THE PLAN OF NAZARETH.1. New quarter of the Latin Convent; 2. Church of the Annunciation; 3. Protestant Church; 4. Protestant Parsonage; 5. Protestant Mission School; 6. Protestant Missionary's House: 7. Convent of French Nuns; 8. The "Mensa Christi;" 9. House of the Mufti; 10. House of the Turkish Governor; 11. Mosque; 12. Mission Hospital.
Doctor Bronson explained to his young companions that Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, though some writers have attempted to identify it as having a history earlier than the Christian era. According to the biblical account it was a small village at the time of our Saviour's birth, and the name of Nazarene was used in derision. The modern name of the place is En-Nasira, and down to the time of Constantine it was almost exclusively occupied by Samaritan Jews. Its present population is estimated at six or eight thousand: nearly half the inhabitants are Moslems, and the balance are separated into various Christian sects, of which the orthodox Greeks are the most numerous. The town is dividedinto the Moslem quarter, the Greek quarter, and the Latin quarter, and the various Christian sects are under the protection of foreign powers, though generally subject to Turkish rule.
VIEW OF NAZARETH.
It was on Saturday evening that our friends reached Nazareth, and very properly they determined to remain there till Monday. The tents were pitched in a little grove just outside the town, and in a picturesque position, where all the surroundings were agreeable to the eye. The guide offered to lodge them in the Latin convent; but they preferred the freedom and comfort of the tents, and wisely concluded that a visit to the convent would be all they would need of it. So many pilgrims visit Nazareth that both the Greeks and Latins have found it necessary to maintain establishments there for the benefit of their adherents. The poor are lodged gratuitously, but those who can afford to make payment are expected to do so at the same rate as in a hotel.
The evening was passed in reading, by the light of candles, the story of the Annunciation, as given in the New Testament, and in commenting upon the identification of the spot by modern Christians. Doctor Bronson said there could be no doubt whatever that this was the place described in the Bible, though there might be some question as to the exact spot in Nazareth where the event occurred. He said it was a curious circumstance that for three centuries after the birth of Christ there was not a Christian inhabitant in Nazareth, and the first Christian pilgrimage was made there not earlier than the sixth century. In the sixth or seventh century two churches were built there, and from that time the place has been a prominent one in the history of the religion of Bethlehem.
In good time next morning all were out of bed and ready to start for the Latin convent, where service was to be held. We will let one of the youths tell the story of what they saw and heard:
"The convent is supposed to be on the site of the house of the Virgin Mary; at any rate the Latin monks press that claim for it, and it is not disputed by the Greeks, though the latter say that the angel first appeared to Mary at the fountain and not in her house. Consequently, the Greek Church of the Annunciation is over the fountain, while the Latin one is above the site of the house where the Virgin dwelt.
"The Latin convent is on the side of the hill, and is a prominent feature in the picture of Nazareth. There are several buildings clustered together, and at first sight we were reminded of the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem and its massive surroundings. There is a high wall surrounding the buildings, and the gate through which we passed is heavy enough to resist the attack of any ordinary band of Arabs. We entereda court-yard which was open to the sky, and then passed to another and smaller one directly in front of the church. The sacred building is about seventy feet by fifty, and was completed in its present form a century and a half ago. Several churches have stood here, and the materials of each have been used in the erection of its successor, so that we may fairly believe that some parts of the first church of Nazareth are to be seen here.
"The interior of the building consists of a nave and aisles, formed by four piers that support the roof. The whole of the interior is covered with paintings and tapestry representing scenes in the Saviour's life, and there is a fine organ and an altar dedicated to the angel Gabriel. We did not spend much time over this part of the church, as we were all impatient to descend to the Grotto of the Annunciation, which is below the floor.
"There is a stairway of fifteen marble steps between the first two columns as you enter the church, and down this stairway we went, after a brief inspection of the decorations of the walls and a glance at the high altar.
THE ANNUNCIATION.
"At the foot of the steps we entered the so-called 'Chapel of the Angels,' which contains shrines dedicated to St. Joachim and the angel Gabriel. Beyond the shrines is an opening or passage leading to the Chapel of the Annunciation, which is an apartment fifteen feet by ten, as near as we could judge, and has a marble altar showing the spot where Mary stood during the Annunciation. A column near the entrance marks the position of the angel, and a little distance from it is a fragment of a column hanging from the roof, and said to be suspended by miraculous power. We wanted to examine it closely, but the monk in charge of the place hurried us on, and evidently did not wish a careful inspection of the hanging column.
