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 TRAVELS 
 
 PALESTINE, 
 
 THROUGH THE COUNTRIES OF 
 
 BASHAN AND GILEAD, 
 
 EAST OF THE RIVER JORDAN: 
 
 INCLUDING A VISIT TO THE 
 
 CITIES OF GERAZA AND GAMALA, 
 
 /A' THE DECAPOLIS. 
 
 By J. S. BUCKINGHAM, 
 
 SIEMBEH OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETT, CALCUTTA ; AND OF THE LITERART 
 SOCIETIES OF MADRAS AND BOMBAY. 
 
 deconO (IBliition. 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON ._ 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, 
 
 PA TERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1822.
 
 DEDICATED, 
 BY EXPRESS PERMISSION, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE MOST HONOURABLE 
 
 THE MARQUESS OF HASTINGS, K.G. 
 
 F.R.S., P. S.A, M.R.I.A., 
 GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA, 
 
 Sic. 8ic. S<c. 
 
 WITH THE GREATEST RESPECT, 
 BY HIS MUCH OBLIGED, 
 
 AND VERY OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR,
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 On announcing to the public a new volume of 
 travels through a country apparently so well 
 known as Palestine, some explanation is due 
 to those who may honour the work with their 
 patronage. 
 
 The authors who have written in illustration 
 of this small portion of the globe, from Benja- 
 min of Tudela and Sir John Mandeville, down 
 to Dr. Clarke and Mr. Chateaubriand, may be 
 thought to have so completely exhausted the 
 subject, as to leave nothing new to be added by 
 another. 
 
 The itineraries of Catholic devotees have fur- 
 nished the most ample details regarding the 
 sanctuaries and holy places ; and the names of 
 Phocas, Quaresmius, and Adrichomius, are 
 associated with these early labours. The ex- 
 tended journeys of Protestant scholars have en- 
 larged our acquaintance with objects of more 
 general enquiry, and the names of Maundrell, 
 Shaw, and Pococke, stand pre-eminent among 
 these. The profound researches of both English 
 and French critics, have laid open all the stores of 
 learning in illustration of the ancient geography of 
 
 a 4
 
 VIU PREFACE. 
 
 Ju^ea ; and the works of Reland and D* Anville, 
 are monuments of erudition and sagacity that 
 would do honour to any country, while the 
 labours of very recent travellers would seem to 
 close the circle of our enquiries, by the pictures 
 which they have given of the general state of 
 manners and the present aspect of the country, 
 retaining still the freshness of their original 
 colouring. 
 
 Yet among all those who have made the Holy 
 Land the scene of their researches, there has 
 not been one who did not conceive that he was 
 able to correct and add to the labours of his 
 predecessors, and, indeed, who did not really 
 notice something of interest which had been 
 disregarded before. It is thus that Dr. Clarke 
 expresses his doubts and disbelief at every step, 
 and attempts to refute, with indignation, autho- 
 rities which travellers of every age had hitherto 
 been accustomed to venerate. And it is thus, 
 too, that Chateaubriand confesses, with all the 
 frankness of disappointment, that after he had 
 read some hundreds of volumes on the country 
 he came to visit, they had given him no accu- 
 rate conceptions of what he subsequently beheld 
 for himself. 
 
 I come then, like those who have preceded 
 me, with a profession of dissatisfaction at the 
 incompleteness of all that has been written be- 
 fore, and with the belief and assurance that I
 
 PREFACE. IX 
 
 am able to add something new and interesting 
 to the general fund of human knowledge, and 
 more particularly to our local acquaintance with 
 the country of Judea. 
 
 As the cradle of our religion, and the scene 
 of all that is venerable in Holy Writ j as the 
 birth-place of classic fable, interwoven wilh 
 Phoenician history ; as a theatre of the most 
 heroic exploits during the Jewish, the Roman, 
 and the Saracenian wars ; as a field moistened 
 with the best blood of our ancestors in the wild 
 and romantic age of the crusades ; and even 
 now, at the present hour, as a fair and lovely 
 portion of the earth, still favoured with the 
 dews of heaven, and blessed with the most be- 
 nignant sky ; it is impossible to pass through it 
 with indifference, and equally so, not to set 
 some value on the impressions which these ob- 
 jects and these recollections excite. 
 
 It will be expected that I should say some- 
 thing of my qualifications to execute the task of 
 giving these impressions to the world in a form 
 that may deserve their notice. 
 
 As far as my earliest recollections guide me, 
 the desire of visiting distant regions was even in 
 infancy the prominent one of my heart. At the 
 early age of nine years, the gratification of this 
 passion was promised to me by embarking as a 
 sailor on an element that had more charms for
 
 X PREFACE. 
 
 me than terrors. At the age of ten I was made 
 a prisoner of* war, and it being at tlie period of 
 tlie French revolution, in which the Spaniards 
 were their alhes in 179(3, I was conveyed with 
 my shipmates to the port of Corunna. 
 
 After a confinement of some time there, we 
 set out on our march towards Lisbon, and at 
 this tender age, though exposed to the in- 
 clemency of the autumnal rains, often sleeping 
 in the open air, scaling rugged and snow-clad 
 mountains barefoot, and subject to all the priva- 
 tions of prisons in a foreign land ; the charm of 
 novelty, and the fascinating beauties of nature 
 which presented themselves alternately in their 
 wildest, their loveliest, and their most romantic 
 forms, made me forget that I was a captive, and 
 often occasioned my young heart to bound with 
 joy under trials, which, without such enthusiasm 
 to support them, would have broken the stoutest 
 spirit. 
 
 This infant passion was strengthened rather 
 than subdued by my journey through the finest 
 parts of Spain and Portugal ; and, since that 
 period, a series of voyages to America, the 
 Bahama islands, and the West Indies, while they 
 furnished fresh food for enquiry, strengthened 
 more and more the ardent passion for discovery 
 and research. 
 
 The Mediterranean next became the scene of
 
 PREFACE. Xi 
 
 my wanderings. Those who iuive liad an early 
 love of chissic literature, and a veneration for 
 all that illustrates it, can alone tell what are tlie 
 feelings excited by a first view of objects in 
 nature which were before known to us only in 
 books. The elegant poetry of Lord Byron is 
 full of them, and though it belongs only to a 
 genius like his to express those feelings well, 
 yet men of humbler talents may and do expe- 
 rience them with equal force. 
 
 From the moment of my passing within the 
 portals of Calpe and Abyla, and seeing those 
 pillars of Hercules recede behind my vessel, 
 Egypt, Greece, Phoenicia, Palestine, Italy, and 
 Mauritania, all opened upon my view at once. 
 The desire of visiting them I had always felt : 
 this desire was now nurtured into hope, and 
 from that moment I constantly believed, that 
 I should tread most of the scenes which I have 
 since trodden, and behold with delight the 
 objects which I had so long contemplated with 
 admiration. 
 
 It was now that I applied myself, with more 
 than common ardour, to the reading of every 
 book within my reach that was likely to extend 
 my knowledge of the interesting countries by 
 which I was on all sides surrounded ; and, un- 
 favourable as the incessant duties, and the hardy 
 life of a sailor are to such studies, every moment
 
 Xll PllElACE. 
 
 that I could spare from the vigilant Avatch, which 
 squalls, and storms, and pirates, and more open 
 enemies, constantly demanded, and from all the 
 complicated claims which commerce and naviga- 
 tion enforced on my attention, was given to study. 
 
 Sicily, Malta, the continent of Greece, the 
 islands of the Archipelago, the coasts of Asia 
 Minor, and the Gulf of Smyrna, gave me only a 
 foretaste, but certainly a most delicious one, of 
 what was yet reserved for me to enjoy. 
 
 Alexandria at length received me into her 
 port ; and the Pharos, the Catacombs, Cleopa- 
 tra's Obelisk, and Pompey's Pillar, were all 
 objects of youthful veneration, which I now 
 beheld with correspondent pleasure. 
 
 I ascended the Nile, with the Odyssey and 
 Telemaque in either hand ; and Homer and 
 Fenelon never interested me more than upon 
 the banks of this sacred stream. 
 
 The proud capital of the khalifs " Misr, the 
 mother of the world ;" " Kahira the victorious," 
 placed me amid the scenes of oriental story. 
 The venerable Pyramids carried me back to the 
 obscurity of ages which are immemorial. The 
 ruins of Heliopolis inspired the recollections of 
 Pythagoras, and the Grecian sages who had 
 studied in its colleges ; and the hall of Joseph 
 brought before my view the history of Abraham 
 and his posterity, of Moses and Pharaoh, and
 
 pinn'ACE. xiii 
 
 of all the subsequent e\ents tliat befei the race 
 of Israel. 
 
 My attention was now directed towards^ India, 
 by the desire which the mercantile community 
 of Egypt had to renew their ancient intercourse 
 with this country by w^ay of the Red Sea. I 
 was chosen as an agent in the work, and em- 
 barked in it. In the mean time, it was repre- 
 sented to me as desirable, that a more compe- 
 tent knowledge of the navigation of this sea 
 should be obtained, and as the task required 
 only duties which were familiar to me, I set out 
 to accomplish it. 
 
 With this view, I ascended the Nile to Keneh, 
 in order to cross over from thence to Kosseir, 
 having with me excellent instruments for nauti- 
 cal purposes. I did not pass Hermopolis and 
 Antinoe, Panopolis and Abydos, Diospolis and 
 Tentyra, without an enthusiastic, and I may say 
 a minute examination of their fine remains. I 
 w^as near to Coptos; but Thebes, Hermonthis, 
 Elythia, Apollinopolis, Ambos, and Syene, with 
 the cataracts of Philoti and Elephantina, were 
 still beyond me. The passage to Kosseir was 
 obstructed at this time, and hopes were enter- 
 tained of its being re-opened after some few days. 
 I hesitated not a moment, but again spread forth 
 the sail upon the Nile for still more southern 
 skies.
 
 XIV PREFACE. 
 
 At Thebes I remained a week. At Esneh or 
 Latopolis, I met with the late lamented, and 
 most accomplished traveller, Mr. Burckhardt. 
 We remained together for three or four days, 
 scarcely absent from each other's sight for a 
 moment, and scarcely ever silent, so much had 
 we to enquire of and to communicate to each 
 other. We separated, Mr. Burckhardt for the 
 Desert, and I to continue my course still up- 
 ward on the stream. 
 
 I reached the cataracts. The intelligence 
 received here of the -wonderful monuments be- 
 yond this, determined me to pursue their traces 
 as far southward as they could be found. 1 pro- 
 cured another boat and embarked. The temples 
 of Daboat, of Taefa, and Galabshee ; the quar- 
 ries and inscriptions of Gartaasy ; the stupendous 
 cavern, with its alley of sphinxes, and colossal 
 statues at Garfeecy ; and the highly-finished 
 sculptures of the beautiful temple of Dukkey, 
 rewarded the undertaking, and induced me to 
 consider the monuments of Nubia as belonging 
 to a higher class of art than even those of 
 Egypt. 
 
 I had received the first attack of an opthal- 
 mia on quitting Mr. Burckhardt, who himself 
 laboured under this disease at Esneh. I now, 
 however, became gradually blind ; and as the 
 least glare of light was painful to me, even while
 
 PREFACE. XV 
 
 my eyes were closed, it was in vain to think of 
 penetrating Ibrther. 
 
 I returned from Nubia with regret, but rich, 
 as I then thouglil, in the spoils of the enterprise. 
 
 An accurate chart of the Nile, as far as I had 
 ascended it, with a delineation of the islands and 
 inferior cataracts that we had passed ; an obser- 
 vation which fixed with some precision the 
 tropic of Cancer passing tlirough the largest of 
 these rapids; thelatitude of Dukkey, the extreme 
 point of my voyage ; with measured plans, and 
 pretty ample details of all the monuments of 
 antiquity that we had found ; were the result of 
 my labours on this unanticipated excursion be- 
 yond the Nubian frontier. 
 
 I descended to Keneh ; and though the ob- 
 stacles which at first obstructed my passage of 
 the Desert were rather augmented than dimi- 
 nished, I determined on making the attempt, 
 and accordingly set out with all the precautions 
 which it was in my power to use. 
 
 The result was, as had been predicted. I 
 was stripped naked among the mountains, 
 plundered of money, papers, arms, and instru- 
 ments, and abandoned to my fate. I had to 
 trace this rocky path naked and barefoot, 
 scorched by day and frozen by night, for it was 
 in the depth of tlie Egyptian winter. I con- 
 tinued for two days without food or water, and
 
 XVI PREFACE. 
 
 the first nourishment of vvliich I partook was 
 some raw wheat from a sack, which, swelling in 
 tlie stomach, had nearly proved fatal to me. 
 
 When I lay down at Kosseir T was unable to 
 rise again, or to support the weight of my body, 
 from the wounded state of my swoln and lace- 
 rated feet. A mutiny of the soldiery, and a 
 general commotion among the people here, 
 rendered it impossible to obtain a passage by sea 
 from hence to any part of the opposite coast ; 
 besides which, as my instruments were gone, 
 my labours would have availed but little in the 
 task originally intended, that of examining nauti- 
 cally and hydrographically the upper part of the 
 Red Sea. 
 
 1 retraced my steps to Keneh without inter- 
 ruption, by taking another route, descended the 
 Nile rapidly without suffering any impediments 
 to retard the progress of our vessel, and again 
 reposed from my toils in the hospitable mansion 
 of Colonel Missett, one of the most amiable and 
 worthy of men. 
 
 During my second stay at Cairo, 1 applied 
 myself with great zeal to the study of the Arabic 
 language, of which I had already acquired a 
 slight knowledge colloquially, and after making 
 some progress in it, assumed the dress of an 
 Egyptian Fellah, crossed the desert of Suez to 
 examine its port, returned by a more northern
 
 PREFACE. XVIl 
 
 route to explore the traces of the ancient canal 
 which had connected the Nile with the Arabian 
 Gulf, visited Bubastis, Tanis, and other cele- 
 brated ruins, with the Lake of Menzaleh, in the 
 Lower Egypt, crossed from Damietta along the . 
 edge of the Delta to Rosetta, and returned at 
 length to Alexandria, the original point of my 
 departure. 
 
 At this period, the Egyptian government were 
 desirous of getting some large and fast-sailing 
 vessels into the Red Sea ; but, Mohammed Ali 
 being refused permission to send ships round 
 the Cape, and disappointed in promised sup- 
 plies from India, I offered to undertake the 
 work of restoring the ancient canal, which I had 
 just returned from examining, or of transporting 
 two beautiful American brigs belonging to the 
 Pasha, which then lay in the harbour of Alex- 
 andria, across the desert to Suez. The practi- 
 cability of these operations was satisfactorily 
 explained to our Consul-general, Colonel Missett, 
 through whom the correspondence officially 
 passed, alid he gave it his warm support j but 
 they were undertakings which the Turks could 
 neither sufficiently appreciate nor accurately 
 comprehend. 
 
 My study of the Arabic language was re- 
 sumed, and continued during my second stay 
 here, till a more favourable occasion offeiing for 
 
 VOL. I. a
 
 Xviii PREFACE. 
 
 the prosecution of my intended voyage to India, 
 I left Alexandria, and came now by the way of 
 the canal and the ruins of Hermopolis Parva, 
 on the west of the Nile, to Cairo. 
 
 From this capital I again set out, wearing the 
 dress of a Mamlouk, and associating with the 
 soldiery, and accompanied a caravan of five 
 thousand camels, and about fifty thousand pil- 
 grims, for Mecca. 
 
 We embarked at Suez, having with us the 
 Harem of the Egyptian Pasha, who were going 
 to the Holy City to perform their pilgrimage, 
 and to greet their lord on his triumphant return 
 from the Wahabee war. 
 
 We sailed. The vessel in which I was em- 
 barked upset in a squall, and was nigh to foun- 
 dering ; several lives were lost, and I myself 
 narrowly escaped, with the loss of all that I pos- 
 sessed except my papers. 
 
 We arrived at Jedda. I was so ill from a 
 combination of sufferings, as to be obliged to be 
 carried on shore in a litter. The project which 
 I had entertained of going to Mecca from hence 
 was defeated by the necessity of making myself 
 known, or dying of want. 
 
 The Sufl'enut-ul-Russool, a ship under English 
 colours, arrived from India. I was taken on 
 board her at the request of her humane com- 
 mander, Captain Boog, and through his kind
 
 PREFACE. XIX 
 
 and friendly attentions 1 recovered rapidly. Mr. 
 Burckhardt, who was then at Mecca on pil- 
 grimage, and to whom I sent a messenger, came 
 down to see me,, and remained with me for 
 several days. Besides the consolations of his 
 valuable society, I received from him the 
 warmest and most unequivocal proofs of his 
 friendship. He left us, and I heard from him 
 again by a letter which he had written to me 
 from Medina. 
 
 We prosecuted our voyage to India, and ar- 
 rived at Bombay ; the only benefit I had yet 
 reaped from it being the collection of materials 
 for a more accurate chart of the Red Sea than 
 any now in use. 
 
 After a stay of some months in India, I re- 
 turned again to Egypt by the same channel, in 
 company with Mr. Babington, a fellow- voyager, 
 to whom I owe more than any public testimony 
 or private acknowledgment can ever repay. Pre- 
 vious to our leaving India, we had furnished 
 ourselves with all the books to be procured, that 
 would in any way illustrate the track we were 
 about to pursue. The liberality of my friends, 
 who were lovers of science and promoters of 
 useful knowledge in every department, enabled 
 me to furnish myself again with instruments for 
 surveying ; and the Periplus of the Erythrean 
 
 A 2
 
 XX PREFACE. 
 
 Sea offered us a fine field for commentary and 
 correction. 
 
 We quitted India in one of the East India Com- 
 pany's ships of war. As it was the tempestuous 
 monsoon, it obh'ged us to make the southern 
 passage, by which means we saw a great deal of 
 the eastern coast of Africa, from Azania and 
 Adel to the Bay of Zeyla, and I had before 
 traced the shores of Yemen from Bab-el- Man deb 
 to Dosar. Positions were established, views of 
 remarkable lands taken, hydrographical errors 
 corrected, and much light thrown on the learned 
 disquisitions of Vincent upon the work which 
 he had so laboriously illustrated. 
 
 We landed at Mokha, and from thence our 
 passage up the Red Sea was altogether made in 
 native vessels. This gave us opportunities of 
 surveying, which could not otherwise have been 
 enjoyed, with the advantage of touching at every 
 port and creek in our way from Bab-el-Mandeb 
 to Suez. 
 
 The voyage from India had been long and 
 tedious, occupying nearly six months j but we 
 accumulated in it such a valuable mass of hydro- 
 graphical information as was of itself an ample 
 reward for our labours, though these were in- 
 defatigable ; and in addition to this acquisition, 
 
 the mineralogy and geological features of the
 
 PREFACE. XXi 
 
 Arabian shores had been illustrated by specimens 
 which were thought worthy of the thanks of the 
 Geological Society of London, to whom they 
 were presented. 
 
 1 met my former friend, Mr. Burckhardt, a 
 third time at Cairo, on the point of setting out, 
 as he then thought, for the interior of Africa. 
 My stay in Egypt was very short, however, on 
 this occasion. 
 
 The mercantile community of India being 
 desirous of having some more explicit assurances 
 of protection than they had yet received from 
 the reigning government of Egypt, a treaty 
 of commerce was framed and entered into by 
 Mohammed Ali Pasha, for himself; the British 
 Consul, for the subjects of his nation in Egypt; 
 and myself, on behalf of my Indian friends. 
 
 This it was thought advisable to transmit to 
 India as speedily as possible ; and as it would 
 be of infinite advantage to accompany it by per- 
 sonal explanations, it was proposed to me to be 
 the bearer of it ; first, because no one was more 
 intimately acquainted with all the facts requiring 
 explanation than myself; and, secondly, that it 
 was intended that I should return to Egypt in 
 charge of the first ships which might be sent to 
 re-open the trade. 
 
 The passage by the Red Sea was now shut by 
 the prevalence of the southerly winds, and there 
 
 a 3
 
 XXU PREFACE. 
 
 was no hope of a speedy voyage by that channel. 
 The route by Syria and Mesopotamia was chosen, 
 and this I undertook to follow. 
 
 It was from this period, that the Travels an- 
 nounced in the present volume commenced j and 
 the object of this introductory narrative has been 
 to show, that 1 set out on them with some very 
 ordinary qualifications, it is true, but yet with 
 some very essential advantages. I possessed an 
 ardour in the pursuit of enquiry and research, 
 which all my previous sufferings had not in the 
 least abated. I enjoyed a sound constitution, 
 and great physical strength, with a capacity of 
 conforming to foreign manners, fi'om having 
 been the greater part of my life out of England ; 
 and an intimate acquaintance with the national 
 habits and religion of the people with whom I was 
 about to associate ; as well as a sufficient know- 
 ledge of their language for all the ordinary pur- 
 poses of life, or such as did not include a critical 
 acquaintance with their science or their literature. 
 
 Whether, with such qualifications as these, I 
 shall be found to have fulfilled the expectations 
 which the mention of them may excite, I can- 
 not presume even to anticipate. Thus much is 
 to be offered in extenuation : 
 
 First, that the notes were not intended for pub- 
 lication at the time of their being made, but, 
 with much that I had written before, were pre-
 
 PIIEFACE. XXUl 
 
 served chiefly for the illustration of my own 
 reading, and for subsequent transmission to one 
 whose interest in all that could befal me was 
 such as to render the most desultory and imper- 
 fect observations of more than common value in 
 her esteem. 
 
 Secondly, That my journeys were often 
 through countries, where writing, drawing, or 
 minutely surveying any subject, would have been 
 fatal ; where we often travelled with our "hands 
 upon our swords, and our eyes keenly watching 
 for secret plunderers, or more open enemies. 
 
 Thirdly, That the books which I had read, 
 the leading features of them only being generally 
 fresh in my memory, were not at all accessible 
 to me throughout the route for their details, 
 though my preparatory extracts from them were 
 very numerous. 
 
 In the course of this journey, I saw the greater 
 part of Palestine, and the country beyond the Jor- 
 dan ; traversed the eastern parts of Moab, 
 Bashan Gilead, and the Auranites; crossed Phoe- 
 nicia and the higher parts of Syria, in various 
 directions from Baalbek by the snowy and cedar- 
 crowned summits of Lebanon to the sea-coast, 
 and from Antioch, by the ever-verdant banks of 
 the Orontes, to Aleppo. I journeyed through 
 Mesopotamia, by Ur of the Chaldees, to Nineveh 
 and Babylon j and visited the great living cities 
 
 a 4<
 
 XXIV TREFACE. 
 
 of Diarbekr, Mosul, and Baghdad in the way. I 
 went from Ctesiplion and Seleucigi by Dastagherd 
 on the plains, and the pass of Zagras, through 
 the mountains into Persia ; and visited Ecbatana, 
 Persepolis, and Shapoor, among the ancient, with 
 Kermanshah, Hamadan, Isfahaun, and Shiraz, 
 among the modern cities of Iran. This journey 
 of twelve long months was protracted by dangers 
 and obstacles, which no one had foreseen, and 
 rendered tedious by repeated illness, arising 
 from sufferings and privations in the way. My 
 recovery from these, I owed, in one instance, to 
 the hospitable attentions I received in the con- 
 vent of Mar Elias, from the hands of the amiable 
 Lady Hester Stanhope, a name that deserves to 
 be immortalized, if talents and virtues of the 
 highest order give claim to immortality ; and, in 
 another, to the friendly offices of Mr. and Mrs. 
 Rich, in the bosom of whose family at Baghdad, 
 I found all the consolations which benevolence 
 and sympathy could bestow, and all the plea- 
 sures that learning, accomplishments, and refined 
 taste could yield. When this long journey ter- 
 minated at last, by returning me again to the 
 society of my friends in India, it was the warm 
 and incessant request of all who knew any thing 
 of my labours that I would bring them before 
 the public eye. 
 
 1 had the happiness, during my stay at Bom-
 
 PREFACE. XXV 
 
 bay, to live in a circle distinguished by the eru- 
 dition, as well as the urbanity of its members. Mr. 
 Erskine and Mr. Wedderburn, Dr. Steuart and 
 Mr. Ashburner, with the ladies of the last two, 
 are names which no tribute of mine can raise 
 higher than they already stand in the estimation 
 of all who know them. 
 
 It was in this circle that the idea of publica- 
 tion was first conceived. It was urged on me 
 as a duty : it was advised as a means of acquir- 
 ing reputation : it was suggested as a source of 
 profit : it was hinted at as the only way to avoid 
 reproach. The last consideration weighed with 
 me, I think, more powerfully than all the others. 
 I could not suffer it to be said, that I had en- 
 joyed opportunities of adding to the common 
 fund of human knowledge, and had neglected 
 them ; and though I trembled for the imperfec- 
 tions ahuost inseparable from that which is done 
 in liaste, yet the high opinion which I enter- 
 tained of the judgment of those who met all my 
 objections with new and more forcible arguments, 
 fixed me at length in the determination. 
 
 I still retained the dress of an Arab during 
 my second stay in Bombay, and my general 
 -appearance aided by the gravity of a full and 
 and flowing beard, and a more perfect acquain- 
 tance with the Arabic tongue, imposed con- 
 stantly on the natives as v/ell as Europeans, even
 
 XXVI PREFACE. 
 
 when no disguise was aimed at ; and a constant 
 occurrence of anecdotes arose out of this de- 
 ception. I had retained this dress, expecting 
 that I might be called on to return again to 
 Egypt, when it would have been useful ; but 
 the Egyptian prospects being less encouraging 
 than they had been at first, the command of a 
 ship was offered me for the Persian Gulf. My 
 duties to others rendered it eligible to accept it, 
 and the preparation of my papers for the press 
 was necessarily interrupted. We sailed. A tem- 
 pestuous voyage, as far as the latitude of 10° 
 south, in this stormy monsoon, before we 
 could make our westing and bear up for the 
 northward, with none but very young and inex- 
 perienced officers to assist in the duties of the 
 ship, so occupied my attention, that I had but 
 little time to spare. From the moment of our 
 entering the Persian Gulf, my duties became 
 more urgent and pressing, and even such time 
 as I could command while in that sea, was 
 wholly devoted to the illustration of Arrian*s 
 voyage of Nearchus, with Vincent's dissertations 
 on it j to the collection of materials for improv- 
 ing the charts of the Gulf now in use j and to 
 the enlargement and correction of a memoir 
 which 1 had drawn up before, (when at Ras-ul- 
 Khyma, the principal port of the Arab pirates, 
 acting as interpreter between the pirate chief
 
 PREFACE. XXVll 
 
 and the commander of a British squadron), on 
 the rise and progress of this piratical tribe, with 
 a series of their depredations, the history of our 
 operations against them, and the subsequent 
 events that these had given birth to. 
 
 At Bussorah, Bushire, and Muscat, my Ara- 
 bic studies were continued ; and while at sea, 
 my whole attention was divided among the sub- 
 jects enumerated ; so that I returned to Bombay 
 with a fresh stock of new materials, but no 
 further arrangement of the old ones. We sailed 
 from hence in order to complete our v^oyage, 
 touching at most of the ports on the Malabar 
 coast, at Colombo and Point de Galle in Ceylon, 
 and at Madras and Vizagapatam on the coasts 
 of Coromandel and Golconda, when we arrived 
 at Calcutta. The incessant occupations of so 
 busy and so varied a voyage as this, left me, 
 however, no leisure for the task hitherto so 
 long postponed j so that I may be said to have 
 reached the capital of India with my materials 
 as crude and undigested as at the moment my 
 journey ended. 
 
 Here the encouraging hope of receiving the 
 distinguished patronage of the Most Noble the 
 Marquis of Hastings, the very flattering enco- 
 miums bestowed on the nature of my under- 
 takings by the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop 
 of Calcutta, the animating commendations of
 
 XXVlll PREFACE. 
 
 my scientific and worthy friend, Colonel Mac- 
 kenzie, the Surveyor General of India, and the 
 warm and hearty encouragement given to me 
 by the learned and excellent Dr. Lumsden, 
 Professor of Arabic in the College of Fort Wil- 
 liam, stimulated me to fresh exertions ; and by 
 unwearied application, during the detached in- 
 tervals of leisure which could be allowed me 
 from amid other duties, 1 have endeavoured to 
 condense these materials into the smallest pos- 
 sible compass without detracting from their in- 
 terest, and to arrange them for publication. 
 
 It would be anticipating what will be better 
 done, perhaps, by severer judges, to say any 
 thing regarding the style, the arrangement, or 
 the matter of the work. Some few preliminary 
 remarks, I must, however, be permitted to make. 
 
 At every step of a traveller's progress through 
 Palestine, his indignation is so roused by at- 
 tempted impositions on his judgment, and 
 sometimes even on his senses, that his warm 
 expression of it, in pouring forth epithets of 
 contempt for such absurdities, may sometimes 
 be conceived to display a contempt for religion 
 itself. Wherever the reader meets with such 
 passages, he is intreated in the true spirit of 
 that Christian charity, " which is not easily pro- 
 voked, which thinketh no evil, which beareth 
 all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things.
 
 PREFACE. XXIX 
 
 endureth all things," to put the most favourable 
 construction on the passage that it will bear; 
 and if the best of these is bad, to pass it by. 
 
 There are some anecdotes detailed, more par- 
 ticularly those witnessed at Jerusalem, which 
 may be thought also unfit for the public eye, 
 but they are too descriptive of the state of 
 manners there to be wholly omitted. If I have 
 given a colouring to these which is not in con- 
 formity with the reigning taste, I request the 
 reader to pass them over in silence also, and 
 attribute both these defects rather to my igno- 
 rance of the state of public feeling on these 
 subjects among my own countrymen, from 
 having mixed much more with foreigners, than to 
 any wish of mine to shock the prejudices of the 
 one class, or to offend the delicacy of the other. 
 
 With regard to the illustration of biblical and 
 classical research, which is attempted in the 
 following pages, I know of so many learned 
 men who have erred in these rugged roads, that 
 an unlettered wanderer, like myself, could 
 scarcely hope to traverse them without often 
 losing his path. The truly learned will, after 
 all, however, best estimate the worth of the 
 Hghts which are offered to them, since they know 
 best the toils by which they are elicited, and the 
 value even of the faintest ray to illumine a path 
 that was before obscured by total darkness.
 
 XXX PREFACE. 
 
 The opportunities which I enjoyed of visiting 
 even those parts of Palestine most familiarly 
 known, were accompanied with more favourable 
 circumstances than usually falls to the lot of 
 European travellers in these regions. Through 
 the greater part of the country I passed as a 
 native of it, wearing the dress and speaking the 
 language of the Arabs, and by these means 
 commanding a free intercourse with the people 
 in their most unguarded moments, and opening 
 sources of information which would otherwise 
 have been inaccessible. From circumstances of 
 a peculiar nature, 1 had occasion to cross this 
 country in a greater number and variety of 
 directions than has ever been done by any in- 
 dividual traveller before, as far as I am aware 
 of; and although this interrupted the speed of 
 my progress, it was attended with the advantage 
 of enabling me to correct many geographical 
 errors, and to verify the positions visited in 
 these various routes. 
 
 But the most interesting portion of these 
 Travels, and that which may be termed entirely 
 new, is the country of Bashan and Gilead, east 
 of the Jordan. That stream has hitherto been 
 the boundary of all our knowledge regarding the 
 ancient Judea, since no traveller, whose works 
 are published, has yet explored the countries 
 beyond it. Dr. Seetzen, a German, and Mr.
 
 PREFACE. XXXI 
 
 Burckhardt, a Swiss, the only persons who had 
 visited them, are since dead, and their discove- 
 ries here are scarcely known even by name. Yet, 
 independently of the high interest which this 
 portion of the Jewish possessions cannot fail to 
 excite in the minds of all those for whom the 
 illustration of scriptural topography and sacred 
 history have any charms, its importance, as the 
 seat of ten Roman cities, giving the name of 
 Decapolis to the region in which they were 
 seated, must rouse the curiosity of the scholar to 
 know something of its present state. The posi- 
 tions established here, of some among the three- 
 score cities of Og, the king of Bashan, in the 
 mountains of Gilead, will gratify the biblical 
 enquirer ; the ruins of some of the chief cities 
 of the Decapolis will furnish food for the anti- 
 quarian ; and the Greek inscriptions copied from 
 amidst these ruins, will be interesting to the 
 classical student and the man of letters. 
 
 My knowledge of Arabic enabled me also to 
 collect much information as to the names of 
 places that were not actually seen, but were 
 yet within reach of our route ; and it will be 
 found that most of the leading features of the 
 topography of this portion of the Jewish posses- 
 sions, whether mountains, streams, or cities, 
 were in this way identified with those described
 
 XXXU - PREFACE. 
 
 in the histories of Moses, Joshua, and their suc- 
 cessors. 
 
 Many of the vignettes are from original draw- 
 ings, made after sketches taken on the spot ; 
 and as this is the least expensive and humblest 
 way of adding graphic illustrations of the text, 
 appropriate subjects have been selected from 
 other sources, but invariably with a view to the 
 elucidations of scenery, costume, or manners, 
 and the accurate representations of places spoken 
 of in the body of the work. 
 
 The introduction of a miniature portrait may 
 seem to display an ostentatious desire of being 
 known by the figure of one's person, as well as 
 by one's labours. The history of it is this. The 
 many amusing anecdotes to which my being 
 dressed in the Turkish manner had given rise, 
 induced the artist, Mr. Jukes, to request that I 
 would sit to him for my picture. When finished, 
 it was pronounced to be so perfect a resem- 
 blance, and the costume was altogether so well 
 preserved, that it was determined to have it en- 
 graved. There are few persons, I believe, who 
 in reading the travels of any man, have not de- 
 sired to know more minutely what were the lead- 
 ing features of his person, and what was the 
 description of dress in which he performed his 
 journey. To such readers this, which cannot
 
 PREFACE. XXXIU 
 
 be surpassed in fidelity, will be acceptable ; 
 there are none, it is hoped, by whom it will be 
 deemed intrusive. 
 
 The ancient map of Palestine is taken, with 
 very trifling alterations, from D'Anville, as the 
 most generally known and approved authority 
 on this subject, and the one most frequently 
 referred to. 
 
 The map of the route pursued in these Travels 
 has been laid down with great care, entirely 
 from my own observations, and, in order to in- 
 clude many places altogether omitted in the an- 
 cient map, it is constructed on a larger scale, 
 and the face of the country through which we 
 passed is accurately delineated thereon. 
 
 The plan of the ancient Jerusalem, from the 
 best authorities, is that which usually accompa- 
 nies the works of Josephus ; and will illustrate, 
 better than any written description, the changes 
 which have taken place in the site of this city. 
 
 The plan of the present aspect of the country, 
 and the chief positions around the modern Jeru- 
 salem, has been constructed entirely from my 
 own observations on the spot. It cannot fail to 
 be interesting in itself, and illustrative, as a com- 
 panion to the preceding one, of the changes 
 which this celebrated capital of Judea has un- 
 dergone. 
 
 The plan of the ruins of Geraza, in the country 
 VOL. J. b
 
 XX XIV PREFACE. 
 
 of the Decapolis, beyond tlie Jordan, is laid 
 down also from actual observations, corrected by 
 two subsequent visits to the spot ; as well as the 
 plans of particular edifices, amid the interesting 
 remains of this ancient city. And the Greek 
 inscriptions found on the friezes, columns, and 
 altars there, have been copied with the utmost 
 care, and given as nearly as possible in their 
 original form. 
 
 I wish I could have added to these the valua- 
 ble drawings of my friend and fellow-traveller, 
 Mr, Wm. Bankes, M.P. These I had no time 
 to copy, though I am sure his liberality would 
 have admitted of it j for while he was engaged 
 in taking them, I was occupied in increasing our 
 common store in another way. It is to be hoped, 
 however, that with the illustration which this 
 gentleman's known talents, pure taste, and exten- 
 sive erudition, will be able to give to his fine col- 
 lection of views ir^ this country, and in Nubia, 
 they will not remain long from the public. 
 
 The work is thus offered to the public as per- 
 fectas the humble talents, the interrupted leisure, 
 and the limited means of the author would 
 admit of its being made. Pie has endeavoured, 
 however, amidst all these obstacles, to render it 
 worthy of the patronage of men of learning, as 
 well as general readers ; and he is confident, that 
 to all those who feel an interest in the elucida-
 
 IMIEFACE. XXXV 
 
 tion of scriptural history and geography, tliat 
 portion of these volumes which treats of the 
 countries east of the Jordan, will be found to 
 possess more merit than the mere charm of 
 novelty ; while the pictures of a new country 
 and a new people, which these hitherto unex- 
 plored regions unfold, cannot be destitute of 
 interest, even to those who read only for amuse- 
 ment. It is in the humble hope that all classes 
 of readers will find something to repay their 
 search, that the Travels in Palestine are thus 
 offered to the community at large, and in the 
 earnest desire of their approbation, that they are 
 now sent forth to receive their award. 
 
 b ^
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 V^oyage from Egypt to Syria Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Stay at Soor, the ancient Tyrus 51 
 
 CHAFfER HI. 
 
 Journey from Soor to Acre 84 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Description of the Town of Acre 112 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Journey from Acre to Nazareth 135 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Ascent of Mount Tabor. . 157 
 
 CHAFPER VII. 
 Mount Carmel, Dora, and Caesarea 176 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 By Joppa and Ramlah to Jerusalem 226
 
 XXXVIU CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER iX. 
 Visit to Ramlah, and Enquiries into its History ... . Page 25 1 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Journey from Ramlah, through the Mountains, to Jeru- 
 salem 266 
 
 CH AFTER XL 
 
 Visit to the Holy Places, chiefly without the walls of Jeru- 
 salem 286 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 Excursion to Bethlehem, and the Cave of the Nativity. . 329 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Visit to the Cisterns of Solomon 348 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Examination of the Interior of Jerusalem 359 
 
 CHAFTER XV. 
 
 Visit to Calvary, and the Tomb of Christ 382
 
 LIST OF PLATES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 Portrait to face the Title. 
 
 Map of Palestine, with the Route to face page 1 
 
 Plan of Ancient Jerusalem 359 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 Plan of the Modern Jerusalem 16 
 
 Plan of the Ruins of Geraza 137 
 
 Peripteral Temple at Geraza, and Theatre , . . 1 68 
 
 Temple of Jupiter at Geraza, and Theatre 201 
 
 Extensive Bath at Geraza, &c , 214 
 
 Inscriptions 238
 
 LIST OF VIGNETTES. 
 
 '^OL. I. Chap. Page 
 
 Pharos of Alexandria .' i 5 
 
 Tyre as viewed from the Sea ii 75 
 
 Fountains of Ras el Ain iii 90 
 
 Bay of Acre and Promontory of Mount Carmel . . iv 113 
 Grotto of the Disciples on the Summit of Mount 
 
 Tabor vi 1 62 
 
 Approach to Jaffa from the Northern Beach .... viii 247 
 
 Town of Ramlah as seen from the West ...... ix 263 
 
 View of the Mountains of Judea from Ramlah . . x 266 
 Ancient Tombs in the Valley of Jehoshaphat . . xi 295 
 Tomb of Rachel between Jerusalem and Beth- 
 lehem xii 337 
 
 The Cisterns of Solomon near Jerusalem xiii 349 
 
 Exterior View of the Domes and Tower of the 
 
 Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem xlv 377 
 
 Interior View of the Dome of the Holy Sepulchre, 
 
 and Tomb of Christ xv. 388 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 A Plan of the City of Jerusalem xvi 2 
 
 Escort of Arabs through the deep Passes of the 
 
 Mountains from Jerusalem to Jericho xvii 54 
 
 Camels descending from the Hills of Bashan to 
 
 drink at the River Jordan xviii 95 
 
 Arab Tribe breaking up their Encampment, and 
 
 removing their Flocks xix 107 
 
 A Triumphal Gateway, and Ruins of Jerash .... xx 140 
 
 Circular Colonnade at Geraza xxi 156 
 
 Ancient Sarcophagi at Geraza xxii 242 
 
 Hot Springs and Bath near the Hieromax xxiv 300 
 
 View of the Lake Tiberias from above the Town xxv 319 
 
 Ruins of Capernaum on the Lake of Tiberias . . xxvi 344 
 
 Ruined Baths on the Lake of Tiberias xxvii 357 
 
 Ancient Sarcophagi on the Plain of Esdraelon . . xxviii 380 
 
 View among the Hills of Samaria xxix 422 
 
 Approach to the Castle of Sanhoor xxx 468
 
 O-
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 IN 
 
 PALESTINE, &c. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 December 25th, 1815. The many obstacles 
 which had retarded my departure from Alexan- 
 dria, from day to day, being at length removed, 
 and a favourable wind blowing from the south- 
 west, I took leave of my friends there, and, 
 accompanied by Mr. Thurburn and Mr. Babing- 
 ton, my fellow-voyager from India to Egypt, 
 embarked on board the vessel in which I had 
 taken my passage for the coast of Syria on the 
 morning of Christmas-day. 
 
