only in Isaiah xxx. 6, that the epithet "flying" is used for these +serpents. Observe, however, in Hebrew Lexicons the several applications +of this word [Hebrew text]. + +{309} Dr H. Bonar. + +{316} They take a pride in attributing everything of antiquity here to +Pharaoh, the cursed king of Egypt,--as those about the Euphrates +attribute all their old wonders to the cursed king Nimrod. These names +are learned from the Koran. + +{320} Numerous travellers, however, have since gone from Jerusalem in +virtue of the agreement made on this occasion by me, and returned without +molestation from these people. + +{332} This I repeat after having travelled at different times on most +parts, north, west, and south of the lake, and read all that has been +printed about the eastern side. (1867.) + +{339} Since writing the above, we learn from Lieutenant Warren's very +interesting letters that the Turkish Government have sent a large force +into the trans-Jordanic region, with a view of chastising the Arabs: it +remains to be seen whether this measure will leave any permanent +effects.--(_Nov._ 1867.) + +{405} Especially in a book probably little known, but published as +"Memoirs of a Babylonian Princess. By (herself) Marie Therese Asmar," +who was in London in 1845, and supported for a time by fashionable +patronesses of romantic Orientalism. + +{408} The events of 1860-61 led to a tragical termination of the career +of this young chieftain. + +{419} Mr Tristram has since done this, but on foot, the rugged road +being impassable in any other way. + +{432} Bait Zacari and Zecariah lie far away among the mountains in the +south-west. Neither of them would command the road which Judas desired +to intercept--neither of them therefore answers to the Bath Zacharias of +the history any more than Baitzur near Hebron does to Bethsura--all are +equally out of the question by reason of their distance. + +{440} Very common in Oriental Christendom, and called by the Greeks the +[Greek text] (semantron.) + +The ancient Britons used to summon the congregation to church service by +means of "sacra ligna," is it not likely that these were the same as the +above, seeing that the Celtic nations were derived from the East? + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BYEWAYS IN PALESTINE*** + + +******* This file should be named 22097.txt or 22097.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/2/0/9/22097 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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