"Beyond the Chapel of the Annunciation is the Chapel of Joseph, and farther on is a small cavern hewn from the solid rock, and said to have been the kitchen of Mary.
"The general arrangement of the altars, lamps, and decorations was a constant reminder of Bethlehem, and when the monks began their service we found it was very nearly the same. As soon as the ceremony was over in the grotto it was announced that the hour for service in the church had arrived, and we all went to attend it. The congregation numbered two or three hundred persons, including the twenty-five or thirty Italian and Spanish monks in charge of the convent, and perhaps fifty pilgrims, while the balance was made up of our party and the LatinChristians living at Nazareth. The notes of the organ sounded finely through the old church, and when we remembered that we were on the spot where the Christian world believes the coming of our Saviour was announced to his mother, we were deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion.
"Let me tell you here the story of theSanta Casa, or Holy House, as we heard it from the monks, and as it is told in the history of the Catholic Church since the fifteenth century:
"'The house in which Mary lived was carried away by angels, who lifted it from its foundations and bore it away when the infidels conquered the country and began the expulsion of the Christians. They carried it, ina.d. 1291, to the heights overlooking Finme, in Hungary. It rested there about three years, and was then transported to the coast of Italy, where it remained five or six months. A third and last removal occurred in the year 1294 or 1295 to the place where it now stands in the town of Loretto, twelve miles south of Ancona, and three miles from the sea-shore.' Great numbers of pilgrims are said to go there every year to see it, and the building is carefully preserved from injury. The Latin monks believe the story implicitly, and they point out the exact position which the house formerly occupied.
"We went from the church to see the house and workshop of Joseph, now fitted up as a chapel, and in possession of the Latins; and then we visited the 'Chapel of the Table of Christ,' where there is a table of solid rock, on which Jesus and his disciples are said to have eaten frequently. From this place we went to the synagogue where he was teaching whenthe Jews drove him out, and to the rock where they were about to cast him down. From there we went to the Fountain of the Virgin, where the Greeks have their Church of the Annunciation. When we had seen this we were told that the round of the holy places of Nazareth was complete, unless we wished to see the 'Mount of the Precipitation,' about two miles away.
"We declined the journey, as there is a great deal of doubt concerning the accuracy of the tradition. Doctor Bronson said we should not miss the view from the hill back of Nazareth, and so we climbed there a little before sunset and had a magnificent prospect.
THE COUNTRY NEAR NAZARETH, WITH THE TOWN IN THE DISTANCE.
"The best point for the view was said to be Neby Ismail, and we certainly have seen nothing finer in all Palestine. The hills are less barren than in most other parts of the country that we have visited, and the plains and valleys present an appearance of fertility. Mounts Tabor, Hermon, and Carmel were in the picture, and beyond the latter we had a glimpse of the blue waters of the Mediterranean bounding the western horizon. Then we looked down on the Plain of Esdraelon and on the upper Valley of the Jordan, and lingered as long as time would permit. I cannot begin to tell you of the thoughts and associations that crowded upon us in looking upon the place so intimately connected with the life of the Saviour, and the scenes of so many other events that form a part of our Bible history."
On Monday morning the party made a good start in the direction of Mount Tabor and the Sea of Galilee. The tents were sent direct to the camping-ground which had been selected for the night, while the travellers made a detour to the summit of the historic mountain.
They looked back from the crest of a ridge on the road, and had a fine view of Nazareth. An hour's ride from this point through a wooded valley brought them to the foot of Mount Tabor, theJebel-et-Turof the Arabs, and a famous name in biblical history. Unlike many of the mountains of Palestine it is covered with trees to the summit, and the ruins scattered about its sides show that it has been the home of many people through numerous generations.