 These gentlemen had the kindness to remain 
 with me until we were under way, and had 
 cleared the pharos of the new harbour, when 1 
 had again to undergo the most painful of all 
 guiltless feelings, — that of bidding adieu to 
 tried and well-loved friends, with scarcely a 
 hope of our ever meeting again. 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 When the spacious okellas of the European 
 quarter, now crowned with the flags of her 
 respective nations, began to sink beneath the 
 line of the visible horizon, and the towering 
 column of Dioclesian, the obelisk of Cleopatra, 
 and the lofty lantern of the pharos were the 
 only objects that remained in sight to mark the 
 speed with which we receded from the port, I 
 felt a degree of regret which even the ardour 
 for new scenes was not sufficient to conquer. It 
 was in vain that I remembered the glow of en- 
 thusiasm with which I once saluted these proud 
 monuments of Alexandria's former glory, on my 
 first approaching Egypt*s classic shores. It was 
 in vain that I endeavoured to recall the charm 
 of that fairy hope which even then, amid more 
 powerful causes for despondency than now ex- 
 isted, bore me lightly on my way, and strewed 
 that way with flowers. The influence of these 
 united feelings, often as it had supported me 
 before, and warmly as I courted its aid, availed 
 me nothing at the present moment ; so that, 
 when the evening sun became obscured by the 
 dark bed of western clouds into which he sunk, 
 I yielded myself, in spite of every struggle of my 
 judgment, to the sadness of that solitude by 
 which I felt myself surrounded. 
 
 My eyes continued fixed upon the spot I had 
 quitted with such regret, until the broken emi-
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 3 
 
 nences of the shore had gradually dwindled into 
 almost indistinguishable specks, and till at 
 length the darkness of t'lie night had completely 
 shrouded even these from my view. 
 
 26th. Impatience for the return of day had 
 forced me to quit my birth before the stars had 
 faded ; and although I expected no augmenta- 
 tion of happiness from the presence of the sun 
 more than from the milder light of those orbs 
 which were soon lost in his refulgence, yet I felt 
 a glow of satisfaction at beholding the first blush 
 of dawn in the east, as it cheated me into a 
 hope of its opening for me a day of less suffer- 
 ing than the preceding. 
 
 The favourable wind with which we had sailed 
 having declined during the night, was followed 
 by a calm ; and the current attributed to the 
 discharge of the Nile had swept us again to the 
 westward, so that we found ourselves within a 
 few miles of the island and castle of Aboukir. 
 ,As the day advanced, the wind freshened from 
 the eastward, and at last settled into a steady 
 jiorth-east breeze. 
 
 Our captain, as well as all the passengers and 
 crew, were desirous of returning to Alexandria, 
 insisting with great truth that the slow progress 
 which we should make against a strong contrary 
 wind was not to be reckoned an advantasre, 
 when it incurred the risk of errors in night-
 
 4 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA, 
 
 sailing, and the dangers of a lee-shore on a shoaf 
 coast. A sense of duty, rather than a want of 
 conviction of the justice of these remarks, in- 
 duced me to urge our continuing at sea whether 
 we made any progress on our way or not. To 
 encourage their compliance with my request, I 
 stated to them my professional capacity, as well 
 as my willingness to take charge of the vessel, 
 and conduct her navigation during the con- 
 tinuance of the contrary wind ; and this had the 
 effect of making them agree unanimously to 
 keep under sail a little longer. 
 
 The vessel in which I had embarked, was one 
 of those called a Shuktoor, and seemed peculiar 
 to the navigation of the Syrian coast. Its length 
 was about thirty feet, and its extreme breadth 
 fifteen, but being of shallow draught, its 
 burthen could not have exceeded forty tons. 
 Small as it was, it had three masts, two of them 
 being fixed nearly at the extreme points of the 
 frame, and the principal one a little before the 
 centre of the hull. On the fore and mizen 
 masts were carried a latteen sail, exactly similar 
 in size and form to those worn by the Egyptian 
 jerms, and on the main-mast w^ere a square 
 course, a topsail, and a top-gallant sail, all fitted 
 like the central sails in a polacca ship, and the 
 mast rigged in the same way.* 
 
 * See the Vignette on the opposite page.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 gi::iiiiP»-| 
 
 B 3
 
 6 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 This vessel being chiefly employed in the 
 transportation of corn and rice from Egypt to 
 Syria, with the former of which >«he was now 
 laden, had the security of a good deck fore and 
 aft, with regularly raised gunwales, hatchways, 
 &c. From the mizen-mast to the stern-post, a 
 space of about six feet in length, a raised poop 
 formed a small cabin, the highest part of which 
 was less than three feet, so that it was necessary 
 to enter it on all-fours, and when within it, to 
 continue in a reclining posture ; as even when 
 sitting on the bare deck the body could not be 
 held upright. The only aperture for the ad- 
 mission of light or air into the cabin was the 
 door of entrance, which was exactly two feet 
 square : more than half its interior was already 
 occupied by baskets of rice, clusters of dates. 
 Sec. belonging to the captain ; and in the centre 
 of the foremost bulkhead, in a small recess, a 
 dim lamp was kept constantly burning, the oil 
 and heat of which attracted some hundreds of 
 young cock- roaches and other insects around it. 
 
 In sails, furniture, and ground tackle, the 
 vessel appeared to be as well furnished as those 
 of the Levant generally are, and between her 
 fore and main mast was carried a boat sufficiently 
 large to contain, every one on board, in the event 
 of the vessel's foundering or stranding on the 
 coast.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 7 
 
 The captain and his crew, altogether ten in 
 number, were Syrian Arabs of the Greek re- 
 ligion, and their persons and dresses, as well as 
 their language, evinced a singular mixture of 
 the native manners of their country with the 
 acquired ones of their church. In the manage- 
 ment of their vessel, they were unskilful, and 
 of navigation none of them appeared to have 
 any knowledge. An English compass stood in 
 a binnacle before the helmsman, but he very 
 seldom regarded it ; and no account was taken 
 either of the rate or of the courses steered, 
 beyond a general aim to make as much northing 
 and easting as possible, and trust to a look-out 
 for avoiding dangers. 
 
 Among them ail, the most perfect equality 
 seemed to exist, and no one appeared to have 
 any peculiar charge while the vessel was at sea ; 
 as on several occasions the oldest sailor was 
 employed in cooking, the youngest at the helm, 
 and the captain hoi ding-on a brace, or hauling 
 out a bow-line. The same equality entered into 
 their amusements when card-parties were formed 
 on the deck, in which every individual of the 
 crew joined by turns : as they did not play for 
 money, the losers were condemned to undergo 
 some ridiculous penance, and, among others, it 
 fell to the lot of the captain, in the course of 
 tlie day, to suffer himself to be plunged over- 
 
 B 4
 
 8 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 board, and ducked beneath the surface of the 
 water by each of the victors, and again to 
 perform some feats of activity, while burthened 
 with a load of baskets and other packages sus- 
 pended around his neck. Amid the bursts of 
 laughter excited by these ludicrous exhibitions, 
 there was neither the slightest appearance of 
 anger or ill-humour in the suffering party, nor 
 of malicious triumph on the part of those who 
 witnessed them. 
 
 Besides the crew, there were on board two 
 Mahommedan passengers, one a Syrian Turk, 
 the other a respectable Arab trader from Tunis, 
 some Muggrebin Moors, and a Syrian Christian 
 merchant, with four others apparently attached 
 to his establishment, and partaking of his fare. 
 The Barbary trader and the Syrian merchant, 
 though differing essentially in their religion, and 
 liable to jealousies, from their pursuit of the 
 same object, and though these differences were 
 marked by external badges calculated to nourish 
 pride in the one and mortification in the other, 
 seemed to associate together with unusual har- 
 mony. They jointly occupied a small space left 
 open in the main hatchway, and smoked their 
 pipes and drank their coffee together in a social 
 equality that did honour to the feelings of both. 
 The Moors from Barbary lay in the boat upon 
 each other, and the Christians stretched tliem-
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. \) 
 
 selves along on different parts of the deck j 
 while the crew, who were not divided into 
 watches, either slept or sang, or played, or were 
 engaged in duty, as the occasion demanded. 
 
 The small cabin already described was the 
 part of the ship appropriated to my accommo- 
 dation ; but though it had been dignified by the 
 captain with the epithet of '* camera superba,*' 
 and eighty piastres had been paid for it for so 
 short a voyage, I crawled into it with reluctance 
 at night, and out of it with pleasure at day -break, 
 without entering it for a moment in the long 
 interval between, as the deck was far preferable. 
 
 27th. The strong north-east wind had de- 
 clined in the night, and at dawn it was a perfect 
 calm. A favourable change being now appre- 
 hended, the aid of devotion was called in to 
 hasten it, and I was soon driven from my cabin 
 by the entrance of the captain and four of the 
 sailors, who literally filled it, and who, until I 
 had removed, had not room to perform their 
 genuflections before the lamp, which was kept 
 constantly burning to St. George, their patron 
 saint. During their prayers, clouds of incense 
 were offered up at this humble altar, and at sun- 
 rise, the same censer was carried round the 
 ship, and all, except the Mahommedans, were 
 perfumed with its sacred odours, consecrated by
 
 10 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 the holiness of the purpose to which it had been 
 just appHed. 
 
 The calm still continued, and the current 
 poured out by the discharge of the western 
 branch of the Nile sent us back all the little 
 distance which we had advanced by yesterday's 
 hard beating. Noisy songs, accompanied by the 
 tambour and clapping of hands, succeeded the 
 devotions of the morning, to drive away the 
 listless hours of the calm ; and upon this again 
 followed the card-playing described before, 
 the penances of which were beyond measure 
 ridiculous. Among the rest, some were con- 
 demned to have their faces marked with ludi- 
 crous emblems, others to wear pieces of cloth in 
 the form of asses* ears springing from their 
 temples,, and others to play their cards while 
 their arms were pinioned by a pole, and a long 
 wooden skewer was stuck horizontally across 
 their mustachios. The victor, in one instance, 
 wore a flag planted in his turban, and in another 
 was honoured with the privilege of bearing a 
 sword, while a flat circular piece of basket-work 
 was affixed to his left arm to represent a shield. 
 At 10 A. M. we had a light breeze from the 
 northward, the sky clear, the thermometer at 
 68°, and the water alongside of a muddy colour 
 and fresh taste, with about three fathoms depth.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 11 
 
 The bar at the outlet of the Rosetta branch of 
 the Nile was now distinctly visible a-head, and 
 a fleet of about fifty jermS* was seen coming 
 out, bound for Alexandria, for which port the 
 wind was highly favourable. 
 
 We continued to advance so slowly, with a 
 scant wind and a contrary current, that at noon 
 the vessel had scarcely changed her place or 
 altered the bearing of the land; while the jerms 
 going off with a flowing sheet were soon out of 
 sight to the westward. 
 
 The wind freshened in force, but still con- 
 tinued in the same quarter throughout the 
 afternoon, enabling us to stem the current of 
 the Nile, and get into clearer and Salter water. 
 
 The edge of division between the muddy 
 stream of the river and the greener mass of the 
 sea, was most distinctly marked, as well by their 
 striking difference of colour as by the rippled 
 agitation of the one, and the comparative still- 
 ness of the other. The current of the Nile 
 rushing out at the rate of about three knots an 
 hour to the northward, appeared to continue its 
 force, undiminished, for nearly five miles beyond 
 its mouth. The united resistance of the northerly 
 wind upon its surface, and the whole body of 
 the sea upon its under stream, could be no 
 
 * ^js>~ a large boat with latteen sails,*" peculiar to the 
 Egyptian coast.
 
 12 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 longer opposed; so that, weakened by these 
 powerful causes, it curved off gradually to the 
 westward, and occasioned the westerly set which 
 had impeded our progress thus far. 
 
 In passing from the turbid waters of the river 
 into the less troubled ones of the sea, we had 
 scarcely any difference of soundings; the depth, 
 by the lead, varying irregularly from three to 
 three and a half and four fathoms. In both 
 cases the ground was soft, and the mud adhering 
 to the plummet was of a dark brown colour 
 mixed with sand. The struggles of this cele- 
 brated stream against the sea, besides recalling 
 a world of agreeable recollections connected 
 with my voyage along its banks, and placing 
 before me the striking features of its fame in 
 classic ages, reminded me very forcibly of a 
 modern bard's description of the conflict of 
 Oronooko with the ocean.* 
 
 * The battle's rage 
 
 Was like the strife which currents wage. 
 Where Oronooko, in his pride, 
 Rolls to the main no tribute tide. 
 But 'gainst broad ocean urges far 
 A rival sea of roaring war ; 
 While in ten thousand eddies driven, 
 The billows fling their foam to heaven ; 
 And the pale pilot seeks in vain. 
 Where rolls the river where the main. 
 
 Rokeby, Canto I, IS.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 13 
 
 We continued standing on to tlie eastward 
 until sun-set, shoaling from four to three fathoms 
 on a sandy bottom, and gradually approaching 
 the coast to within about three miles, when 
 we tacked off to the northward to obtain sea- 
 room. 
 
 At 8 P. M., having made an offing into five 
 fathoms' sand, we tacked again and stood on to 
 the easward, the wind still blowing from the 
 N. N. E., but sufficiently moderate to enable us 
 to carry all sail. In the course of the evening, 
 we passed a boat from Cyprus to Alexandria, as 
 supposed by the course she was steering. The 
 night was clear, but extremely cold, the thermo- 
 meter having fallen to 52°. 
 
 28th. The wind had again declined during 
 the night, and left us nearly becalmed at day- 
 break. The lamp of the cabin having been suf- 
 fered to go out from the negligence of the boy 
 whose duty it was to trim it, our ill-fortune with 
 regard to wind was unhesitatingly attributed to 
 this heinous sin of omission. A noisy altercation 
 ensued upon the discovery of this calamity, and 
 as the cabin was occupied by one who was not 
 of their church, some whispers floated among 
 the crew as to the possible influence of heretical 
 envy and malice, which, as they passed in Arabic, 
 I perfectly understood, but to which I thought 
 it prudent to make no reply. All hands were
 
 14 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 now summoned to prayers, and the lamp was 
 not only again lighted, but a gilded picture of 
 St. George slaying the dragon was produced 
 from the captain's chest, and placed in the same 
 recess. To this, volumes of incense were offered 
 up, and the whole cabin was soon filled with 
 smoke, so that the prayers which succeeded were 
 alternately hastened through with all possible 
 rapidity, and interrupted with the coughing 
 produced by such suffocating clouds of per- 
 fume. 
 
 In spite of all this fervour of devotion, the 
 wind freshened again from the north-east, and 
 anger and disappointment taking the place of 
 piety and fear, the poor culprit boy was tied up 
 and severely flagellated; each of the crew, from 
 conceiving themselves more innocent, being 
 ready to inflict the first lash. The Moham- 
 medans on board were highly scandalized at so 
 impious and absurd a proceeding, and calmly 
 asked whether the winds were not in the hands 
 of God, who would either withhold them from, 
 us or send them to our aid, as his mercy and 
 goodness saw fit ? Neither their remonstrances 
 nor their demands produced any reply, and the 
 punishment of the poor boy was continued with- 
 out compassion. When the rest of the crew 
 had each given a stripe, the man who on the 
 preceding day had ofliciated as cook came to
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 15 
 
 close the punishment, but while his arm was still 
 uplifted to inflict the lash, the boy looked stead- 
 fastly upon him, and exclaimed in a tone of 
 anger mixed with the firmness of determined 
 revenge, " If you strike me, I will betray you." 
 The man hesitated, and would have even de- 
 sisted, but that the others obliged him to give 
 the blow, and on releasing the boy, they insisted 
 also upon his disclosing what he meant by the 
 threat. From his answer it appeared that the 
 crew, who were all communicants of the Greek 
 church, were now performing the fast which 
 precedes their feast of the Nativity, that holiday 
 falling twelve days after the common Christmas- 
 day, as their chronology continues still to be 
 regulated by the old style. During the fast it 
 was deemed sinful to partake of any flesh-meats, 
 or even to inhale their odour ; and any breach 
 of the rigid discipline enforced on such occasions 
 was thought to be sufficient to draw down ex- 
 emplary punishment on the offender. It had 
 occurred in the course of the preceding day that 
 my servant was employed at the galley in pre- 
 paring for me a fowl curry, on which occasion he 
 had unthinkingly used a wooden spoon belonging 
 to the vessel. A large kettle of dourra* was 
 afterwards put on the fire to be boiled for the 
 
 ' * I O the name given to millet in Egypt and Syria.
 
 l6 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 supper of the crew, and the cook without know- 
 ing the purpose to which the spoon had been 
 applied, used it to stir the mess while the defiling 
 gravy of the fowl still remained upon it. The 
 boy who had witnessed this, was sufficiently 
 shocked to express his scruples, but was silenced 
 by the entreaties, and at last the threats of the 
 man ; so that the whole crew had been thus 
 made to commit a crying sin, in eating a dish 
 of boiled corn stirred with a greasy ladle, during 
 one of the most solemn fasts of their church. 
 
 This was considered even as a more powerful 
 cause for the anger of Heaven than the extinc- 
 tion of the lamp, but as every one had shared in 
 the actual commission of this gross enormity, 
 they only hung their heads in apparently unaf- 
 fected contrition, and were too much absorbed 
 in reflections on the crime to inflict a punish- 
 ment on him who had been the cause of it, so 
 that the man escaped. 
 
 At noon the wind was still strong and con- 
 trary. Our soundings through the forenoon 
 were from five to three fathoms on a soft sandy 
 bottom, in which latter depth we tacked at about 
 two miles off a low and barren shore, and stood 
 to the N.N. W. 
 
 Two jerms heaving in sight to the eastward 
 soon closed with us, and as they were apparently 
 bound for Rosetta or Alexandria, I prepared a
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 17 
 
 short letter for Colonel Missett, while our colours 
 were displayed as a signal of our wish to com- 
 municate. At one, P. M., the sternmost vessel 
 dropped alongside, and the letter was thrown on 
 board, rolled in a piece of canvass and rendered 
 heavy by the enclosure of five piastres, as a pre- 
 sent to ensure its safe delivery. 
 
 We here tacked again, and stood along the 
 coast to the eastward ; the weather fine, wind 
 N.N.E., water smooth, and thermometer 65° at 
 2 P. M. 
 
 Throughout the afternoon, we continued to 
 advance at the slow rate of about a mile an hour ; 
 our soundings varying from five to four fathoms, 
 at a distance of about three miles from the shore. 
 At sunset, having land open off our weather- 
 bow, which it would be impossible for us to 
 clear on our present course, we tacked oflf to 
 the northward, with an increasing breeze and 
 a heavy swell setting from the E.N.E. 
 
 The night was dark and cloudy, and the 
 thermometer at 50° at 10 P. M., a degree of cold 
 which made us all feel uncomfortable. 
 
 29th. We had tacked to the eastward at 
 midnight ; and at dawn were still struggling 
 against a scant wind and contrary current, with 
 the coast of the Delta barely visible under our 
 lee. 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 Fresh arguments and remonstrances against 
 the inutility of continuing at sea, contending 
 with the elements without a hope of successfully 
 opposing them, were again poured upon me at 
 the moment of my crawling from my cabin, 
 even before I could raise myself from my posi- 
 tion of all-fours to meet my adversaries face to 
 face. 
 
 The captain and the crew were as strenuous 
 as before in their opinions that we should return 
 to port, where, they said, they had the pleasure 
 of living chiefly on sliore ; of hearing the news 
 and chit-chat of the coffee-houses ; and where 
 they slept tranquilly every night : whereas here, 
 besides the toil and fatigue of buffetting the 
 winds and waves, their food was scanty, their 
 nights passed in constant watching, and their 
 apprehensions of danger kept alive by the length 
 of the darkness and the nature of the coast. 
 
 If the crew, however, were earnest in their 
 advice, the passengers were vehement in their 
 declamation, and scrupled not to call me '* an 
 ignorant and headstrong fool," for persisting in 
 a course which, without one apparent advantage 
 resulting from it, positively prolonged the 
 suffering and inconvenience of every one on 
 board, and seemed like a defiance of the Al- 
 miglity Power, by courting an unnecessary 
 exposure to certain and continual risk. .
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 19 
 
 This last sentence so worked upon the piety 
 of every one, both Mahommedans and Christians, 
 as nearly to have decided our fate ^ for it was no 
 sooner uttered than orders were given to bear 
 up, and the helm was actually clapped a-weather, 
 and the after-sheets let go. 
 
 Alone and unsupported as I was (for even 
 my old servant stood a silent spectator of the 
 scene), I hesitated for a moment what step to 
 take ; until remembering how often I had seen 
 sturdy perseverance prevail against every ob- 
 stacle, I ran to the helm, and luffed the vessel 
 once more to the wind, feigning at the same 
 time an anger which I did not really feel, and 
 calling them by the opprobrious epithets of 
 cowards, women-hearted, hares, and husband- 
 men ; terms of the greatest reproach to sailors 
 in their language. 
 
 My cause would "have been completely lost, 
 however, had I not assured the Reis * that his 
 emancipation from the avarice of the Egyptian 
 government was entirely dependent on the 
 British Consul at Alexandria ; and that if he 
 dared to return to that port without being driven 
 there by absolute distress, I would not fail to 
 represent his conduct as being in direct opposi- 
 tion to my wishes. 
 
 * ir-' ) ^ chief, head, &c. apphed to all pilots and com- 
 manders of vessels. 
 
 c 2
 
 20 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 Tliis was enough : the fear of losing money 
 operated more powerfully than any other con- 
 sideration ; and though the murmurs of the 
 passengers were not so easily quelled, yet the 
 captain was henceforth all submission, and the 
 order was given to haul aft the sheets, and trim 
 the sails to the wind again. 
 
 During the forenoon, the breeze freshened so 
 considerably as to oblige us to reduce our can- 
 vass ; and a heavy swell set us constantly to 
 leeward upon the Delta shore, our soundings . 
 varying from six to four fathoms irregularly. 
 
 At noon, we were within a mile of the mouth 
 of the Lake Booroolos ; on the western beach 
 of which are seen the remains of a square build- 
 ing. Over the eastern land we could perceive 
 the masts of boats upon the lake itself, and a 
 short distance to the eastward the minareh* of 
 a mosque, the dome of a saint's tomb, and 
 several clusters of date-trees. The whole line of 
 the coast is here composed of yellow sand-hills 
 from forty to fifty feet in height, loose and 
 shifting in their nature, and completely barren ; 
 the few date-trees seen over them being situated 
 
 * The name applied peculiarly to the tall and slender 
 tower of a mosque, either from the Arabic word, [j^ a 
 candlestick, lamp, light-house, or pharos ; or from the 
 Persian word, ,[Xx^ a tower or spire in general.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 21 
 
 on a firmer soil within. A minareh and the 
 appearance of dwelHngs is seen about a mile 
 farther to the eastward than those already men- 
 tioned. Beyond this, the coast runs in nearly 
 a north-east direction for four or five miles, 
 forming a continued chain of yellow and barren 
 sand-hills, until it terminates in the low cape 
 called Ras-el-Booroolos, off which the British 
 ship Jiuste was wrecked in March, 1814. 
 
 Having stood into three fathoms water, with 
 discoloured patches and broken ground all 
 around us, we tacked off to the northward, in 
 order to weather the cape. In reviewing the 
 coast from every point of direction, I felt the 
 same impressions as those which my land-journey 
 along its shores had before suggested : namely, 
 that its appearance was unfavourable to the idea 
 of the Delta being wholly the gift of the Nile ; 
 and that whatever changes might have been 
 produced at the apex of this island by the al- 
 luvium of the river, its base being composed of 
 sand-hills and salt-lakes extending many leagues 
 in-shore, betrays the strongest symptoms of its 
 being entirely gained from the sea, and of the 
 river never having reached it to leave any of its 
 deposit there. 
 
 The wind still freshening, with a heavy sea, 
 we tacked at sunset, and stood along the coast 
 to the eastward, having six and five fathoms by 
 
 c 3
 
 2^ VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 the way. The flight was dark, cloudy, and 
 uncomfortably cold. 
 
 30th. The wind had now settled into a 
 strong north-east gale, and the vessel being 
 laden to within about ten inches of her upper 
 railway, and at least six inches above her deck, 
 the sea not only made a complete breach over 
 her, but we became in danger of foundering, by 
 the water lodging on her deck without finding 
 an outlet overboard. Fresh cries to return to 
 port, were therefore raised on all sides ; and 
 there was, in the present case, too evident a 
 foundation for their fears to treat them as 
 before. 
 
 From the estimated distance which we had 
 advanced during the night, we had reason to 
 believe ourselves abreast of Damietta ; for which 
 port I recommended them to bear up, if they 
 were determined to seek shelter any where. 
 At the same time, however, I endeavoured to 
 dissuade them from the measure by urging the 
 danger of the experiment if we should find 
 ourselves too far to leeward of the bar on near- 
 ing the coast, and assuring them that by the 
 exertions of the crew in baling the water off the 
 deck as it entered, we might yet keep the sea 
 without imminent danger. " To Alexandria, to 
 Alexandria ! " was the united cry ; and nothing 
 could have deterred them from the execution of
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 23 
 
 this step but the sense of shame, which I en- 
 deavoured to excite in them by every epithet 
 but that of men and sailors. 
 
 To follow up this volley of reproaches by an 
 example of encouragement, my servant and 
 myself commenced baling in the lee-waist with 
 buckets ; and in little more than half an hour 
 the deck was perfectly clear. We next had all 
 the weighty and bulky articles, with which the 
 deck was crowded fore and aft, removed in 
 amid-ships, to ease the vessel's rolling and 
 plunging in the sea ; and being now under a 
 double-reefed topsail and course, with all the 
 smaller sails furled, we lay-to in safety. 
 
 The tone of command which I had thus un- 
 willingly, but, as I thought, prudently assumed, 
 seemed to give great offence to the passengers ; 
 but as they were all now helpless from sea-sick- 
 ness, their murmurs were of less avail. The 
 captain and the crew, on the other hand, though 
 they at first expressed some repugnance at my 
 opposition to their wishes, subsequently evinced 
 a confidence in my direction beyond even my 
 expectation ; for the bare suggestion of a sail 
 being badly trimmed, a rope too taut, or the 
 helm ill managed, was sufficient to obtain the 
 necessary amendment of the evil. 
 
 We all passed the day uncomfortably ; the 
 breaking sea rendering it impossible to cook any 
 
 c 4
 
 24 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 food, and the violent motion of the vessel 
 making it difficult even to read. At sunset we 
 were cheered by a hope of the gale's abating. 
 
 31st. The morning dawned upon us with 
 brighter prospects ; the gale had abated, our 
 reefs were shaken out, and as we were still in 
 shoal water, the swell of the sea was rapidly 
 subsiding. 
 
 A temporary evil offered considerable annoy- 
 ance to the passengers, who had just risen as 
 from the dead. The stock of fire-wood was 
 expended to the last splinter, and not even 
 sufficient could be mustered to prepare for them 
 their morning cup of coffee. All tongues con- 
 spired to brand me as the cause of this and 
 every other privation they had suffered ; and the 
 mortification was now the greater to them, as 
 when they again reiterated ** To port, to port!" 
 I consented readily to their return, there being 
 now an irregular swell, and scarcely wind enough 
 to make the vessel answer to her helm. 
 
 At noon, we had an air from the eastward ; and 
 expecting that it would draw round more 
 southerly in the course of the day, we stood on 
 the larboard tack S. S. E., having good sea-room, 
 and no land in sight. In the afternoon, a vessel 
 passed under our lee standing to the westward, 
 from some Syrian port ; and at sunset the wind 
 iiad drawn moie northerly, and freshened again
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 25 
 
 into a strong breeze, obliging us to furl our 
 small sails and reef our larger canvass. We 
 now hauled up east, standing on that course 
 with ten fathoms water, and no land in sight 
 even from the mast-head. 
 
 1st January, 1S16. The wind had entirely 
 forsaken us again soon after midnight ; and at 
 dawn it was a perfect calm. All eyes were 
 directed to the quarter from whence the breeze 
 was desired, and every imagination pictured 
 some favourable omen even in a cloudless sky. 
 An unusual degree of devotion was also ex- 
 ercised on the occasion ; as no one either ate, 
 or drank, or smoked, or relieved the helm, or 
 cast off or belayed a rope, without first crossing 
 himself, and pointing to the five wounds of the 
 crucified Messiah on his own body. Long 
 prayers, with many kisses, were bestowed on 
 the pictures of the patron saints, who were 
 produced in full assembly ; and clouds of in- 
 cense filled every part of the vessel. A sum of 
 money was then collected by subscription, to 
 which we all contributed, Mahommedans and 
 Christians ; and this being enclosed in a white 
 rag, was suspended to the head of the tiller, with 
 prayers for its efficacy, and vows for its appro- 
 priation to some holy purpose, in the event of 
 our obtaining a favourable wind by the inter-
 
 26 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 cession of the saints to whom it was jointly 
 offered. 
 
 The cahn still continued, broken only at 
 intervals by fleeting airs from the S.E., of a 
 dry and suffocating nature ; while the heat of 
 the sun was scorching. On the preceding 
 evening, the wind had blown strong from the 
 N. N. E., bringing with it the cold of the 
 Caramanian mountains on the south coast of 
 Asia Minor, now covered with snow ; and the 
 thermometer stood then at 47°, about ten P. M., 
 beneath the deck ; and all the covering I could 
 collect was insufficient to keep me warm : while, 
 to-day, the mercury rose to 95° in the shade; 
 and during the hot blasts which came off from 
 the desert shore to the S. E.- of us, even that 
 degree of the thermometer can give but a faint 
 idea of the oppression which this striking 
 change occasioned. 
 
 As every one now gladly threw off the load 
 of clothes which had before been rendered 
 necessary by the severity of the cold, it had the 
 beneficial effect of furnishing the most indolent 
 with occupation. The vermin, with which ships 
 like these and the crews of them invariably 
 swarm, having lain dormant during the late 
 unfavourable weather, had begun to feel the 
 genial influence of its change, and had become
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. ^7 
 
 liighly troublesome by their awakened activity. 
 Every one on board, therefore, not even ex- 
 cepting myself (who had certainly quitted 
 Alexandria clean, at least), was employed during 
 the middle of the day in stripping off every 
 garment, and destroying the host of enemies by 
 which we were tormented. 
 
 2d. Still calm ; water reduced to the last 
 small barrel ; the third day of our being without 
 any prepared food, from want of fuel ; the 
 boghaz* of Damietta, with boats in its channel 
 distinctly visible from the deck, after seven days 
 hard beating against a contrary wind. 
 
 The day was one continued scene of uproar 
 and quarrel ; the noise of which, added to the 
 harshness of the Syrian Arabic, in which all 
 these vociferations of reproach and abuse were 
 uttered, was absolutely distracting. Towards 
 evening, we had light airs from the westward, 
 variable and of short duration. The energies 
 and attention of the crew were now requisite to 
 profit by every breath that blew ; but the dis- 
 cordance of the day seemed to have rendered 
 them as stupid as they were ill-humoured ; and 
 though the wind was always abaft the beam, 
 
 * A name applied to bars of rivers and harbours, and 
 even to narrow passes on shore ; probably a Turkish word, 
 though now in common use by the Arabs here, and perhaps 
 derived from the Persian -j^j^ a wedge.
 
 28 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 the vessel was caught aback, and suftered to 
 fall round four times in the space of as many 
 hours. 
 
 Our soundings through the day had varied 
 from ten to fifteen fathoms, and our water was 
 growing deeper and of a bluer colour as we 
 advanced ; nor had we, apparently, any longer to 
 contend with the strong contrary current which 
 we had found setting from the eastward along 
 the whole coast of the Delta. 
 
 We continued to steer in a N. E. direction 
 until near midnight, without any account of 
 our course or distance being kept ; when the 
 westerly breeze again deserting us, we were 
 left becalmed, with the weather dark and 
 cloudy. 
 
 3d. We had made scarcely any progress 
 during the night, and had now again to linger 
 out another day amid light eastern airs of scarcely 
 sufficient strength to fill the sails. On the pre- 
 ceding evening, the water of the sea had given 
 forth, on the least agitation, that sparkling ap- 
 pearance which has been called phosphoric ; and 
 in drawing up some of it in a bucket this 
 morning, it was observed to be full of small 
 fish-spawn. The colour of the water in its mass 
 was of a deep indigo blue, and no soundings 
 could be obtained with about forty fathoms of 
 line.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 29 
 
 Under an idea that our voyage would have 
 been short, as well as from the difficulty of 
 sending back any thing from Syria to Egypt 
 without great risk, I had left at Alexandria all 
 my nautical instruments ; though at the present 
 moment I regretted extremely that I had not 
 with me a sextant, large compass, and lead-line, 
 as they would have enabled me to make many 
 observations through this tedious navigation, 
 which would have been of probable utility, and 
 at least have furnished me with agreeable occu- 
 pation. Destitute as we were, either of chart 
 or reckoning, we could give but a wide guess 
 at the vessel's place ; so that the different 
 estimates of the crew themselves made us 
 from eighty to two hundred and fifty miles ofi' 
 the Syrian coast. Amid these doubtful opinions 
 as to oui' distance from land, the evils under 
 which we laboured were but too certain ; as not 
 a broken oar or fragment of dunnage could be 
 found for fire-wood, and our small stock of 
 water was constantly diminishing, without even 
 the hope of rain to recruit it j while a desert 
 coast under our lee was the only one to which we 
 could direct our course in case of still more 
 pressing necessity. 
 
 4th. Easterly airs still prevailing, we made 
 only a few miles of northing through the night, 
 and were this morning again becalmed. Not-
 
 so VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 withstanding the privations to which we were 
 now reduced, the want of unanimity among the 
 crew, and the discordant yell of rage, reproofi 
 and despair, which was incessantly heard in 
 every part of the ship, were still greater evils. 
 The crew reproached the Reis with a failure of 
 duty in not having laid in a sufficient stock of 
 water for the voyage; the Reis retorted on the 
 crew their want of prudence in the wasteful 
 consumption of it. The passengers suggested 
 that as both these parties had been in different 
 ways the causes of the evil, according to their 
 own mutual accusations, it was but fair that 
 they should suffer its effect the most severely. 
 Divided as they were before against each other, 
 they now both united in insisting that the pas- 
 sengers not belonging to the vessel ought to 
 have brought their own water with them, and 
 that in truth they had not the most distant right 
 to that which was laid in for the crew. 
 
 The Mohammedans exclaimed, ** La lUah 
 ul Ullah! Mohammed el Russool Ullah !" * 
 The Christians answered, ** Ya Mobareck! Ya 
 Rub! Ya Kereem!"t and when, to unite all 
 parties, I proposed that the remaining quantity 
 of water should be now divided among all on 
 
 * There is no god but God, — Mohammed is the apostle 
 of God. 
 
 f O blessed ! O Lord and Master ! O beneficent !
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. Si 
 
 board, in equal portions, to be used by caeh 
 according to his own discretion ; or that, every 
 morning, a daily measure should be given to 
 each by the captain himself; every one objected 
 to such a proposition, and seemed to think that 
 he should somehow or other be cheated in such 
 a division. 
 
 In the meantime all spirit of exertion was 
 extinguished among the crew. They would not 
 man the boat to tow, since that would create 
 an additional thirst ; and they suffered the ves- 
 sel when caught aback to fall off slowly herself, 
 and come round on the same tack without start- 
 ing a sheet or a brace, since they would all 
 require to be hauled taut again. The Reis had 
 entirely lost his influence among the crew, and 
 every one did as seemed best to him. The ap- 
 parent ambition of all was to adopt a tone of 
 authority, and to be the last and loudest in dis- 
 pute ; so that, although partial airs arose from 
 different quarters of the compass, by which we 
 might have profited to advance a few miles at 
 least, the helm was neglected, the yards lay 
 untrimmed, and we drifted about in every direc- 
 tion like a bark abandoned to despair. 
 
 5th. The moon had set in a dark bed of 
 rising clouds, and the whole appearance of the 
 night portended a western gale. Not m.ore than 
 twenty quarts of water, and this extremely
 
 32 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 foul, now remained for the subsistence of about 
 twenty persons on board; so that the anxiety 
 with which every eye was directed to the quar- 
 ter from whence the wind was desired may be 
 conceived. 
 
 The dawn opened, however, and not a breath 
 of air was yet stirring. Prayers and incense 
 were again resorted toj and the tone of all 
 those engaged in offering them had sunk from 
 confidence to melancholy despair. The men 
 were evidently terrified at the prospect of ap- 
 proaching death ; and their whole conduct, in 
 this respect, formed a striking contrast to the 
 calm resignation of the Mohammedans on board, 
 who continued to preserve all their former 
 tranquillity, and console themselves with the as- 
 surance of their prophet, " God is great and 
 merciful, and what he has decreed must come 
 to pass." 
 
 When prayers were ended, a straw-mat on 
 which the captain slept was let down into the 
 sea, and with the shreds of another mat torn up 
 for the purpose a fire was kindled thereon, and 
 the whole was pushed from the vessel's side, as 
 a burnt-offering to the gods of the winds. I had 
 at first conceived that the object of this was 
 chiefly to mark the direction which the smoke 
 would take, when free from the influence of 
 those eddies always occasioned by the flapping
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 33 
 
 of the ship's sails in a calm; but it afterwards 
 appeared that it was in every sense a sacrifice, 
 from the peculiar marks of which our future fate 
 was to be augured. If the flame burnt clear 
 and bright, so as to be distinguished plainly 
 through the thick smoke of the damp straw, if it 
 continued unextinguished until the fuel became 
 a heap of ashes, and if it returned not again to 
 the vessel, but drifted in some other course, all 
 these were to be so many proofs that the fire 
 thus kindled should triumph over the element 
 on which it floated, and that the god to whom 
 it ascended had heard our prayers, and would 
 not suffer that element to witness our destruc- 
 tion. Every omen was favourable, the mat 
 floated from us from the mere impulse with 
 which it was pushed from the ship, and the heat 
 of the flame was sufficient, amid the stillness of 
 the calm, to attract around it a sensible motion 
 of the colder air so as to feed the fire till most 
 of the fuel was consumed. 
 
 The joy of every one was not only extreme^ 
 but almost as boisterous as their rage and dis- 
 appointment on the preceding day ; and to 
 crown the whole, in less than an hour afterwards, 
 the glassy surface of the waters began to be ruf- 
 fled by light airs from the south and from the 
 west. 
 
 At noon it had strengthened into a fresh 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 breeze, the bow-iines were checked, and the 
 weather-braces rounded in, every sail was care- 
 fully trimmed, and we foamed along our 
 whitened path amid the curling waves of the deep 
 blue sea, while the bounding motion of our ves- 
 sel was like the exulting joy that agitated every 
 gladdened heart within her. 
 
 Had it even been possible, it would have been 
 perhaps a pity to damp the ardour of such gene- 
 ral happiness by the cold philosophy of physics, 
 or the dry doctrines of causes and effects ; but 
 had Newton himself appeared before this assem- 
 bly, his demonstrations would have availed no- 
 thing to disturb the firm persuasion which 
 reigned in the minds of all on board that their 
 faith in the morning sacrifice had alone pro- 
 cured for them the opening of the clouds of 
 heaven, and the gift of this favourable wind 
 from the hand of their Almighty Ruler. 
 
