offered apprehensions from some bodies of Arabs, who were occasionally seen at a distance, reconnoitering them from the summits of those hills. At the village, they were told that the Arabs had collected in great force upon Mount Thabor, which lay at a short distance; so that a visit to that mountain became impracticable, for their guide would not venture thither. The inhabitants of the vil lage were in hourly expectation of an assault, from which they said, nothing but their poverty had hitherto preserved them. Mount Thabor, celebrated as the mountain on which our Saviour's transfiguration took place, seemed to be distant from this place about six miles. Its top was described as a plain of great extent, finely cultivated and inhabited by numerous Arab tribes. It appeared to be of a conical form, entirely detached from any neighbouring mountain, and it stands upon one side of a great plain. Our travellers breakfasted at the village beneath the shade of some mats covered with weeds, set up against the side of a house. Their bread was baked upon heated stones, in holes dug in the ground. The women, who were principally occupied in preparing it, were without veils, a circumstance of rare occurrence, and were of such unusual beauty, that our travellers had seen nothing to compare with them in any other part of the east.

They rested one day at this village, but the next morning they were refused camels to carry their luggage; upon the plea, that the Arabs would attack them and seize the camels.Asses were at length allowed, and they set off at seven o'clock. Every one of the party was eager to pursue the journey, for although they had pitched a tent upon the roof of the house where they passed the night, it had been, as usual, a night of suffering, rather than of rest; so infested with vermin was every part of the building. Captain Blisset, accompanied by William, set out on foot, leaving the rest of his companions to follow on horseback.

They now continued their journey without interruption; their road branched off to the eastward, and led them along the western bank of the river Jordan, which winds through an extensive and fertile plain. This river, the only Stream of importance in the holy land, rises in the mountain of Hermon, and unites with some other streams in forming a small lake, called in scripture, the lake Merom. After passing through this, and rolling on in a southerly course for ten miles, through rocky and wooded banks, it enters the northern side of the great lake called the sea of Tiberias, from the southern extremity of which it again issues. It then flows on almost due south through the plain of Jericho, and falls into the Dead Sea. Throughout the latter part of its

Bourse the Jordan is deep and very rapid, and nearly equal in breadth to the river Liffey, at Island Bridge, and its banks are full fifteen feet high.

Along this river, our travellers pursued their way, taking their course to the northward, until they drew near the lake of Tiberias. Upon the western shore of which, and nearly at the southern extremity, lies the town, bearing the same name; of this they had a noble view as they looked down on it from an adjacent rising ground here and there, groups of Arabs gathering their harvest upon the backs of camels, were seen passing to and fro; and ou looking towards the northern shores, they could plainly discern the town of Capernaum. All along the borders of this lake may still be seen the remains of those ancient tombs, hewn by the earliest inhabitants of Galilee, in the rocks which face the water.

These tombs, at the period of the Christian era, had become the resort of persons afflicted with such diseases as rendered them outcasts from society; and in the account of the cure performed by our Saviour upon the maniac in the country of the Gadarenes, these tombs are particularly alluded to, Mark v. 2, 3.

Upon entering the town, they found it bearing all the marks of decay, though its high walls and its castle shew that it was once a place of

considerable importance. In the latter, they procured a lodging for the night, and set off. again, at six o'clock in the morning, on their way to Nazareth. Their road led over a rising ground covered with green sod, which the guides pointed out as the spot where our Saviour fed the multitude, and beyond it rose a high mountain, said to be that on which He preached to his disciples, Matth. v. vi. vii. chaps.

This part of the country is full of wild animals. Antelopes are very numerous, and were frequently seen in herds feeding among the tall thistles, and now and then bounding swiftly down the rocks when startled at the least sound.

As they ascended this mountain, Captain Blisset paused to look back on the adjacent scenery-the town of Tiberias lay as it were at his feet, and the lake stretched in a long line to the northward. Few could view un. moved, a scene so closely connected with the life and actions of our Saviour. The sea

that lay, before him was that on which, when the disciples were perishing in the storm, they saw Jesus in the fourth watch of the night, walking to them on the waves, Matt. xiv. 25, 26. Close from its shore towards the west, rose the steep mountain, down which the herd of swine ran and perished in the water, Matt. viii, 32.-Far to the east was seen Mount Hermon, with the city of Nain lying at its

foot, where the widow's son was restored to life, Luke vii. 11. and to the north appeared the snowy summits of Libanus towering above a series of intervening mountains.

Beyond this, the country again assumed a wilder aspect, and in many parts was intersected by long ridges of rocks. The heat here was beyond any they had yet endured, and just at this critical moment, Captain Blisset had the misfortune to break his umbrella, a trifling circumstance in our mild climate, but here of so much importance that all hopes of continuing their journey depended upon its being repaired. Happily beneath some rocks, over which they were then passing, there caverns, originally excavated by shepherds for shelter for themselves while tending their flocks. Into these caves they crept, and whilst the umbrella was repairing, their arab attendants prepared some cakes of bread which they baked in the heat of the sun.

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Having rested here a short time, they resumed their journey, and passing through the village of Turan, they came to Cana, of Galilee. When they entered Cana, they stopped at a small Greek Chapel, in the court of which they all rested while their breakfast was spread upon the ground. This meal consisted of a quantity of cucumbers, some white mulberries, hot cakes fried in honey and butter, and a few fowls. Having partaken of this repast, Captain

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