"We had a zigzag ride up the side of Mount Tabor," said the youths, in their journal, "and made frequent stoppages for our horses to take breath. When we reached the top we found it was not a peak, but a sort of rounded ridge, half a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. All the space on the summit is covered with ruins, and there have evidently been towns, temples, fortresses, and other buildings on this commanding spot. We learn from the Bible (Joshua xix. 22) that Tabor was occupied when the Israelites first came into the country, and it is probable that there was a town here at that time. In another place (Judges iv.) we learn that Deborah ordered Barak to gather an army here; and it was from Tabor that the Israelites marched when they defeated Sisera. From that time down to the Christian era Tabor continued to be an important point, and was the scene of several battles. In the fourth century it was regarded as the scene of the Transfiguration, and many pilgrimages were made to it by the early Christians. Hermits formerly dwelt here in caves, and subsisted on the charity of visitors.
HOME OF A CAVE-HERMIT IN PALESTINE.
"Several convents and churches were established on Mount Tabor, and the Crusaders built a monastery on the summit, which was afterward destroyed by the infidels. There are two monasteries here now,but they are not of much consequence; one belongs to the Latins and the other to the Greeks, and, as we did not wish to show any partiality, we visited both of them. There is great hostility between the monks of the two establishments, and those who visit one are generally excluded from the other. Each party claims that the scene of the Transfiguration was on the spot where its own church stands. Both these statements are generally disbelieved; and it is the opinion of the majority of those who have investigated the matter that the great event occurred elsewhere than on Mount Tabor.
MOUNT TABOR.
"Our ride from Nazareth had given us a good appetite, and we were quite ready for the lunch which Ali brought for us in his saddle-bags. While engaged in satisfying our hunger we enjoyed the view from the summit of the mountain; it includes Hermon and Carmel—the latter almost hiding the thin strip of the Mediterranean, and itself partly concealed by the nearer ranges of hills. Looking to the east we saw a part of the Lake of Tiberias, and beyond it the chain of the Hauran Mountains; and, as we turned toward the southern horizon, the guide pointedout the mountains of Gilead. Apparently at our feet was the Plain of Esdraelon, with its ancient battle-fields, and on the hills around us were Endor, Nain, and half a dozen other villages of less importance. The deep Valley of the Jordan was revealed for a considerable distance, and we realized more than ever before how great is the depression where the river flows. The top of Tabor is more than two thousand feet above the level of the Mediterranean, while the surface of the lake is six hundred and forty feet below it. Consequently, we looked down nearly two thousand seven hundred feet to the waters on whose banks we were to pass the night.
"While descending Mount Tabor we disturbed several partridges and other birds, and one of us thought we had a glimpse of a fox darting among the trees. The guide said there were several kinds of game here, but nobody paid much attention to it, since it was not easy to get at. The Arabs sometimes catch hares and partridges in traps, but the foxes are too cunning to be taken in that way.
"Down and down we went, and from Tabor to Tiberias it was a descending road the most of the way. We passed theKhan el-Tujar,or Caravansary of the Merchants, which is very much in ruins, but was evidently a strong place at the time of its erection, three hundred years ago. It was built by the Pacha of Damascus for the protection of the merchants from the robbers, who frequently plundered the caravans and made the road dangerous. A market is held here once a week, and the people from Tiberias, Nazareth, and other places in the neighborhood come to sell their wares, but we could not learn that they had much to sell.
DISTANT VIEW OF KEFR KENNA.
"Cana of Galilee, where the water was turned into wine, is off our road, and we had to be satisfied with the indication of its position. It is now called Kefr Kenna, and has a population of five or six hundred, half of whom are Moslems and the rest Greek Christians. The Greeks have a church in which they show one of the jars or water-pots in which the miracle was performed. There is another Kenna or Cana between Nazareth and Mount Carmel, and some authorities think it was the scene of the miracle, and not the one we have been talking about.
THE CITY AND LAKE OF TIBERIAS.
"As we rode down the hills we had a full view of the sea or lake of Tiberias, which is also called the Sea of Galilee, and the sea or lake of Gennesaret, and known to the Arabs asBahr Tabariyeh. It is smaller than you might suppose from its importance in history; it is thirteen miles long and less than seven in width, and in the midst of a region with very few inhabitants. As we looked at it, it seemed little more than a pond, and the hills beyond it were bare and desolate. The fertility of the region must be far less now than it was in the time of our Saviour, and it isthe general opinion that the country has undergone many changes. We passed the ruins of several villages and towns, and for nearly all the time of our journey the evidences were all around us that a great many people once lived here.