 We continued to sail at about the rate of six 
 knots, with a flowing sheet, until sunset ; in the 
 course of which time the land had been thrice 
 reported to be in sight from the mast-head. At 
 about two, P.M., all hands were so confident of 
 having seen it, that preparations were already 
 begun for anchoring in whatever port they 
 should make, as all beHeved that they were too 
 far to the northward, while they contended 
 among themselves wliether the land thus seen
 
 VOYAGE TEOM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 35 
 
 were about Tarabolous or Latikea, Uiough 
 Cyprus had not yet appeared in our way. 
 
 Before three o'clock the imaginary hills and 
 capes, which had excited this difference of opi- 
 nion as to their names, had entirely disappeared. 
 Soon afterwards the Reis himself exultingly re- 
 cognized the entrance to the port of Beiroot, 
 and was overjoyed thus to throw back on the 
 crew their reproaches on his inaccurate reckon- 
 ing, if mere guess could deserve that name. All 
 vanished off again, however, until the haze of 
 the eastern horizon raised up another phantom 
 to which the twilight gave a longer duration. 
 
 In the mean time our south-west wind sud- 
 denly declined and left us rolling in a long and 
 heavy swell, which still outlived its force. The 
 western sky grew dark, the moon hid her light 
 in the thickest clouds, and not a staj- was visible ; 
 while tlie vivid lightning which circled the 
 whole compass, gave a terrific aspect to the scene 
 when its blue glare for an instant illumined the 
 heavina: waters around us. This was first fol- 
 lowed by torrents of rain, and afterwards by 
 strono- o;usts of wind from the northward and 
 north-west, which rendered it necessary to take 
 in every sail. 
 
 After a few hours of successive squalls and 
 intervals of dead calm, these varying gusts set- 
 tled into a strong north-west gale, accompanied 
 
 D 2
 
 3i5 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 by a cross swell from the opposite direction of 
 the seas still running, which rendered our situa- 
 tion dangerous in the extreme. Having no cen- 
 tral staysails, the square course was loosed to 
 steady the vessel and hold her under steerage- 
 way, but as the land could not be far off, how- 
 ever doubtful the fact of its having been seen at 
 sunset, it would have been the height of rash- 
 ness still to stand on for it in such a night ; yet 
 this was the measure insisted on by the Reis, 
 whose terror of keeping the sea was beyond all 
 description. Besides the ultimate and alarming 
 evil which this threatened, it involved the more 
 immediate one of laying the ship so completely 
 in the hollow of the beaming swell, that we 
 should be in momentary danger of foundering. 
 The deeply laden state of this low vessel was 
 such as to deprive her of all buoyancy ; she 
 floated, it is true, but like a dead log upon the 
 water, never rising to the waves with the spring- 
 ing lightness which characterises the difference 
 of motion between a large and a small ship, and 
 contributes so essentially to the safety of the 
 latter, but lying buried in the trough of the sea, 
 while the water made a complete breach over 
 her, and threatened to sink us by the mere 
 weight of it upon the deck. 
 
 The alarm and confusion of the crew cannot 
 be pictured : while one cried, " Luff, luff to the
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 37 
 
 wind, or we are all lost !'* a second implored, 
 *' For Heaven's sake bear up, and fly before the 
 gale !" a third vociferated, " Give the vessel no 
 more way, or we are inevitably wrecked on a 
 lee-shore!" and all lifted their hands in the 
 agony of despair, crying, *' If we continue thus, 
 nothing can save us from going to the bottom.'* 
 
 My own feelings amid this scene would be 
 still more difficult to describe than that of the 
 crew, as theirs were simply indecision and ex- 
 cessive terror, while mine, not by any means 
 free from both of these, were mixed with others 
 of a very different kind. I would have bartered 
 all my hopes for the possession only of two able 
 seamen who could follow my directions while I 
 stood myself at the helm ; but alone and unas- 
 sisted by a single individual, surrounded by men 
 completely ignorant of the first principles of their 
 profession, and animated by no sense of firmness 
 or of duty, while they understood not a syllable 
 of my language, and I but very imperfectly the 
 sea-terms of theirs, I despaired of being able to 
 apply even the remedies which apparently re- 
 mained to rescue us from this horrible situa- 
 tion. 
 
 It was not a moment, however, for reflection, 
 for argument, or for mild endeavours to concili- 
 ate or persuade. Whatever was to be done, was 
 to be done quickly ; as delay would be as fatal 
 
 D 3
 
 38 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 as error. Taking the helm, therefore, into my 
 own hands, I luffed the vessel sharp to the wind, 
 letting go the weather-braqe at the same time, 
 so that with the force of the wind on the v/ea- 
 ther-leech the sail flew forward of itself, and it 
 only remained to gather in the slack of the 
 lee-brace and bow-line to have the ship com- 
 pletely hove-to. All this I was able to effect 
 alone, and the crew remained so abandoned to 
 despair as to offer no resistance, but merely to 
 regard me with a stupid gaze. 
 
 The benefit of the change was almost instantly 
 felt ; the ship, from heading the sea, no longer 
 lay buried in its hollow, and except such waves 
 as broke their curling foam when meeting her 
 falling prow, the waters no longer swept across 
 the decks ; her plunging motion was, however, 
 still heavy, and kept me in constant apprehen- 
 sion of her starting some butt or plank, and thus 
 springing a leak, for which there would have 
 been no remedy, as there was no pump in the 
 ship, and her cargo was laden in bulk. With 
 some difficulty I at length prevailed on two of 
 the smartest of the seamen and an active and 
 enterprising little Turkish boy on board to loose 
 the foot of the lateen foresail and the mizen, and 
 to furl so dangerous a sail as the large square- 
 course, every moment liable to be taken aback 
 and to send us down stern foremost. Under
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 39 
 
 these sails, witli the three central polacca-yards 
 braced sharp to the wind, we lay-to, coming up 
 and falling off nearly four points from the sails, 
 being at the very extreme ends of the vessel's 
 frame. 
 
 Lashing the helm two -thirds a-lee, in prefer- 
 ence to trusting it into the hands of any other 
 person, our next object was to lighten the ship 
 as much as possible, in order to ease the violence 
 of her pitching. From the liability to receive a 
 sea on board, and the want of pumps to free 
 the vessel from it again, we could not venture 
 to open the hatches for the purpose of access to 
 the cargo, — even the open space in the main 
 hatchway being now closed, and the hatches 
 battened down, while the sick and affrighted 
 passengers, Turks, Moors, and Christians, had 
 all crawled for refuge into my cabin, where 
 they lay one on another almost suffocated for 
 want of air. 
 
 We proceeded, therefore, to throw overboard 
 every thing on the deck, among which were a 
 large iron anchor, so heavy that nothing but the 
 energies of the occasion could have enabled us 
 to start it by hand from its place, two old and 
 rusty six pounders with their carriages, a large 
 and heavy wooden cabouse or cooking-house, the 
 bottom of which was of brick masonry, three or 
 
 D 4-
 
 40 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 four boxes or cafasses*, containing the cooking 
 utensils and provisions of ourselves and the other 
 passengers on board, two spare spars, all the 
 furniture of the boat excepting her rudder and 
 two oars, including her grapnell, davit, &c. 
 &c., empty water-casks, coils of spare rope, an 
 unshipped capstern, and, in short, every thing that 
 added to the weight on the vessel's decks. 
 
 We should have cut away the foremast with its 
 heavy lateen-yard, had there been an axe on 
 board, as it was stepped almost on the vessel's 
 stem, and oppressed her forward considerably ; 
 but to have started the rigging of the mast with- 
 out being able to cut away the spar itself, would, 
 by increasing its motion, have augmented the 
 evil. We lowered this yard on deck, however, 
 and getting it fore and aft, kept sufficient of the 
 sail loose to balance the mizen in keeping her to. 
 
 There were now two anchors at the bow and a 
 third lying athwart the forecastle, all with their 
 respective cables coiled under the piece of deck 
 below. From the want of an axe or even good 
 knives, we had still more difficulty in detaching 
 these, by being obliged to cast off their lashings, 
 
 * The name given to large cases made of a close cage- 
 work from the branches of the date -tree in Egypt, and de- 
 rived from the Arabic u^ord (^/CflJj a cage of net-work ; or the 
 Persian word, ^_^^Jj a cage, a lattice, a grate.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 41 
 
 while buried in the water and involved in pitchy 
 darkness. In about an hour we succeeded in 
 easing away the lee anchor with all its cable 
 attached, and started the spare one overboard on 
 the same side, with all its cable also, reserving 
 only the weather-anchor as a last hope. Eased 
 of all this burthen the vessel began to float more 
 buoyantly upon the water, and rise to meet the 
 waves in which she had before lain buried. 
 
 Our labours did not cease here. We repaired 
 to the after-cabin, and still assisted only by* the 
 two seamen and the admirable little Turkish 
 boy, proceeded to ease it of the weight which 
 pressed on the after-part of the ship. Under 
 other circumstances, it would have seemed an 
 act of cruelty, but here it was one of necessity, 
 to drag out by main force the poor, sick, and 
 helpless wretches who had taken shelter in the 
 cabin, as despair had deprived them both of 
 motion and of speech. While they lay on the 
 deck, my poor old servant among the number, 
 we were obliged to pass some ends of the 
 running rigging round them, to prevent their 
 rolling overboard ; and, as it was, they were in 
 great risk of being drowned in the water of the 
 scuppers on each side. 
 
 When they were secured, we took from the 
 cabin about fifty baskets of rice, twenty or 
 thirty smaller ones of dates, some other more
 
 ■i^ VOYAGE I'llOM KGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 weighty packages of merchandize, and chests, 
 bundles, and boxes belonging to myself, my 
 servant, and others of the passengers and crew ; 
 leaving nothing there but my small portmanteau 
 and our cloaks and arms. These last we removed 
 into the boat amidships, whither we obliged also 
 every individual on board to repair, and com- 
 mitted every thing else to the deep. 
 
 The boat's lashings, painter. Sec, were next 
 prepared for getting her speedily out, in the 
 event of the vessel's foundering. The enter- 
 prising little Achmet, a boy only ten years old, 
 whose energetic spirit and determined perseve- 
 rance surpassed all I had ever witnessed in a lad 
 of his age, was stationed on the forecastle to 
 look out. The two seamen, still unassisted by 
 their shipmates, baled the water from the waist ; 
 and I myself repaired again to the helm. 
 
 6th. The occupation of the preceding night 
 had divested it of part of its terrors ; while, 
 now that we remained in awful suspense, looking 
 silently around us upon the breaking waves, and 
 deafened by their continual roar, every hour 
 seemed of more than double its accustomed 
 length. 
 
 The benefit of our measures were, however, 
 so evident, as to affo rd us the tranquilhzing 
 consolation of having done our duty. The vessel 
 met the sea with a seeming effort to rise above
 
 VOYAGIi FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 43 
 
 its destructive foam; the decks were clear of 
 all that before encumbered them ; no lives were 
 yet lost, and, as far as we could perceive around 
 us, when the lightning's glare extended the 
 range of vision, we were still far from the worst 
 of all a seaman's horrors, a lee shore. Hope, 
 therefore, now in every sense our sheet-anchor 
 in the storm, still cheered us with the prospect 
 of our weathering the gale till morning, when 
 we might bear up for the land in safety. 
 
 The morning came, and no language can 
 describe the feeling with which the first glimmer 
 of its dawn was hailed ; nor were the rays which 
 dissipated the gloom of night, welcome as they 
 were to every eye, equal to that sunshine of 
 joy which now illumined every heart, bursting 
 through the darkness of absolute despair, and 
 raising, in short, the very dead to life again. 
 
 The storm had abated only a little of its 
 violence, yet the sea had become more regular 
 in the direction of its swell, and the crew now 
 quitting the boat in which they had lain, assisted 
 us in making sail, and waring the vessel round 
 before the wind. 
 
 At sunrise land was 'seen, and on a nearer 
 approach it was discovered to be the high and 
 even range of Ras-el-Nakhora, to the northward 
 of the bay of Acre. At eight the town of Acre 
 was distinctly visible, appearing like u city on
 
 i-i VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 a hill. A watch-tower was seen on the cape 
 itseJf, some villages on the highest part of the 
 land to the northward of it, white cliffs in the 
 same direction near the sea, and soon afterwards 
 the town and port of Soor, ranging along the 
 edge of the coast. 
 
 To this haven we directed our course, and, 
 as the captain assured us that he had been 
 often there, we stood on for its entrance with 
 confidence. The wind still blew with great 
 violence, and the range of high breakers, which 
 beat against the town and extended for a long 
 way to the northward of it, seemed to present a 
 formidable barrier to our entrance. We crowded 
 every sail, which the bending mast would bear, 
 to carry our vessel as rapidly as possible through 
 this foam ; and having the captain and one of 
 the best men on the forecastle to direct the 
 cunn, I stood at the helm, accompanied by the 
 other seaman who had exerted himself with me 
 during the night. 
 
 The nearer we approached the harbour, the 
 more threatening the danger of its entrance 
 seemed ; and we could already perceive crowds 
 of the inhabitants collected on the terraces of 
 their houses near the sea, as if watcliing with 
 anxiety the issue of our doubtful fate. At length 
 a large six-oared boat hove in sight, pulling 
 out from the town under the lee of the breakers.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 45 
 
 and stationing herself as nearly opposite to the 
 mid-channel between them as possible. She 
 dared not venture out to us, so that we directed 
 our stem towards her as a sailing mark. From 
 the waving of the pilot, who stood up in her 
 stern, we occasionally edged to star-board or to 
 port, and fortunately guided the vessel through 
 the centre of a dangerous and narrow strait 
 called the Boghaz, or bar of the harbour. 
 
 On our right, the sea beat against the rocky 
 base of the town, as if it would shake its firmest 
 foundations : on the left, over a range of reefs 
 which appeared like the ruins of former build- 
 ings, roared a line of breakers that would have 
 swept away the strongest works of man ; and on 
 both sides of us the billows flung their whitened 
 foam into the skies, as if the elements them- 
 selves were contending in warring rage against 
 each other; while our bark, flying with every 
 press of sail through the mountainous waves of 
 the centre, was thrice swept by seas breaking 
 over her stern, which, though they accelerated 
 her motion, made her stagger beneath their 
 pressure, as if she never would again obey the 
 power of her trembling helm. 
 
 The bars of Lisbon and Oporto, both of 
 which I had seen during a gale, appeared to me, 
 as far as I could recollect, much less terrible than 
 this straitened pass into the harbour of Soor,
 
 4(j VOYAGE I'UOM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 though I was then at an age when terror would 
 be magnified, as well by ignorance as by the 
 natural timidity of inexperienced youth. 
 
 Before noon we were safely within the haven, 
 and letting go our only anchor, amid a torrent of 
 hail and rain, we veered out a long scope of 
 cable, and rode in triumph over every danger 
 that had threatened our destruction. 
 
 When I saw the vessel thus well secured, my 
 first determination was to quit her here, to 
 which I was induced by other reasons than the 
 mere risk of the navigation yet remaining to be 
 performed. The crew had been all too much 
 terrified by the past to venture again from port 
 but under the most favourable auspices. The 
 bar of the harbour could not be passed over out- 
 ward until the present gale should cease ; and 
 the north-east winds, which alone would make 
 fine weather and smooth water on tlie coast, 
 would be unfavourable for the prosecution of the 
 rest of the voyage. An anchor and cable were 
 to be procured ; provisions, water, and wood 
 laid in ; spare rope and tackling had to replace 
 those thrown overboard in the storm ; and a 
 variety of other deficiencies to be made up, in a 
 port which was one of the most inconsiderable 
 along the coast for its maritime trade, where not 
 a vessel besides our ow-n was at this moment to 
 be seen, and where, consequently, all these du-
 
 VOYAGE FROM KGyi»T TO SYRIA. 47 
 
 ties would be performed under a certainty of 
 great delay. A still further detention would be 
 sure to occur at Bairoot, for the landing of cargo, 
 and some few days were to be reckoned as lost 
 in dependance on wind and weather. It ap- 
 peared probable, therefore, on the whole, that 
 we should be a month at least, and perhaps even 
 two, before the vessel would reach Latikea, by 
 which time I might hope to get there by land, 
 under every disadvantage of journeying through 
 the country. 
 
 Our small stock of baggage was no more than 
 we could each conveniently take in our own 
 hands ; and, stepping into the boat which had 
 come off from the shore, we quitted the Shaktoor 
 with the regrets, the thanks, and the vows of all 
 on board for our safety, since they hesitated not 
 to attribute their own preservation e.itirely to 
 the exertions made by us during the gale. 
 
 In approaching the shore, our boat had to 
 pass over a second bar, in order to reach the 
 landing-place, which was at the foot of a basin, 
 apparently formed by the breaking in of the sea 
 over ruined buildings without, the fragments of 
 which rendered the passage narrow and diffi- 
 cult. 
 
 When we landed on the beach, we were re- 
 ceived by a numerous crowd, who pressed 
 around us, professedly to congratulate us on our
 
 48 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 safety in a place of refuge from the storm, but 
 as well, no doubt, to gratify their curiosity, ex- 
 cited by the appearance of strangers in Euro- 
 pean dresses. A hundred questions were asked 
 us at once, which we had neither time nor capa- 
 city to answer; but finding among the mer- 
 chants there collected some who were more for- 
 ward in the offer of their services than others, we 
 delivered to them our small packages and arms, 
 and followed them to a house in the centre of 
 the town. 
 
 We were furnished with an excellent room and 
 clean mats, but the repose we so much needed 
 and desired we were not yet suffered to enjoy. The 
 few soldiers who were here desired to know from 
 whence we came, whither we were bound, and 
 under whose firman* we travelled. The mer- 
 chants followed, to enquire what articles we had 
 brought for sale, and to obtain the latest prices 
 of goods and rates of money in Egypt. 
 
 The Christian priests succeeded, to hail us as 
 *' Masafar-ela-Kods-el-Shereefe," or Pilgrims to 
 the Holy and the Noble, meaning Jerusalem ; 
 and our appearance was sufficiently pilgrim-like 
 to have deceived them, since no razor had been 
 over our faces for fifteen days, nor any change of 
 
 *^A^Jt a Persian word, signifying a mandate or order, and 
 \ised as such for the passport of Turkish governors, to travel 
 through their dominions.
 
 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 49 
 
 raiment afforded during the whole of our voyage. 
 Next came such of the poor and diseased as 
 could crawl to our habitation, to demand of us 
 medicine and relief, as it had already been noised 
 abroad that we were neither merchants nor pil- 
 grims ; and it was therefore concluded that we 
 must be hakeemi, or physicians. And, lastly, 
 the servants of the house in which we were 
 lodged completed the throng, by soliciting us to 
 favor them with our commands. 
 
 My old servant, who, though a native of 
 Tokat, was dressed in European garments, was 
 not suffered to perform any of those offices ap- 
 pertaining to his duty : all were forward and 
 ready to do us service ; and nothing remained 
 but to sit over our pipes and swallow rakee * and 
 coffee until we were almost intoxicated with the 
 combined effects of smoking, drinking, and 
 talking, in a thronged assembly of enquirers. 
 
 At sunset, when both the idle and the curious 
 began to be as weary as ourselves, a meal of rice 
 and stewed meat was served to us, of which 
 about half-a-dozen of our visitors remained to 
 partake. Cups of strong drink again followed 
 
 * A name applied throughout Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, to 
 a strong spirit distilled from dates ; from the Arabic word ^jjC 
 literally, sweat, juice ; and metaphorically used of wine and 
 spirituous liquors. 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 VOYAGE FROM EGYPT TO SYRIA. 
 
 in rapid succession, and refusal was either c6n«. 
 sidered as an insult, or thought to express a sus- 
 picion against the hand that offered it ; so that 
 at ten o'clock, when the party dispersed, we 
 sunk upon the mat without undressing, as much 
 oppressed by this excessive hospitality, as wearied 
 by the fatigues that preceded it.
 
 ( -51 ) 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS- 
 
 January 7th, 1816. After the sweetest sleep 
 I had for a long time enjoyed, we arose at day- 
 light, and being joined by a party who had 
 undertaken to superintend the necessary arrange- 
 ments for our accommodation, we repaired to 
 the bath. Mean and ill provided as this was, 
 its refreshing effects were sufficiently agreeable 
 to detain us there for several hours, when clean 
 inner garments, and a temperate repast enjoyed 
 in tranquillity, completed this powerful and 
 welcome restorative. 
 
 On quitting the bath we mounted mules pre- 
 pared for us, and rode through every part of 
 the town, as well as to a sufficient distance 
 without it, to obtain a commanding view of the 
 whole. In this excursion we were assisted by 
 the communications of several respectable in- 
 habitants who accompanied us, and from whose 
 confronted reports added to our own personal 
 observations, the following particulars were 
 collected. 
 
 JC 2
 
 52 STAY AT soon, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 The town of Soor is situated at the extremity 
 of a sandy jjeninsida, extending out to the north- 
 west for about a mile from the line of the 
 main coast. The breadth of the isthmus is 
 about one third of its length ; and at its outer 
 point, the land on which the town itself stands 
 becomes wider, stretching itself nearly in 
 right angles to the narrow neck which joins 
 it to the main, and extending to the north-east 
 and south-west for about a third of a mile 
 in each direction. The whole space which the 
 town occupies may be, therefore, about a mile 
 in length, and half a mile in breadth, measuring 
 from the sea to its inland gate. 
 
 It has all the appearance of having been once 
 an island, and at some distant period was, 
 perhaps, of greater extent in length than at 
 present, as from its north-east end extends a 
 range of fragments of former buildings, beaten 
 down and now broken over by the waves of the 
 sea. Its south-western extreme is of natural 
 rock, as well as all its edge facing outward to 
 the sea ; and the soil of its central parts, where 
 it is visible by being free of buildings, is of a 
 sandy nature. 
 
 While this small island preserved its original 
 character, in being detached from the continent 
 by a strait of nearly half a mile in breadth, no 
 situation could be more favourable for maritime
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 53 
 
 consequence ; and with so excellent a port as 
 this strait must have afforded to the small trad- 
 ing vessels of ancient days, a city built on it 
 might, in time, have attained the high degree 
 of splendour and opulence attributed to Tyrus, 
 of which it is thought to be the site. 
 
 The question whether the Tyre of the oldest 
 times stood on the continuent or on the island, 
 is involved in some obscurity by the ambiguous 
 nature of testimonies drawn even from the 
 same source. 
 
 The original city is considered as posterior 
 to Sidon, of which it is sometimes called the 
 daughter ; but it is still of very high antiquity, 
 as may be seen by the authorities which Cellarius 
 has so industriously collected from the prophets, 
 the historians, and the poets, by whom it is so 
 often mentioned.* 
 
 In the sacred writings it is often spoken of as 
 an island. The prophet Isaiah says in addressing 
 Tyre, " Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle ; thou 
 whom the merchants of Zidon that pass over 
 the sea have replenished. Pass over to Tarshish ; 
 howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. Is this your 
 joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient 
 
 * Geographiee Antiquse, lib. iii. c. 12. 4to, 1706. See 
 also Reland, c. 3. de urbibus et vicis Palsestinse, p. 1046. ; and 
 Bochart Phaleg et Canaan, Pars post. lib. ii. c. 17. p. 860. 
 
 E 3
 
 54) STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 days?"* And in the exulting language attri- 
 buted to it by Ezekiel, the expression is, "I sit 
 in the midsty" or as it is in the original, " in the 
 heart of the seas/' t 
 
 In the copy of Hiram's reply to Solomon, 
 regarding the preparation of materials for the 
 building of the Temple at Jerusalem, as pre- 
 served by Josephus, the insular situation of 
 Tyre is unequivocally expressed, when he says, 
 " But do thou take care to procure us corn in 
 return for this timber, which we stand in need 
 of, because we live in an island." ± 
 
 On the other hand, there are circumstantial 
 details seemingly more applicable to a con- 
 tinental than to an insular situation. In the 
 divisions of the conquered lands of Canaan 
 among the victorious tribes of Israel, the strong 
 city of Tyre is made one of the boundaries of 
 possession on the coast, in the fifth lot of the 
 lands assigned to the tribe of Asher and their 
 families ; seeming thus to be enumerated among 
 the places lying on the coast itself. § In the 
 
 * Isaiah, c. xxiii. v. 2. 6, 7- f Ezekiel, c. xxviii. v. 2. 
 
 X Josephus, Antiq. Jud. 1. 8, c. 2.7. Mr, Volney accuses 
 Josephus of being mistaken in this particular of its being an 
 island in the time of Hiram, and accuses him of confounding 
 its ancient with its modern state. Volney 's Travels in Egypt 
 and Syria. 8vo. vol. ii. p. 219. 
 
 § Joshua, c. xix. v, 29.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 55 
 
 threatenening message sent against the city by 
 the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, the details of 
 the warfare proclaimed seem applicable only to 
 a continental city. * 
 
 The commentators differ, however, in their 
 application of these local features to Palaetyrus 
 and Tyrus, which succeeded each other ; though 
 it is evident that they could be intended by the 
 writers of tliem to apply but to one place only. 
 
 The learned translator of Josephus hesitated 
 in his decision, more particularly as he found 
 that the accurate Reland, who had laboured 
 with so much diligence towards illustrating the 
 geography of Palestine and Phoenicia, was not 
 able to clear up this difficulty. He inclines to 
 think that Palaetyrus, or Old Tyre, the city 
 spoken of by Joshua, was seated on the continent, 
 and that its inhabitants were driven from thence 
 to the island opposite to them by the Israelites ; 
 that this island was then joined to the continent 
 by an artificial isthmus, and watered by pipes 
 from fountains on the main land. After a series 
 of events, the same writer conceives it to have 
 been utterly destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, in 
 conformity to the prophecy ; but a smaller is- 
 land near it being inhabited, in the days of Alex- 
 ander, that conqueror connected this second 
 
 * ekiei. c. xxvi. v. 7 — 10.
 
 56 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 insular city to the continent, by a new bank or 
 causeway, as we now see it. * 
 
 A desire to reconcile discordant passages 
 seems to have suggested this accommodation, 
 which is unsupported either by sacred or profane 
 history, and still less so by the testimony of 
 Maundrell, whose account of the modern Soor 
 is cited by Whiston to support his theory of these 
 manifold changes. 
 
 The army of Nebuchadnezzar lay before Tyre 
 thirteen years, and it was not taken till the fif- 
 teenth year after the captivity, in the year 573 
 before Christ ; and when taken, it was so ex- 
 hausted by the siege, or so deserted by the inha- 
 bitants, that the conqueror found nothing to 
 reward him for his labours, t 
 
 Dr. Prideaux supposes this city to have been 
 the old Tyre on the continent, and that the in- 
 habitants took refuge on the island, when the 
 new Tyre flourished again with almost the same 
 vigour as its parent, till it was destroyed by 
 Alexander in the year 332 before Christ, and 
 241 years after the reduction of it by the Baby- 
 lonians, t 
 
 Herodotus, who wrote about 400 years before 
 the Christian era, or between the invasions of 
 
 * Whiston's Josephus, Antiq. Jud. 1. 8. c. 2. s. 8. 
 
 t Prideaux's Connect, of the Old and New Test. vol. i. p. 72. 
 
 X Vincent's Periplus of the Erytli. Sea, vol. ii. p. 525.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 57 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar and Alexander, mentions his 
 visit to Tyre ; but instead of his calling it ** an 
 island," as one might suppose he would have 
 done, it is rather to be inferred from his mention 
 of the temple of Hercules as in the town, that it 
 was then on the continent, where the temple of 
 Hercules, in which Alexander sacrificed, is al- 
 ways placed. The Tyrians appear to have fol- 
 lowed, at that period, the worship of the Egyp- 
 tians, with which nation they were closely allied 
 in commerce at a still earlier period.* When 
 speaking of Hercules, as one of the most ancient 
 deities of Egypt, the Greek historian says, 
 " From my great desire to obtain information on 
 this subject, I made a voyage to Tyre, in Phoe- 
 nicia, where is a temple of Hercules, held in 
 great veneration. This temple, as the priests 
 affirmed, had been standing ever since the first 
 building of the city, a period of two thousand 
 three hundred years. I saw also at Tyre ano- 
 ther temple consecrated to the Thasian Her- 
 cules." t 
 
 * Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which 
 thou spreadest forth to be thy sail ; blue and purple from the 
 isles of Elisha was that which covered thee. Ezekiel, 
 c. xxvii. V. 7. 
 
 f Herodotus. Euterpe 22. 
 
 In the temple of Hercules at Tyre were two pillars, one 
 dedicated to fire, and the other to the clouds and the winds. The 
 statue of this god is said to have been always accompanied by
 
 58 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TY.RUS. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus distinguishes between the 
 continental and the insular Tyre in the most 
 explicit terms. The latter was the Tyre be- 
 sieged by Alexander, ** who,'* he observes, 
 " finding some difficulty in attacking it on that 
 account, as the Tyrians had a very powerful 
 
 these pillars, to which they sometimes gave the name of limits 
 or boundaries. (Herodotus, lib. i.) M. Baer, Essay upon the 
 Atlantis, p. 47. To name one of these pillars was to mark or 
 indicate a temple of Hercules ; these pillars signified then like- 
 wise limits ; they were limits or points of repose in the pro- 
 gress of this illustrious traveller. The temples of Hercules 
 serve to denote his different stations. (Vol. i. p. 80.) M. 
 Baer, in his search after the Atlantis, conceives these pillars 
 of Hercules at the temple in Tyre to be those of which Plato 
 speaks, when he says that this celebrated island was seated 
 opposite to them in the Atlantic Sea, and not to be meant of 
 the Straits of Gibraltar, as commonly supposed. M. Baer is 
 therefore of opinion that Phoenicia and Judea form the Atlan- 
 tis of Plato. He discovers certain resemblances between the 
 names of the twelve sons of Jacob and the brothers of Atlas. 
 Were we to suppose these relations of resemblance real, says 
 M. Bailly, it would not be extraordinary. The Bible contains 
 the most consistent and most faithfully preserved series of tra- 
 ditions. It is by far the purest source of history. But in spite 
 of these resemblances, ingeniously stated and explained by 
 M. Baer, we must not spend our time in Palestine ; it is by no 
 means there that we look for the termination of our inquiries. 
 We ask for the island Atlantis. The country that lies between 
 the Euphrates and the sea is not an island, and the words of 
 Plato are far from being ambiguous on that point. — Ancient 
 Hist. of. Asia, and Remarks on the Atlantis of Plato by M. 
 Bailly, 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1814. Vol. ii. p. 80 — 82.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIEnT TYRUS. 59 
 
 fleet, he demolished Old Tyre, as it was then 
 called, and with the stones brought from thence 
 built a mole or causeway of two hundred feet 
 in breadth, extending all the way from the con- 
 tinent to the island.'* The difficulties which im- 
 peded this work, and the determined perseverance 
 with which it was carried on amidst obstacles 
 of so formidable a kind, are admirably described 
 by the historian ; and the description of the va- 
 rious operations of the siege leave one in doubt 
 whether the fearless valour of the Macedonians 
 or the obstinate bravery of the Tyrians deserved 
 most to be admired.* 
 
 Strabo speaks most decidedly of Tyrus as an 
 island, and enumerates the principal features of 
 its local positions, and its great celebrity at the 
 period of his writing, which was full three cen- 
 turies after its siege, t 
 
 *Diodorus Siculus, 1. xvii. c. 4. A. C. 330. 
 
 I " Tyrus tota insula est, ac fer^ eodem modo habitata, quo 
 Aradus, ad continentem aggere earn adnectente, et cum 
 Alexander earn obsideret. Portus duos habet, alterum clausum, 
 alterum apertum, quern Egyptium vocant. Dicunt in ea 
 domos altiores fieri, quam Romae, ideo etiam parum abfuit 
 aliquando, quin tota urbs terrse motibus deleretur. Cladem 
 accepit ab Alexandro expugnata. Has tamen calamitates 
 omnes superavit, et se recollegit ciim uavigationibus, qua re 
 Phoenices semper aliis prsestitere, turn purpururam captura 
 Tyria enim purpura optima omnium perhibetur, ac piscatio 
 ipsa proxima est ; et csetera cuncta, quae ad inficiendas vestes 
 pertinent, in promptu sunt. At tametsi maxima hiijus modi
 
 60 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 Pliny seems to have thought that the oldest 
 Tyre was on the continent, and the most cele- 
 brated Tyre on an island, as will appear by his 
 description : " Beyond Eedippa, and the Cape 
 Album *, follows the noble city Tyrus, in old 
 time an island, lying about three quarters of a 
 mile within the deep sea, but now, by the great 
 travail and devices wrought by Alexander the 
 Great, at the siege thereof, joined to the firm 
 ground, renowned for that out of it have come 
 three other cities of antient name ; to wit, Leptis, 
 Utica, and that great Carthage, which so long 
 strove with the empire of Rome for the monarchy 
 and dominion of the whole world ; yea, and 
 Gades, divided as it were, from the rest of the 
 earth, were peopled from hence t ; but now, at 
 
 tinctorum multitudo civitatem reddit paulo dissolutiorem, 
 tamen ob banc copiam coUocupletatur. Non solum k regibus, 
 sed a Romanis etiam libertate doiiati sunt, cum quidem paulo 
 sumtu impetrarent, ut eorum votum Romani ratum haberent 
 atque confirmarent. Colitur apud eos Hercules majdrem in 
 modum. Quantum classe potuerint, argumento evident! est 
 multitudo et magnitudo coloniarum ab iis deductarum. Dictum 
 est de Tyriis." — Strabo, the Latin version ; Amsterdam, 
 1707. 2 vols, folio. B. 16. p. 757. 
 
 * This Cape Album is the one still called Ras-el-Abiad, or 
 the White Cape, by the Arabs. 
 
 f M. Bailly, in his " Ancient History oF Asia," says, " It 
 appears from very probable computation, that we must refer 
 the building of Tyre, as well as that of Thebes, in Egypt, to 
 2700 years before our era, ' (vol. ii. p. 83.) which agrees with 
 Herodotus.
 
 STAY AT soon, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 61 
 
 this day, all the glory and reputation thereof 
 standeth upon the dye of purple and crimson 
 colours. * The compass of it is nineteen miles, 
 so ye Comprise Palaetyrus within it. The very 
 town itself taketh up twenty-two stadia. Near 
 unto it are these towns, Luhydra, Sarepta, and 
 Ornithon ; also Sidon, where the fair and clear 
 glasses be made, and which is the mother of the 
 great Thebes in Beotia.'* t 
 
 Quintus Curtius, too, besides the assertion that 
 he makes, which accords with Diodorus^ of 
 Alexander using the ruins of Palaetyrus to con- 
 struct the mole across the sea from the continent 
 to the island of Tyre, mentions this older city 
 in another place. He says, " When the am- 
 bassadors of Alexander signified to the Tyrians 
 the desire of their monarch to sacrifice to the 
 Tyrian Hercules, which they worshipped as the 
 god from 'whom the Macedonian kings were 
 descended, and in obedience of an oracle which 
 had enjoined him to this act of devotion, they 
 replied to him that there was a temple of Her- 
 cules without their city, in a place which they 
 
 • This purple was extracted from the vein of the purple fish, 
 when they were taken of a large size and whole, and this was 
 the best : but the smaller ones were taken out of the shells 
 and ground in mills to obtain this dye, and though there were 
 other places where this purple was collected, that of Tyrus 
 was by far the best. — Pliny, Nat. Hist. 1. ix. c. 36. 
 
 f Pliny. Nat. Hist. 1. v. c. 19.
 
 6S STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 called the Old Tyre, and that he might make 
 his sacrifice there." * 
 
 Arrian, the most accurate among all the his- 
 torians of Alexander, gives us even the depth of 
 the sea in the strait which occasioned the insular 
 situation of the city. He says, ** The sea that 
 separated the island of Tyre from the continent 
 had a clayey bottom, and was shoal near the 
 shore, but as it approached the city it was about 
 three fathoms in depth.'*t Quintus Curtius in- 
 deed calls this sea a very deep one, " praealtum 
 mare." J It was the rubbish of old Tyre (thirty 
 furlongs off), upon the continent, which supplied 
 materials for the building of the mole construct- 
 ed by Alexander, according to Curtius. II And 
 this agrees with Didorus. § 
 
 ♦Quint. Curt. 1. iv. c. 2. 
 
 After the visit which Alexander paid to the temple of Jupiter 
 Amraon, to consult the oracle there, his founding Alexandria, 
 and settling the affairs of Egypt, he began his march of return 
 to PhcBnicia, in the beginning of the spring, having laid 
 bridges over the Nile and all its canals near Memphis, (proba- 
 bly for the passage of horses, chariots, and all the pomp of his 
 train,) and coming again to Tyre, where he met his fleet, he 
 sacrificed a second time to the Tyrian Hercules, and exhibited 
 the usual games in his honour. — Arrian, 1. iii. c. 6. 
 
 t DeExped. Alex. 1. ii. c. 18. 
 
 J Quint. Curt.. 1 iv. c. 2. || Ibid. 
 
 § Yet the translator of Arrian himself evidently believed 
 that the Tyre besieged by Nebuchadnezzar was the city on the 
 island, and not that on the main laud ; for in animadverting 
 on the hyperbolic style of Quintus Curtius, who says that the
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 63 
 
 In the contentions for empire which followed 
 the death of Alexander, and not quite thirty 
 years after this memorable siege, Tyre was again 
 invested by the fleet of Antigonus, against whom 
 Ptolemy, Seleucus, Cassander, and Lysimachus, 
 were all leagued in war. He at the first left be- 
 fore this city three thousand men, under the 
 command of Andronicus, to besiege it, but when 
 he had himself taken Joppa and Gaza, he re- 
 turned to the camp, there to preside over the 
 operations of it himself. It being determined 
 at length to blockade the place by sea, this was 
 done by his fleet for thirteen months, during 
 which time the inhabitants were so reduced as to 
 render up the city and receive a garrison of the 
 troops of Antigonus into it for its defence.* 
 
 deep sea between it and the continent could not be filled up 
 but by a miracle, and over which a whole province could 
 scarcely find wood enough for a bridge, or stones enough to 
 fill it up, he remarks, that it had been done before without a 
 miracle, (Ezekiel, c. xxix. v. 18.) and that the same trouble, 
 admitting no greater opposition, would do it again. This 
 same writer observes on the disproportionate loss of the Mace- 
 donians in the siege of this place. The statement plainly 
 shows to which party we owe the records or memoirs from" 
 whence all these histories were compiled. Justin, contrary to 
 all other authorities, affirms that Tyre was taken by treachery. 
 (L. xi. c. 10.) Elian reports that it was won by stratagem. 
 Polynaeus, that it was carried by storm. Rooke's Arrian, 
 b. ii. c. 24. vol. i. p. 114. 8vo. 
 * Diodorus Siculus, 1. xix. c. 4.
 
 64 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 About three years after this, and immediately 
 following the battle fought at Gaza, between the 
 combined armies of Ptolemy and Seleucus, 
 against that of Demetrius, in which the latter 
 was completely routed, Tyre was again invested 
 by Ptolemy in person. Its garrison was then 
 under the command of Andronicus, who re- 
 jected every offer made to him of wealth and 
 power, and refused to betray the trust which 
 Antigonus and Demetrius had reposed in him ; 
 but a mutiny arising among his own soldiers, the 
 place soon fell into the hands of the enemy.* 
 
 It seems most probable, therefore, that the 
 city which Nebuchadnezzar besieged was the 
 Palaetyrus situated on the continent, and the 
 Tyrus which Alexander contended agaihst, the 
 city seated on the island, t 
 
 * Diodorus Siculus, 1. xix. c. 6. 
 
 t M. Volney wonders at the necessity of the aqueduct to 
 supply the old Tyre with water, if it stood as is supposed on 
 the continent. (Vol. ii. p. 219.) It is true that in the inva- 
 sion of Syria by Shalmanezer, at a much earlier period than the 
 siege of Tyre by Alexander, guards are said to have been placed 
 at the river and aqueducts of Tyre to hinder the Tyrians 
 from drawing water. (Joseph. Ant. Jud. 1. ix, c. 14. s. 2.) But 
 these were certainly other aqueducts than the splendid one 
 existing now, which must be at least of a later dat""- than the 
 union of the island to the continent by Alexander, since a por- 
 tion of it goes over the isthmus itself ; and it is probable, too, 
 of Roman work, as the arch, which is here the prominent 
 feature of the masonry, is thought to have been unknown either 
 to the Hebrews or to the early Greeks.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 65 
 
 The resistance offered by Tyre to the haughty 
 Macedonian, whose arms had already completed 
 the conquest of Syria, or at least decided its fate 
 at the celebrated battle of Issus *, is a striking 
 instance of what may be effected even by a 
 commercial people whose military establishments 
 were scarcely enumerated among the features of 
 their high renown. " Let us contemplate these 
 entcrprizes,'* says a patriotic scholar of our own 
 age, " as completed by the efforts of a single 
 city, which, possibly, did not possess a territory 
 of twenty miles in circumference, which sus- 
 tained a siege of thirteen years against all the 
 power of Babylon, and another of eight months 
 against Alexander in the full career of his vic- 
 tories, and then judge whether a commercial 
 spirit debases the nature of man, or whether any 
 single city recorded In history is worthy to be 
 compared with Tyre.'* t 
 
 *' This proud mart of antiquity, whose re- 
 sources of wealth and power are enumerated 
 with so much eloquence by the prophet while 
 proclaiming its destined fall, sent her fleets east- 
 ward to the gates of the Atlantic, which were the 
 boundaries of all i^nowledge to every nation but 
 
 * This was fought in the month of Mamacterion, in the 4th 
 year of the 1 1 1th Olympiad, when Nicocrates was archon, and 
 333 years before the Christian era. 
 
 t Vincent's Periplus of the Eryth. Sea, vol. ii. p. 528. 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 their own ; while from this parent city, whose 
 splendour and magnificence was unrivalled, and 
 the wealth of whose merchants equalled that of 
 the kings of other lands, colonies went forth to 
 become themselves kingdoms from the same 
 sources of power." * 
 
 The people of this " crowning city,** as the 
 prophet calls it, " whose merchants were princes, 
 whose traffickers were the honourable of the 
 earth t,'* were seemingly as alive to the love of 
 liberty and independence as the possessors of the 
 poorest rock in the ocean could have been ; for 
 one can scarcely conceive any other feeling to 
 have prompted so daring a resistance as that 
 which they offered to the career of Alexander's 
 victories, when they closed the gates of their 
 sea-girt fortress, and bade defiance- to the con- 
 quering phalanxes which subsequently subdued 
 the largest armies and over- ran the finest portions 
 of the habitable globe. The love of liberty, it 
 has been observed, will often animate the com- 
 mon bosom with superior energy; and, in a 
 frenzy for their freedom, men of ordinary 
 capacities are frequently expanded into heroes. 
 The numbers of the besieged who fell in the 
 resistance offered to the Macedonian are esti- 
 
 * Vincent's Periplus of the Eryth. Sea, vol. ii. p. 527. 
 t Isaiah, c. xxiii. v. 8.
 
 , STAY AT SOOR, THE A>JCrEN'T TYllUS. 67 
 
 mated at six thousand by one writer *, at seven 
 thousand by another f, and at eight thousand by 
 a third t, all sufficiently proving both the popu- 
 lousness of the city at that period, and the obsti- 
 nacy of the resistance which it must have made 
 against its assailants. 
 
 It was of the city thus conquered by Alexan- 
 der, and consequently since its union to the main 
 land, that the Greek and Roman geographers 
 and historians record so much § ; but it is of 
 the older city, whether seated on the island or 
 on the main, that the eloquent picture of the 
 Hebrew prophets is drawn, and on which their 
 terrible denunciations are thundered forth, when 
 its annihilation is threatened for daring to exult 
 at the overthrow of Jerusalem, and to exclaim 
 " Aha!'* over the fallen city of the living God. || 
 
 The port of Tyre is mentioned soon after the 
 
 * Quintus Ciirtius, 1. iv. c. 4. t Diodorus SiculuSj 1. xvii. 
 
 J Arrian, Ex. Alex. 1. ii. c. 24. 
 
 § See Strabo, 1. xvi., who says much of the loftiness and 
 beauty of the buildings there. Josephus, in describing the city 
 of Zebulon as of admirable beauty, says it had its houses built 
 like those of Tyre, and Sidon, and Berytus. DeBelloJud. 
 1. ii. c. 18. s. 9. 
 
 Bochart, from Pliny and Strabo, collects all the features of 
 its magnificence, and enumerates them in his comparison by 
 Tyre with the still more ancient city of Sidon. Phaleg et 
 Canaan, pars prim. lib. iv. c. 35. p. 343. 
 
 II Ezekicl, c. xxvi. v. 2. 
 
 F ^
 
 68 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 the date of Strabo's description in the history 
 of St. PauPs voyages, as the harbour at which 
 the ship he sailed in was to unlade her 
 burden ; and even at that early period of the 
 faith, he found disciples there with whom he 
 tarried seven days. * Its inhabitants soon after 
 became zealous Christians, and it was made the 
 first archbishopric under the patriarchate of 
 Jerusalem, t 
 
 Its conquest, by Salah-el-deen, in the year of 
 the Hejira 583, or A. D. 1168, and its evacua- 
 tion by the Count of Tyre, wlio fled to Tripoly 
 and perished there, is to be found in the Arabian 
 historians of these times, t 
 
 It was not long after visited by the Jewish 
 Rabbi, Benjamin of Tudcla, who describes it as 
 a large city, having an excellent port, which was 
 guarded by a large chain going from one side 
 of the entrance to another. This traveller, who 
 had already seen some of the finest commercial 
 cities of Europe, thought that Tyre was at that 
 period without an equal in the world. It was 
 then celebrated for a peculiar manufacture of 
 fine glass, and for excellent sugar, as well as for 
 
 *Acts of the Apostles, c. xxi. v. 3. 
 f Pococke's Descr. of the East, v. ii. part 1. p. 85. 
 X See " Extraits Historiques, relatifs au Temps de Croisades,' 
 in '• Les Mines de lOrient," torn. iii. p. 70.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYUUS. 69 
 
 being the greatest mart of commerce in these 
 parts. * 
 
 It was, hov/ever, soon rescued from the hands 
 of the infidels, under whom it had almost re- 
 gained its pristine splendour, according to this 
 Jewish traveller's report, and was fought for as a 
 portion of that sacred soil which was first bestow- 
 ed upon the chosen Israelites, the people of God's 
 peculiar care, and next honoured by its proxi- 
 mity to the scene of the sufferings of that same 
 Deity's only begotten Son ; a soil which it was 
 thought a holy task to moisten with the richest 
 blood of our ancestors, when kings and khalifs 
 warred in person for the triumph of the crescent 
 or the cross. 
 
 The details of the expedition against Tyre 
 under the royal zealots of Christendom are given 
 by the historian of the Decline and Fall of the 
 Roman Empire, in his account of the crusades t ; 
 and its subsequent history is to be found in the 
 pages of the same writer, collected from sources 
 which few would have the industry or the 
 patience to examine. 
 
 William of Tyre, whose name is well known as 
 
 * Voyage de Benjamin de Tudele, in Bergeron's Collection. 
 Paris, 4to. The old Tyre was then thought to be buried in 
 the sea, and its ruins to be seen below the water from boat*. 
 
 t Gibbon's Hist. vol. xi. c. 59. p. 140. 8vo. 
 
 F 3
 
 70 STAY Ar SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYUUS, 
 
 an historian of" these times, was an Englishman, 
 who, from being prior of the Canons Regular in 
 tlie Church of Jerusalem, called the Lord's Sepul- 
 chre, was made the first archbishop of Tyre in 
 the year 1128, by Guimunde, the patriarch of 
 Jerusalem. This city was even then called the 
 metropolis of all Phoenicia, and accounted the 
 chief province of Syria, both for its productions 
 and the number of its inhabitants. This Wil- 
 liam, having in his lifetime written many books 
 and epistles, died here in the year IISO, and 
 was buried in the church of Tyre. Origen, one 
 of the most learned fathers of the church, and 
 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, one of its 
 most zealous defenders, were also buried in the 
 cathedral tliere * ; and Baldwine„ who had been 
 archbishop of Canterbury six years, dying here 
 in the train of the English King Richard, in 
 1 190, closed on this ccmtested spot the perils of 
 his holy voyage, t 
 
 Amid all its changes of fortune and religion, 
 it seems to have retained its original name, with 
 very trifling alterations, and has now recovered 
 its oldest and purest form of Soor, which is said 
 to signify a rock, and in that sense is highly 
 
 * Pococke, vol. ii. part i. p. 82. 
 
 ■j- Hakluyl's (,'ollcction, vol.ii. p. 28. Ito..
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRLS. 71 
 
 characteristic of the island on which it was 
 built. * 
 
 MaundrelPs account of the place, abolit a 
 century ago, is that of "a mere Babel of broken 
 walls, pillars, vaults, &c., there being not so 
 much as one entire house leftt;" and Bruce, I 
 think, in conformity to the prophecy, describes 
 it as "a rock whereon fishers dry their netst;" 
 since which time it has evidently arisen from its 
 ruins. 
 
 The annexed plan of Tyre and its environs, 
 constructed for the " Critical Enquiry into the 
 Historians of Alexander, by M. de St. Croix," 
 is generally accurate. The authorities for its 
 construction are not given by M. Barbie du 
 Bocage, in the worl^ to which it is attached ; but 
 it is highly illustrative of the local features of 
 tliis celebrated spot. § 
 
 The whole of the outer edge of the island is 
 skirted by locks ; and the Egyptian port, being 
 ibrmed by moles, is not now apparent. 
 
 The long ledge of rocks to the northward. 
 
 * Tyrus, "Tl^, rv^^, Hebraice dicitur Sor, et versitur tribu- 
 latio vel obsidio, sive angustia, aut vinculum, vel colligatio, seu 
 plasmatia, aut figuratio, vel fortitudo, aut petra. Metropolis 
 I'hoenices, &c. Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 317. 
 
 t Mauiidrell's Journey, p. 04. 8vo. 
 
 J Ezek. c. xxvi. v, 11. 
 
 {j Plate I\\ 
 
 F 4
 
 72 STAY AT SOOU, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 which guards the passage of entrance to the 
 harbour there, has appearances of ruins pre- 
 cisely in the spot where the tomb of Rhodope is 
 marked. 
 
 The interior port is still to be traced, in a 
 marked indentation in the north-east edge of the 
 island, but is now only used as a shelter for the 
 smallest boats. 
 
 In the angle on which was seated the royal 
 palace, there are still to be seen a number of fal- 
 len granite pillars, and other vestiges of architec- 
 tural grandeur ; but of the temples of the Ty- 
 rian and the Thrasian Hercules, of Saturn, of 
 Apollo, and of their other deities, I am not 
 aware that sufficient remains can be traced to 
 confirm the positions assumed for them. 
 
 The causeway of Alexander is still perfect, 
 and is become like a natural isthmus by its being 
 covered over with sand ; but of the causeway of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, which is said to have frag- 
 ments remaining near the continent, I can say 
 nothing. 
 
 The plan of Pala-Tyrus on the continent is 
 made up from more slender materials than that 
 of Tyre on the island. What is called the Road 
 to the Temple is occupied by the aqueduct, 
 which was no doubt carried all the way over the 
 causeway to the island itself. 
 
 The hill, on which is placed the temple of the
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 73 
 
 Astrochitonian Hercules, is now occupied by a 
 Mohammedan Faqueer's tomb, around which are 
 no ruins that indicate a work of grandeur de- 
 stroyed. It forms the angle of the aqueduct as 
 there delineated ; but if it were within the walls 
 of Palaetyrus, it could not then have been the 
 mount from which Nebuchadnezzar besieged the 
 old city, as supposed by others. 
 
 The direction of the aqueduct from hence to 
 the fountain of Callirhoe, or the springs at Ras- 
 el-Ain, is accurately given ; but here, as in the 
 other case, no great road to the temple is appa- 
 rent on either side of it, nor did I see any ves- 
 tige of walls to the eastward of the aqueduct as 
 there traced out. 
 
 The ruins of Palaetyrus, near to Ras-el-Ain, 
 were not observed by me, although we crossed 
 the brook there ; and the Tyrian sepulchres, 
 which are placed to the northward of the town, 
 I did not hear of, nor did our excursions ex- 
 tend that way. 
 
 On approaching the modern Soor, whetherfrom 
 the sea, from the hills, from the north, or from the 
 south, its appearance has nothing of magnificence. 
 The island on which it stands is as low as the isth- 
 mus which connects it to the main land, and, like 
 this, all its unoccupied parts present a sandy and 
 barren soil. The monotony of its grey and fiat-
 
 71< STAY AT SOOR, THK ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 roofed buildings is relieved only by the niinareli 
 of one mosque with two low domes near it, the 
 ruins of iui old Christian church, the square 
 tower without, the town to the southward or 
 south-east of it, and a few date-trees scattered 
 here and there among the houses. 
 
 On entering the town, it is discovered to have 
 been walled j the portion toward the isthmus still 
 remaining, and being entered by a humble gate, 
 while that on the north side is broken down, 
 showing only detached fragments of circular 
 towers greatly dilapidated. These walls, both 
 from their confined extent and style of building, 
 would seem to be of less antiquity than those 
 which encompassed Tyrus in the days of its high- 
 est splendour, as they do not enclose a space of 
 more than two miles in extent, and are of ordi- 
 nary workmanship. They do not reach beyond 
 the precincts of the present town, thus shutting 
 out all the range to the northwartl of the harbour, 
 which appears to be composed of the ruins of 
 former buildings. The tower to the south-east 
 is not more than fifty feet square, and about the 
 same height. It is turretted on the top, and has 
 small windows and loop-holes on each of its sides. 
 A flight of steps leads up to it from without, and 
 its vviiole appearance is much like that of the 
 Saracenic buildings in the neighbourhood of 
 Cairo.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 75
 
 76 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 At the present time the town of Soor contains 
 about eight hundred substantial stone-built 
 dwellings, mostly having courts, wells, and 
 various conveniencies attached to them, besides 
 other smaller habitations for the poor. There 
 •are within the walls one mosque, three Christian 
 churches, a bath, and three bazars. The in- 
 habitants are at the lowest computation from five 
 to eight thousand, three-fourths of which are 
 Arab Catholics, and the remainder Arab Mos- 
 lems and Turks. 
 
 In the fair season, that Is from April to Oc- 
 tober, the port is frequented by vessels from the 
 Greek islands, the coasts of Asia Minor, and 
 Egypt ; and the trade is considerable in all the 
 productions of those parts, as Soor is considered 
 one of the marts of supply from without for 
 Damascus, for which its local situation is still, 
 as formerly, extremely eligible. 
 
 The northern port, when entered, is sufficient- 
 ly deep and capacious for the small trading ves- 
 sels of those seas, and offers the most complete 
 shelter from the winds of every quarter. Its 
 chief disadvantage is the Boghaz or bar of en- 
 trance ; but we were assured by those most con- 
 versant in such matters, that this is safe and easy 
 of access, excepting only during the westerly 
 gales of the winter, when the harbour is never 
 resorted to but as a place of refuge in distress.
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 77 
 
 In the course of our ramble through the town, 
 and our ride without its walls, the most striking 
 features of the inhabitants whom we met in the 
 way were an air of independence in some, of 
 ferocity in others, and of cunning in all, com- 
 pared with ihe servility, mildness, and simplicity 
 of the Egyptians. The dress of the mercantile 
 people, who are chiefly Christians, resembled that 
 of the same class in Cairo ; full drawers, caftans, 
 benishes, and turbans. These last were invari- 
 ably of blue muslin, sometimes fringed with 
 silver, and having silver thread- worked knots at 
 their ends : they were depressed behind, and 
 thrown up in numerous folds in front, so as to 
 give an air of boldness to the wearer. 
 
 The lower orders, both of Christians and 
 Mohammedans, wore the large Mamlook trow- 
 sers, or sherwal, of blue cotton, or of cloth ; 
 and short benishes, or outer coats of woollen, 
 striped in yellow, white, and red, with an in- 
 verted pyramid of coloured figures descending 
 from the neck, between the shoulders, on the 
 back. Their turbans were wound round the 
 silken edge of a large red tarboosh or cap, which 
 was sufficiently ample to fall behind the head, 
 and have its blue silk tassel touching the benish 
 itself. Many wore also the bisht of the Bedouins, 
 a large woollen cloak with broad alternate stripes 
 of black or brown and white. All were armed,
 
 78 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 some with one jjistol in the girdle, others with a 
 pair, and others again with a dirk or a sword, 
 but mostly with a long musket slung over the 
 shoulders by a leathern strap. 
 
 The women were habited partly after the 
 Egyptian and partly after the Turkish fashion ; 
 some wore black veils with openings for the 
 eyes ; others only covered the mouth and the 
 lower part of the face, as in Smyrna ; and others, 
 again, wearing over their heads a square piece 
 of white muslin which fell low down on the back, 
 had their faces totally concealed by a veil of 
 coloured but transparent muslin, like the women 
 of Mokha and the southern parts of Arabia 
 Felix. 
 
 In the court of the house where we lodged, I 
 observed a female divested of these outer robes, 
 and her garments then appeared to resemble 
 those of the Jewish women in Turkey and Egypt : 
 the face and bosom were exposed to view, and 
 the waist was girt with a broad girdle fastened 
 by massy silver clasps. This woman, who was a 
 Christian, wore also on her head a hollow silver 
 horn, rearing itself upwards obliquely from her 
 forehead, being four or five inches in diameter at 
 the root, and pointed at its extreme ; and her 
 ears, her neck, and her arms, were laden with 
 rings, chains, and bracelets. 
 
 The first peculiarity reminded me very for-
 
 STAY AT soon, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 79 
 
 cibly of the expression of the Psalmist ; ** Lift 
 not up thine horn on high, speak not with a stiff 
 neck." " All the horns of the wicked will I cut 
 off, but the horns of the righteous shall be ex- 
 alted ;"* similar illustrations of which, Bruce 
 had also found in Abyssinia, in the silver horns 
 of warriors and distinguished men.t The last 
 recalled to my memory with equal readiness, 
 the species of wealth which the chosen Israelites 
 were commanded to borrow from the Egyptians, 
 at the time of their departure from among them ; 
 and of the spoils taken in their wars with the 
 Canaanites whom they dispossessed, when it is 
 stated that many shekels of silver and of gold 
 were produced on melting down the bracelets, 
 the ear-rings, and other ornaments of the women 
 and children whom they had made captive. 
 ]\Iost of the women that we saw wore also silver 
 bells, or other appendages of precious metal, 
 suspended by silken cords to the hair of the 
 head, and large high wooden pattens, which 
 gave them altogether a very singular appearance. 
 It was sunset when we returned to the 
 house, after our long and wearisome excursion, 
 and as supper was soon served up to us, the 
 
 * Psalm Ixxv. v. 5. 10. 
 
 t In the song of Hannah on the presentation of her first- 
 born Samuel, at the temple of Jerusalem, she exclaims, 
 " Mine horn is exalted in the Lord !" 1 Sara, c. ii. v. 1.
 
 80 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYHUS. 
 
 room was crowded by visitors ready to partake of 
 it. Our Reis and the Tunisean passenger were 
 among the number, as well as two of the Ca- 
 tholic Arab priests, so that the provision was but 
 barely sufficient for the multitude. During the 
 meal rakee was plentifully drunk by all except 
 the Mohammedan, who could not be prevailed 
 upon, by the united persuasions of those about 
 him, to disregard for a moment the prohibitions 
 of his prophet, not even in an assembly of 
 those who were of a different faith. 
 
 After supper, wine was brought, and, at every 
 ample cup that was swallowed, low bows, and 
 reverential salutations, (in which the mouth, 
 the head, and the heart, were appealed to as 
 witnesses of their sincerity,) were made to me ; 
 and both myself individually, and our nation 
 generally, were exalted to the skies. 
 
 It was not difficult already to perceive that 
 here, as well as in Egypt, one of the chief dis- 
 tinctions between the professors of Christianity 
 and the followers of Mohammed was, that 
 the one could get drunk with impunity, wliile 
 the other was forbidden even to taste the in- 
 toxicating poison. Neither of these have sense 
 enough to distinguish that it is excess alone 
 which is reprehensible, though this not in an 
 equal degree ; for while the extreme of tem- 
 perance i4i the Turk is a privation affecting only
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 81 
 
 his own comfort, and rather beneficial than in- 
 jurious to others, the inebriation of the Chris- 
 tian is as pernicious to society as it is disgrace- 
 ful to his profession. 
 
 We continued obscured in an atmosphere of 
 smoke, and stunned with the vociferations of 
 twenty tongues in motion at once, until near 
 midnight, and even then not more than half the 
 party had dispersed. We had talked during the 
 day, when we were all sober, on the best mode 
 of proceeding in my intended journey from 
 hence to Aleppo ; and now like the Scandi- 
 navians and our British progenitors, we entered 
 on the second discussion of the subject in our 
 cups. 
 
 My friend, Sheikh Ibrahim*, had recom- 
 mended me, in his letter of instructions for the 
 voyage, to procure the firman of the Pasha of 
 Acre or Damascus, to secure my passage 
 through their dominions ; and the propriety of 
 this precaution had been confirmed to me here 
 by the advice of all whom I had consulted on 
 the subject. Even now, when every heart was 
 stout and brave, it was the unanimous opinion 
 that, in the present state of the country, it 
 would be an imprudent risk to travel without 
 such a document. The circumstance of the 
 
 * The late accomplished and enterprising traveller Mr. 
 Buckhardt. 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 
 
 moment which rendered this the more ne- 
 cessary was, tliat the Pasha of Damascus 
 having died within the last few days, Suliman, 
 tlie present Pasha of Acre, had pretended 
 to have received orders from the Sultan of 
 Stamboul to succeed to the possession of the 
 vacant pashalic, and had, accordingly, sent 
 the whole of his moveable force there to exe- 
 cute the mandate. 
 
 In consequence of this general movement, 
 and probable division of the soldiery into oppo- 
 site parties, it was thought to be impossible to 
 pass any where without strict examination ; be- 
 sides being every hour liable to have our beasts 
 pressed for the public service, if not protected 
 by the Pasha's firman. 
 
 As this could not be obtained without my pre- 
 senting myself to him in person, since there 
 was no consul or other official character here to 
 obtain it for me, it was necessary that I should 
 go to Acre ; and for that journey preparations 
 were accordingly made. 
 
 The hour of our dispersion approached ; and 
 the next necessary step was to defray the ex- 
 penses of our stay here. It was no sooner hinted 
 than a long paper was produced, the contents of 
 which sufficiently explained the motives of the 
 supposed hospitality with which we were re- 
 ceived, and the gathering together of the mul-
 
 STAY AT SOOR, THE ANCIENT TYRUS. 83 
 
 titude to feast and make merry at our safe 
 arrival. 
 
 A bill that would have disgraced a Portsmouth 
 tavern, for the entertainment of midshipmen 
 fresh from a long and successful cruize, was 
 then read over to us, the gross amount of which, 
 for the benefit of those who had fed at our ex- 
 pense, was seventy-four piastres for two days. I 
 could scarcely hide my indignation at such a 
 gross imposition, and hardly knew whether I 
 felt most at the insult offered to my understand- 
 ing, or at the hypocritical fawning of those who 
 were vile enough to think it would succeed. 
 
 I did not fail, however, to give them an ap- 
 propriate lecture on such a reception of a 
 stranger, thrown by stress of weather on their 
 coasts ; and to confirm to them my opinion of 
 their meanness, I laid the half of the sum before 
 them, telling them that, even for that, they 
 would gladly see another Englishman among 
 them ; but that no pains should be wanting, on 
 my part, to warn all I might meet against the 
 dear-bought hospitality of Soor. After this, 
 they were base enough to kiss my hand, and beg 
 a thousand pardons. 
 
 G 2
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE, 
 
 ^January .^, 1816. We were stirring with 
 the dawn ; and, as our two mules were ah'eady 
 waiting for us below, we mounted them, each 
 carrying his own small portion of baggage 
 beneath him, in hair-bags slung across the cloth, 
 for saddle or bridle there was none. We were 
 accompanied by the muleteer, on a miserable 
 donkey ; and each of us being armed with mus- 
 ket, pistols, and sword, we quitted the gate of 
 Soor as the sun rose. 
 
 Passing over some heaps of scattered rubbish,, 
 the wi'eck of former buildings, and leaving the 
 isolated tower, before described, to the south- 
 ward of us, we came in a few minutes to a square 
 building of similar construction, at which women 
 were drawing water from wells within. 
 
 From hence we crossed over to the northern 
 edge of the isthmus* and pursuing our way on 
 that side in an easterly direction, we began soon 
 to trace the remains of the ancient aqueduct by
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 85 
 
 wliich Tyre was supplied with water from foun- 
 tains to the south-east of it. 
 
 From the centre of the isthmus we commanded 
 a view of the bay and harbour, on each side ; and 
 it suggested itself to me, on the spot, as highly 
 probable that while Tyre was yet an island, 
 the entrance through its strait was made from 
 the southward ; first, because the passage there 
 is broader, deeper, and more clear of rocks ; and 
 next, because the southerly and south-west winds, 
 the most favourable for entrance, prevail so 
 generally here as to occasion a reversion of the 
 natural order of terms in speaking of places on 
 the coast, both seamen and landsmen calling the 
 soutiiward up, and the northward down, as in the 
 islands of the West Indies, where these terms 
 are regulated by the wind. 
 
 Since the formation of this isthmus, however, 
 the southern port can have been but little fre- 
 quented. It is now never visited ; because, from 
 these same prevailing winds, it affords but a partial 
 shelter, while all along its beach beats a continual 
 surf, which has contributed, no doubt, to the 
 present elevation of the isthmus itself, by the 
 fine loose sand that it constantly throws up. 
 
 The northern port is, on the other hand, ren- 
 dered still more secure than it could have been 
 originally, by the intervention of this barrier to 
 
 break off the force of the southern and south-west 
 
 G 3
 
 86 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 winds and seas ; and, indeed, when once 
 entered here, vessels may ride secure from the 
 gales of every quarter. 
 
 This alone would be an advantage of the 
 highest kind, if the entrance to the port were 
 less confined and dangerous than it now is ; and 
 as there can be no doubt that it has constantly 
 grown worse in the hands of such improvident 
 masters as its present ones, so it may be presumed 
 that, at the period wiien the isthmus was con- 
 structed, the access to the port was sufficiently 
 free to justify the shutting up of the southern 
 passage into it by the neck of land which still 
 remains. 
 
 Pursuing our way along the traces of the aque- 
 duct spoken of, we passed, besides the visible 
 foundation nearer the city, a large detached 
 fragment of it, consisting of three perfect arches, 
 still erect 5 and, soon afterwards, a second de- 
 tached mass, under the brow of a small hill, on 
 which were conspicuous the whitened domes of 
 a mosque or a saint's tomb. This elevation is 
 thought by some to be the rock on which Palae- 
 tyrus was built, and by others the mount which 
 Nebuchadnezzar, in conformity to the prophe- 
 cies, threw up against it in the siege, though it 
 is a small natural hill, and no ^'estiges of any old 
 city are to be traced near it. 
 
 As far as this, the aqueduct led from the city
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 87 
 
 in an easterly direction, for about half a mile, 
 across the isthmus ; when, being on the firm 
 land of the continent, it turned off southerly in 
 the direction of the coast. 
 
 We pursued its traces through a barren and 
 stony ground, finding it in some places entirely 
 dilapidated ; in others, its foundations and sup- 
 porters remaining ; and, in others, its arches, 
 mouldings, and channel for the water above, 
 still perfect. 
 
 The workmanship throughout was uniform in 
 its proportions, and well-finished in its details ; 
 and ruined as it now was, it presented a solidity 
 of construction that evinced it to have been 
 executed by very able hands. The materials 
 were a calcareous stone, from the neighbouring 
 hills, and a cement of admirable firmness, while 
 the channel was lined throughout by a coating 
 of plaster formed of lime and fine sand. Masses 
 of stalactites, still preserving the tubular form in 
 which the liquid element leaked over the sides 
 and down the arches of this aqueduct, were 
 visible in many parts ; and these, with the grey 
 mossy patches scattered here and there upon its 
 surface, gave to the wiiole a very picturesque 
 appearance. 
 
 When beyond its centre we passed two an- 
 cient cisterns, now full of excellent water, nearer 
 the sea j and continuing to follow the remains of 
 
 G 4
 
 88 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 this noble work, we arrived at its commencement 
 at the fountains from which it led offi exactly at 
 eight o'clock, or little more than an hour after 
 leaving the gate of Soor. 
 
 We halted here at the small village of Ras-el- 
 Ain, deriving its name from the fountains them- 
 selves*, and alighted to examine them. Going 
 over every part of them with Maundrell's de- 
 scription in my hand, I was gratified at the con™ 
 firmation which their perfect correspondence 
 with his account of them gave me of his general 
 accuracy, and felt a pleasure at having it thus in 
 mY,.power to do justice to the fidelity of his de- 
 tails, after the objections which I had felt toward 
 his more hasty conclusions respecting the utter 
 desolation of Tyre. 
 
 Nothing remains to be added to the descrip- 
 tion given of these fountains by the worthy 
 divine, since it applies as accurately to their 
 present state as to that of the day on which it 
 was written ; and his refutation of the tradition 
 which assigns their construction to Solomon as 
 a recompence to Hiram king of Tyre appears to 
 me quite satisfactory, t If I were asked, tliere- 
 
 * .(^.'^^ LJ^l/ — literally, the head of the fountain. This place 
 is mentioned under its present name by Reland, cap. 3., 
 de urbibus et vicis Palsestinae, 1. iii. p. 1049. 
 
 t See Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, 8vo. 
 1810, p. 67.
 
 JOURNEY FROM BOOR TO ACRE. 89 
 
 fore, for a description of these cisterns, I could 
 not do better than transcribe that of this accu- 
 rate traveller, adding merely a conjecture that 
 both the fountain and the aqueduct were the 
 work of the same lofty and magnificent genius 
 who connected the island of Tyre, like that of 
 Clazomense, in the gulf of Smyrna, to the conti- 
 nent, and whose works of grandeur, made sub- 
 servient to public utility, soften in some degree 
 the darker shades of his all-conquering cha- 
 racter. 
 
 We quitted the village of Ras-el-Ain at nine 
 o'clock, and keeping close by the sea-side, came 
 in half an hour to the bed of a river now dry, 
 but over which had once been thrown a stone 
 bridge, the broken fragments of which still 
 remained. 
 
 At half past ten, we passed through a con- 
 siderable space covered with the ruins of former 
 buildings, whose foundations only were apparent. 
 It was close to the sea, and seemed to mark the 
 site of some ancient settlement, from the appear- 
 ance of the materials there ; but whether these 
 were what had been thought by some to be the 
 remains of the Palactyrus of the continent or not, 
 we could not determine. 
 
 On the summit of the hill to the eastward of 
 us was the small village of Shimmah, with a 
 minaret rising from its centre. Though the
 
 DO 
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE.
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 91 
 
 hills themselves were in general steep and barren, 
 the narrow plain between their base and the 
 sea was, for the most part, cultivated. 
 
 At Ras-el-Ain, where water was always to be 
 commanded in abundance, we had seen sugar- 
 canes already from two to three feet above 
 ground ; but here, where they were solely de- 
 pendant on rain, they were ploughing the ground 
 for corn. Oxen were yoked in pairs for this 
 purpose, and the plough was small and of simple 
 construction, so that it appeared necessary for 
 two to follow each other in the same furrow, as 
 they invariably did so. * The husbandman, 
 holding the plough with one hand by a handle 
 like that of a walking-crutch, bore in the other 
 a goad of seven or eight feet in length, armed 
 with a sharp point of iron at one end, and at 
 the other with a plate of the same metal shaped 
 like a calking-chisel. One attendant only was 
 necessary for each plough, as he who guided it 
 with one hand spurred the oxen with the point 
 of the goad, and cleared the earth from the 
 ploughshare by its spaded heel with the other. 
 The ground was every where extremely stony, 
 and there were no inclosures or divisions to mark 
 the boundaries of possessed or rented property. 
 
 * In Syria, they had anciently small ploughs for making 
 shallow furrows and light work, which are contrasted by Pliny 
 with the heavv ones of Italy. Nat. Hist. 1. xviii. c. 18.
 
 92 JOURNEY FROM SOOH TO ACRE. 
 
 The dress of the peasantry resembled that of 
 Turkey more than of Egypt ; as, instead of the 
 long blue shirt of the fellahs on the Nile, the 
 men here wore coarse cloth-jackets, ample cotton 
 trowsers, and coloured and tasselled turbans. 
 The women whom we met were generally carry- 
 ing burdens on their heads, and were clad with 
 long trowsers drawn in at the ancle and tied over 
 the chemise at the waist, with an outer robe open 
 before and tucked up behind for the convenience 
 of walking. They had their faces but partially 
 covered by a handkerchief over the chin, their 
 bosoms generally exposed, and their complex- 
 ions fairer than the southern Arabs ; and though 
 invariably bare-footed, they were never destitute 
 of silver ornaments of some kind or other on their 
 persons. 
 
 A scene entirely new to me was that of two 
 of these female peasants, both well advanced in 
 years, halting to perform their devotions on the 
 public road, as I had never yet, either in Turkey, 
 Egypt, or Arabia, once seen a woman thus 
 employed. 
 
 At eleven o'clock, continuing still along by 
 the sea-side, we came to the fool of Ras-el- 
 Abiad *, a promontory which derives its name 
 
 * u^^. ^^ LJ*'; — literally, the White Cape, and the Cape 
 Album of the ancients, on this coast.
 
 JOURNEY FUOM SOOR TO ACRE. 93 
 
 from its lofty white cliff's, visible at a consider- 
 able distance, and forming one of the prominent 
 features of the coast, as we had observed on 
 making the Syrian shore. 
 
 Here we ascended by an excellent road cut 
 up on the north side of this cape through a white 
 chalky soil, with flints imbedded in it, the ascent 
 being in some places so steep as to render steps 
 necessary. It then goes along the summit of 
 the precipice, being in general from twelve to 
 fifteen feet in breadth, and walled in toward the 
 sea, where necessary, so as to render it perfectly 
 safe. * The roar of the sea below, the whitened 
 foam of which dashes against the base of the cliffs 
 with a violence almost felt above, and the height 
 from whence one looks down, have something 
 of grandeur in them, though the labour and 
 utility of the work itself strikes one still more 
 forcibly. Near the point of this promontory is 
 a small square building, looking like a watch- 
 tower from afar off, but probably once a house 
 of toll. 
 
 Descending from hence to the southern foot of 
 the hill, we entered on the remains of an ancient 
 
 * " Album Promontorium ubi inter prominentes ad aestuo- 
 sum mare aretus et periculosus transitus est. Tyr. 7. Bel. 
 Sac. 22. Bonavent. Mercat. Stell." Adrichosnius. Theatrum 
 Terrse Sanctae, p. 2. folio.
 
 94- JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 paved way, over which we continued to ride for 
 half an hour, until it brought us about noon to a 
 fountain called Ain-el-Scanderoni. * 
 
 This is a modern work, the charitable gift, per- 
 haps, of some pious Mussulman ; being well 
 built with a cistern beneath an arch, whence 
 issue two streams, and over which is an Arabic 
 inscription of several lines. It has, besides, a 
 square platform walled in for prayers, shelter, or 
 refreshment, and a flight of steps ascending to 
 it with a dome of a sepulchre now partly buried 
 by the falling-in of adjacent ruins. This foun- 
 tain derives its name from the remains of a 
 square fort here, now a shapeless heap of rubbish, 
 with only a few masses of masonry remaining to 
 identify its site ; and this fort, with the road 
 over the brow of Ras-el-Abiad, and the paved 
 way leading from thence, are all attributed to 
 Alexander. 
 
 This place may, probably, be the Alexandro- 
 schaene of the Jerusalem Itinerary, which was 
 situated twelve miles from Tyre, and to which 
 this nearly agrees in distance ; as well as the 
 Scandalium of the writers on the holy wars, who 
 admit of its being founded by Alexander, but 
 afterwards repaired by Baldwin king of Jerusa- 
 lem when he was about to undertake the siege of 
 Tyre. I should think both of these likely to be 
 
 * The fountain of Alexander.
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 05 
 
 the same place, as Pococke has supposed, but 
 should fix them rather on the south than on the 
 north side of the cape, and at this place of Ain- 
 el-Scanderoni, which would then reconcile the 
 distance, otherwise too short, as he himself ob- 
 serves. * 
 
 After drinking at this fountain, and watering 
 our mules, we quitted it at twelve, and continued 
 still along the remains of the paved way by the 
 sea-side, observing masses of cement and gravel 
 scattered about, and upright stones of about two 
 feet high, with arched heads placed at short and 
 stated distances along the edge of the road. 
 
 At a quarter before one, we turned off to the 
 left to scale a steep hill, on which stood erect a 
 column that had attracted our attention. On 
 reaching its summit we found a number of shafts 
 and some Ionic capitals fallen to the ground, 
 with vestiges of an extensive building once 
 occupying this commanding position. From its 
 ascending by stages of masonry, marking square 
 enclosures, it seemed to have been a fortified 
 station, but the pillars must have belonged to 
 some interior buildings of convenience or ele- 
 gance thus encompassed. On the sides of the 
 hill, and behind it to the eastward, were also 
 scattered vestiges of strong masonry, occupying 
 
 * See Pococke's Description of the East, in folio, 1 745, vol. 
 ii. p. 80.
 
 96 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 altogether a considerable space of ground, 
 sufficient to justify a presumption of its being 
 the site of some early settlement or important 
 military station. 
 
 The name of this place at present is Om-el- 
 Hamid, as we learnt from the peasants and from 
 our guide ; and it is probably the same that 
 Pococke describes, where he found the remains 
 of an ancient temple of the Ionic order in a less 
 ruined state than it now is, to judge by his 
 description. * 
 
 We descended from hence to fall into the 
 main road, which still continues along the frag- 
 ments of the paved way, until we arrived, at 
 half past one, at the coffee-house and farrier's 
 shed of Nakhora. Close by this station, and still 
 nearer the sea, is a high square tower, called 
 Bourje-el-Nakhora, apparently an ancient struc- 
 ture, but now deserted ; and on the brow of the 
 eastern hill is a small village, called Gherbet- 
 Hamoul. 
 
 We alighted here, to take a pipe and a cup 
 of coffee on the clean straw-matted benches 
 within ; and after many complimentary saluta- 
 tions from the old master of the shed, we quitted 
 it to pursue our way. 
 
 During the next hour we ascended the steep 
 and rugged promontory which forms the cape 
 
 ■* Pococke's Description of the East, vol. ii. part 1. p. 80.
 
 JOURNEY PROM SOOR TO ACRE. 97 
 
 of Nakhora, on the summit of which we observed 
 a small square building used as a resting-place, 
 and a coffee-house, like the one we had visited 
 below. Upon the rocky brow of this lofty hill, 
 we observed some Syrian shepherds feeding their 
 flocks, and were struck with the extreme dark- 
 ness of their complexions, which was even of a 
 deeper shade than that of the Arabs of Aden 
 and Macullah, on the southernmost coasts of 
 Yemen. We learnt that these were Bedouins 
 from the eastern deserts, who, when the severity 
 of the winter deprives their flocks of pasture 
 there, aJpproach the frontiers of the cultivated 
 land, and advance even to the sea-coast in small 
 parties, to let their goats browse on the wild 
 heath and bushes of the uncultivated hills. The 
 dresses of these men were similar to those worn 
 by the Bedouins of Suez ; and each of their 
 flocks v/as attended by large shaggy dogs, who, 
 though they gave the alarm at our approach, 
 were silenced at the first call of their keepers. 
 