"The most populous town on the banks of the lake is Tiberias, but it has not more than two thousand inhabitants, and the majority of them have a poverty-stricken appearance. Like all the people of Palestine, they begged persistently for backsheesh, and would not leave us till we threatened to appeal to the Governor and ask for a guard to protect us. We noticed that a great number of them were Jews, and several spoke to us in German; this roused our curiosity, and we asked the Doctor what it all meant. He explained it to us in this way:
"'Tiberias is like Jerusalem in one respect—it is a sacred place with the Jews, many of whom believe that the Messiah will rise from the waters of the lake and establish his throne on one of the hills back of the little town. For this reason many Jews of Poland and Germany make pilgrimages to Tiberias, and some of them remain to pass their lives in the sacred spot. They are generally a worthless and lazy lot, and are supported by the charity of visitors and by money sent by wealthy Jews of Europe.'
"More than half the inhabitants of Tiberias are Jews; the rest are Moslems and Christians in about equal proportions. The Latins and Greeks have churches here; one of them is dedicated to St. Peter, and the miracle of the draught of the fishes is said to have taken place in front of the town. There was a terrible earthquake here in 1837, which threw down large parts of the walls and killed great numbers of the people. There has been no attempt to repair the damages, and it would be easy to ride into Tiberias without taking the trouble to enter by the gates.
"Our tents were pitched on a little cleared space outside the walls and close to the lake, and after it became dark we indulged in a swim in the waters of Galilee. The next morning we went to the warm baths for which Tiberias was once celebrated, and tried them for a little while; but the smell of sulphur was so strong that we did not much enjoy our visit. These baths were famous among the Romans, and were believed to possess many curative qualities; the water is very salt and bitter to the taste, and is certainly disagreeable enough to be good for invalids, provided they can stand it. We put a thermometer into the water, and found its temperature 144° Fahrenheit. There are four springs altogether, and there is a building over the largest of them. The baths are taken almost entirely by strangers, as the residents of Tiberias havean antipathy for water except for drinking purposes: they never bathe except when they tumble into the lake accidentally, or are thrown there by the visitors whom they annoy.
"We spent an hour among the ruins of the ancient Tiberias, which covered a much larger area than its modern successor. The city was founded by Herod near the beginning of the Christian era, and he called it Tiberias in honor of the Roman emperor of that name. It had a palace and a race-course, and, if we may judge by the extent of its ruins, it was a place of no ordinary importance. It was captured several times in the wars that devastated the country, but has never ceased to be regarded with special veneration by the Jews. Many pious Jews come here to die: the location is unhealthy on account of fevers and other diseases, and consequently the mortality is great, and the town is exactly suited to their wants."
Of course the whole party was desirous of taking a voyage on the lake, and they sent Ali to engage a boat with that object in view. According to the biblical account there were many vessels there during our Saviour's time, but at present there are only three boats, and rarely more than two of these are afloat at once. The lake abounds in fish, and, if there was a sufficient population to buy and pay for the proceeds of the work, a dozen or a hundred fishermen could do a good business. But with nobody to eat them it would be idle to catch the fish; and as the natives do not understand sport for its own sake, the finny inhabitants are not seriously disturbed.
Ali secured a boat for the excursion, and it was arranged that the rest of the day should be spent on the lake. The saddle-horses were to go with the baggage-animals to Tell Hum, where the camp would be formed for the night. Everybody was delighted with this arrangement, and the youths could hardly restrain their impatience to be off on the voyage over the Sea of Galilee.
The boat was of the Oriental pattern, and without any deck or awning to protect the travellers from the sun, which generally beats down on the waters with a good deal of energy. Umbrellas were brought into requisition, and thus equipped, and with provisions to satisfy their hunger when the hour came for the mid-day meal, the six strangers and their dragoman took seats in the stern of the boat and pushed away from land.
MAP OF THE SEA OF GALILEE.
It was the plan of the party to make the circuit of the lake, and visit points of interest whenever the wind favored and it was safe to do so. Ali told them that as they had no escort, and had no arrangements forpaying backsheesh, for the plain reason that there was no one at Tiberias with whom they could negotiate, it would not be judicious to land on the eastern shore. The country is in possession of the Bedouins, who have no hesitation at plundering the traveller of all that he has about him, and then demanding a heavy backsheesh to let him go. On this statement of affairs it was unanimously agreed that nobody cared to land on the eastern shore.