 The ascent of the road, winding over the 
 rugged front of this promontory, reminded me 
 very forcibly of similar scenes in Spanish moun- 
 tains, as well as on the western shores of Portu- 
 gal J and here and there were striking resem- 
 blances to the rocky and sea-beaten coasts of 
 Cornwall and Devonshire. 
 
 On attaining the summit of the hill, an 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 extensive and beautiful landscape opened on us 
 across the whole of the plain of Acre, from the 
 eminence on which we stood, to Mount Carmel, 
 on which Elias sacrificed, and where stands the 
 monastery giving name to an order of friars. 
 This plain, from the boundaries thus given, is 
 about fifteen miles in length from north to south, 
 and about five in general breadth from the sea- 
 shore to the hills which border it on the east. 
 We saw it now under every disadvantage of 
 the season j but when clothed with the verdure 
 of spring it must present an interesting picture, 
 bordered as it is by the sea on one side, with 
 the towns of Zib and Acre in sight near the 
 shore, and on the other with a range of hills 
 inland, on the western brow of which are also 
 seen towns and villages, and ruined vestiges of 
 former splendour, marking the sites of places 
 consecrated by their celebrity or their high 
 antiquity. * 
 
 * This mountain of Nakhora is undoubtedly the Scala Tyria- 
 rura, or ladder of the Tyrians, mentioned by Josephus as being 
 the northern mountain-boundary of Ptolemais or Acre, and dis- 
 tant from it a hundred furlongs, to which this nearly corresponds. 
 See Josephus's Jewish War, b.ii. c. 10. s. 2. This range was erro- 
 neously taken, by the early writers, for the mountain of Saron, 
 and as falsely, by Pococke, for the beginning of Lebanon or 
 Anti-Lebanon. See Pococke, vol. ii. part 1 . c. 20. p. 79. The 
 ladder of the Tyrians is mentioned also in 1 Mace. c. xi. 
 V. 59.
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 99 
 
 We alighted to descend from the mountain by 
 a steep and rugged road, and remounted, to 
 enter on the plain, about three o'clock. We 
 passed several springs and brooks, with a ruined 
 fountain, in the way, all yielding an abundance 
 of excellent water. The soil, which resembled 
 the dark loam of Egypt, was now chiefly covered 
 with thistles of a larger kind and in greater 
 abundance than I had ever before seen. W^e met 
 here a company of Tartars, wearing their peculiar 
 dresses, and high black caps with yellow crowns. 
 They were well mounted, and each carried 
 behind his saddle a small black leather portman- 
 teau, fastened with straps and buckles exactly 
 in the English style. They were the handsomest 
 men we had yet seen in Syria, and, being perhaps 
 now on duty, passed us hastily, returning our 
 salute, but asking no questions. 
 
 In about an hour after entering on the plain, 
 we passed by the town of Zib, leaving it on the 
 right at the distance of about half a mile. It is 
 small, and situated on a hill near the sea, having 
 a few palm-trees rearing themselves above its 
 dwelHngs. It is conjectured with great pro- 
 bability, to have been the Achzib of the Scrip- 
 tures, mentioned in the book of Joshua, where 
 the borders of the inheritance of the tribe of 
 Asher are described as reaching from Helkath to 
 Mount Carmel westward, and commencing at 
 
 H 2
 
 100 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 the great Zidon on the north. " And then the 
 coast turneth to Ramah, and to the strong city 
 Tyre ; and the coast turneth to Hosah ; and the 
 outgoings thereof are at the sea from the coast to 
 Achzib." * It is afterwards again mentioned in 
 the Book of Judges, as one of the places from 
 which the invading Jews could not expel the 
 original possessors. ** Neither did Asher drive 
 out the inhabitants of Acclio, nor the inhabit- 
 ants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor 
 of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob.'* t 
 
 Nearly opposite to the town we crossed the bed 
 of a torrent now dry; and on the hills to the east- 
 wards of us, distant three or four miles, we saw 
 an isolated column of considerable grandeur, 
 still erect. A castle, said to be of great anti- 
 quity, was also pointed out to the south-east, 
 upon the brow of the bordering hills, but both of 
 these were too far from the road to be visited. In 
 the plain, we saw scattered clusters of green trees, 
 and the olive was every where visible. These, 
 with some other local features, gave the whole 
 a general resemblance to the plains of Sedikieuy, 
 crossed on going to that village from Smyrna. 
 
 After having passed over a small eminence 
 covered over with rocks and briars, we came at 
 length into fields and well-cultivated grounds, 
 with stone causeways thrown over the brooks, 
 
 * Joshua, chap. xix. v. 29. f Judges, chap. i. v. 31.
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 101 
 
 good roads, and other symptoms of a greater 
 attention to agricultural improvement than we 
 had witnessed in the neglected waste which we 
 had just quitted. Acre was now full in sight; 
 but as the sun was nearly set, and there 
 was no hope of gaining admittance through the 
 gates after dark, it became necessary to think 
 of some halting-place. We turned off, there- 
 fore, to the village of El Mufshoor, near a fine 
 aqueduct on our left, and found a hospitable 
 shelter there, among a peasant's family, with 
 whom we took up our lodging for the night. 
 
 The village in which we were received con- 
 sisted only of a few cottages, but these were 
 in general large and well built of stone. The 
 one beneath the roof of which we had taken 
 shelter was at least forty feet square, and fifteen 
 feet high. Besides its outer walls, there were two 
 inner divisions of two arches each, uniformly 
 and strongly constructed j and these, with the 
 walls themselves, supported a flat roof of beams 
 and brushwood laid over the whole, its upper 
 part being terraced with lime or mortar. As 
 these arcades went longitudinally through the 
 building, there were formed three separate com- 
 partments in it, in the first of which, beginning 
 from the left, where the door was, were stalled 
 four oxen, some sheep, our two mules, and an 
 
 H 3
 
 10*2 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 ass ; in the second, clean mats were spread 
 among heaps of raw cotton for us ; and into 
 the third, or inner one, where were the hearth 
 and fire, the family themselves retired, for our 
 accommodation. 
 
 I had occasion to observe, throughout the whole 
 of our way from Soor thus far, that the history 
 of the struggle between the French and Eng- 
 lish at Acre was familiar to every one, and that the 
 latter were always spoken of with great respect, 
 even where we passed ourselves as belonging to 
 the other nation. Here, also, when the in- 
 quiries of the family were answered, and a short 
 conversation had taken place on our histories, 
 our voyages, &c. the best mattrass and quilted 
 coverlet were produced, with two cushions for 
 my repose ; a divan and bed were instantly 
 made, and a supper of rice, eggs, olives, and 
 salad, prepared for us all by the mother, while 
 the children assisted to contribute to our com- 
 fort by every possible means. 
 
 The old man was nearly seventy yeafs of 
 age, and recapitulated all the circumstances of 
 the siege of Acre with the minuteness of an eye- 
 witness. His wife was about thirty, brown, but 
 handsome, and laden with silver ornaments, 
 particularly armlets, above the elbow, of a 
 massive size and curious workmanship, and a
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOll TO >VCHE. 103 
 
 band or fillet round her head, formed of, perhaps, 
 a hundred large silver coins, overlapping each 
 other Uke the scales of ancient armour. 
 
 After supper, every one was occupied in 
 breaking the shells of the cotton and extracting 
 the wool ; while those of our own party, con- 
 sisting of our muleteer, an Arab soldier whom 
 we overtook on his way to Jaffa, my old Tocat 
 servant, and myself, all joined in the occupa- 
 tion ; and while the family thus benefited by 
 our labours, the whole company were amused 
 by some droll tales of the muleteer. We con- 
 tinued thus to enjoy the cheerful happiness of a 
 social and good-humoured circle until ten 
 o'clock, when we lay down with mutual blessings 
 to repose. 
 
 9th. We were all stirring early, but the cold 
 was so great, the thermometer in the air being 
 at 4-5", that we did not move from the hearth 
 where we took our pipes and coffee until 
 sunrise. 
 
 If my indignation had been excited at the 
 price demanded for our entertainment at Soor, 
 by men calling themselves respectable merchants, 
 tlie behaviour of these poor cottagers was such 
 as to draw forth very different feelings. The 
 amount here demanded for all that we had 
 taken from them, including provisions for our 
 animals and four persons, was only three piastres 
 
 H 4
 
 lOd^ JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 and a half, or little more than half a dollar, nor 
 would they name any compensation for the 
 services they had otherwise rendered us ; and 
 when a dollar was presented to them, to include 
 both the charges of our consumption and their 
 own reward, they were evidently as grateful to 
 us as they were happy. 
 
 To warm ourselves by exercise, we set out 
 from the village on foot, after halting a moment 
 to observe the works in the neighbourhood. 
 These consisted of a large fountain, which being 
 walled round we could not enter. It is said to 
 be supplied with water from the same springs in 
 the mountains as those which fill the cisterns of 
 Ras-el-Ain. Near it vv^as an extensive and well 
 cultivated garden of Suliman Pasha, the present 
 governor of Acre, in which, among other shrubs, 
 we noticed several chisters of young waving 
 cypiess-trees. From this reservoir led off an 
 aqueduct going all the way from hence to Acre, 
 a distance of not less than three or four miles, 
 and supplying that city with water. In^the first 
 portion of this work, which crossed a narrow 
 valley, we counted nearly a hundred arches, each 
 from twelve to fifteen feet in the span, and the 
 central ones from twenty-five to thirty feet high. 
 From hence it continued over the hill on which 
 the village of Mufshoor is situated, again crossed 
 a valley, descended underneath the summit
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 105 
 
 of another hill to pass through it, and after 
 exhibiting several noble portions of lofty arches 
 in an excellent style of building, it discharged 
 its waters without the walls of Acre, where, at 
 the present moment, it was undergoing some 
 repairs close to the city. The character of this 
 work differed materially from that of the aque- 
 duct near Tyre. But though inferior to it in 
 execution, it was greater in extent^ as there 
 were here not less than five hundred arches, and 
 the whole was carried over uneven ground. It 
 resembled in its construction the aqueduct which 
 supplies the citadel of Cairo with water from the 
 Nile, at Masr-el-Atik, and, like it, I should 
 conceive it to have been a Saracenic work of 
 the age of the Khalifs. Maundrell's silence 
 respecting it, when the minute fidelity of his 
 topographical notices are considered, would 
 almost have induced me to suppose that it did 
 not exist in his time, were it not that there 
 is a still greater difficulty in believing the 
 Turks of the last century to have been the 
 projectors and executors of such an undertaking. 
 We could coll.ect no positive information on the 
 subject from any one of whom we enquired, 
 but merely that it was old ; and all that we 
 ourselves could testify was, that by whomso- 
 ever it might have been built, it was a useful 
 and a well finished work.
 
 10(3 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 It was about nine o'clock when we crossed a 
 stone bridge where we mounted to enter Acre. 
 The approach to this city is rendered interesting 
 by the appearance of gardens and cultivated 
 land without, and by the full foliage of innu- 
 merable trees rearing their heads within the 
 walls. The city itself stands at the extremity 
 of a plain on the sea-shore, insomuch that we 
 were obliged to descend on approaching its 
 south-eastern gate of entrance. 
 
 The view of the city from hence presents the 
 appearance of large and substantial buildings, 
 but has nothing of splendour : as, besides the 
 flat-roofed houses, and the mere points of some 
 low minarehs, there are only the spire and two 
 domes of one mosque visible from any distance. 
 This tall and slender column has neither the 
 lightness nor the gay ornament which charac- 
 terize some of the minarehs of Egypt, and par- 
 ticularly those of Menzaleh on the eastern lakes, 
 but resembles more the style of those used in 
 Smyrna ; namely, a plain tapered shaft, with a 
 gallery scarcely distinguishable from the rest, 
 crowned by a blue conical summit. 
 
 The walls of the city appear to be of consider- 
 able strength. Those of the northern angle are 
 turretted round with pointed battlements like the 
 sea-side walls of Mokha ; and the south-eastern 
 front presents a range of cannon pointed through
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 107 
 
 large and regular embrasures ; while a broad 
 ditch below, and angles of different bearings for 
 the guns above, give the whole a formidable 
 aspect. 
 
 The entrance through the gate is also im- 
 posing, and promises, besides a well-fortified, a 
 well-built and opulent town ; as here is a wide- 
 paved street, a range of work-shops and benches 
 on the left, a land-custom-house and fountain on 
 the right, and a troop of soldiers generally on 
 guard on both sides. 
 
 We continued through paved streets, growing 
 narrower and more dirty, till after many turn- 
 ings we alighted at the okella, in which the 
 English consul resided, and to him we addressed 
 ourselves for protection. 
 
 We were received by him with great openness 
 of manner, and soon furnished with an apart- 
 ment for our accommodation. My first enquiry 
 was directed to the sole object of our visit here, 
 namely, the procuring a firman from Suliman 
 Pasha, to protect us through his dominions. We 
 had the mortification to learn, however, that he 
 had departed on the morning of the preceding day, 
 with a large body of troops, to secure the posses- 
 sion of the districts of Galilee, Samaria, and all 
 Judea to the southward, while one of his confi- 
 dential officers had previously marched with 
 another body towards Damascus, to prepare the
 
 108 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 "way for the entrance of his master there. At my 
 request, Signor Malagamba, the consul, caused 
 enquh'ies to be made of the officer left in charge 
 as governor, whether he could not furnish us 
 with the document which we required ; and as 
 an immediate answer could not be obtained, we 
 passed the interval in a ramble through the in- 
 terior of the town, ending by making a tour 
 around its walls on the land side, and visiting the 
 port and landing-place from the sea. 
 
 It was not until after the noon sleep and pray- 
 ers of El- Assr*, that access could be had to the 
 person of the governor, so that it was nearly 
 sunset before the dragoman of the consul return- 
 ed to us. He then informed us that the juris- 
 diction of this governor not extending beyond 
 the walls of the city, he could afford us no 
 document that should ensure us from molestation 
 without them, as the governor of every village 
 would exercise his own discretion therein, with- 
 out regard to the orders of his superior, provided 
 he was not immediately dependant on him. As 
 long as \vc remained at Acre, therefore, he 
 would hold himself responsible for our safely ; 
 but if we thought proper to depart, he could 
 neither promise that wc ourselves should be free 
 from interruption, nor that our animals should 
 
 * This is the Mohammedan prayer between noon and sun- 
 set which generally falls between three and four o'clock.
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 109 
 
 not be pressed for the public service, since the 
 death of the Pasha of Damascus and the de- 
 signs of the Pasha of Acre had spread a general 
 ferment among the soldiers ; and at this mo- 
 ment every thing was in requisition by opposite 
 and powerful parties. 
 
 As it was known that Suliman would make his 
 first halt at Jerusalem, after securing the pos- 
 session of its neighbourhood, by placing his 
 troops in the different stations on the way, it 
 was recommended by the consul, and those 
 whom we consulted, that we should set out for 
 that place, where we might hope to meet 
 him, and obtain from his hand the only pro- 
 tection under which it would now be safe to 
 travel. 
 
 The French consul, with several other Eu- 
 ropeans resident here, who came to pay us a visit 
 on our arrival, insisted strenuously on the 
 fact of its being impossible to pass through 
 any part of Syria, without molestation at every 
 step, if not provided with the firman of the 
 pasha through whose dominions our road might 
 lie, as the military stationed at the different 
 towns would gladly avail themselves of so fair a 
 pretext for ill treating and pillaging a stranger. 
 Even thus protected, there were still many risks 
 to encounter, from the robbers of the mountains,
 
 110 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. 
 
 and peasants of the country ; and the recent 
 murder of Mr. Boutain, a French traveller 
 whom I had known at Cairo, was cited in con- 
 firmation of this state of things. 
 
 A second request was therefore made to the 
 governor, to furnish us with an official letter in 
 Arabic, stating that we were on our way to 
 meet with Suliman Pasha, with whom we had 
 business, and begging all his officers through 
 whose districts we might pass to suffer us to pur- 
 sue our journey without interruption. It was 
 late in the evening before the dragoman returned, 
 but he brought with him the letter required, 
 stating that the governor had granted it with 
 great readiness, and wished us a voyage of 
 peace. 
 
 Preparations for our departure were now 
 necessary j and late as the hour was, and strong- 
 ly as we were pressed on all sides to detain our- 
 selves at least for a day, that arrangements 
 might be made for our security, and a proper 
 person chosen to accompany us, I persevered in 
 my resolution to set out from hence with the 
 dawn. 
 
 For this purpose we hired two fresh mules, 
 their driver bringing with him his own ass, at 
 the same rate as those we had ridden from Soor 
 to this place, namely, sixty piastres for the
 
 JOURNEY FROM SOOR TO ACRE. Ill 
 
 whole journey, or somewhat more than half a 
 dollar per day each, including the days of 
 return. 
 
 Our provisions made for the way were simply 
 some small loaves of fresh bread, with some 
 coffee and tobacco, water being frequent 
 throughout the road ; and having our fire-arms 
 all charged and our bundles packed, we took 
 leave of our European visitors, and retired 
 early.
 
 ( 112 ; 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 January 10th. Anxiety, calculation, com- 
 parison of distances and routes, apprehension 
 and impatience, all contributed to make the 
 past a night of watching rather than of repose. 
 I was out thrice before the day broke ; and 
 though the sky was dark and overcast, and the 
 morning piercingly cold, I dressed and felt a 
 pleasure in preparing to depart. With the first 
 gleam of light, it began to pour down a torrent 
 of rain; the hour of sunrise passed, and no 
 mules came ; ten o'clock arrived, without an 
 abatement of the streams that deluged the 
 streets ; and even at noon the sun was still ob- 
 scured, and a heavy south-western gale supplied 
 fresh floods to the darkened atmosphere. 
 
 We had sent to the muleteer, who had refused 
 to start on such a day, and those around us knew 
 not how to interpret such a rashness of impa- 
 tience as that which the very suggestion of 
 moving displayed. We were therefore confined 
 to the house the whole of the day ; and, to ren-
 
 Tojaccjiii^c 1 1-3. / c/. /
 
 DBSCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 113 
 
 der its detention less tedious, I passed the close 
 of it in embodying such observations as I had 
 myself made in my examination of the town, on 
 the afternoon of the day before, with other 
 notices that I had been able to collect regarding 
 it in conversation with those long resident here. 
 
 The town of Acre is seated on the extremity 
 of a plain on the edge of the sea-shore, and 
 nearly at the bottom of a bay formed by the 
 promontory of Mount Carmel on the south-west, 
 and the skirts of the plain itself on the north- 
 east. This bay, from the cape to the city, may 
 be about ten miles across ; from the extremity 
 of the cape to the bottom of the bay, on the 
 south-east, more than half that distance ; but 
 from the bottom of the bay to the town of Acre 
 on the north-west, scarcely more than two miles 
 in length, which is widely different from the 
 most modern maps, where the bay is made to 
 extend at least ten miles inland to the south-east 
 of the town. 
 
 In fair weather the bay itself might offer a 
 roadstead for large ships, but it could not be 
 safely frequented by them in winter ; and the 
 port, which is a small shallow basin behind a 
 ruined mole, is scarcely capable of affording 
 shelter to a dozen boats moored head and stern 
 in a tier. Vessels coming on the coast, therefore, 
 either to load or discharge, generally visit the 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 road of Caipha, a place of anchorage within the 
 bay at the foot of Mount Carmel, near which 
 the river Kishon discharges itself into the sea. 
 A vessel from Trieste was loading a cargo of 
 cotton there, shipped by the British consul, the 
 captain of which ship was of our party on the 
 preceding evening. 
 
 This city was the Accho of the Scriptures 
 already mentioned with Achzib, as one of the 
 strong-holds of which the tribe of Asher could 
 not dispossess their Canaanitish enemies, but 
 consented to dwell among them as inhabitants 
 of the land. * It rose to higher consequence 
 under the liberal auspices of the first Ptolemy, 
 who, after enlarging and beautifying it, honour- 
 ed it with his name.t In after ages, it became 
 a warmly contested port between the crusaders 
 and the Saracens t ; was long possessed by the 
 former, and adorned with cathedral churches 
 and other public works ; and after passing from 
 the Christians to the Mohammedans, and from 
 the Mohammedans to the Christians again, it 
 
 * Judges, c. i.v. 31,32. 
 
 -j Strabo, 1. xvi. p. 758. Cellarius, Geog. Antiq. 1. iii. c. 13. 
 p. 294. Cluveris, 1. v. c. 2 1 . p. 370. 4to. A. D. 1711. Reland, 
 Paleestina lllustrata, I. iii. de urbibus, p. 534. 
 
 j: Extraits Historiquet;, relatifs au Temps de Croisades, du 
 livre Insol Djelil fet tarikhi Koceds vel Khalit. Par M. de 
 Hammer, ins6r(S dans les Mines de I'Orient, vol. iii. p. 80. 
 Vienne, en folio.
 
 DESCHIl'TION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 115 
 
 fell at length under the power of the Arabs, 
 after a long and bloody siege. It is said to 
 have been then laid utterly waste, in revenge for 
 the blood it had cost its besiegers ; after which, 
 in the emphatic language of one of the most 
 eloquent of our historians, " a mournful and 
 solitary silence prevailed along the coast which 
 had so long resounded with the world's de- 
 bate." * 
 
 Maundrell, even so late as the year I696, 
 after recapitulating the advantages of its situa- 
 tion both by sea and land, says, " Notwithstand- 
 ing all these advantages, it has never been able to 
 recover itself since its last fatal overthrow. For 
 besides a large kane, in which the French factors 
 have taken up their quarters, and a mosque, and 
 a few poor cottages, you see nothing here but a 
 vast and spacious ruin."t It has risen again 
 from its ashes since that period, as its present 
 state will best testify ; and even since the period 
 of the celebrated struggle here between the 
 English and French, the history of which is 
 familiar to every one, it has been strengthened, 
 beautified, and improved. 
 
 Of the Canaanitish Accho, it would be thought 
 idle perhaps to seek for remains, yet some pre- 
 
 Gibbon's Hist. vol. xi. c. 59. p. 142. 168. 
 f Maundrell's Journey, p. 72. D'Anville's Compendium of 
 Ancient Geography, vol. i. p. 412. 
 I 2
 
 116 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 sented tliemselves to my observation so peculiar 
 in form and materials, and of such high an- 
 tiquity, as to leave no doubt in my own mind of 
 their being the fragments of buildings constructed 
 in the earhest ages. On the south-east front of 
 the newly-erected outer walls of the city, in 
 sinking the ditch before them to the depth of 
 twenty feet below the level of the present soil, 
 the foundations of buildings were exposed to 
 view, apparently of private dwellings of the 
 humblest order, as they were not more than from 
 ten to twelve feet square, with small door-ways 
 and passages leading from one to the other. As 
 we obtained admittance into the ditch for the 
 purpose of examining these remains more closely, 
 we found the materials of which they were origi- 
 nally constructed to be a highly-burnt brick, 
 with a mixture of cement and sand as well as 
 small portions of stone in some parts, the whole 
 so firmly bound together by age and the strongly 
 adhesive power of the cement used, as to form 
 one solid mass. As the walls were of some thick- 
 ness, though the apartments they enclosed were 
 small, they offered an excellent material for 
 building, and portions of it had been used in the 
 foundations of the outer walls of the fort, in the 
 same way as fragments of the old Greek city 
 have been applied to the building of the fortifi- 
 cations before the modern Alexandria.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN 01' ARCK. 117 
 
 Ol'the splendour of Ptolemais, no perfect 
 monument remains ; but throughout the town 
 are seen shafts of red and grey granite and mar- 
 ble pillars, some used as thresholds to large 
 door-ways, others lying neglected on the ground, 
 and others again used as supporters of the interior 
 galleries of okellas or public inns, forming piazzas 
 around the central courts below. Of these, al- 
 together, we counted nearly two hundred in 
 different parts of the town ; and besides several 
 slabs of fine marble, perhaps once used in the 
 pavements of some hall or palace, now collected 
 near a magazine at the north end of the town, 
 we observed a fine Corinthian capital, in perfect 
 preservation, lying at the door of a new mosque 
 on the west, and the fragment of another of the 
 composite order, the diameter of which was 
 upwards of five feet. - 
 
 The Saracenic remains are only to be partially 
 traced in the inner walls of the town, which 
 have themselves been so often broken down and 
 repaired as to leave little visible of the original 
 work ; and all the mosques, fountains, bazars, 
 and other buildings, are in a style rather Turkish 
 than Arabic, excepting only an old but regular 
 and well-built khan or caravanserai, which might, 
 perhaps, be attributed to the Saracen age. 
 
 The Christian ruins are altogether gone, 
 scarcely leaving a trace of the spot on which 
 
 I 3
 
 118 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 they stood. The cathedral church of St. Andrew, 
 the church of St. John the almsgiver, the tutelar 
 saint of the order of Knights Hospitallers, with 
 the convent of that order, and the magnificent 
 palace of its grand master, as well as the church 
 belonging to a nunnery distinguished by the 
 chastity of its abbess during the siege and storm 
 of the city in 1^91, and other churches, palaces, 
 monasteries, forts, &c. ail recapitulated by 
 Maundrell * in his account of this place, are now 
 no more to be seen. Even the three Gothic 
 arches mentioned by Dr. Clarke t, and called 
 by the English sailors ** King Richard's 
 palace,'* have been razed to the ground, so that 
 the very sites of all these monuments of early 
 days will soon become matter of uncertainty 
 and dispute. 
 
 In the period between Maundrell's visit and 
 that of Dr. Clarke, I know not what causes may 
 have contributed to have swept away the traces of 
 so many remains, or whether some still existed 
 then besides the arcades which he noticed ; but 
 the subsequent destruction has been entirely 
 caused by the late Djezzar Pasha, in improv- 
 ing the fortifications and constructing the outer 
 walls of the present town. 
 
 The city of Accho, for so it is here called, having 
 
 * Maundrell's Journey, p. 73. 8vo. 
 f Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. p. 379.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACHE. 119 
 
 changed its Greek for its original Hebrew name * 
 is now a square of somewhat more than a mile 
 in circumference. Its situation and boundaries 
 cannot be better expressed than in the words of 
 Josephus, who says, — " This Ptolemais is a 
 maritime city of Galilee, built in the great plain. 
 It is encompassed with mountains ; that on the 
 east side, sixty furlongs off, belongs to Galilee ; 
 but that on the south belongs to Carmel, which 
 is distant from it an hundred and twenty fur- 
 longs ; that on the north is the highest, and is 
 called by the people of the country, * The ladder 
 of the Tyrians,' which is at the distance of an 
 hundred furlongs." f 
 
 On the north-west and south-west sides, the 
 town is enclosed by a single wall ; which, on the 
 north-west side, ranges along a sandy beach, and 
 is unfortified ; and, on the south-west side, is 
 built on rocks, having its base washed by the 
 sea, and being mounted with about forty pieces 
 of cannon, chiefly of brass. The north-east and 
 south-east sides face towards the land, and are 
 each secured by a double wall and ditch ; the 
 inner ones being the old Saracenic works, with 
 
 * Ammianus MarcelUnus observed, that, even in his time, 
 the Greek and Roman names of cities in Syria, were not 
 commonly used by the natives of the country ; and this 
 observation will apply stiJl more generally in the present day. 
 
 t .Josephus' Wars of the Jews, book ii. c. 10. s. 2. 
 
 I 4
 
 120 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 circular towers and battlements, often destroyed 
 and repaired j and the outer ones being the work 
 of Djezzar Pasha, who, on the retirement of the 
 French from Syria, applied all his efforts to im- 
 prove the fortifications of the place. These outer 
 walls are from thirty to forty feet in height, and 
 are of ordinary workmanship, the masonry show- 
 ing already opening chasms in many parts. They 
 are strengthened also by semicircular bastions, 
 at stated distances, and provided with embrasures 
 for cannon ; and around them is a dry ditch of 
 from fifteen to twenty feet in depth, and twenty 
 to twenty-five in breadth. 
 
 In the ditch of the south-east front are the sup- 
 posed Canaanitish remains of buildings already 
 described, with several shafts of small and plain 
 marble columns near them ; and in that on the 
 north-east is a well, from which water is drawn 
 by an ox and a wheel, as in the Delta of Egypt. 
 Around all the outer fortifications we counted 
 about eighty pieces of cannon mounted ; but as 
 there are said to be some also on the inner walls, 
 which were partly inaccessible to us, there may 
 be, perhaps, from one hundred to one hundred 
 and twenty pieces fit for service. 
 
 Opposite to the south-east front is a Turkish 
 cemetery, and a small garden ; and, by the 
 beach near the sea, where boats are laid up for 
 repair, is the only gate of entrance to the city.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 1^1 
 
 The way is here paved with large white stones, 
 and on passing within the gate the appearance 
 of the whole is prepossessing. 
 
 The interior of the town presents a mixture of 
 the gaudy and the miserable, the ill-contrived 
 and the useful ; in which, however, the latter 
 may be said to prevail. Among the chief build- 
 ings are, an extensive palace of Suliman Pasha, 
 with spacious courts, fountains, &c. ; opposite 
 to this, a fine mosque, the dome and minareh ' 
 of which are seen conspicuously from without ; 
 and another palace of Ali Pasha, son of Suli- 
 man*s Khiayia, or deputy, lately deceased. 
 These buildings, with a fountain near them in 
 the public street, enclosed by a brass-work 
 frame, anil highly ornamented, are all executed 
 in the style of Constantinople. There are also 
 gardens near them filled with trees in fine foliage, 
 among which the tall and dark-green cypress is 
 distinguishable. 
 
 Of the bazars, besides several ordinary ones, 
 there are two long ranges covered in by an 
 arched roof, and lighted from above, as well as 
 paved with flag-stones throughout, having 
 benches on each side, and offering shelter both 
 from the rain and. the sun, and security to the 
 property deposited there, being closed by large 
 gates at each end. 
 
 The old khan, or caravansera, already spoken
 
 1^2 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 of, is one of the best that I remember to have seen. 
 It consists, hke those establishments in general, of 
 a large square court, with a fine marble fountain 
 in the centre, a piazza of arcades going round 
 the whole, and the galleries above this contain- 
 ing rooms for the accommodation of strangers. 
 These upper galleries, instead of being alto- 
 gether open, as I have usually seen them, are 
 furnished with lattice-work balconies, or pro- 
 jecting windows, quite in the Arabian style ; 
 and the whole, from its apparent age, as well as 
 finished ornaments and style of construction, 
 may be considered as the most interesting and 
 only perfect edifice of the Saracen days now 
 remaining here. 
 
 Besides the okella appropriated to the Franks, 
 in which we were lodged, there are several 
 others throughout the town, occupied by Chris- 
 tians of different sects, and all resembling cara- 
 vanseras in their arrangement, like those of 
 Rosetta and Alexandria. There are also many 
 spacious and well-built magazines, particularly 
 one built by the Pasha, with a paved central 
 court and a surrounding piazza • of arcades, 
 formed by about forty granite pillars from the 
 ruins of the ancient city. 
 
 The private dwellings are all of stone, but 
 differ in size and plan ; the roofs are invariably 
 flat, and provided with terraces for taking the
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 123 
 
 air in the evenings of summer. Many of the 
 streets are paved, and one or two are of tole- 
 rable width ; but in general they are narrow and 
 dirty. Near the north-west extreme of the 
 town, within the wall, is a large space, wherein 
 are many ruined buildings, heaps of rubbish, 
 and an accumulation of rain-water. 
 
 The religious edifices are, a Catholic convent, 
 a Greek church, and a Maronite place of wor- 
 ship, with seven mosques. The Christian 
 churches are all small, and hidden among pri- 
 vate dwellings ; and of the mosques there are 
 not more than four or five that are conspicuous. 
 The lofty minareh and dome of that built by 
 Suliman Pasha is seen from as great a distance as 
 the city can be distinguished ; the others are 
 built in a similar style, but of smaller size, and 
 every one of them is surmounted by the crescent, 
 an emblem more used by the Turks than the 
 Arabs, and which I do not remember often to 
 have seen in Egypt, except at the capital. 
 
 The stationary inhabitants of Accho are 
 formed one-half of Mohammedans, in equal 
 portions of Arabs and Turks ; one-fourth of 
 Christians, including all their different per- 
 suasions; and the remaining fourth of Jews, 
 who have two synagogues here. The chief 
 priest of these Israelites pretends to be a de- 
 scendant in the right line from Aaron, and his
 
 1^1 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 family and his relations are highly respected. 
 This man, who is called Mallim Haim, is the 
 chief minister of Suliman Pasha, and the real 
 fountain of all influence in Accho. He owes 
 this privilege to his great wealth, as both the 
 government and private individuals are largely 
 indebted to him j and without his knowledge 
 and assistance no public measure, and little pri- 
 vate commerce, is entered into. His immediate 
 descendants are numerous, as he is advanced in 
 age, and they all participate more or less in his 
 respectability. 
 
 The military force of the Pasha is said to 
 consist of about ten thousand cavalry and two 
 thousand infantry, not more than one-fourth of 
 which are now here to garrison the town, the 
 remainder being employed in the pending ex- 
 pedition to Damascus. 
 
 The bazars are well supplied with the neces- 
 saries of life at a moderate rate, the climate is 
 healthy, and the government not thought op- 
 pressive ; so that the condition of the people is 
 neither desperate nor miserable. 
 
 Of the Franks here, the chief are the consuls 
 of England and France ; the first is an Italian, 
 who receives no compensation from our govern- 
 ment, but trades with certain privileges of 
 office J the latter is an old gentleman from Mar- 
 seilles, who is confined by the very proper laws
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 125 
 
 of his country, in this respect, to attend merely 
 to the duties of his station. Besides these, there 
 are two surgeons, and half a dozen merchants 
 of different nations, all preserving their European 
 dresses, but living with little union and appa- 
 rently less happiness ; being in both these parti- 
 culars certainly inferior both to the Turks and 
 the Arabs, whom they constantly affect to de- 
 spise. 
 
 The port is formed by the jutting out of a 
 mole on the south-east angle of the town, to the 
 distance of three or four hundred yards, where 
 it is terminated by a tower, and either a lantern 
 or the gallery of a mosque. The shelter afforded 
 by it, when whole, must have been always im- 
 perfect ; but now that it is broken down in 
 several parts by the sea, and going fast to ruin, 
 vessels are almost as much exposed there as if 
 they lay on the outside. This work is said to 
 have been executed by Djezzar Pasha, before 
 whose time the bay was only visited in summer ; 
 and even now, ships of any burthen, since they 
 can never anchor within the mole, ride without 
 in the fair season, and in foul weather take shel- 
 ter at Caipha on the other side of the bay. The 
 trade consists chiefly in the export of cotton 
 raised in the neighbourhood, and in the impor- 
 tation of common wares for the consumption of 
 the country around.
 
 126 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 Benjamin of Tudela speaks of Accho under 
 the names of Akadi, or Ghaco, describing it as 
 one day's journey from Tyre, forming the Umit 
 of the tribe of Asser, and the commencement of 
 the land of Israel. It was then celebrated for 
 its port, and had a river called Cadumin, which 
 traversed it. He adds, that it was bounded by 
 Mount Carmel on the one side, and by the sea on 
 the other ; which description would best apply 
 to some place near the river at Caipha, or, at 
 least, along that part of the bay, where Carmel 
 would be on the one side and the sea on the 
 other ; but which is not true of the present posi- 
 tion of Accho. 
 
 The interest excited by the fame of the cele- 
 brated Jezzar Pasha, who acted so conspicuous a 
 part on this theatre during his life, is sufficient, 
 perhaps, to warrant a belief that an equal degree 
 of interest would be felt about the manner of his 
 death, and the events to which that catastrophe 
 led. 
 
 Hadjee Ahmet, Pasha of Acre, commonly 
 called Jezzar, or the Butcher, was seized by a 
 disease commencing in a tertian fever, which, 
 after confining him nine months, put an end to 
 his life on the 7th of May 1804, in the 75th year 
 of his age, and the 30th of his pashalic of Seida. 
 He was a man famous for his personal strength, 
 his ferocious courage, his cruelty, and his insa-
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 1^7 
 
 tiable avarice, as well as for the great power 
 which the active exertion of all these qualities 
 together procured for him. 
 
 He had formed the design of engrossing the 
 whole government of Syria and Egypt ; and had 
 succeeded, about a year and a half previously to 
 his death, in uniting in his own person the 
 pashalics of Seyda, Damascus, and Tripoh, be- 
 sides the nominal viceroyship of Egypt ; so that 
 there remained only the pashalic of Aleppo for 
 the completion of his desires ; and this he pro- 
 bably would have attained, had he lived but a 
 few years longer. 
 
 Some short time before his decease, he was 
 conscious of the approach of death ; but so far 
 was he from showing any remorse for his past 
 actions, or discovering any indications of a wish 
 to make atonement for them, that the last mo- 
 ments of this tyrant were employed in contriving 
 fresh murders, as if to close with new horrors the 
 bloody tragedy of his reign. Calling to him his 
 father-in-law. Sheikh Taha, as he himself lay on 
 the bed of death, " I perceive,*' said he, " that I 
 have but a short time to live. What must I do 
 with these rascals in my prisons ? Since I have 
 stripped them of every thing, what good will it 
 do them to be let loose again naked into the 
 world ? The greatest part of them are governors, 
 who, if they return to their posts, will be forced
 
 1^8 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 to ruin a great many poor people, in order to 
 replace the wealth which 1 have taken from them ; 
 so that it is best both for their own sakes, and 
 for that of others, that I should destroy them. 
 They will be then soon in a place where proper 
 care will be taken of them, a very good place, 
 where they will neither be permitted to molest 
 any one, nor be themselves exposed to molesta- 
 tion. Yes, yes ! that's best ! Despatch them !" 
 
 In obedience to the charitable conclusion of 
 this pathetic apostrophe, twenty-three wretches 
 were immediately added to the long list of the 
 victims of Jezzar Pasha*s cruelty j and it is said 
 they were all of them thrown into the sea toge- 
 ther, as the most expeditious mode of execution. 
 
 Jezzar had likewise in confinement at Caipha, 
 Nassif Pasha, whom it is supposed he had no 
 intention of leaving behind him ; but being 
 probably surprized by death before he had made 
 up his mind on the precise time and manner of 
 his execution, Nassif Pasha escaped and retired 
 to Damascus. This is the Pasha who took pos- 
 session of Cairo while the French army marched 
 out of it to attack the grand vizier, and who so 
 gallantly defended that city against the united 
 force of the enemy under Kleber during thirty- 
 four days, and at last made an honourable capi- 
 tulation for his retreat. 
 
 The grand vizier thought it proper and pru-
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 129 
 
 dent on that occasion to cashier him, and he 
 was banished to Cyprus. Some time afterwards 
 that punishment was mitigated to an exile at 
 Aleppo, where he remained till the passage of 
 the grand vizier through that city in the spring 
 of 1802. He then received a promise that, on 
 the vizier's return to Constantinople, he should 
 be provided for ; but soon after, losing all hope 
 of regaining the confidence and favour of the 
 Porte, he threw himself into the arms of Jezzar, 
 who had on former reverses of fortune behaved 
 towards him with extraordinary kindness and 
 munificence. He was also at this time received 
 with equal tokens of sympathy and regard, and 
 treated with the most princely liberality. 
 
 Jezzar promised to procure for him the go- 
 vernment of Damascus ; and the Porte, at his 
 solicitation, sent him a firman for the same, with 
 a blank for the name of the governor, to be filled 
 by Jezzar himself at his pleasure, Nassif Pasha 
 now flattered himself that he was on the point 
 of preferment. He was told to prepare for his 
 journey, and to hold himself in readiness to 
 repair to his post. The day appointed for his 
 departure at length arrived, when he found that 
 it was precisely that which Jezzar had chosen 
 for his arrest. His confinement was in Caipha, 
 where he languished for two years, and where 
 his health was so much impaired by the constant 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACKE» 
 
 dread of losing life, that at the death of Jezzar 
 he was unable to make any effort at grasping the 
 supreme authority in Acre, but withdrew to 
 Damascus, and left his rival Ismael Pasha in 
 quiet possession of the immense resources of the 
 deceased tyrant* 
 
 Nassif Pasha was a descendant of the ancient 
 family of Syrian Pashas called Azam, and a man 
 of great weight, as well from the reputation of 
 his abiUties, courage, and liberality, as by his 
 illustrious birth. 
 
 Ismael Pasha, like Nassif Pasha, was also in 
 confinement until the death of Jezzar. His his- 
 tory is succinctly this. 
 
 In the year 1800, Ismael Pasha accompanied 
 the grand army to Egypt, in the character of 
 Kiahiya, to a Pasha who perished in an explosion 
 of gunpowder at El- Arish. He was then patro- 
 nised by Nassif Pasha, who obtained for him the 
 dignity of the tails, and shortly after the govern- 
 ment of Marash. He did not long exercise that 
 authority before he fell into disgrace, by surpas- 
 sing in his extortions the usual bounds of Turkish 
 oppression. 
 
 The grand vizier formed a plan of making 
 him suffer a capital punishment. He appointed 
 him to the government of Sewas, and, at the 
 same time, concerted with one of the chiefs of 
 the Turkomans, that they should, on his quitting
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 131 
 
 Marash, way-lay him, seize him, and send him in 
 chains to the imperial camp. The Turkomans 
 fell upon him with a strong force ; but so far 
 from this treacherous stratagem procuring the 
 ruin of Ismael, it was an indirect cause of Ins 
 subsequent prosperity ; for, in repelling the at- 
 tack of the Turkomans, he displayed such gal- 
 lantry and vigour, that it established his reputa- 
 tion for extraordinary courage and fortitude, and 
 procured him the friendship of Jezzar Pasha, to 
 whom he fled for protection, and by whom he 
 was kindly received as a man suffering under the 
 persecution of the vizier. 
 
 Jezzar was at that time engaged in besieging 
 Abu-Marack Pasha, in Jaffa. This was a Pasha 
 who, while in Egypt, had been named to the 
 government of Damascus, but who, on reaching 
 Jaffa on his way thither, found himself blockaded 
 in that town by the troops of Jezzar, whose design 
 was, thereby to force the Porte to revoke that 
 nomination, and appoint Abdallah Pasha in his 
 stead. Jezzar immediately put Ismael Pasha at 
 the head of the troops who had encamped before 
 Jafla, and after a siege of ten months, Abu- 
 Marack was forced to abandon the place, and 
 the Porte was compelled to appoint to the 
 government of Damascus the Pasha of Jezzar*s 
 own choice. 
 
 In these transactions, however, Ismael Pasha 
 
 lost the favour of Jezzar, and was in consequence 
 
 K '2
 
 132 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE* 
 
 committed to prison in Acre, where he remained 
 until the day in which the latter expired. Jezzar 
 having no children, looked upon Ismael Pasha, 
 it seems, as a man likely to inherit with his 
 wealth his own rancorous hatred of the grand 
 vizier, and his own spirit of independence of 
 the Porte. He so well disguised those senti- 
 ments and views, that it is said that when 
 Ismael Pasha was sent for from his confinement 
 to come into the presence of Jezzar, he was 
 so strongly convinced of the occasion of the 
 message being his own execution, that he en- 
 treated to be allowed a few moments to prepare 
 himself for death. His disappointment must 
 have been a pleasing one, when, instead of his 
 condemnation, he heard Jezzar declare that he 
 had chosen him to be his successor. *' There,'* 
 said he, *' I leave you plenty of troops, plenty 
 of money to pay them, and good fortifications 
 to fight in ; if you are a man, you will keep 
 them, and my enemies will then have no reason 
 to exult in my death." 
 
 The body of Jezzar was not yet cold, when 
 Ismael Pasha took the reins of government, and 
 there immediately ensued the most perfect 
 obedience to his authority. He declared, how- 
 ever, that he held his authority only until the 
 will of the Porte should be made known ; and, in 
 conformity to this declaration, he caused the 
 public seals to be affixed in due form to the
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 133 
 
 numerous magazines encumbered with the im- 
 mense property accumulated by the rapine of 
 the deceased. 
 
 The Porte had long looked with anxiety to- 
 wards the death of Jezzar, as to an event that 
 would probably put them in possession of a 
 great booty ; and that no time might be lost in 
 the execution of the measures necessary to that 
 end, they had secretly conferred on Ibrahim 
 Pasha, the pashalics of Damascus, Tripoli, and 
 Seida, to be in force from the moment of the 
 decease of Jezzar, with orders that Ibrahim 
 Pasha should proceed immediately on receipt of 
 such intelligence to Acre, to sequester the trea- 
 sures there in the name of the Porte. 
 
 The tidings of this event reached Aleppo, 
 where Ibrahim was, on the 12th instant. On 
 the 14th, he appointed his eldest son Mehemed 
 Beg Kaimacan, to the government of Aleppo 
 in his absence, publishing the firmans by which 
 he himself was named the successor of Jezzar ; 
 and on the 21st he departed with about three 
 thousand men for Damascus. He entered there, 
 and took possession of that government without 
 opposition ; but as Ismael Pasha would not 
 tamely submit to the authority invested in Ibra- 
 him, and throw himself without reserve on the 
 moderation and liberalitv of the Porte, he rather 
 chose to entrust his safety to the exercise of 
 
 K 3
 
 1S4 DESCRIPTION OF THE TOWN OF ACRE. 
 
 the extraordinary resources which fortune had 
 put in his power. 
 
 He accordingly bid defiance to the Porte and 
 all their orders, until he was bought over to 
 their friendship by promises and presents. After 
 a turbulent career of a few years only, he fell a 
 victim at last to the treachery of his supposed 
 friends, and was succeeded by Suliman, the pre- 
 sent Pasha, whose reign has been as tranquil and 
 favourable to his subjects as those which preceded 
 it were stormy, destructive, and unhappy. 
 
 The very essence of the Turkish system of 
 politics is calculated, however, to make rebels of 
 men otherwise disposed to be faithful, especially 
 in cases of inheritance. Let the case of Ismaei 
 Pasha be fairly stated, and it will be evident 
 that he had no alternative between repelling by 
 force the authority of the Porte, and laying his 
 head passively on the block. 
 
 Treasures had fallen into his hands, which, 
 however great, could never equal the exag- 
 gerated expectations that were formed of them ; 
 so that though he might in reality give all, he 
 would certainly be required still to give more, 
 and in the end be put to torture to reveal 
 hoards existing only in the ardent imagination 
 of his rapacious masters.
 
 ( 135 ) 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 January 11, 1816. The morning was still 
 lowering, and detained our muleteer for some 
 time beyond the appointed hour of departure. 
 Having at length found him out, and brought 
 his animals to the okella, we took leave of Sig- 
 nore Malagamba, our consul, with thanks for 
 his civilities during our stay, and having the 
 wishes of the European gentlemen for our safe 
 journey, we mounted and left the gates of 
 Accha about nine o'clock. 
 
 After riding for nearly an hour by the sea- 
 side, passing in the way the apparent outlet of 
 a small stream, which may, perhaps, be the 
 river Belus of Maundrell, Pococke, and Clarke, 
 we struck off to the eastward. Here we crossed 
 a space of at least a mile, formed of sand-hills, 
 and long grass, like those which border the 
 southern shore of the Delta, and like those, no 
 doubt, thrown up by the constant action of the 
 sea blown by a prevailing wind on the coast, and 
 
 K 4
 
 136 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 occasioning a continually agitated surf on the 
 beach. 
 
 Strabo, Pliny, Tacitus, Josephus, and many 
 other writers, mention the river Behis, as famous 
 for producing the sand of which glass was first 
 made. Fable has assumed that Hercules, being 
 sent to seek for some herb whose virtues might 
 heal his wounds, found on the banks of this 
 river the colocasia, the juices of which effected 
 it. Some ancient writers, indeed, derived the 
 oldest names of Accha from this circumstance 
 related of its neighbouring river, as 'Axae in the 
 Greek language, signifies cures.* Even more 
 sober details of history, regarding this discovery 
 upon its banks, have an air of fable in them, as 
 the Roman naturalist ascribes it to the accidental 
 combinations of the necessary materials for the 
 fusion of the sand, while some mariners were 
 preparing a meal on it, their cauldron being 
 supported by blocks of nitre as it stood over the 
 fire.t The Greek geographer remarks, how- 
 ever, that this property is not peculiar to the 
 sands of Belus, but is found in those of the 
 whole coast, from Ptolemais to Tyre, and that 
 
 * Pococke's Description of the East, vol. i. part i. c. 14. 
 p. 55. 
 
 Bochart ridicules this fable, and objects to the derivation. — 
 Phaleg et Canaan, pars prior, 1. i. c. 5. p. 3^77. E, 
 
 t riin. Nat. Hist. lib. xxxvi. c. 26—65.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 137 
 
 it was chiefly at Sidon that the art of making it 
 into glass was known.* 
 
 The Jewish historian, though he speaks of the 
 river incidentally only, in describing the situa- 
 tion of Ptolemais, could not omit the stories 
 which were current in his own times regarding 
 it, though equally fabulous with that of Her- 
 cules curing his wounds. *' The very small river 
 Belus," says he, in speaking of Ptolemais, 
 " runs by it, at the distance of two furlongs t ; 
 near which there is a Memnon's monument ; 
 and hath near it a place no longer than a hun- 
 dred cubits, which deserves admiration ; for the 
 place is round and hollow, and affords such sand 
 as glass is made of; which place, when it hath 
 been emptied by the many ships there loaded t, 
 is filled again by the winds, which bring into it, 
 as it were on purpose, that sand which lay re- 
 mote, and was no more than bare common sand, 
 while this mine presently turns it into glassy 
 sand. And what is to me still more wonderful, 
 
 * Strabo, Geog. lib. xvi. p. 758. Cellariiis, Geog. Ant. lib. 
 iii. c. 13. p. 295. 4to. Reland. 1. i. c. 45. p. 289. 
 
 f This river is still very small, and, as may be seen from the 
 time of our passing it, is little more than two furlongs from the 
 present town of Accha, where Ptolemais stood. 
 
 :J: It was not only carried to Sidon on ship-board for the 
 manufactories there, in the time of Strabo, but afterwards fur- 
 nished those of Italy, as late as the 1 7th century, though there 
 is now no demand for it. — Doubdun's Voyage.
 
 138 JOURNEY FROiVI ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 that glassy sand which is superfluous, and is 
 once removed out of the place, becomes com- 
 mon sand again. And this is the nature of the 
 place we are now speaking of." * 
 
 We saw nothing that could even warrant a 
 conjecture of its being the monument to Mem- 
 non spoken of by Josephus, nor could we learn 
 any thing explanatory of the singular properties 
 of the round and hollow pit which he describes 
 as giving to the sand of the river all its virtues. 
 Tradition does not even preserve a faint remem- 
 brance, either of the tale of Hercules wounded 
 and wandering along its banks, or of the Phoe- 
 nician mariners preparing their food by its 
 stream. 
 
 It was eleven o'clock before we quitted the 
 sand and came on a soil of earth, when we 
 passed over a paved causeway raised above a low 
 spot on the plain, and continued our course to 
 the southward and eastward. This road led us, 
 by a gentle ascent, into a beautifully fertile ex- 
 panse of land, now lying waste, and covered 
 with thistles, but having an abundance of olive- 
 trees scattered over its surface. 
 
 Still gradually ascending, and passing, at in- 
 tervals, round some stoney eminences that broke 
 
 * Josephus, Wars of the Jews, b. ii. c. iO. s. 10. Cluverius, 
 1. V. c. 21. Note (7 (g) p. 730. 4to.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRK TO NAZARETH. 139 
 
 the general level of this plain, we arrived at 
 one o'clock, in sight of Shufammer, which 
 opened itself suddenly upon us from behind 
 a rocky hill. The approach to this village is 
 interesting, from the woody clothing of the 
 valley below, contrasted with the bare and 
 rugged face of the elevated lands above. 
 
 Shufammer is a village, built on a hill, and is 
 distinctly visible both from Accho and from the 
 road to the northward of it. It is composed of 
 sixty or eighty white stone dwellings, rising 
 above each other in stages, like the houses in the 
 steep streets of Malta, or those of Milo in the 
 Grecian archipelago ; and has, towering up from 
 its centre, a large square enclosure, resembling 
 a castle, giving to it the appearance of a fortified 
 post. * 
 
 On ascending the road which led up by the 
 side of the village, we noticed a well at the foot 
 of it, which was ascended to by steps, and its 
 square brink of masonry supported by four 
 arches. It appeared of considerable depth from 
 the length of the cord used for the bucket, and 
 there was here a party of women drawing water. 
 
 * This place corresponds with the distance given by Ben- 
 jamin of Tiidela, to a place called Caphur Nahum, which he 
 says was distant from Accho four leaguer, retained its ancient 
 name in his time, and was seated on a still higher aspect than 
 Mount Carmel.
 
 140 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 We met also females to the number of forty or 
 fifty, laden with pitchers on their heads and 
 shoulders, going down to the well, and learned 
 from them that it was the only source of supply 
 for the town, as there was no water to be found 
 within it. 
 
 Above this, we saw a party of men and boys 
 playing at cricket, using a round staff for a bat, 
 and a ball neatly covered with goat's skin, and 
 tolerably elastic. The dresses of both men and 
 women were similar to those described at Soor ; 
 and the soldiers, of whom thirty or forty are 
 stationed here within the central inclosure of the 
 town, wore also the garments of Arabs rather 
 than of Turks. The inhabitants are chiefly Chris- 
 tians and Mohammedans, but there are also 
 some Druses, and a few Jews among them. 
 
 At the south-east end of the town, we noticed 
 a modern cemetery, and a fragment of some 
 ancient vaulted building of excellent masonry, 
 part of the wall of which, and three arched 
 windows, were all that now remained. 
 
 From hence the road was chiefly over rugged 
 hills of lime-stone rock, with here and there only 
 patches of soil, until at two o'clock we reached 
 a place called Beer-el- Jahoush. On the brow 
 of the hill, near the road by which we passed, 
 were fragments of pillars and large hewn stones ; 
 and in the valley beneath were four wells giving
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO KAZARETH. 141 
 
 name to the place, and probably of ancient 
 structure. 
 
 From this eminence we saw the sea in the 
 bay of Accho ; and descending, passed in half 
 an hour afterwards the bed of a torrent, now dry, 
 although it had rained violently on the preced- 
 ing day. It was merely called a Waadi* by 
 our guide, and was therefore not likely to have 
 marked the passage of any large river. Our road 
 now began to be more barren and rocky through- 
 out, until at four we reached a small cluster of 
 cottages, scarcely distinguishable from the grey 
 stones of the hill on which they stood ; and 
 there being here a brook, at which females were 
 washing, both we and our animals drank of its 
 waters. 
 
 From hence we continually ascended over 
 lime-stone hills, until the prospect became one 
 unbroken scene of sterility as far. as the eye 
 could reach, and presented not only uncultivated, 
 but uncultivatable lands all around us. We left 
 the village of Sepphoury a little on our left, be- 
 hind a rising ground ; and learned, that, as all 
 its inhabitants are Mohammedans, the very ruins 
 which remained of the house of St. Anna had 
 been entirely demolished, and that the visits of 
 
 * An Arabic word, applied equally to a narrow valley and to 
 the bed of a stream.
 
 14!^ JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 the Christian priests to that village had long 
 been discontinued. * 
 
 It was nearly six o'clock when we approached 
 Nazareth, from the mountain above which we 
 had again a prospect of Mount Carmel and the 
 Bay of Accho ; and reaching the summit of this 
 lofty eminence, the valley and the town opened 
 suddenly upon our view. The former was 
 marked by enclosures of the soil, even upon 
 rocky beds for cultivation, and the latter pre- 
 sented the appearance of a respectable village, 
 with about two hundred well-built dwellings, 
 and a handsome little mosque, with minareh, 
 dome, and arches rising from its centre. 
 
 The hill was so steep and rugged, that we 
 were obliged to descend it on foot ; and if it 
 
 * This was so large a city in the time of Ptolemy and 
 Cleopatra, that the former lost a number of men in an 
 unsuccessful attack on it. (Joseph. Antiq. Jud. 1. xiii. 
 c. 12. 5.) It was the seat also of one of the five councils by 
 which Judea was governed in the time of Gabinius. (1. xiv. 
 c. 5. 4.) It is expressly called the capital of Galilee in several 
 places, and enumerated amongst the greatest cities. (Life of 
 •Tosephus, 9. 45. 65.) It was taken by Herod, who approached 
 it through snow, (De Bello Jud. 1. i. c. 16.;2.) and was aban- 
 doned by its inhabitants when they fled^before their Saracen 
 invaders. (Mines de I'Orient, tom. iii. p. 81.) Benjamin of 
 Tudela says, " At Sipuria, anciently Tsiphori, were the se- 
 pulchres of Hhakados and Hhavah, who returned from 
 Babylon ; with that of Jonas, son of Amithai the Prophet, 
 and others very ancient."
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 143 
 
 were the precipice from which the men of 
 Nazareth threatened to cast down our Saviour 
 headlong, as related by St. Luke *, it was a 
 station well adapted for the execution of such 
 a deed of death. 
 
 On entering the town, we were saluted by as 
 many dogs as crowd the villages of Egypt, but 
 of a black colour and larger size ; and pass- 
 ing through several steep and narrow streets, 
 we reached the monasteiy of the Franciscan 
 friars, where we met with a welcome reception. 
 
 A room was instantly prepared for us, and 
 soon after I enjoyed an excellent supper, washed 
 down by the wine of Mount Libanus, in com- 
 pany with the superior, in the common hall. 
 The rest of the evening was passed in the 
 apartment of the Padre Guardiano, and in a 
 party of six friars, one of whom had recently 
 arrived from Aleppo, and another from Da- 
 mascus ; and all of them being Spaniards, they 
 were impatient to hear the news of Europe ; so 
 that we remained together until a late hour. 
 
 12th. Intending to pass through the moun- 
 tains of Nablous, as the shortest way to Jeru- 
 salem, we had quitted Accho under the hope 
 that we should find that way sufficiently safe ; but 
 
 * Chap. iv. ver. 29.
 
 144 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 on our arrival here at Nassara*, we learned that 
 it was impossible to proceed by it without a 
 caravan or a large military escort ; and the 
 recent robbery of nearly fifty mules, and the 
 murder of four of their drivers, was adduced in 
 proof thereof. 
 
 As we were now one day advanced on our 
 way, it was recommended to us by the friars here, 
 whose constant journies in the neighbourhood 
 gave them great local knowledge, to attempt 
 the road by Galilee and the Tiberiad, as either 
 of the ways of Samaria would occupy a day 
 longer than this. It was added, that the death 
 of the Pasha of Damascus, and the designs of 
 Suliman, being now generally known among the 
 peasantry, insubordination was beginning every 
 where to shew itself, under the idea that the 
 soldiery were too much occupied to be sent in 
 search of offenders, and that in the general 
 ferment a few murders or robberies would be 
 overlooked and go unpunished, if not un- 
 detected. 
 
 While the mules were taking their morning 
 food, and some little preparations were making 
 by the friars for our comfort on the journey, I 
 profited by the moment of leisure which it 
 
 * This is the pronunciation which the inhabitants them- 
 selves give the name of their town.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 145 
 
 offered, to visit the chief objects of curiosity in 
 and about the town, and to observe some par- 
 ticulars regarding it in addition to those which 
 I had gleaned from the residents here. 
 
 Nassara, the Nazareth of the Scriptures, is 
 called by Maundrell an inconsiderable village ; 
 by Brown, a pleasant one, with a respectable con- 
 vent ; and in Dr. Clarke's visit, was said to have 
 so declined under the oppressive tyranny of 
 Djezzar's government, as to seem destined to 
 maintain its ancient reputation ; since now, as 
 of old, one might ask, with equal reason, ** Can 
 there any good thing come out of Nazareth ?" * 
 
 The fact most probably is, that little alteration 
 has taken place in its size or consequence from 
 the time of the first to the last of these travellers ; 
 but that the terms themselves, being vague, and 
 accompanied by no specific definition, mean 
 with these different writers nearly the same 
 thing. That Maundrell, after speaking of Tyre 
 as not having one habitable dwelling left entire, 
 and of Accho as being but a vast and spacious 
 ruin, should consider Nassara only as an " in- 
 considerable village/' I can as easily conceive, 
 as that Mr. Brown, coming from Darfour and 
 the hutted camps of the Africans, should think 
 it " a pleasant station ;" while Dr. Clarke, misled 
 
 * St. John, c. i. V. 4(i. 
 VOL. I. L
 
 14() JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 by this, perhaps, to consider it as really a place 
 of more importance at that time, might well have 
 thought it *' dwindled from its former conse- 
 quence." 
 
 This town or village is situated in a deep 
 valley, not on the top of a high hill, as has been 
 erroneously stated*, but rather on the side of a 
 hill, nearer its base than its summit, facing to 
 the south-east, and having above it the rocky 
 eminence which we had passed over in approach- 
 ing it. The valley in which it stands is round 
 and concave, as Maundrell has described it, 
 and is itself the hollow of a high range of hills ; 
 but I could perceive no long and narrow valley 
 opening to the east, as mentioned by Dr. Clarke ; 
 nor does it indeed exist: the whole valley being 
 shut in by steep and rugged hills on all sides. 
 The Quarterly Reviewers were led by this mis- 
 representation to accuse D'Anville of having 
 erroneously given it a different termination, and 
 placed the city to the south-west of the hills 
 which separate Galilee from the plains of Es- 
 draelon. The fact is, that no such long and nar- 
 row valley is apparent in any direction, and that 
 Nassara stands in the hollow of a cluster of hills, 
 the north-western of which separate it from the 
 
 * Nazareth in monies erat vertice. Cluverius, 1. v. c. 21. 
 p. 369.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 14? 
 
 plain of Zabulon, and the south-western, from the 
 plain of Esdraelon ; while on the north-east are 
 the lands of Galilee, and on the south-west those 
 of Samaria. 
 
 The fixed inhabitants are estimated at about 
 two thousand ; five hundred of whom are ca- 
 tholic Christians, about three hundred Maro- 
 nites, and two hundred Mohammedans ; the rest 
 being schismatic Greeks. These are all Arabs 
 of the country, and, notwithstanding the small 
 circle in which their opposing faiths meet, it is 
 said, to their honour, that they live together in 
 mutual forbearance and tranquillity.* 
 
 The private dwellings of the town, to the 
 number of about two hundred and fifty, are 
 built of stone, which is a material always at 
 hand ; they are fiat- roofed, being in general 
 only of one story, but are sufficiently spacious 
 and commodious for the accommodation of a 
 numerous poor family. The streets are steep, 
 from the inclination of the hill on which they 
 stand, narrow from custom, and dirty from the 
 looseness of the soil. 
 
 Of the public buildings, the mosque is the 
 most conspicuous from without, and it is indeed 
 
 * In the time of Volney, the friars here were the farmers of 
 the country. He observes, that under the government of 
 Daher, they were obliged to make a present to every wife he 
 married ; and he took care to marry ahnost every w'eek. Vol- 
 nev's Travels, vol. ii. p. 229. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 a neat edifice. It has five arches on one of its 
 sides, for we could see no more of it, as it is en- 
 closed within a wall of good masonry, and fur- 
 nished with a plain whitened minareh, surround- 
 ed by a gallery, and surmounted by the crescent, 
 the whole rising from the centre of the town, as 
 if to announce the triumph of its dominion to 
 those approaching it from afar. 
 
 The Greeks have their church on the south- 
 east edge of the town, at the foot of the hill, 
 and the Maronites theirs in front of the Fran- 
 ciscan convent. This last is one of the largest 
 and most commodious that I remember to have 
 seen in the Levant, being in every respect 
 superior to those of Smyrna, of Alexandria, and 
 of Cairo. 
 
 On entering its outer gate, we observed two 
 antique shafts of red granite columns, now used 
 as portals to the door-way. Within is a court, 
 and, by the gate at its further end, the fragment 
 of a shaft -of another granite column lying on 
 the ground. On each side, within the gate, is 
 seen the basis of white pillars, which formed the 
 portals of entrance to the original building 
 destroyed by the Turks ; and on the wall, both 
 within and without, are worked into the masonry 
 several pieces of the old ruins, containing deli- 
 cate sculptures of friezes, cornices, capitals, &c. 
 
 This gate leads to a large-paved square, in
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACHE TO NAZARETH. 149 
 
 which are two wells, surmounted by the cross. 
 On the right hand, is the hall for the reception 
 of strangers and visitors, with a range of build- 
 ings continued on the same side ; on the left, 
 there are apartments for servants and porters, and 
 the passage leading up to the convent itself; and 
 opposite to the outer-entrance, on the other side 
 of the square-court, is the wall of the church 
 attached to it. The interior of the building is 
 furnished with every convenience in staircases, 
 galleries, and apartments. 
 
 Over the door of each small chamber I ob- 
 served painted a number, and ''Ave Mariay" 
 while over that of the Padre Guardiano's was 
 written his title in addition. On the door of the 
 chamber in which I slept was written ''Ave 
 Maria purissima,'* and immediately opposite to 
 it, " HcBc sunt necessaria^** in large Roman 
 capitals. 
 
 The hall in which we supped was below. It 
 was of a considerable size, furnished all round 
 with benches and tables, each apparently for two 
 persons. In the centre of one of the longest 
 sides was an altar in a recess, with crosses, 
 candles, &c. ; and immediately opposite to it, on 
 the other side, was a small folding-door, through 
 which the dishes were received, warm as they 
 were prepared, from the adjoining kitchen. The 
 table-service was altogether of pewter ; but every 
 
 L 3
 
 160 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 thing was extremely clean, and the provisions 
 excellent, particularly fine white bread, equal 
 to any in Europe, and a wine of Mount Libanus, 
 not inferior to the best wines of France.* 
 
 The six friars stationary here were all Spani- 
 ards, and chiefly from Majorca, Minorca, and 
 Valencia. They did not appear to me to be 
 either learned or well-informed ; but they were, 
 which is of more worth, frank, amiable, and 
 obliging. Our reception among them was unaf- 
 fectedly kind ; and our stay was rendered agree- 
 able by their bounty. 
 
 The church is built over a grotto, held sacred 
 from a belief of its being the scene of the 
 angePs announcing to Mary her favour with 
 God, and her conception and bearing of ^the 
 Saviour. On entering it, we passed over a 
 white marble pavement, ornamented in the 
 centre with a device in Mosaic ; and descended 
 by a flight of marble steps into a grotto beneath 
 the body of the church. In the first compart- 
 ment of this subterraneous sanctuary, we were 
 told, had stood the mass which constitutes the 
 famous chapel of Loretto, in Italy ; and the 
 friars assured us, with all possible solemnity, 
 
 * It seems to have been peculiar to the Nazarites to suffer 
 their hair to grow long, and to abstain from the use of wine, 
 on making a sacred vow. (Josephus, Ant. Jud. b. iv. e. 4. s. 4.) 
 And the story of Dalilah and Samson, who was a Nazarite, is 
 familiar to all.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 151 
 
 that the angels appointed to the task took out 
 this mass from the rock, and flew with it first to 
 Dalmatia, and afterwards to Loretto, where it 
 now stands ; and that, on measuring the mass 
 itself, and the place from which it had been 
 taken, they had been found to correspond in 
 every respect ; neither the one by the voyage, 
 nor the other by age, having lost or altered any 
 part of its size or shape ! 
 
 Pj'oceeding farther in, we were shown a second 
 grotto, or a continuation of the first, with two 
 red granite pillars, of about two feet in diameter, 
 at its entrance ; and were told, that one marked 
 thue spot where the Virgin rested, the other 
 where the angel stood when he appeared to 
 Mary, exclaiming, — " Hail ! thou that art high- 
 ly favoured, the Lord is with thee ; blessed art 
 thou among women.*' * The pillar on the right 
 is still perfect, but that on the left has a piece of 
 its shaft broken out, leaving a space of about a 
 foot and a half between the upper and under 
 fragment. The latter of these continuing still 
 to be supported by being firmly imbedded in the 
 rock above, offers to the eyes of believing visi- 
 tors, according to the expression of the friars, 
 " A standing miracle of the care which Christ 
 
 * St. Luke, i. 28. 
 L 4
 
 152 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 takes of his church ;" as they insist upon its 
 being supported by the hand of God alone. * 
 
 The grotto here, though small and about eight 
 feet in height, remains still in its original rough- 
 ness, the roof being slightly arched. In the 
 outer compartment, from whence the chapel of 
 Loretto is said to have been taken, the roof as 
 
 * The " Orthodox Traveller," as he is called, who has most 
 recently furnished us with the details of his journey in the 
 Holy Land, is almost angry with the poor friars of Nazareth 
 for endeavouring to make others believe what they are them- 
 selves firmly persuaded of. He says, — " Pococke has proved 
 that the tradition concerning the dwelling-place of the parents 
 of Jesus Christ existed at a very early period, because the 
 church built over it is mentioned by writers of the seventh 
 century ; and in being conducted to a cave rudely fashioned in 
 the natural rock, there is nothing repugnant to the notions one 
 is induced to entertain concerning the ancient customs of the 
 country, and the history of the persons to whom allusion is 
 made. But when the surreptitious aid of architectural pillars, 
 with all the garniture of a Roman Catholic church, above, 
 below, and on every side of it, have disguised its original sim- 
 plicity, and we finally call to mind the insane reverie concern- 
 ing the transmigration of the said habitation, in a less sub- 
 stantial form of brick and mortar, across the Mediterranean to 
 Loretto in Italy, maintained upon authority very similar to 
 that which identifies the authenticity of this relique, a disbe- 
 lief of the whole mummery seems best suited to the feelings of 
 Protestants." — Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. p. 434. In our 
 strictures on the religion of others, the advice of our Saviour 
 himself is worth consulting, (St. Matt. c. vii. v. 5.) if we would 
 wish to avoid the imputation thrown on those whom he so 
 deservedly reproves.
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 153 
 
 well as the sides have been reshaped, and plas- 
 tered, and ornamented ; so that the original 
 dimensions no longer remain. Within, however, 
 all is left in its first rude state, to perpetuate to 
 future ages the interesting fact which it is 
 thought to record. 
 
 Passing onward from hence, and ascending 
 through narrow passages, over steps cut out of 
 the rock, and turning a little to the right, we 
 came to a chamber which the friars called, ** La 
 Cucina delta Santa Madona." They here showed 
 us the chimney of the hearth on which Mary 
 warmed the food for Jesus, while yet an helpless 
 infant, and where she baked the cakes for her 
 husband's supper, when he returned from the 
 labours of the day. This was an apartment of 
 the house, as they observed, in which the Son 
 of God lived so many years in subjection to 
 man ; as it is believed by all that he was brought 
 up from childhood to manhood in Nazareth. 
 
 The fact of Joseph and Mary having resided 
 in this house, and used the very room in which 
 we stood as their kitchen, has nothing at all of 
 improbability in it ; and as excavated dwellings, 
 in the side of a steep hill like this, would be 
 more secure, and even more comfortable than 
 fabricated ones, it is quite as probable that this 
 might have really been the residence of the holy 
 family as of any other ; since it is here, in the
 
 1.54 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 midst of the Nazareth of Galilee, where Joseph 
 and Mary are admitted to have dwelt, and the 
 child Jesus to have been brought up. 
 
 The church erected over this sacred spot is 
 large, and well furnished, with some few toler- 
 able paintings, but still more gaudy ones. It 
 has also a double flight of marble steps, and a 
 gilt-iron rail- way leading up on each side of the 
 grotto, which is left open and faces the entrance 
 to the church, producing an impressive effect. 
 Below, in the grotto itself, is an altar of white 
 marble, very finely executed ; and a painting of 
 the Annunciation, of great merit, as far as could 
 be judged in this obscure depth, except that its 
 effect is lessened by a diadem of gold and pre- 
 cious stones on the head of the Virgin. 
 
 Among all the pictures, 1 observed a depar- 
 ture from costume and propriety, which could 
 only be accounted for by religious zeal. Joseph 
 the carpenter was arrayed in purple and scarlet ; 
 Mary, beautiful, and dressed in the richest robes. 
 If the painters could have taken their models 
 from among the same class of people at Nazareth 
 now, they would perhaps have approached 
 nearer to truth : as these are probably still very 
 similar in person, complexion, and apparel, to 
 those described in the history of those times. In 
 Europe, remote from the scenes themselves, 
 scriptural subjects may be treated in any way
 
 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 155 
 
 that best displays the talent of the painter, but 
 it is impossible to witness certain delineations 
 of country and costume upon the spot where the 
 scene itself is laid, without being forcibly im- 
 pressed with their want of even general resem- 
 blance. 
 
 There is an organ which is played by one of 
 the friars ; an abundance of fonts, and altars, and 
 candlesticks ; a fine sacristy or dressing-room for 
 the priests ; and store-rooms for the moveables of 
 the church, consisting of flags, tapers, silken 
 curtains, silver crosses, incense pots, &c. ex- 
 hibited only on festival days. 
 
 The synagogue in which Jesus read and ex- 
 pounded the prophet Esais on the sabbath, is 
 shown here within the town ; while the preci- 
 pice from which the exasperated people would 
 haye hurled him, is pointed out at a place more 
 than a mile distant to the southward, and on 
 the other side of the vale. It is more probable, 
 however, that the precipice which overlooks the 
 town was really the scene of this outrage, as 
 the evangelist says: "And all they in the 
 synagogue, when they heard these things, were 
 filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him 
 out of the city, and led him unto the brow of 
 the hill whereon their city was built, that they 
 might cast him down headlong.*' * 
 
 * St. Luke, iv. 28, 29. Cluverius, 1. v. c. 21. p. 369.
 
 156 JOURNEY FROM ACRE TO NAZARETH. 
 
 This Nazareth was once taken by an English prince during 
 the Holy Wars, as we learn from the " Voyage of Prince 
 Edward, the sonne of King Henry the Third, into Asia, in the 
 yeere 1270," as preserved by Hakluyt. After describing a 
 tempest and shipwreck on the coast of Sicilia, he says : '* Then 
 Prince Edward renouating his purpose, tooke shipping againe, 
 and within fifteene days after Easter, arrived he at Acra, and went 
 a-land, taking with him a thousand of the best souldiers and 
 most expert, and taried there a whole month, refreshing both 
 his men and horses, and that in this space he might learne and 
 know the secrets of the land. After this he took with him 
 sixe or seven thousand souldiers, and marched forwards 
 twenty miles from Acra and took Nazareth, and those that he 
 found there he slew, and afterwards returned againe to Acra. 
 But their enemies following after them, thinking to have set 
 upon them at some streit, or other advantage, were espied by 
 the })rince, and returning again upon them, gave a charge, 
 and slew many of them, and the rest they put to flight." 
 Hakluyt's Coll. vol. ii. p. 37- 4to. 1810. 
 
 Hugh, of Tabaria, one of the Christian heroes of the 
 Crusades, and Gerrard his brother, the former of whom died 
 of his wounds received in battle, and the latter from sickness 
 and grief, were both honourably interred with great mourning 
 and lamentation, in the city of Nazareth, as described in the 
 account of " A Fleete of Englishmen, Danes, andFIemmings, 
 who arrived at Joppa, in the Holy Land, the seventh yeere of 
 Baldwine the Second, King of Hierusalem. Written in the 
 beginning of the tenth booke of the Chronicle of Hierusalem, 
 in the eighth yeere of Henry the First, of England." Hakl. 
 Coll. vol. ii. p. 13.
 
 ( 157 ) 
 
 CHAR VI. 
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 Being furnished with an armed guide by the 
 friars of Nazareth to conduct us by the way 
 proposed for our joui'ney toward Jerusalem, we 
 mounted, and took leave of them with a warm 
 sense of their hospitality, their meekness, and 
 the affability of their manners. 
 
 It was nine o'clock when we left the foot of 
 the hill to cross the valley, passing by some 
 wells there, and in less than half an hour we 
 ascended the hills on the south-east, again ob- 
 serving that there was no outlet of a long valley 
 in that direction, nor at all near it. 
 
 Having reached the summit of these rocky and 
 barren eminences, we began at ten to descend on 
 the other side of them, leaving on the left a 
 small village called Shaayn. Arriving at their 
 feet, we passed through a narrow defile, leading 
 easterly between two steep hills ; and again 
 going up a rocky ascent, we reached its summit 
 at eleven, having the high round eminence of 
 Mount Tabor before us, rearing itself abruptly 
 from the plain of Esdraelon.
 
 1.58 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 In our approach to the foot of this mountain, 
 while passing through a rocky bed covered with 
 thickets, a large black wild boar rushed from 
 them across our path, and so alarmed our mules, 
 that one of the riders was thrown. Our guide 
 discharged his musket, and a shout of pursuit 
 was instantly set up ; when presently some dogs 
 sprung barking from the bushes, and a cry of 
 voices was heard, which grew louder and louder, 
 until we saw before us about a dozen Arabs, 
 each with his gun prepared to fire. 
 
 We mutually halted to regard each other, and 
 not knowing whether this was an ambush lying 
 in wait for us, or for the boar, we unslung our 
 muskets for defence. We remained for some 
 minutes in this hostile attitude, until one of our 
 party accosted the band which had so suddenly 
 appeared, and received such insolent answers as 
 to induce us to look upon them rather as enemies 
 than friends. As we kept together, however, 
 and preserved a tone of firmness, this, added to 
 the sight of our arms, induced them to retire 
 murmuring ; and as we ascended on higher 
 ground, we saw three or four low brown flat- 
 roofed tents, in which they were apparently 
 encamped ; but for what purpose we knew not, 
 as there were no flocks in the neighbourhood, 
 and they were accompanied only by the dogs 
 which we had seen.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 159 
 
 It was about noon when we reached the small 
 village of Deborah, where we alighted to refresh, 
 not suspecting that the treachery for which it is 
 traditionally infamous both in holy* and profane t 
 records, was still to be found here at so distant a 
 period. 
 
 This village is said to retain the name of the 
 famous prophetess and judge of Israel, who 
 dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between 
 Ramah and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim, where 
 the children of Israel came up to her for judg- 
 ment, and is thought to be the same with Dabe- 
 rath, on the borders of the tribes of Issachar and 
 Zabulon. { 
 
 After the celebrated destruction of the hosts 
 of Sisera, on the plains of Esdraelon, at the foot 
 of Mount Tabor, where this village now stands, 
 it was on this spot, as tradition relates, that the 
 tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite stood, 
 when the defeated fugitive sought a refuge 
 there. 
 
 * Judges, iv. 
 
 t There was a village called Dabaritta near to Esdraelon, 
 and probably the present Daberah. Some young men of this 
 place who kept guard in the Great Plain, laid wait for one 
 Ptolemy, who was the steward of Agrippa and Bernice, and 
 plundered him of all that ne had with him, namely many costlv 
 garments, a number of silver vessels, and six hundred 
 pieces of gold. Josephus de Bello, 1. ii. c. 21. s. 3. 
 
 J Joshua, xix. 12.
 
 160 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 We entered into this village, and, like the un- 
 fortunate Sisera, demanded only a little water to 
 drink, for with every thing else our scrip was 
 well provided. It was furnished to us, as we 
 desired, with provender for our beasts, and the 
 offer of all that the village possessed. 
 
 While the animals were feeding, T was desi- 
 rous of ascending to the summit of Mount Tabor, 
 for the enjoyment of the extensive view which 
 it commands. Our guide from the convent 
 offering to accompany me, we took with us a man 
 from the village, who promised to facilitate our 
 ascent by directing us to the easiest paths ; and 
 taking our arms with us, while my servant and 
 the muleteer remained below to take care of the 
 beasts, we all three set out together. 
 
 By forced exertions we reached the summit in 
 about half an hour, having ascended on the north- 
 west side, directly upward from the village, and 
 through paths well worn by being frequently 
 trodden, though here and there obstructed by 
 the numerous trees and thickets which clothe 
 its brow. 
 