The boat followed the coast to the vicinity of Kerak, which is close to the exit of the Jordan, and then turned to the north and east in the direction of Kalat el-Hosn. On the maps this place is generally laiddown as Gamala; it is a heap of ruins, and has been without inhabitants since the city of Gamala was destroyed by Vespasian, and the surrounding region of Gamalatis passed under his control.
Then they went northward past the ruins of Kersa, or Kheusa, situated in a narrow valley. A steep bank comes down to the lake close by Kersa, and some authorities have endeavored to identify it as the place where the herd of swine ran down to the sea. There is no other point where there is so steep a bank as this coming down to the water. The theory of its identity is based entirely on its being the most convenient spot for a herd of swine to commit suicide.
MAGDALA AND PLAIN OF GENNESARET.
From Kersa they crossed the lake to Magdala, or Mejdel, whose chief claim to distinction arises from its having been the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. The town is principally in ruins, and there are only a few huts there occupied by miserable Arabs, whose chief occupation is to beg for backsheesh. The region around is, or might be, fertile, but Magdala is the only inhabited spot in the Plain of Gennesaret, and nobody cares to engage in agriculture of any sort. That the ground is fertile is provenby the abundance of thistles, weeds, and bushes with which it is covered, and the thickets of oleander and other trees, together with occasional clusters of palms. One of the boys said it seemed as though a curse rested on the land. Doctor Bronson assented to this view, and added that the Turkish Government had a great deal to do with the matter, as its exorbitant taxes on all kinds of industry was an effectual barrier to anything like honest work.
As they sailed northward from Magdala, Doctor Bronson pointed out a valley leading from the Plain of Gennesaret, and asked the guide what it was.
Ali replied that it was called Wady Haman.
"I thought so," answered the Doctor. "By going up that valley we might visit the caverns which are mentioned by Josephus and other writers."
Frank asked for what these caverns were celebrated, and how large they were.
"They are partly natural and partly artificial," was the reply, "and are large enough to shelter five or six hundred persons. The openings are protected by walls, and at every exposed point there is a bastion or something of the kind, so that the occupants could defend themselves with great ease.
"They are mentioned in the Bible, but more fully in the works of Josephus, who calls them fortified caverns. They have been occupied at different times as resorts of robbers, or as strongholds of regular soldiers, and in either case it was a matter of great difficulty to take them. In the time of Herod the Great they were held by robbers, who plundered all the surrounding country, and made themselves so troublesome that the king determined to get rid of them.
HEROD'S PLAN OF ATTACK.
"He sent his soldiers to attack them, but the position of the robbers was so strong that they repelled every assault. Finally he ordered some strong boxes to be made, and suspended over the face of the cliff by means of iron chains, and when all was ready he filled the boxes with soldiers, and lowered them down in front of the caves.
BATTLE WITH THE ROBBERS.
"The robbers were taken by surprise, but they quickly came to their senses, and made a desperate resistance. The soldiers were victorious; and the robbers that escaped death by the spear, or being thrown over the cliff, were soon made prisoners, and their business was broken up. At the present time the caves are unoccupied, except by a few beggars, who live upon what they get from visitors.
"Back of the caverns are the ruins of the ancient city of Arbela, which is doubtless the Beth-Arbel mentioned in Hosea x. 14. The ruins are overgrown with reeds and vines, and are not worth the time and trouble of visiting them."
From Magdala the boat made a straight course for the mouth of the Jordan, and was carried rapidly forward by a strong breeze from the south. The dragoman said that the lake was liable to be swept by sudden winds, like the majority of inland waters surrounded by mountains, and he predicted that the favoring breeze they had just caught might leave them altogether by the time they reached the point for which they were heading. Sure enough it did so; and as they entered the mouth of the river there was not enough to carry them against the current. The boatmen took to their oars, and in a little while they were a couple of miles from the lake and in front of the ruins of Bethsaida.