 Arriving at the top, we found ourselves on 
 an oval plain, of about a quarter of a mile in its 
 greatest length, covered with a bed of fertile soil 
 on the west, and having at its eastern end a 
 mass of ruins, seemingly the vestiges of churches,
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOlt. l6l 
 
 grottoes, strong walls, and fortifications, all de- 
 cidedly of some antiquity, and a few appearing 
 to be the works of a very remote age. 
 
 First were pointed out to us three grottoes, 
 two beside each other, and not far from two cis- 
 terns of excellent water ; which grottoes are said 
 to be remains of the three tabernacles proposed 
 to be erected by St. Peter, at the moment of the 
 transfiguration, when Jesus, Elias, and Moses, 
 were seen talking together.* 
 
 In one of these grottoes, which they call more 
 particularly " the Sanctuary," there is a square 
 stone used as an altar j and on the 6th of August, 
 in every year, the friars of the convent come 
 from Nazareth with their banners and the host 
 to say mass here, at which period they are ac- 
 companied by all the Catholics of the neighbour- 
 hood, who pass the night in festivity, and light 
 large bonfires, by a succession of which they have 
 nearly bared the southern side of the mountain 
 of all the wood that once clothed it. 
 
 Besides these grottoes, no particular history is 
 assigned to any other of the remains, though 
 among them there seem to have been many 
 large religious buildings. 
 
 The whole of these appear to have been once 
 enclosed with a strong wall, a large portion of 
 
 * St. Luke, ix. 30. 33. 
 VOL. I. M
 
 16^2 
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR,
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. l63 
 
 which still remains entire on the south side, 
 having its firm foundations on the solid rocks ; 
 and this appeared to me the most ancient part. In 
 the book of Judges, where the story of Deborah 
 is related *, Barak is commanded to draw to- 
 ward Mount Tabor ; and afterwards it is said 
 that he went up there with ten thousand men, 
 accompanied by the prophetess, t Again, it is 
 repeated that they who were encamped with 
 Heber the Kenite in the plain of Zaanaim, 
 showed Sisera that Barak, the son of Abinoam, 
 was gone up to Mount Tabor. X And, lastly, it 
 is said, that when Sisera gathered all his hosts 
 together, with his nine hundred chariots of iron, 
 to the river Kishon, Barak went down from 
 Mount Tabor, and ten thousand men after 
 him. II From this one might infer that the summit 
 was even then used as a military post : for there 
 is no other part of the mountain on which half 
 the number could stand. § It was even then, 
 perhaps, walled and fortified as belonging to 
 
 * Judges, iv. 
 
 f Judges, civ. ver. 10. J ver. 12. || ver. 14. 
 
 § The top of Mount Tabor was described to Dr. Clarke 
 " as a plain of great extent, finely cultivated, and inhabited 
 by numerous Arab tribes." Vol. ii. p. 484. This traveller 
 must have had very inaccurate notions of Arab tribes to 
 suppose, however, that many, or even one of them, could 
 occupy so confined a range as this hill only. 
 
 M 2
 
 164 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOU. 
 
 Barak ; and as its natural position would always 
 preserve its consequence, so these walls and 
 fortifications would be strengthened by each 
 new possessor. 
 
 The Scriptural references to Tabor or Itaby- 
 rius, may be found at length in Cellarius * ; and 
 it is mentioned in all the pilgrimages to the 
 Holy Land, as containing one of the sanctuaries 
 usually visited in these pious journies. But 
 Josephus furnishes us, in his details of the 
 Jewish wars, witli a remarkable instance of its 
 havuig been resorted to as a place of security, 
 and encompassed with a wall by himself in a 
 short space of time, to resist the Roman army. 
 *' But now," says this historian, after describing 
 the siege and capture of Gamala, ** Vespasian 
 went about another work independent of the 
 former, during this siege ; and that was to 
 subdue those that had seized upon Mount 
 Tabor ; a place that lies in the middle between 
 the great plain and Scythopolis, whose top is 
 elevated to the height of thirty furlongs t, and 
 
 * Geographise Antiquae, lib. iii. c. 13. p. 306. 4to. 
 
 t These numbers, in Josephus, of thirty furlongs' ascent to 
 the top of jMount Tabor, says his commentator Whiston, 
 whether we estimate it by winding and gradual or by the 
 perpendicular altitude ; and of twenty-six furlongs' circum- 
 ference upon the top ; as also the fifteen furlongs for this 
 ascent in Polybius ; with Geminus's perpendicular altitude of
 
 ASCENT or MOUNT TA1K)K. KiJ 
 
 is hardly to be ascended on its north side. Its 
 top is a plain of thirty-six furlongs, and all en.. 
 compassed with a wall.*' Josephus erected this 
 long wall in forty days' time, and furnished it 
 with other materials, and with water from 
 below: for the inhabitants only made use of 
 rain-water. As, therefore, there was a great 
 multitude of people gotten together upon this 
 mountain, Vespasian sent Placidus with six 
 hundred horsemen thither. Now, as it was im- 
 
 almost fourteen forlongs, here noted by Dr. Hudsun, do none 
 of them agree with the authentic testimony of Mr. Maundrell, 
 an eye-witness, p. 112, who says he was not an hour in 
 getting up to the top of this Mount Tabor ; and that the area 
 of the top is an oval of about two furlongs in length, and one 
 in breadth. So I rather suppose Josephus wrote three furlongs 
 for the ascent or altitude, instead of thirty ; and six furlongs 
 for the circumference at top, instead of twenty-six. Since a 
 mountain of only three furlongs' perpendicular altitude may 
 easily require near an hour's ascent ; and the circumference of an 
 oval of the foregoing quantity is near six furlongs. Nor cer- 
 tainly could such a vast circumference as twenty-six furlongs, 
 or three miles and a quarter, at that height be encompassed 
 with a wall, including a trench and other fortifications, per- 
 haps those still remaining, {ibid.) in the small interval of forty 
 days, as Josephus here says they were by himself. 
 
 Polybius speaks of Atabyrium as a city, saying it was 
 seated on a hill of a globular form whose height was more 
 than fifteen stadia. Antiochus took it by stratagem, and 
 secured its possession by leaving a garrison there before he 
 marched against the cities on the east of the Jordan. 
 Polyb. 1. V. c. 6. 
 
 M 3
 
 166 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOK. 
 
 possible for him to ascend the mountain, he in- 
 vited many of them to peace, hy the offer of his 
 right hand for their security, and of his inter- 
 cession for them. Accordingly they came down, 
 but with a treacherous design ; as well as he had 
 the like treacherous design upon them on the 
 other side. For Placidus spoke mildly to them, 
 aiming to take them, when he got them into the 
 plain. They also came down, as complying 
 with his proposals ; but it was in order to fall 
 upon him when he was not aware of it. How- 
 ever, Placid us's stratagem was too hard for 
 theirs ; for when the Jews began to fight, he 
 pretended to run away ; and when they were in 
 pursuit of the Romans, he enticed them a great 
 way along the plain, and there made his horse- 
 men turn back. Whereupon he beat them, and 
 slew a great number of them, and cut off the 
 retreat of the rest of the multitude, and hin- 
 dered their return. So they left Tabor, and 
 fled to Jerusalem : while the people of the 
 country came to terms with him. For their 
 water failed them, and so they delivered up the 
 mountain and themselves to Placidus. * 
 
 Traditions here speak of a city built on the 
 top, which sustained a five years' siege, drawing 
 
 * Whiston's Josephus, Jewish \Var, bookiv. c. 1.8. Ibid, 
 book ii. c. 20.5., and Antiq. book xiv. c. 6. 4.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. iC)"/ 
 
 its supplies by skirmish from different parts of 
 the fertile plains below, and being furnished with 
 water from the two excellent cisterns still above ; 
 but as no fixed period is assigned to this event, 
 it may probably relate to the siege of Vespasian 
 just detailed. 
 
 Sufficient evidences remain, however, of its 
 having been a place of great strength ; and when 
 it lost its. character as a strong-hold, it assumed 
 a new one of a holy sanctuary, so that the accu- 
 mulated vestiges of successive forts and altars 
 are now mingled in one common ruin. * 
 
 As there still remained the fragments of a 
 wall on the south-east angle, somewhat higher 
 than the rest, we ascended it over heaps of fallen 
 buildings, and enjoyed from thence a prospect 
 truly magnificent, wanting only the verdure of 
 spring to make it beautiful as well as grand. 
 
 Placing my compass before me, we had on the 
 north-west a view of the Mediterranean sea, 
 whose blue surface filled up an open space left 
 by a downward bend in the outline of the west- 
 ern hills ; to the west-north-west a smaller por- 
 tion of its waters were seen ; and on the west 
 
 * Among the scattered fragments of stone, we nf)ticed seve- 
 ral blocks with Arabic characters on them in good relief, and 
 evidently portions of some inscription ; but none of these were 
 sufficiently long to be intelligible, and the circumstances of the 
 moment did not admit of our endeavouring to connect them. 
 
 M 4f
 
 168 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 again, the slender line of its distant horizon was 
 just perceptible over the range of land near the 
 sea-coast. 
 
 From the west to the south, the plain of Es- 
 draelon extended over a vast space, being 
 bounded on the south by the range of hills 
 generally considered to be the Hermon, whose 
 dews are poetically celebrated *, and having in 
 the same direction, nearer the foot of Tabor, the 
 springs of Ain-el-Sherrar, which send a percep- 
 tible stream through its centre, and form the 
 brook Kison of antiquity, t 
 
 From the south-east to the east is the plain of 
 Galilee, being almost a continuation of Esdrae- 
 lon, and, like it, appearing to be highly culti- 
 vated, being now ploughed for seed throughout. 
 
 Beneath the range of this supposed Hermon, 
 is seated Endor, famed for the witch who raised 
 the ghost of Samuel, to the terror of the aifrighted 
 Sault ; and Nain, equally celebrated, as the 
 place at which Jesus raised the only son of a 
 widow from death to life, and restored him to 
 his afflicted parent. § 
 
 The range which bounds the eastern view is 
 thought to be the mountains of Gilboa, where 
 the same Saul, setting an example of self-des- 
 
 * Psalm cxxxiii. 3. t" Psalm Ixxxiii. 0. 
 
 :j: 1 Samuel, xxviii. § St. Luke, vii.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOK. 169 
 
 truction to his armour-bearer and his three sons, 
 fell on his own sword, rather than fall wounded 
 into the hands of the uncircumcised Philistines, 
 by whom he was defeated. * 
 
 The sea of Tiberias, or the lake of Genasseret, 
 famed as the scene of many miracles, is seen on 
 the north-east filling the hollow of a deep valley, 
 and contrasting its light blue waters with the 
 dark brown shades of the barren hills by which 
 it is hemmed around. Here too, the steep is 
 pointed out, down which the herd of swine, who 
 were possessed by the legion of devils, ran 
 headlong into the sea. t 
 
 In the same direction, below, on the plain of 
 Galilee and about an hour's distance from the 
 foot of Mount Tabor, there is a cluster of build- 
 ings used as a bazar for cattle, frequented on 
 Mondays only. Somewhat farther on is a rising 
 ground, from which it is said, that Christ deli- 
 vered the long and excellent discourse called the 
 " Sermon on the Mount t ," and the whole view 
 in this quarter is bounded by the high range of 
 Gebel-el-Telj, or the Mountain of Snow, whose 
 summit was at this moment clothed with one 
 white sheet without a perceptible breach or dark 
 spot in it. 
 
 * 1 Samuel, xxxi. -j- St. Luke, viii. .33. 
 
 ^ Matthew, V. vi. vii.
 
 170 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 
 
 The city of Saphet, supposed to be the ancient 
 Bethulia, a city said to be seen far and near, and 
 thought to be alluded to in the apophthegm 
 which says, •* A city set on a hill cannot be hid*,'* 
 is also pointed out in this direction ; but though 
 the day was clear, I could not distinguish it, its 
 distance preventing its being defined from hence 
 without a glass. 
 
 To the north were the stony hills over which 
 we had journeyed hither, and these completed 
 this truly grand and interesting panoramic view, t 
 
 * Matthew, ch. v. ver. 14. 
 
 f Maundrell's descriptions and details are in general so ac- 
 curate, that it is, perhaps, a duty to point out wherein they may 
 occasionally fail. The bearings taken of the surrounding ob- 
 jects in the present instance, will be found to differ considerably 
 from those assigned by that traveller, and can establish their 
 claim to greater accuracy only from being observed by a com- 
 pass, and noted on the spot ; whereas, it appears probable to 
 me, that the whole of Maundrell's error was occasioned by 
 some falsely assumed position of the sun in the heavens at the 
 time of observation, as the errors are consistent in the whole. 
 Thus Deborah, which is written westward, should be north- 
 ward: Hermon, which is written eastward, should be south- 
 ward, and the mountain of Gilboa, which is written southward, 
 should be eastward. 
 
 The plate which accompanies the octavo edition of his Jour- 
 ney (1810), is altogether so unlike the scene it is intended to 
 represent, that I am sure it could not have been taken on the 
 spot, nor drawn even from memory. * In the first place, Nain 
 and Endor are not distinguishable from hence, though their 
 
 * Sec Plate v. facing page 152 of the octavo volume.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. I7I 
 
 In our descent from Mount Tabor, we entered 
 a grotto in which there had formerly been a 
 church, and had scarcely got within it before we 
 heard the rushing of persons about the outer 
 part of the passage by which we had entered. 
 
 sites are pointed out. The supposed Harmon is a range of hills 
 running for several miles nearly east and west, and forming the 
 southern boundary of the plain of Esdraelon. The mountains 
 of Gilboa are a distant range crossing those of Hermon almost 
 at right angles, and running nearly north and south ; but not 
 approaching near to the latter, since they are east of Jordan. 
 The mountains of Samaria are on the west of all these, and 
 nearer to the sea. The river Kishon has its springs near to the 
 foot of Tabor, and winds considerably in its course. And the 
 plain of Esdraelon, besides being of four or five times the ex- 
 tent there given by the perspective, is not bounded by steep 
 cliffs rising thus abruptly from their base, but by a range of 
 smooth and sloping hills. Lastly, the Mount of Tabor, instead 
 of the slender and towering pyramid there represented *, is a 
 rounded hill of the elevation of about one thousand feet, and of 
 a semiglobular shape, being longer at the base in every direc- 
 tion than it is high, and having its outlines smooth, and every 
 part of a rounded form, since from below nothing is seen of 
 the small level space on its summit. It is the last to the east- 
 ward of a range of four hills of a similar kind, all less conspi- 
 cuous than itself, and all having distinct passes between them, 
 but neither of them so completely isolated as this of Tabor. 
 
 While analyzing this, the same observations may be repeated 
 on the plate of Acre and Mount Carmel, which is, if possible, 
 still wider from the truth ; while that of the cisterns of Solo- 
 
 * But for the bushes that are placed on the sides of this hill, it might be 
 taken rather for the tower of Babel, as sometimes represented in our old 
 Bibles, than for the Mount of Tabor, and the scene of the transfiguration 
 on its summit, for a sacrifice by fire there.
 
 172 ASCKNT OF MOUNT lABOU. 
 
 On turning round to ascertain the cause of this 
 noise, we observed five or six armed men, three 
 of whom we recognised to be those who had 
 made us such offers of their hospitality in the 
 village of Deborah below. They called out 
 to us, in a loud voice, that if we attempted the 
 slightest resistance we should be murdered ; but 
 that, if we submitted to be quietly stripped, no 
 violence should be offered to our persons. There 
 was no time for a parley, though my companions 
 at first cried for mercy ; but as I rushed out with 
 my musket cocked and presented, they instantly 
 followed me, and an unexpected discharge drove 
 our assailants to seek shelter behind the masses 
 of rock near the cave. A regular skirmish 
 
 mon at Ras-el-Ayn, examined like the rest upon the spot, ap- 
 peared to me so totally vmlike the thing it was intended to 
 represent, that I forbore even to make a remark on it, and 
 closed the book with a persuasion, that so accurate an observer 
 as Maundrell could never even have seen those drawings, much 
 less approved of their being attached to his Travels. The fact 
 perhaps is, that some well-meaning friend, or some interested 
 booksellers, subsequently caused these drawings to be composed 
 from the printed descriptions and charts of the places they 
 profess to represent, and thus embellished, as they thought, 
 while they really disgraced the book. This is the more pro- 
 bable, as no name is given either of the painter or engraver. 
 Such a practice, however, cannot be too severely reprehended ; 
 as these plates not only give false impressions, which are avow- 
 edly worse than none at all, but what is a far greater evil, they 
 do injustice to the memory of the worthy man and excellent 
 traveller, for whose productions they are tacitly made to pass.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TAKOR. 173 
 
 now commenced, in which we kept up a re- 
 treating fire, and often exposed ourselves to 
 their shot for the sake of getting to our mules 
 at the foot of the hill. During a full hour of 
 this kind of running fight, none of our own 
 party was hurt. From the first, it seemed 
 evident to us that we had been betrayed by 
 our Deborah guide, and our notion was at 
 length confirmed, by his going over to the as- 
 sailing party and using his arms against us. 
 Fortunately, and justly too, this man was him- 
 self wounded by a ball from my musket, and 
 when he fell shrieking on the side of the hill, 
 his companions hastened to his relief, while 
 we profited by the alarm of the moment to con- 
 tinue our retreat, and rejoin our mules below. 
 
 Here we drew off at a short distance from 
 the village of Deborah, and, with arms in our 
 hands, being exhausted and fatigued, refreshed 
 ourselves beneath a tree ; but we had not yet 
 remounted, when a large party, professing to 
 be from the governor or sheikh of Deborah, 
 a village consisting only of a few huts, came 
 to sequester our beasts for what they called the 
 public service. We treated this with a proper 
 degree of warmth, and threatened death to the 
 first that should dare to lay hands on any 
 thing belonging to us ; so that these brave 
 villagers kept aloof.
 
 174 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR, 
 
 My Nazarene guide, however, was so sick- 
 ened by the obstacles which we had already 
 met with, and alarmed at the prospect of new 
 ones, that he declined to proceed any farther, 
 and insisted on our return to Nazareth until 
 more effectual measures could be taken for the 
 safe prosecution of our journey. 
 
 In our return, we took what he considered 
 to be a less dangerous route than that by which 
 we had come out, and lying a little to the 
 northward of it. On leaving the foot of Mount 
 Tabor, we ascended rocky ground to the north ; 
 and in an hour afterwards, or about four o'clock, 
 we passed close to the village of Ain-Hamil, 
 on a hill. It was about five o'clock when we 
 entered the village of Cana of Galilee*, which 
 is seated on the brow of a hill, facing the west, 
 and is hemmed in by a narrow valley. 
 
 It has a ruined catholic church, with a door- 
 way towards the north, and two pillars built in 
 the front wall, showing their ends outwards. 
 Opposite to it is a small Greek church, all the 
 Christians here being of that communion. There 
 are from fifty to sixty houses only in tlie 
 whole, and less than half the population are 
 Mahommedan. 
 
 * Celebrated for the first of Christ's miracles, at a marriage- 
 feast there, at which he was a guest. St. John, chap, ii 
 Cluverius, 1. v. c. 21. p. 3/0.
 
 ASCENT OF MOUNT TABOR. 175 
 
 Not a vestige of broken water-pots was now 
 to be seen, as stated by some travellers, and 
 thought by them to be a remarkable proof of the 
 identity of the place where water was turned to 
 wine.* We observed, however, an ancient sar- 
 cophagus near a well, at the foot of the road 
 leading up to the village, having on its outer 
 side, coarsely sculptured circles or globes, with 
 drapery of festoons in relief. There is a large 
 evergreen tree on the west of the town, and 
 though the ground in the neighbourhood is 
 stoney, it is partially cultivated. 
 
 Ascending and descending hills, we came at six 
 o'clock to the village of Renny, similarly situated 
 to that of Cana. We there observed, between 
 two large wells, a sarcophagus exactly of the same 
 description as that already mentioned, and like 
 it used as a water-trough. We had a rocky 
 road all the way from thence to Nazareth ; which 
 we entered about eight o'clock, from the east- 
 ward, descending a hill so steep and rugged that 
 our mules fell repeatedly, and at every fall satis- 
 fied us that there was no long valley in that di- 
 rection, as had been critically maintained. 
 
 * Dr. Clarke and the Quarterly Reviewers.
 
 176 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CJISAREA. 
 
 Ojxuary 13th. Being obliged to return to 
 the sea-coast, we left Nazareth at nine o'clock, 
 and passed many caves in the rock to the south- 
 ward of the town. These were no doubt former- 
 ly the habitations of the Nazarenes, like the 
 grotto of Mary and Joseph ; as, even now, 
 several of them serve as dwellings. * When on 
 the hill above the town, we gave this scene a last 
 survey, but still saw no valley opening in any 
 direction from its hollow basin. 
 
 At half past nine we first opened a small round 
 vale on the left or west, in which stood the little 
 village of YafFa, with a few date-trees ; and a 
 little further on, in the same direction, was the 
 small village of Samoeeah, on a hill, with the 
 plain of Esdraelon beyond it. 
 
 * Josephus, in his account of Herod's actions, says, " And 
 he passed on to Sephoris through a very deep snow, while An- 
 tigonus's garrisons withdrew themselves, and had great plenty 
 of provisions. He also went thence and resolved to destroy 
 those robbers that dwelt in the caves, and did much mischief 
 in the country. So he ?ent a troop of horsemen, and three 
 companies of armed footmen against them. They were very 
 near to a village called Arbela." Ant. 1. xiv. c. 15. 4.
 
 MOUNT CARMKL, DORA, AND CiESARF-A. 177 
 
 Descending a rocky hill, we came, at half past 
 ten, to the village of Ghierbee. This is also on 
 a hill, with wells at the foot of it, and caves near 
 them, hewn beneath a steep cliff. 
 
 At eleven we entered the plain of Esdraelon, 
 and continued over it until twelve, when we 
 ascended a gentle hill, passed a deserted village, 
 and entered on a second plain, leaving on a hill, 
 about a mile on the left, a village, the name of 
 which we could not learn. 
 
 From hence we ascended again, and coming 
 in sight of the bay of Accha, entered at one 
 o'clock on the extensive plain which leads from 
 hence southerly to the sea, on the north, and 
 from the foot of the range of Mount Carmel 
 westerly till it joins the plain of Zabulon on the 
 east. Between the hills over which we came 
 down upon it and the range of Carmel, is a pass 
 coming out from the plain of Esdraelon, through 
 which the river Kishon finds its way. We soon 
 crossed the bed of this river, now dry from the 
 failure of the winter rains : it is called here Nahr- 
 el-Mukutta, and winding its course through the 
 plain, it discharges itself into the sea near 
 Caypha. * On the left we had the small village 
 
 * Pliny describes the river Belus as coming out of the lake 
 Centlevia, at the foot of Carmel, (Nat. Hist. b. v. c. 1 9.) ; but, 
 as we have seen before, Belus was nearer to Ptolemais, and 
 he must have confounded this stream with the Kishon. 
 VOL. I. N
 
 J 78 MOUNT CARMEL, DOKA, AND CA'.SAHEA. 
 
 of Sheikh Ibrahik, and a little further on we 
 passed between Arbay * on a hill to the right, 
 and Yajoor, under Carmel, to the left. 
 
 We again forded the river under that range, 
 and at three reached the village of Belled-el- 
 Sheikh, where we drank at a well from the 
 pitcher of some handsome Syrian women, and 
 observed again some boys playing at cricket. 
 We saw the river Kishon now full and winding; 
 and at four, continuing still along the foot of 
 Carmel, reached Caypha, where we were kindly 
 received by Padre Julio, of Malta, a carmelite 
 friar. In his poor habitation we enjoyed a 
 frugal supper and slept in the church, which 
 was a small room not more than fifteen feet by 
 eight, containing an humble altar and a profu- 
 sion of gaudy ornaments surrounding an ill- 
 executed picture of the Virgin. 
 
 14th. We arose early, and walked around the 
 town of Caypha. It is walled and badly forti- 
 fied, having two gates opening to the north and 
 south, with only six cannon mounted on the 
 ramparts. It was also entirely without guards, 
 as the troops had all departed for Damascus. 
 The population was estimated at about a thou- 
 sand souls, and these chiefly Mohammedan, the 
 rest being made up of Catholic and Maronite 
 
 * l*l-obably the Arbela mentioned in the preceding note.
 
 MOUNT CAIIMEL, DOHA, AND C/ESAR1:A. 179 
 
 Christians, and Druses. The women of this hist 
 class here wear a horn pointing backwards from 
 the crown of their heads, which distinguishes 
 them from those of the other sects of religion, 
 as well as from the Druses of Mount Lebanon, 
 who wear a similar horn pointing forwards. 
 
 There are two mosques, one of which was 
 formerly a Christian church ; besides the small 
 chapel for the Catholics and Maronites, who 
 both attend worship together in the room in 
 which I had slept on the preceding night ; and 
 all parties are said to live in harmony. 
 
 Caypha is thought to be the old Calamon, 
 which in the Jerusalem itinerary is placed at 
 twelve miles from Ptolemais * ; and Sycaminos, 
 which is only three miles from this in the way 
 to Jerusalem, is placed by Ptolemy in the 
 same latitude as Mount Carmel.t This is to be 
 distinguished, however, from the Calamos, in 
 Phoenicia, of Strabo and Pliny ; as Polybius ftnv 
 nishes us with details which fix the site of that 
 place on the northern coast of Syria, between 
 Ladikea and Bairoot.t Caypha is said to de- 
 
 * Pococke's Description of the East, vol. i. p. 55. 
 
 t Cellarius, Geog. Antiq. lib. iii. c. 13, p. 309. 
 . X " Antiochus arriving now at Marathos, was met there by 
 the people of Aradus. He then entered Syria along the 
 mountain called Theoprosopor, and came to Berytus ; having 
 taken Botrys in his march, and set fire to Calamus and 
 Triers." Polybius, 1. v. c. 6. s. 10. 
 
 N 2
 
 180 MOUNT CARMEL, DOHA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 rive its present name from ** Hepha" or 
 " Kepha,*' expressive of the rocky ground on 
 which it is built. It is called Cayphos in the old 
 histories of the crusaders *", the name which it 
 still retains. 
 
 Quitting Caypha at seven o*clock, and walk- 
 ing along the plain between the eastern foot of 
 Carmel and the bay, through thickly-planted 
 olive-trees and cultivated ground, we ascended 
 to the summit of the mountain, while the mules 
 went round the common path-way encompassing 
 the promontory by the sea-shore. 
 
 The view of the bay of Accho from this point 
 gave it a much rounder form than it assumes in 
 most of our maps ; and the distances prove it to 
 be really so, as Caypha is distant from Accho 
 just three leagues in a straight line, and it is a three 
 hours' walk only, or from nine to twelve miles 
 around the beach from one of these places to the 
 other. 
 
 We visited here the monastery which stands on 
 the summit of Mount Carmel, near the spot where 
 Elias offered up his sacrificet, and which gave rise 
 to, and remained for a long period the head-quar- 
 ters of the order of Carmelite friars. It appears 
 
 * Hakluyt's Collection, vol. ii. p. 47. 4to. 
 
 t See the account of this sacrifice, and the destruction of 
 the priests of Baal, who were slaughtered at the brook Kishon, 
 in the first book of Kings, chap, xviii. v. 17. et seq.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^ESAREA. 181 
 
 never to have been a fine building; but it is now 
 entirely abandoned, and the monk who has charge 
 of it lives in the town of Caypha below. During 
 the campaign of the French in Syria, this monas- 
 tery was made a hospital for their sick, for which its 
 retired and healthy situation, as well as its interior 
 structure, admirably adapted it. It has been sub- 
 sequently ravaged by the Turks, and has had its 
 altars stripped, and its roof beaten in ; though 
 there still remains, for the view of devout visitors, 
 a small stone altar in a grotto dedicated to St. 
 Elias, over which is a coarse painting represent- 
 ing the prophet leaning on a wheel, with fire and 
 other symbols of sacrifice near. The priest, 
 who was our guide thus far, commented as usual 
 on the event it was intended to commemorate ; 
 yet, though seven years a resident here, and 
 brought up from his infancy as a member of the 
 Carmelite order, he could not refer us either to 
 the book or the age of the Scriptures in which 
 this sacrifice of Elias was recorded ; but seemed 
 to tell his tale as much by rote as any of the 
 guides who show the tombs of our heroic ances- 
 tors in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 In our search after the city said to have stood 
 formerly on Mount Carmel, and to have been 
 called the Syrian Ecbatana*, in contradistinction 
 
 * Plin. Nat. Hist. 1, v. c. 19.— Strabo, Geog. 1. xvi. p. 758, 
 759. 
 
 N 3
 
 182 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CMS ARE A. 
 
 to the Median capital of that name, we recog- 
 nised few vestiges, except a fine large column of 
 grey granite lying near the monastery, and 
 another that had been rolled down from the 
 brow of the hill on the east, of similar size and 
 material. These we thought might have been 
 portions of some large and magnificent building 
 belonging to that city. As the Carmelite never 
 troubled himself with traditions that were not 
 purely scriptural, we could not learn from him 
 that any existed here regarding the city of Ecba- 
 tana or the death of Cambyses in it, after his 
 conquest of Egypt.* In the note on the passage 
 of Herodotus which relates this event, Mr. 
 Beloe says, *' Batanea in Palestine marks the 
 place of this Syrian Ecbatana," and refers to 
 D'Anville as his authority. The French geogra- 
 pher places this, however, much farther east- 
 ward in his writings ; though a town called Ba- , 
 tanea is laid down on the range of Carmel in the 
 map. " Batanea,'* he says, *' is another coun- 
 try which covers the north of Galaaditis, and its 
 name is preserved in that of Batinia, as we find 
 
 * See this story in Herodotus, Thalia, Ixiv., where it is very 
 aptly coupled in the notes with a similar fiction of a prophecy 
 in our own history, when it was predicted that Henry IV. 
 should die in Jerusalem ; and this was fulfilled by his expiring 
 in the Jerusalem chamber at Westminster, as Cambyses was 
 warned of dying in Ecbatana, (in Media as he supposed,) and 
 expired at this Ecbatana of Syria.
 
 .MOUNT CARAIEL, DOKA, AND C.^iSAUEA. 183 
 
 in the oriental geographers. This is the country, 
 conquered by the people of Israel, under Og, 
 king of Basan, to whose territories was con- 
 tiguous in Galaad what Sihon, king of the 
 Amorites, possessed ; and there is reason to be- 
 lieve that of the primitive Basan was afterwards 
 formed the name of Batanea. Its district appears 
 to be separated from the Tiberiad lake by a mar- 
 gin of land called Gaulanitis, from Golan or 
 Gaulon, the name of a strong fortress distinctly 
 indicated in the oriental geography, under the 
 name of Agheloun or Adgeloun.* The country 
 of Batanea is therefore in the valley of Jordan, 
 where Beisan, probably the original Basan, is 
 situated, at the western edge of the mountains 
 of Adjeioon, and south of the lake of Tiberias, 
 consequently, very distant from this ; nor could 
 I learn any thing of a place now called Batanea 
 at all in this neighbourhood. 
 
 That Batanea was the name of a district rather 
 than a town, and perfectly distinct from Ecba- 
 tana, may be seen also in Josephus. In the 
 details of the conduct of Varus against Agrippa, 
 in the history of his own life, this writer 
 says, '* He moreover slew many of the Jews, to 
 gratify the Syrians of Caesai'ea. He had a mind 
 also to join with the Trachonites in Batanea, 
 
 * Compendium ot Ancienl Geography, p. 419. 
 N 4
 
 184 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CESAREA. 
 
 and to take arms, and make an assault upon the 
 Babylonian Jews that were at Ecbatana, for that 
 was the name they went by. He therefore 
 called to him twelve of the Jews of Caesarea, of 
 the best character, and ordered them to go to 
 Ecbatana.** * This Syrian Ecbatana is positively 
 stated to have been on Mount Carmel t, and is 
 likely therefore to have been on this point of 
 it where the ruins are, and where its situation 
 would have been so advantageous in many 
 points of view. 
 
 On the edge of the bay below, and a little to 
 the northward of Caypha, were pointed out to 
 us the ruins of Porphyrion. It has been thought 
 by some that the name of Porphureon was given 
 to Caypha, from the purple fish found on this 
 coast, with which they made the Tyrian dye. t 
 But besides that, Caypha and Porphyrion are 
 distinct places, separated by a distance of at 
 least two miles ; the latter is spoken of by Poly- 
 bius, in his history of the war in Asia, between 
 
 * I-ife of Josephus, vol. i. § 1 1 . p. 9. 8vo. 
 
 t Oppidum in Carmelo monte, quod Plinius menioravit, 
 eodem auctore Ecbatana fuit dictum. In hoc Opjjido, Cani- 
 byses rex Persarum mortuus est, cui oraculum Ecbatana fata- 
 lem locum prsedixerat, quern ille de urbe Mediae intellexit ; 
 oraculum auteni de Ecbatanis Syriae loquebatur, ut Herodotus 
 tradidit, lib. 3. ca]). 64." — Cellarius. Geog. Antiq. lib. 3. 
 cap. 13. 
 
 :j: Pococke, vol. ii. p. o6. folio. l)'An\ille, p. 41 1. 8vo.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 18.5 
 
 Antiochus and Ptolemy, for the sovereignty of 
 Coele-Syria. Antiochus, being at Seleucia, drew 
 together all his forces, designing to attack Coele- 
 Syria both by land and sea. At the same time 
 Ptolemy, who was in Egypt, sent large supplies 
 of stores to Gaza, and ordered his fleet to ad- 
 vance, together with a large army. The fleet 
 was composed of thirty decked vessels, with 
 more than four hundred ships of transport. He 
 sent away a part of his army to possess them- 
 selves of the defiles of Platanus ; while himself, 
 encamping with the rest near Porphyrion, re- 
 solved, with the assistance of the fleet which was 
 stationed near him, to oppose on that side 
 the entrance of the king. * No situation could 
 it be more requisite to guard than this, as the 
 bay of Acre offers the best place of operation for 
 a fleet on the whole coast of Syria, and the road 
 of Caypha, opposite to Porphyrion, is still the 
 safest anchorage to be found there : so that, 
 while a detachment of his army under the 
 EtoUan general Nicolaus, guarded the defiles of 
 Platanus on the north, his fleet and the remainder 
 of his troops would effectually secure the country 
 from invasion on the south. 
 
 We ascended to the highest summit of the 
 monastery, on which a flag-staff' was planted, and 
 took from thence the bearings of surrounding 
 
 * rolybius, book v. chap. 6. § 0.
 
 186 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 
 
 objects, to assist in the rectification of the map * j 
 at the same time that we enjoyed an extensive 
 and deHghtful prospect. 
 
 We could now perceive that Mount Carmel 
 was a range of hills, extending six or eight miles 
 nearly north and south, coming from the plain of 
 Esdraelon, and ending in the promontory or cape 
 which forms the bay of Accho. It is of a whitish 
 stone, with flints imbedded in it. It has, on the 
 east, the fine plain described on entering Caypha, 
 watered by the river Kishon ; and, on the west, a 
 narrower plain, descending to the sea. Its greatest 
 height does not exceed fifteen hundred feet, t 
 
 * Bearings taken from Mount Carmel. miles. 
 
 Ruins of Athlete, on the sea-coast, S. S. W. ^ W, 9 
 Village of Tartoura, do. - - S. S. W. 20 
 
 A deep bay or indentation of the shore, S. by W. i W. 25 
 Ras-el-Zib, a high bluff cape, - N. E. | N, 15 
 
 Town of Acre or Accho, its centre, - N. E. ^ E. 1 2 J 
 Summit of Gebel-el-Telj or Gebel-el- 
 
 Sheikh, - - - N. E. by E. iE. 50 
 
 Ruined town of Porphyrion, - - E. N. E. 1 
 
 A brig at anchor in Caypha roads, E. by S, i S. 3 
 
 Southern extreme of the bay of Accho, 
 
 and the mouth of Kishon, - - S. E. i E. 4 
 
 Town of Caypha, its centre, - - S. E. by E. 3 
 
 Village of Shufammer, on the hills, - E. ^S. 1/ 
 
 Deepest part of the bay of Accho, - East, 4 
 
 f Caypha seem's to be the place meant by Benjamin of 
 Tudela, when he speaks of Niphas, Vvhich he places at the dis- 
 tance of three leagues from Accho, Akadi, or Ghaco, and says 
 it was then called Gad Proper, to distinguish it from Caesarea. 
 
 J Called 120 stadia by Jobephus. Dr Bello Jud. lib. xi. c. 17.
 
 JNIOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND Ci?£SAREA. 187 
 
 Leaving the monastery, we descended the hill 
 on the north side, passing several inconsiderable 
 grottoes in the way, all small and rude; as well 
 as the ruins of a convent partly excavated in the 
 hills, with a cistern of good water near. Below, 
 on the north-east side we came to a sort of 
 caravansera, built before a fine cave, facing to 
 the N. N. E. Into this we entered, and found 
 it to be a well-hewn chamber, cut entirely out 
 of the rock, and squared with great care ; being 
 twenty paces long, twelve broad, and from 
 fifteen to eighteen feet high. It has a cell on 
 the left, on entering, nearly in the centre of its 
 eastern side, large, but roughly hewn ; and 
 around the south end, and west side, runs a low 
 bench of stone. A kind of altar, in a high re- 
 cess, stands at its further end, immediately op- 
 posite to the door of entrance, before which 
 there were, at this moment, a curtain and a lamp. 
 Beneath were mats and carpets, for the accom- 
 modation of visitors. It thus forms a comfortable 
 halt for travellers, as it affords shelter and shade, 
 and has a cistern of excellent water, a place for 
 horses, and a coffee-house adjoining. It is called 
 the " School of Elias," from a notion that the 
 prophet taught his disciples there. It was former- 
 ly in Christian hands, but it is now taken care 
 of by Mohammedans, who have built all these 
 convenient establishments about it. On the
 
 188 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 
 
 walls several Greek inscriptions appeared, which 
 we had not time to copy ; and we saw also, 
 among a multitude of visitors* names, some 
 written recently in Hebrew characters, by Jews 
 from Accho * ; this place being held in equal 
 esteem by Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians. 
 It has been already observed that at Ecbatana 
 there were Jews who were peculiarly distin- 
 guished as Babylonians by Josephus, when he 
 describes the expedition of Varus against the 
 Jews of Ecbatana t ; and D'Anville has observed, 
 that the respect of the Jews for this mountain 
 was communicated also to the Pagans t j which 
 will account for the inscriptions of visitors in 
 Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and Arabic charac- 
 ters. 
 
 In all, we saw about twenty small grottoes, 
 but were told that amid the ruins of Porphyrion, 
 which lie on the plain, within a few yards, many 
 more were to be seen, which the pressure of our 
 haste did not allow us to visit. This Porphyrion 
 
 * Benjamin mentions, in his time, several Jewish sepulchres 
 at the foot of Carmel, and the cave of the prophet Elias, with 
 a chapel built above it by the Christians. He says also, that 
 part of the altar remained which was burnt and destroyed in 
 the time of Achab, of which mention is made in the history of 
 Elias, and observed that the torrent of Chison descended near 
 the mountain. 
 
 f Life of Josephus, vol. i. § ) 1 . p. 9. 8vo. 
 
 ^ Compendium of Ancient Geography, vol. i. p. 411.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^:SAREA. 18<J 
 
 is said to have been built by St. Louis, during 
 the crusades, though probably it was only forti- 
 fied by him. It has nothing remaining but a 
 small tower near the sea, and the foundations of 
 ruined dwellings. The plain on which it was 
 situated is extremely fertile, and the modern 
 Caypha is said to have been built from its ruins. 
 
 At nine o'clock we mounted our mules, at the 
 point of the promontory of Carmel ; and taking 
 leave of Padre Julio, continued our way south- 
 ward along the sea-coast. Here the plain being 
 covered with bushes, we met a party of soldiers 
 in chace of a large black wild-boar, which still 
 fled from the horsemen, although wounded and 
 streaming with blood. We saw here, also, large 
 king vultures, with the feathered ring around 
 their necks, and from four to five feet high. 
 