The ground for quite a distance is covered with the remains of dwellings, the most of them so overgrown with weeds and bushes that theymust be sought for in order to be found. Bethsaida means "house of fish," or "fish-marke;" and there was another village of the same name near Capernaum, so that much confusion has arisen concerning them. It was probably near the Bethsaida on the Jordan, where we now are, that the miracle of feeding the multitude was performed, as described in the ninth chapter of Luke, while it was to the other Bethsaida that Christ sent away his disciples, and went up into the mountain to pray.
As the boat descended the river to reach the lake again Doctor Bronson read from the Bible the account of the stilling of the tempest, and the events connected with it. All were agreed that the miracle must have been performed near the western shore, and close by Capernaum, and the scriptural description seemed to tally exactly with the configuration of the land and lake. It was easy to imagine the scene, especially as the wind by which they had been blown from Magdala had ceased entirely, and "there was a great calm." By steady rowing the boat was brought to Tell Hum a little before sunset, and the voyage around the Sea of Galilee was at an end.
Near Tell Hum the guide called the attention of the youths to a man on the shore standing motionless as a statue, and holding a scoop-net with a long handle.
While they watched him he brought the net to the water with a rapid sweep, and then lifted it almost in the same motion. As he swung it to land a fish was seen vainly struggling to escape from the meshes of the net.
A GALILEE FISHING-BOAT.
Ali explained that they had witnessed one of the modes of fishing practised by the natives. They watch along the shore, and when a fish comes near enough he is secured by a rapid motion of the net, and it must be very rapid too. Another plan of catching fish is to render them insensible by poison, and then gather them as they float on the surface of the water. Europeans have some hesitation at eating fish caught in this way, but the natives are not so fastidious. Sometimes fish are caught intraps in the mouths of the little streams flowing into the lake or along the shore, but nobody troubles himself about seeking in deep water.
Frank wanted to know what kinds of fish were taken in the lake, but the information he obtained was not very clear. Ali questioned the boatmen, and, as near as he could make out, the fishes of the Lake of Tiberias are thebinni, or carp, and themesht, orcoracinus, which belongs to the cat-fish family. The latter are the most abundant, and sufficient for the wants of a population much larger than exists at present near the lake.
RUINS AT TELL HUM.
They landed at Tell Hum, where they paid and dismissed the boatmen, and then strolled a short time among the ruins before going to their tents. A large town or city once stood here, and that it was an important place with the Jews is shown by the ruins of their synagogue, which must have been an edifice of considerable extent and excellent proportions. One writer says it was among the finest buildings in Palestine, and the fragments now on the ground reveal some admirable specimens of sculpture. Frank and Fred tried to take the measurements of a part of the wall of the building, but were unable to do so on account of the great number of weeds and vines that covered the ground. They foundseveral blocks nine or ten feet long, and broad in proportion, that evidently formed a part of the foundations.
Doctor Bronson told them that Tell Hum was thought by some to be the Capernaum of the New Testament; others believe Capernaum was farther to the south, and make Tell Hum identical with Chorazin. The latter theory is sustained by its proximity to Bethsaida. The words of Christ, "Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!" would seem to indicate that they were near each other. Tell Hum is about two miles from Bethsaida, while nearly the same distance farther on is Khan Minyeh, which is claimed by several authorities to have been the Capernaum of the New Testament.
As they sat in front of their tents while the sun was dipping below the horizon, our friends naturally talked of the country around them, and compared it with what it probably was two thousand years ago. The reflection was not a cheering one, and they were not at all sorry to change to a more agreeable topic.
The full-moon rose over the eastern mountains. As it ascended, and threw its light on the lake, the ruggedness of the hills was softened, the placid waters became like a sheet of silver, the stars were reflected as in a mirror, and the sky was without a cloud. The picture was one to be long remembered, and each one of that little party regretted that the time was near for them to bid it farewell.
VIEW OF THE LAKE FROM THE WESTERN SHORE.
THE ROCK PARTRIDGE.
Everybody was out of bed before daylight, and prepared for an early start. Before the sun was up the tents had been folded and packed, and the travellers were in the saddle and riding away from Tell Hum. From the summit of a hill they looked back upon Gennesaret, which lay far below them, with its waters sparkling in the sunlight, and its surface undisturbed by a single boat. Then they rode on again. Around them were the rugged hills of Palestine, and every few minutes they disturbed the partridges that have their homes among the rocks. Frank recalled to memory the passage in Samuel, "as one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains." The guide said that in some parts of the country these birds are so abundant that they do a great deal of damage; they dig up and devour the freshly-sown wheat, and when the crops are ripening they feed upon the grain, and are often to be seen in large flocks.
The road was rough and steep, and led steadily upward. Frank thought that when the engineers laid it out they selected the worst places they could find, and Fred replied that he did not believe it had any engineers at all. "Even the mules and horses would have done better," Fred continued. "You know it is said in America that the buffaloes were the first road-makers, as it has been found that the buffalo trails in the Rocky Mountains are always through the lowest passes, and avoid the roughest places. Now if the beasts of burden in this country had laid out the roads they would have done better than the men who undertook the work."
It was a weary ride along this road, and frequently the travellers dismounted, partly out of compassion for their horses, and partly because riding was dangerous where the rocks were worn smooth or moistened by recent rains. Ruins of towns and villages were seen in several places, and some of the cliffs were pierced with caverns that formerly gave shelter to robbers or were the homes of hermits. Three hours of climbing brought them to Safed, which is one of the holy cities of the Jews, and has a population of three or four thousand.
The town is on a mountain, and commanded by a castle that is said to have been built in the time of the Crusades, but is now sadly in ruins. Down to the beginning of 1837 it was in good condition, and so were the houses where the people dwelt; the earthquake, on the first day of that year, wrought terrible destruction to Safed, as it overthrew nearly all the buildings, and killed, according to the estimates, five thousand of the inhabitants. The town was divided into the Christian, Moslem, and Jewish quarters; the Jewish quarter suffered most, and it is said that four-fifths of those killed by the earthquake belonged to the religion of King Solomon. Mr. Thomson, who visited Safed soon after the earthquake, saysnot a single Jewish house remained when the shocks were ended, and several persons were saved from the rubbish two or three days after the occurrence; they had been unable to extricate themselves, and suffered greatly from hunger and thirst. Others were less fortunate, and perished of hunger beneath the fallen débris of the houses where they had resided.
There was nothing of special interest in Safed, as the town is nearly all modern, having been rebuilt since the earthquake. Some authorities think Safed was the "city set on a hill" which was referred to by Christ in his Sermon on the Mount (Matt. v. 14). Certainly the position would seem to justify such a belief, as it is visible for quite a distance from nearly all directions, and the view from it is a wide one.
Our friends halted briefly for a contemplation of the scene, which includes the Lebanon and Hermon ranges of mountains, the countries of Samaria, Carmel, and Galilee to the sea-coast, the Valley of the Jordan, the land of Gilead, Moab and Bashan, and the whole area of rugged hills in which the Sea of Tiberias is enclosed. They were reminded of the view from Tabor, especially as they looked downward nearly three thousand feet before their vision reached the waters of deep Galilee. The guide indicated many points of historic interest, and the list became so long that the attempt to remember everything was soon abandoned.
THE PLAIN OF HULEH.
From Safed they rode on through a rough and desolate region, where they were often compelled to turn aside to avoid great masses of rock that filled the way. For quite a distance they were in sight of Lake Huleh,or Merom, and the youths regretted that time did not permit them to visit the lake and make a voyage upon it. Their regret was not very serious when Doctor Bronson told them that Huleh was an insignificant body of water less than five miles long, and surrounded by a marsh, so that its banks were not easy of access. It is mentioned in the Old Testament as "the waters of Merom," and it was on the bank of Merom, or near it, that the events occurred which are mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Joshua.
HUTS NEAR LAKE HULEH.
The lake is at the end of a plain twelve or fifteen miles long by four or five wide; this plain is cultivated by the Arabs who dwell upon it, and by some speculators of Damascus, who hire men to till the soil and allow them a share of the product. The ground is quite fertile, and has been long celebrated for the abundance of its yield.
AN ARMY OF KEDESH.
Late in the afternoon they came to Kedesh, the ancient Kedesh-Naphtali, where they were to pass the night. Beyond the historic interest ofthe place, and the rains that were scattered for a considerable extent over the ground, Kedesh offered no special attractions, as the modern village is neither large nor clean. The ruins show that there were some large buildings here, and by consulting their Bibles and other books Frank and Fred learned that Kedesh was the seat of a prince of Canaan, and afterward belonged to the tribe of Naphtali. Barak, the famous general of Deborah, was born here, and for several centuries his tomb was pointed out, as was also that of Deborah, the prophetess. The boys had seen so many ruins that a brief inspection satisfied them, and they went to bed soon after dark.
An early start was made from Kedesh, as there was a point of interest five hours from that place, and the guide had suggested that they would halt there for their mid-day meal. The country was rough, and the road wound among the hills, with frequent ascents and descents; but many of the slopes were wooded, and the path was often enclosed by vines and other plants, that gave evidence of a fertile soil. In the early spring, when the flowers are opening, the air is filled with rich odors, and the traveller forgets the rugged hills of Judea, and feasts his eyes on the beauty of the scenes that surround him.
The party halted a few moments at Hunin, a small village near a fortress which is said to have no history. Nobody can tell when or by whom it was built; at any rate, there is no historical record of it, and the only opinions as to its antiquity are derived from the building itself. The foundations are very ancient, and the structure reveals the work of Romans, Saracens, Crusaders, Turks, and Arabs. Hunin has not been identified with any biblical spot, though Doctor Robinson thinks it may have been the Beth-rehob mentioned in the eighteenth chapter of Judges.
From Hunin they went down and down a long distance to the Plain of Huleh, and finally reached their halting-place; it bears the modern name of Tell el-Kady ("the Hill of the Judge"), and is undoubtedly the site of Dan, frequently mentioned in the Bible.
"From Dan to Beersheba," said Fred, as he slid from his saddle to the ground. "What is the meaning of that phrase which everybody knows?"
"This was the most northern town of the Israelite kingdom," replied the Doctor, "and Beersheba the most southern. To go from Dan to Beersheba was to go from one end of Palestine to the other, just as we say in America, 'from Maine to California,' or 'from Boston to Brownsville.'"
"Then we are at the northern end of Palestine," said Frank, "and close to the frontier of Syria?"
"Exactly so," was the reply; "and to-morrow we shall bid farewell to what is called the Holy Land. We are only three miles from the boundary, and our camp to-night will be where we can throw a stone from one region into the other."
With this understanding of their position the boys proceeded to examine the site of Dan. While they were doing so the Doctor explained that the word "Dan" in Hebrew means "Judge," which is exactly the signification of the Arabic "Kady." The place is called "the Hill," because it is a hill or mound shaped like the summit of a mountain, and about eighty feet higher than the surrounding plain. It is thought to have been once the crater of a volcano, and its shape certainly justifies that belief. The diameter of the cup or basin on the top of the mound is about half a mile; the whole area is covered with ruins, but they are so overgrown with vines and brush that an examination is difficult.
Frank was ready in a few moments with a brief account of Dan, which he ran off very glibly, as follows:
"The place was originally a Phœnician colony under the name of Laish, and was a populous city. A wandering band of Danites captured it, and named it after the founder of their tribe; they set up a graven image which they had stolen, and, as they had also stolen a priest along with the idol, they had a good basis for a system of religion.
"You can read in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Judges how the Danites captured Laish, and stole their gods and the priest. You can read in Genesis xiv. how Abraham pursued the plunderers of Sodom to Dan, and recovered what they had stolen; and in the twelfth chapter of the First Book of Kings you will learn how Jeroboam set up a golden calf in one of the temples of the Danites, and established its worship.
"But there is something which has been preserved down to our day," Frank continued; "here is one of the sources of the Jordan. The Danites and the golden calf have been gone for many centuries, but the fountain of the Jordan is not exhausted. It may say with the brook, in the words of the poet—
"'Men may come and men may go,But I go on forever.'"
Following the directions of the guide, Frank and his companions went to the western side of the mound, where they found a pool or basin about fifty yards across, in which the water bubbled as in a fast-flowing spring.It was, indeed, a spring, and the flow was large enough to form a stream thirty feet wide and two feet deep. The guide said it was the largest of all the sources of the Jordan, but the stream it formed was not so long as that from Banias, and the latter again is shorter than the Hasbany, which rises near Hasbeiyah. The stream rising at Dan is called the Lesser Jordan on the maps, and unites with the Greater Jordan a few miles below, while all meet in Lake Huleh, as we have already learned.