 At ten we had come on a cultivated plain*, 
 and had the small village of Etieery on our left, 
 at the foot of the range of Carmel. From this 
 point we saw the ruined walls and arches of 
 Athlete t, which we could not enter at that 
 
 * Carmelus, Mons Hebraic^ Carmel, mons insignis, ftirtilis 
 in pascuis, fructibus et herbis, ferax vini delicatissijiii. — 
 Adrichom. Theat. Terr. Sane. p. 45. 
 
 f This is called Castel Pellegrino in all the old itineraries of 
 the Holy Land, as may be seen in Hakluyt. In the middle 
 ages it is said to have been called Petra Incisa, probably from 
 its situation on an insulated rock. Its present name of Athlete 
 is though y- to have been given it by the Greeks, to express its 
 strength.
 
 190 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CESAREA. 
 
 moment, though I passed it with considerable 
 reluctance, more particularly as Pococke*s de- 
 scription of it as " a place so magnificent and so 
 finely built as to be one of the things best worth 
 seeing in these parts," had led me to expect 
 much gratification from the inspection of its 
 remains. 
 
 From hence we crossed behind a range of low 
 sandy hills, near the sea, showing rocky frag- 
 ments in several parts, and at one o'clock we 
 entered a passage cut out of a bed of rock, 
 called " Waad-el-Ajal." * There were appear- 
 ances of a gate having once closed it, as places 
 for hinges were still seen ; and, while the centre 
 was just broad enough for the passage of a 
 wheeled carriage or a laden camel, there were, 
 on each side, raised causeways, hewn down out 
 of the rock, as if for benches of repose, or for 
 foot passengers. This passage, which was very 
 short, brought us out almost opposite to Athlete, 
 which stands near the sea, and presents from 
 hence the appearance of very massive ruins, in 
 arches, walls, &c. 
 
 Turning again to the south, and continuing 
 along the western side of this bed of rock, 
 through which the passage was cut, we saw ex- 
 
 * This name of Waad-el-Ajal signifies literally "The 
 V"alley of Death," from ^K or t_5 t>^^ a valley, and ln?-' death, 
 fate, destiny.
 
 MOUNT CARMKL, DORA, AND C^ESAREA. 101 
 
 cavated chambers, square places hewn down, 
 others partly decayed, and partly broken by 
 force J the whole presenting the appearance of 
 former habitations cut out of the rock, and 
 showing marks of greater antiquity than any 
 thing we had yet seen in our journey. 
 
 At half-past two we reached the well of Ter- 
 foon, so called from a village of that name on 
 the range of rock described. This well was 
 sunk through its solid bed, and further on were 
 other small villages on its summit ; the whole 
 way, for nearly two hours, showing marks of 
 ancient excavated dwellings, cisterns, square 
 open spaces, &c. 
 
 At three we entered a wide pass, on each side 
 of which were grottoes and caverns ; and alight- 
 ing here to examine those on the left, we found 
 grottoes entered by arched doors, having benches 
 of stone within, with cisterns of water near 
 them, and little flights of steps leading from 
 one to the other, like the smaller caves of Ken- 
 neri in the island of Salsette, which they re- 
 sembled in many particulars. We found four of 
 these extremely well designed, having concave 
 recesses in the interior walls, and showina: marks 
 of great care in their execution. They were all 
 small and low ; and though hewn out of the solid 
 rock, many were now destroyed, by the break- 
 ing down and falling in of the rock itself, from
 
 19'2 MOUNT CARMKL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 mere age and decay. The whole of these caves, 
 from Waad-el-Ajal to this place, were, no doubt, 
 habitations of the ancient Canaanites, some of 
 their strong-holds near the sea, from which the 
 children of Israel could not dislodge them. 
 They presented altogether an appearance of the 
 highest antiquity. 
 
 At four we entered Tartoura, a small village, 
 consisting of not more than forty or fifty dwel- 
 lings, without a mosque, but having a khan for 
 the accommodation of travellers ; and a small 
 port formed by a range of rocky islets at a short 
 distance from the sandy beach. It has a ruined 
 building on the north, which Father Julio, at 
 Mount Carmel, told us was called by Franks 
 the "Accursed Tower;" but he could assign 
 rio reason for such a forbidding name. It has no 
 such appellation in Arabic, being called merely 
 *' Khallat-el-Ateek," or the *' Old Castle." 
 
 This is conceived, with great probability, to 
 be the Dor of the Scriptures, first mentioned in 
 the Book of Joshua, among the towns which 
 Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher * ; and 
 next in the book of Judges, w^here it is similarly 
 enumerated among the towns from which this 
 same tribe of Manasseh could not drive out the 
 inhabitants, but were obliged to let them remain 
 
 * Joshuii, xvii. 1 ] .
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 193 
 
 as tributaries in the land. * It is spoken of as 
 one of the kingdoms on the borders of the coast, 
 on the west, and its king is enumerated among 
 those conquered sovereigns of the Canaan- 
 ites, whom Joshua and the children of Israel 
 smote, and whose lands they disposed of among 
 themselves, t It was afterwards governed by 
 one of the twelve princes of Solomon, who is 
 called the son of Abinidab, and is said to 
 have had Taphath the daughter of Solomon to 
 wife, t 
 
 By Josephus it is called Dora, and it is first 
 mentioned in speaking of the division of the land 
 after Joshua's overthrow of the kings of Canaan. 
 The Danites' lot included all that part of the 
 valley which respects the sun-setting, and was 
 bounded by Azotus and Dora. § In the history 
 of his own life, it is mentioned as a citv of 
 Phoenician; and, in his account of the Jewish 
 war, it is spoken of as besieged by Simon, the 
 priest and prince of the Jews, who was an auxi- 
 liary of AntiochuSi when Trypho "had taken 
 refuge within its fortress. % The particulars of 
 this siege are detailed more fully in the 
 history of the Maccabees. " In the hundred 
 three-score and fourteenth year, went Antiochus 
 
 * Judges, i. 27. f Joshua, xi. 2. ; xii. 23. 
 
 X 1 Kings, iv. 11. § Ant. Jud. I. v. c. 1. s. 22. 
 
 II Life of Josephus, s. 8. ^ Jewish Wars, I. i. c. 2. s.2. 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 191' MOUNT CARMEI, DORA, AND CESAREA. 
 
 into the land of his fathers : at which time all 
 the forces came together unto him, so that few 
 were left with Tryphon. Wherefore, being pur- 
 sued by King Antiochus, he fled unto Dora, 
 which lieth by the sea-side ; for he saw that 
 troubles came upon him all at once, and that hig 
 forces had forsaken him. Then camped Antio- 
 chus against Dora, having with him an hundred 
 and twenty thousand men of war, and eight 
 thousand horsemen. And when he had com- 
 passed the city round about, and joined ships 
 close to the town on the sea- side, he vexed the 
 city by land and by sea, neither suffered he any 
 to go out or in. So Antiochus the king camped 
 against Dora the second day, assaulting it con- 
 tinually, and making engines, by which means 
 he shut up Tryphon, that he could neither go 
 out nor in. In the mean time fled Tryphon, by 
 ship unto Orthosias." * 
 
 These details serve to fix beyond doubt that 
 Dora was seated on the sea-shore, as well as that 
 it was on a peninsula nearly surrounded by water, 
 which corresponds with the appearance of the 
 neck of land on which the castle now remainino- 
 
 o 
 
 is situated. 
 
 In the time of Pompey, it is enumerated among 
 
 * 1 Maccabees, xv. 10—37.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DOUA, AND CiESAKEA. 195 
 
 the maritime cities which he freed from the 
 dominion of the Cnele-Syrians, when he reduced 
 Judea within its proper bounds * ; and about five 
 years afterwards, it is numbered among the 
 cities that were restored by Gabinius. " At 
 which time were rebuilt Samaria, Ashdod, 
 Scythopolis, Anthedon, Raphia, and Dora ; 
 Marissa also, and Gaza ; and not a few, others 
 besides. And as the men acted according to 
 Gabinius's command, it came to pass, that at 
 this time these cities were securely inhabited ; 
 which had been desolate for a long time." t 
 
 In its present condition, it is so far fallen from 
 its former consequence as scarcely to present by 
 its ruins an idea of its extent or strength, in its 
 original state, though it is not entirely desolate. 
 Its present inhabitants, perhaps five hundred in 
 number, are all Mohammedan, and are governed 
 by a sheikh, who received us at the khan, and 
 bade us enter. This building resembled the 
 cottage in which we had remained a night at the 
 village of Musshoor, before entering Accho ; 
 being divided into four compartments by three 
 arcades, and having its flat roof covered by 
 boughs of trees plastered over on the top. We 
 
 * Josephus, Jewish War, 1. i. c. 7. s. 7. 
 f Josephus, Ant. Jud. 1. xiv. c. 5. s. 3, 
 O 2
 
 19^ MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CEaAREA. 
 
 found a clean mat, and shelter for ourselves and 
 our beasts ; and the man in attendance furnished 
 us with fire-wood, which was all we needed, as 
 we had rice and bread with us. 
 
 During supper we were joined by Two Turk- 
 ish soldiers, halting here, from Jaffa, and were 
 visited in turn by the elders of the village, each 
 of them demanding from whence we came, 
 whither we were going, and what was the object 
 of our journey. They enquired eagerly after 
 Bonaparte, whom they all knew ; and desired to 
 know when there would be rain, for the want of 
 which their tillage had been long retarded. We 
 continued thus occupied until about nine o'clock, 
 when we were suffered to repose in tranquillity. 
 
 15th. Having slept soundly after our fatigue, 
 we found, on awaking and preparing to depart, 
 that all our remaining provisions had been stolen 
 from our basket during the night, though it lay 
 close to my servant's head. We had a long 
 journey before us, and no time to be lost : we, 
 therefore, set out unprovided, leaving Tartoura 
 about five, by the light of a full moon ; and, 
 continuing along the sea-shore, passed, in half 
 an hour, a small rocky islet, very similar to 
 those which form the port of the village itself. 
 
 At half-past six we forded a narrow inlet of 
 the sea, which we did not conceive to be the
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CVESARKA. 197 
 
 river of Caesarea, spoken of by Pococke as having 
 crocodiles in it ; but rather the Chorsoes of 
 Ptolemy, which he places four miles south of 
 Dora, to which this accurately corresponds ; 
 and being now on a beach covered with small 
 shells, we came, at half-past seven, to the ruins 
 of the ancient Cassarea, still called by the Arabs 
 Kissary. 
 
 Notwithstanding the almost utter demolition 
 of this celebrated city, abandoned long since to 
 silent desolation, it was impossible not to feel the 
 strongest curiosity regarding its topography, 
 and to desire to examine minutely every stone 
 and fragment of the ruins of so much magnifi- 
 cence as had once adorned its * site. Though a 
 city of but secondary importance in the Jewish 
 annals, there are few others of whose origin we 
 have more ample, or perhaps more accurate de- 
 tails than is given of this by the great historian 
 of that people. 
 
 The devotion of Herod to Caesar was such, 
 that, as this writer observes, " To say all at once, 
 there was not any place of his kingdom fit for 
 the purpose, that was permitted to be without 
 somewhat that was for Caesar's honour. For when 
 he had filled his own country with temples, he 
 
 * Caesarea ilia inciedibili magnificentia ab Herode aucta est. 
 Cluverius, 1. v. c. 21. p. 369. 
 
 O 3
 
 198 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C/ESAREA. 
 
 poured out the like plentiful marks of esteem 
 into his province, and built many cities, which 
 he called Csesareas." * In another place the same 
 historian says, after describing the extravagant 
 manner in which Herod built cities and erected 
 temples close upon the boundaries of Judea, 
 since it would not have been borne within the 
 limits of that holy land itself, the Jews being 
 forbidden to pay any honour to images or repre- 
 sentations of animals after the manner of the 
 Greeks ; *' The apology which Herod made to 
 the Jews for these things was this ; that all was 
 done, not out of his own inclinations, but by the 
 commands and injunctions of others, in order to 
 please Caesar and the Romans ; as though he had 
 not the Jewish customs so much in his eye, as 
 he had the honour of those Romans ; while yet 
 he had himself entirely in view all the while, 
 being very ambitious to leave great monuments 
 of his government to posterity." t 
 
 Be the motive what it might, the execution 
 of the work was worthy of a royal hand, and dis- 
 played at once, by the rapidity with which it was 
 completed, the extent of his resources, and the 
 popularity of the task with those to whom it was 
 committed. The details of this work are suffi- 
 
 *Josephus, Wars of the Jews, I. i. c. 21. s. 4. 
 f Josephus, Antiq. Jiul. I. xv. o. 9. s. 5.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DOUA, AND C^ESAREA. 199 
 
 cieiitly interesting to be repeated here, more 
 particularly as they cannot fail to illustrate or be 
 illustrated by local description. The historian 
 of Herod says, " Now, upon his observation of 
 a place near the sea, which was very proper for 
 containing a city, and was before called Strato's 
 Tower, he set about getting a plan for a magni- 
 ficent city there, and erected many edifices with 
 great diligence all over it of white stone. He 
 also adorned it with most sumptuous palaces, 
 and large edifices for containing the people ; and 
 what was the greatest and most laborious work 
 of all, he adorned it with an haven, that was 
 always free from the waves of the sea. Its large- 
 ness was not less than the Pyreseum at Athens, 
 and had towards the city a double station for the 
 ships. It was of excellent workmanship, which 
 was the more remarkable, being built in a place 
 thatof itself was not suitable to such noble struc- 
 tures, but was perfected by materials from other 
 places at very great expenses. This city is 
 situate in Phoenicia *, in the passage by sea to 
 
 * Ammianus Marcellinus reckons it, however, in Palestine, 
 which is more accurate. " La Palestine est la derni^re des 
 Syries ; elle est d'une vaste etendue, abond en terres cultivcs et 
 agr^ibles, et renferment, quelques villes egalenient belles, pt 
 qui semblent dispiiter de rivalit^. Telles sont Csesarei qu' 
 Herodc batit en I'honneiu- d'Octavien, Eleutheropolis, Neapolis, 
 Ascalon, Gaza, toutes construits dans les sieclcs passes." v. i 
 
 o 4
 
 200 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CJESAREA. 
 
 Egypt, between Joppa and Dora, which are 
 lesser maritime cities, and not fit for havens, on 
 account of the impetuous south winds that beat 
 upon them, which, roUing the sands that come 
 from the sea against the shores, do not admit of 
 ships lying in their station ; hence the merchants 
 are generally there forced to ride at their anchors 
 in the sea itself. So Herod endeavoured to rec- 
 tify this inconvenience, and laid out such a com- 
 pass towards the land, as might be sufficient for 
 an haven, wherein the great ships might lie in 
 safety. And this he effected by letting down 
 vast stones of above fifty feet in length, not less 
 than eighteen in breadth, and nine in depth, 
 into twenty fathom deep ; and as some were 
 lesser, so were others bigger than those dimen- 
 sions. This mole which he built by the sea-side, 
 was two hundred feet wide; the half of which 
 was opposed to the current of the waves, so as 
 to keep off those waves which were to break 
 upon them, and so was called Procymatia, or 
 the first breaker of the waves ; but the other 
 half had upon it a wall, with several towers, the 
 
 l.iv. c. 18. p. 57. Lyon, l2mo. 1778. Instead of the indefi- 
 nite phrase of •' vaste etendue," Pliny calls the length of Pales- 
 tine 1 80 miles from the confines of Arabia on the south, to 
 where it meets the borders of Phoenicia on the north. Nat. 
 Hist. b. V. c. 13.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA, 201 
 
 largest of which was named Drusus, and was a 
 work of very great excellence, and had its name 
 from Drusus, the son-in-law of Caesar, who died 
 young. There were also a great number of 
 arches, where the mariners dwelt. There was 
 also before them a quay, or landing-place, which 
 ran round the entire haven, and was a most 
 agreeable walk to such as had a mind to that 
 exercise. But the entrance or mouth of the 
 port was made on the north quarter, on which 
 side was the stillest of the winds of all in this 
 place. And the basis of the whole circuit on 
 the left hand, as you enter the port, supported 
 a round turret, made very strong to resist the 
 greatest waves j while, on the right hand, as you 
 enter, stood upright two vast stones joined toge- 
 ther, and those each of them larger than the tur- 
 ret, which was over against them. Now there 
 were edifices all along the circular haven, made 
 of the most polished stone, with a certain eleva- 
 tion, whereon was erected a temple that was 
 seen a great way off by those that were sailing 
 for that haven, and had in it two statues, the one 
 of Rome, the other of Caesar. The city itself 
 was called Csesarea, and was also built of fine 
 materials, and was of a fine structure. Nay, the 
 very subterranean vaults and cellars had no less 
 of architecture bestowed on them, than had the 
 buildings above ground. Some of tliese vaidts
 
 202 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 
 
 carried things at even distances to the haven and 
 to the sea ; but one of them ran obUquely, and 
 bound all the rest together, that botJi the rain 
 and the filth of the citizens were together carried 
 off with ease, and the sea itself, Upon the flux of 
 the tide from without, came into the city and 
 washed it all clean, Herod also built thereon a 
 theatre of stone, and on the south quarter, behind 
 the port, an amphitheatre also, capable of hold- 
 ing a vast number of men, and conveniently 
 situated for a prospect to the sea. This city was 
 thus finished in twelve years, at the sole expense 
 of Herod." * 
 
 It was about the twenty -second year before 
 the Christian era that this city was begun, and in 
 the tenth year before the same period that it 
 was completed, though there is a difference of 
 two years in the time assigned to its building by 
 the same author. After saying, as we have seen, 
 that it was finished in twelve years, at the sole 
 expense of Herod, he says in another place, 
 " About this time it was that Cassarea Augusta, 
 which Herod had built, was finished in the tenth 
 year, the solemnity of its faUing into the twenty- 
 eighth year of Herod's reign, and into the 
 hundred and ninety-second Olympiad, t 
 
 " It was during the building of this city tliat 
 
 * Josepluis, Antiq. 1. xv. c.9. s. fi. 
 t Ibid. ]. xvi. c. 6. s. 1.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 203 
 
 Herod himself went to meet Marcus Agrippa, 
 who had sailed from Italy into Asia, and 
 brought him into Judea, where he omitted no- 
 thing that might please him. He entertained 
 him in his new-built cities, and provided all sorts 
 of the best and most costly dainties for him and 
 his friends at Sebaste and Caesarea, about that 
 port that he had built, and at the fortresses 
 which he had erected at great expenses, Alex- 
 andrium and Herodium, and Hyrcania." * 
 
 To show the importance that was attached to 
 the completion of this maritime city and its 
 port, as a work of more than ordinary magni- 
 ficence, the same author adds, " There was ac- 
 cordingly a great festival, and most sumptuous 
 preparations made to its dedication. For he 
 had appointed a contention in music and games 
 to be performed naked. He had also gotten 
 ready a great number of those that fight single 
 combats, and of beasts for the hke purpose. 
 Horse races also, and the most chargeable of 
 such sports and shows as used to be exhibited at 
 Rogie and in other places. He consecrated 
 this combat to Ccesar, and ordered it to be 
 celebrated every fifth year. He also sent all 
 sorts of ornaments for it out of his own furni- 
 ture, that it might want nothing to make it 
 decent. Nay, Julia, Caesar's wife, sent a great 
 
 * Joscphus, Antiq. 1. x-vi. c. 2 s. 1 ,
 
 204 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 
 
 part of her most valuable furniture (from Rome J, 
 insomuch that he had no want of any thing. The 
 sum of them all was estimated at five hundred 
 talents. Now, when a great multitude was come 
 to that city, to see the shows, as well as the 
 ambassadors whom other people sent, on account 
 of the benefits they had received (from Herod), 
 he entertained them all with a noble generosity 
 in the public inns, and at public tables, with 
 perpetual feasts ; this solemnity having, in the 
 day-time, the diversions of the shows, and in the 
 night, such banquetting as cost vast sums of 
 money. For in all his undertakings he was 
 ambitious to exceed whatsoever had been done 
 before of the same kind. And it is related that 
 Caesar and Agrippa often said, that * The do- 
 minions of Herod were too little for the greatness 
 of his soul, that he deserved to have all the 
 kingdom of Syria, and that of Egypt also.' " * 
 
 It was not long after this, that the scene of 
 joy and congratulation was turned into one of 
 tumult and contention. In the year of Christ 
 54, when Nero reigned in Rome, and Felix was 
 procurator of Judea, a great sedition arose be- 
 tween the Jews that inhabited Caesarea, and the 
 Syrians who dwelt there also, concerning their 
 equal right to the privileges belonging to 
 citizens. For the Jews claimed the pre-eminence, 
 
 *■ Josephus, Antiq. 1. xvi. c. 5. s. 1.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CJESAREA. *205 
 
 because Herod their king was the builder of 
 Caesarea^ and because he was by birth a Jew. 
 Now the Syrians did not deny what was alleged 
 about Herod ; but they said that Caesarea was 
 formerly called Strato's Tower, and that then 
 there was not one Jewish inhabitant. When 
 the presidents of that country heard of these 
 disorders, they caught the authors of them on 
 both sides, and tormented them with stripes, 
 and by that means put a stop to the disturbance 
 for a time. * 
 
 It had by this time become the great sea- 
 port of Palestine, and in the history of the 
 voyages of the Apostles, frequent mention is 
 made of their embarkation and landing there, t 
 Cornelius, the centurion, who worshipped Peter 
 on his entering the city from Joppa, each of them 
 having had remarkable dreams which led to 
 their interview t, resided at Caesarea, and is 
 said, by tradition, to have been the first bishop 
 of the city. Paul, after touching at Tyre on 
 his voyage from Greece into Phoenicia, came to 
 Ptolemais, and from thence to Caesarea, where he 
 and his companions tarried with PhiUp the 
 Evangelist, whose four virgin daughters were 
 distinguished by the gift of prophecy ; and at 
 whose house, Agabus, a prophet who had come 
 
 * Josephus, Antiq. 1. xx. c. 8. s, 7. 
 
 t Acts, ix. 30. and xviii. 22. | Ibid. x.
 
 ^06 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 down from Judea, predicted the future bondage 
 of the apostle, by binding himself with PauPs 
 own * girdle. 
 
 Ananias, the son of Nebedeus, was the high 
 priest before whom Paul so nobly pleaded his 
 own cause ; when, on being commanded to be 
 smitten on the mouth by those that stood by, for 
 merely protesting the innocence of his life, he 
 exclaimed, in the language of a freeman, " God 
 shall smite thee, thou whited wall ; for sittest 
 thou to judge me after the law, and commandest 
 me to be smitten contrary to the law ?'* t This 
 was after the murder of Jonathan, the high priest, 
 in the temple, and previous to the sacerdotal 
 appointment of Ismael, the son of Fabi, by 
 king Agrippa, under whose high priesthood 
 Percius Festus was sent as successor to Felix, 
 by Nero ; the principal of the Jewish inhabitants 
 of Caesarea going even to Rome to accuse 
 FeUx. t 
 
 It was before this Felix that Paul himself was 
 accused by Ananias, who had descended from 
 Jerusalem to CaBsarea with the elders, and a cer- 
 tain orator, named Tertullus, for that purpose ; 
 and to the same governor that he offered the 
 eloquent defence, in which, as he reasoned on 
 
 * Acts, xxi. V. 10, 11. t Ibid, xxiii. 3. 
 
 X Josephus, Antiq. 1. xx. c. 8. s. 8. 9.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C.ESAREA. ^07 
 
 righteousness, temperance, and judgment to 
 come, even the stern Roman trembled. * 
 
 The period between this first accusation before 
 Fehx, and the arrival of Percius Festus to suc- 
 ceed him, \Vks, passed by Paul in a two years* 
 imprisonment at Cgesarea ; Felix detaining him 
 under the hope of bribe or ransom. Being left 
 in bonds by the one, he was found so by the 
 other ; and after a visit of Festus from C^esarea 
 to Jerusalem, lie was, on his return, again cited 
 before the judgment-seat, to answer the charges 
 of his accusers. The bold and eloquent replies 
 to Festus, the appeal to Caesar, and the pleadings 
 before Agrippa, with the perils of the voyage to 
 Italy from this port f , all gave an interest to the 
 spot, while treading on its ruins, which one must 
 really feel to appreciate fully. 
 
 In the description of the march of Titus across 
 the desert of Pelusium, from Egypt to Palestine, 
 with intent to besiege Jerusalem, he is said to 
 have halted at Caesarea, having taken a resolu- 
 tion to gather all his forces together at that 
 place, t And after the memorable siege and fall 
 of this devoted city, (A.D. 70.), " Titus went 
 down with his army to that Caesarea which lay 
 by the sea-side, and there laid up the rest of his 
 
 * Acts, xxiv. 25. f Acts, xxiv. — xxviii. 
 
 :(: Josephus, Jewish War, 1, iv. c.ll. s. 5.
 
 208 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 spoils in great quantities, and gave orders that 
 the captives should be kept there ; for the winter 
 season hindered him then from sailing into 
 Italy." * 
 
 During the long period which elapsed be- 
 tween this event and the rise of the Moham- 
 medan power, I know of no remarkable details 
 regarding it ; but, in the middle of the seventh 
 century, its capture closed the list of conquests 
 which had been so brilliantly and rapidly achieved 
 by the Saracen leaders of the Syrian war. " Con- 
 stantine, the eldest son of Heraclius, had been 
 stationed with forty thousand men at Caesarea, 
 then the civil metropolis of the three provinces 
 of Palestine, but his private interest recalled him 
 to the Byzantine court, and after the flight of 
 his father, he felt himself an unequal champion 
 to the united force of the Caliph, His van- 
 guard was boldly attacked by three hundred 
 Arabs and a thousand black slaves, who, in the 
 depth of winter, had climbed the snowy moun- 
 tains of Libanus, and who were speedily followed 
 by the victorious squadrons of Caled himself. 
 From the north and south, the troops of Antioch 
 and Jerusalem advanced along the sea shore, till 
 their banners were joined under the walls of the 
 Phoenician cities. Tripoli and Tyre were be* 
 
 * Josephiis, Wars of the Jews, 1. i. c. 7. s. 3.
 
 MOUNT CAIIMEL, DOHA, AND C^ESAREA. ^0<j 
 
 trayed, and a fleet of fifty trausports, which 
 entered, without distrust, the captive harbours, 
 brought a seasonable supply of arms and provi- 
 sions to the camp of the Saracens. Their labours 
 were terminated by the unexpected surrender of 
 Caesarea. The' Roman prince had embarked in 
 the night, and the defenceless citizens solicited 
 their pardon with an offering of two hundred 
 thousand pieces of gold. The remainder of the 
 province, Ramlah, Ptolemais or Achre, Sichem 
 or Neapolis, Gaza, Ascalon, Berytus, Sidon, 
 Gabala, Laodicea, Apamea, Hierapolis, no 
 longer presumed to dispute the will of the con- 
 queror ; and Syria bowed under the sceptre of 
 the Caliphs, seven hundred years after Pompey 
 had despoiled the last of the Macedonian 
 kings. * 
 
 In the time of the Rabbi Benjamin, who called 
 it Siterie, it was still a handsome and fine city, 
 and was thought by him to be the Gad of the 
 early Scriptures, f It is often mentioned in 
 Arabic writers under the name of Caissariah 
 Scham, or Caesarea oft Syria; and by the 
 Christian historians of the holy wars under its 
 proper name. § 
 
 * Gibbon's Dec. and Fall, c. li. p. 419. 
 
 t Bergeron's Collection. 
 
 :J: Biblioth^ue Orientale, vol. i. p. 478. 
 
 § Hakluyt's Collection of Voyages and Travels, vol. ii. p. 48. 
 
 VOL. 1. P
 
 ^10 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^ESAREA. 
 
 In examining the ruins of this celebrated spot, 
 we first passed the remains of a building with 
 fine Roman arches, many of which still remained 
 perfect, while other masses of fallen fragments 
 lay scattered beneath them. A little beyond 
 were the remains of another pile, with five or six 
 granite columns fallen into the sea, on the very 
 edge of which these buildings appear to have 
 been originally erected. They appeared to us 
 to correspond, both in situation and form, with 
 the edifices appropriated to the residence of the 
 mariners, which had a great number of arches, 
 and before them a quay that ran round the whole 
 haven, and formed an agreeable walk near the 
 sea.* 
 
 Ascending from the beach, we saw fragments 
 of white marble highly polished, and an abun- 
 dance of broken pottery of the ribbed or grooved 
 kind, so common amid Egyptian ruins ; and this 
 we conceived to mark the site of the edifices 
 which stood all along the circular haven, and 
 were built of the most polished stone, while the 
 pottery might have been fragments of domestic 
 utensils, or ofbroken vessels used in the service 
 of the temple that stood here, t 
 
 We next came to the principal remains which 
 presented to us the ruins of a large and well 
 
 * See before, p. 1 99, 200. f See before, p. 201 .
 
 -WOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C.ESAREA. ^11 
 
 built fort of an irregular form, having four sides 
 facing nearly towards the cardinal points, and 
 the western one fronting the sea. 
 
 On its northern front we observed four pyra- 
 midal bastions with sloping sides, each about 
 forty feet long at the base, twenty at the top, 
 fifteen feet thick in the centre, and from twenty 
 to twenty-five feet in perpendicular height. They 
 were separated from each other by a space of 
 twice their own length, which was occupied by 
 the main wall of the fort, excellently built ; and 
 near the centre, within the wall, we saw the 
 remains of a large building with the arched 
 gateway of a passage through it. 
 
 On the eastern front, which is of greater 
 extent than the northern, were ten similar bas- 
 tions, including both of those at the angles. 
 Opposite to the fourth, from the north-east angle, 
 we observed a well, and looking down into it, 
 saw distinctly an arched passage of undeter- 
 mined extent, which was doubtless one of those 
 subterranean vaults constructed for the carrying 
 off the filth of the city by the influx of the sea ; 
 and as far as the eye could trace it from above, 
 it seemed to confirm the assertion of the his- 
 torian, that these subterranean vaults had no 
 less of architecture bestowed on them, than had 
 the buildings above ground. * Within the fort 
 immediately opposite to this, was a small square 
 
 * See the passage before quoted, p. 201. 
 
 r 2
 
 212 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CESAREA. 
 
 edifice ; and near it another building with a 
 pointed arched gateway leading through it. 
 Over the iifth bastion still remains the portion 
 of a covered passage with an arched door of 
 entrance into it, and close by another pointed 
 arched window in the upper wall of the fort. 
 Near this we saw on the out side, a large 
 stone ring, or hollow circle, now broken in 
 two, resembling the hollowed bases of columns 
 used over the mouths of the ancient cisterns 
 at Alexandria, and no doubt once applied 
 to the same purpose here. Over the seventh 
 bastion are remains of a still larger mass of 
 building than those seen before, though now 
 mucli broken ; and here a wall ran across the 
 ditch, the arched door of which wall is still per- 
 fect, though a piece of the wall itself seems to 
 have been separated, and is now laid up against 
 the original mass like a broad plank. In the 
 northern division of the ditch, close by this 
 door, is seen a flight of steps leading up 
 from the ditch to the fort. Between the eighth 
 and ninth bastion, the remains of the upper 
 wall has arched windows in it ; which, with 
 the fragments seen elsewhere, lead to a sup- 
 position that they ran all around the fort. 
 The tenth bastion forms the south-east angle, 
 and nearly opposite to it we saw the shaft of a 
 grey granite column, and several pieces both of
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^ESAREA. 213 
 
 sculptured and of polished marble, fragments of 
 the sumptuous palaces which were constructed 
 of white stone in various parts of the * city. 
 
 The southern front of the fort is more irregular 
 in its form and proportions than the two others 
 described. Between this bastion of the angle 
 and the next western one, is a wide space of wall, 
 over which we observed the fragments of an 
 arch, with rich mouldings and other sculptured 
 ornaments The second bastion is larger than 
 its preceding one, and between it and the third 
 appears to have been the principal gate of 
 entrance^ In the walls are still seen long, slender 
 loop-holes, arches, and a sloping funnel running 
 up on the west side of the remains of the gate 
 itself. The third bastion is very small, and 
 here the wall turns off to the north-west, having 
 another small bastion near it, from whence it 
 continues rounding down to the sea in the form 
 of the beach. 
 
 The whole terminates in an edifice on a rocky 
 base, surrounded by enormous blocks of stone, 
 the disjointed masses of the ancient mole now 
 washed by the waves, of which edifice scarcely 
 any perfect portion remains, but among whose 
 ruins are seen fragments of at least twenty 
 granite columns. This may probably be the 
 
 * See the description of this edifice, p. 199, 200. 
 r S
 
 214 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CESAREA. 
 
 tower of Drusus, which was the largest and most 
 excellent of the towers near the sea, and was 
 built on the mole itself *, where this ruin still 
 stands, having braved the raging fury of two 
 thousand winters, and still defying the storms of 
 ocean to effect its total demolition, though its 
 venerable ruins are lashed by an almost eternal 
 foam. 
 
 The fort was surrounded on the north, the 
 east, and the south, by a ditch about thirty feet 
 broad and twenty deep. The whole seems to 
 have been well built, and of great strength, and 
 appears rather to have been demolished by a 
 besieging force than to have fallen gradually to 
 decay. 
 
 The fragments of granite pillars, and other 
 marks of splendour seen near the sea, are un- 
 questionably remains of the ancient Caesarea of 
 Herod ; but the fort itself, as it now stands, is 
 as evidently a work of the Crusaders, who had 
 one of their chief military stations here. The 
 great city extended itself from the sea-shore to 
 some distance inland ; but its ruin is so complete, 
 that the most diligent survey would scarcely be 
 rewarded by the fixing with accuracy the site 
 of any of the public buildings, or even the 
 delineation of its precise form from the founda- 
 tion of its walls. 
 
 * See the description of this edifice, p. 200.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. ^15 
 
 The plan of Caesarea given by Pococke is a 
 tolerably accurate outline of the portion of the 
 coast on which its ruins stand, as well as of the 
 fortress there*; but the mounds in which he 
 thought he could recognize the sites of the 
 tower of the Drusus, Caesar's temple, the colossal 
 statues of Augustus and of Rome, the forum 
 and the theatre, are mere masses of indefinable 
 form, and without a feature that could assist to 
 distinguish the one from the other. 
 
 At the present moment, the whole of the 
 surrounding country is also a sandy desert to- 
 wards the land ; the waves wash the ruins of 
 the moles, the towers, and the port, toward the 
 sea ; and not a creature resides within many 
 miles of this silent desolation. 
 
 At half-past eight we quited Caesarea, and 
 continued our way along the shore, chiefly on a 
 sandy beach, with here and there beds of rock 
 towards the sea. At ten we turned up from 
 the sea-side on a desert ground, and at eleven 
 we came down again to travel on the beach, 
 without noticing any waters about the site of 
 the old Crocodilorum Lacus of the ancients. 
 I could not learn that it still bore the name of 
 *' Moietel-Temsah," as asserted by D'Anville t; 
 
 * Description of the East, vol. i. part 2, p. 21. i'olio. 
 Plate V. B. 
 
 + Comp. of Anc. Geog. p. 403. 
 
 r 4
 
 216 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 
 
 nor did we cross even the bed of a stream there, 
 as marked in his map. Pococke * supposed the 
 stream three miles north of Caesarea, called 
 by him Zirka, to have been the Crocodilon 
 of Pliny t, which - he mentions with a city 
 of the same name, spoken of also by Strabot 
 as a place that was then destroyed. § The 
 crododiles are said to have been in the river 
 of Caesarea of Palestine, which may be either 
 the Kersoes of Ptolemy, four miles south 
 of Dora, or the stream of Zirka, north of 
 Caesarea ; but in the place marked for the lake 
 and river by D'Anville, we did not see even a 
 dry bed to warrant our assent to the position 
 assigned to it. 
 
 At half-past eleven we crossed a low point of 
 land, called Min Tabos Aboorall, where is a 
 small bay, obstructed by broken masses of rock» 
 It was said to be a scala^ to which fruit is 
 
 * Descrip. of the Eust, vol.ii. part 1, p. 58. 
 
 f nine redeundum est ad oram, atqiie Phoenicen. Fuit 
 oppiduni Crocodilon est fluinen : memoria urbium Dorurn, 
 Sycaminum. Plin. Nat. Hist. 1.5. c. 19. 
 
 + Strabo, IG. 758. 
 
 § Johannis de Vitriaco Historia Hierosolymitana, c. 86. 
 Crocodili habitant in flumine Cajsarse Palestinse ; as quoted 
 in Ileland's Palestine, lib. iii. under Caesarea. Breidenbac 
 also mentions crocodiles in a lake to the east of Caesarea. 
 
 II lJu.« or Mina, the first syllable of this name signifies a 
 port or harbour ; and the remainder may be the name of 
 some person whom tradition has coupled with the place.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. ^IJ 
 
 brought from the neighbouring country, behind 
 Jafta and to the north of it, and here shipped in 
 boats for the more northern ports of Syria. 
 Continuing still near the sea, we turned up at 
 twelve, and crossed over a desert ground, chiefly 
 covered with sand, long wild grass, and a few 
 bushes, amidst which some Bedouin boys were 
 attending their flocks of goats. 
 
 At one we came in sight of a cultivated plain, 
 with a long valley running eastward, and show- 
 ing us on the hill the small village of Belled-el- 
 Sheikh Moosa, having a large building in its 
 centre, like that of Shufammer, before de- 
 scribed. 
 
 We crossed this valley, and ascending a gentle 
 hill, came, at half-past one o'clock, in sight of a 
 more extensive and beautiful plain, covered 
 with trees, and having the first carpet of verdure 
 that we had yet seen. 
 
 On the left we entered the small village of 
 El Mukhalid, to procure some bread and water, 
 as we had yet tasted nothing for the day. The 
 latter was brought to us immediately, but not a 
 morsel of the former could be had without our 
 waiting for it to be made, which would have 
 occasioned too great delay. This village re- 
 sembled an Egyptian one in the form and con- 
 struction of its huts, more than any we had yet 
 passed, and was also the poorest we had seen
 
 ^18 MOUNT CAUMEL, DOHA, AND C^ESAREA. 
 
 throughout our journey, consisting of not more 
 than ten or fifteen dwellings. 
 
 I was surprrised that so fine a situation as it 
 commanded should not have been occupied by 
 some larger settlement, as the plains below and 
 at the foot of it are more extensive, more beau- 
 tiful, and, to all appearance, quite as fertile as 
 those of Accho, of Zabulon, or of Carmel. On 
 going round the village, we found, at its south- 
 west angle, a considerable portion of a large 
 building remaining there, having nearly fifty 
 feet of its side wall, and one perfect end-wall 
 still standing. It was built of well-hewn stones, 
 regularly placed and strongly cemented, and 
 showed equally good masonry with that of the 
 fort at Csesarea, the style of which it resembled. 
 In one part of the side were seen narrow win- 
 dows and loop-holes ; but whether it was solely 
 a military post, a private dwelling provided for 
 its own defence, or the only remaining building 
 of some ancient town, we could not decide. The 
 presence of broken pottery, and particularly- of 
 the ribbed kind, scattered about in great quan- 
 tities around the village and at some distance 
 from it, inclined me to the latter opinion. 
 
 The situation corresponds very nearly with 
 that of Antipatris, a city built by Herod, and so 
 called after his father, who was named Antipater. 
 This city is described as being seated at the
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C.ESAREA. ^219 
 
 descent of a mountainous country, on the border 
 of a plain named Saronas, terminated by the 
 sea *, which agrees exactly with the local fea- 
 tures of Mukhalid. t 
 
 Its distance of five hours and a half, or about 
 seventeen miles, from Caasarea, agrees with that 
 assigned to Antipatrisin the ancient maps j and 
 its direction, of about S. S. E> from that city, 
 makes it lie also in the most direct line toward 
 Jerusalem. As such it is mentioned in the ac- 
 count of Paul's journey from Jerusalem to 
 Cgesarea, when he was brought down under an 
 escort of two hundred soldiers, seventy horse- 
 men, and two hundred spearmen, to protect him 
 from the conspiracy which was formed to kill 
 him by the way, t 
 
 Alexander Jannius, one of the kings of Judea, 
 from a fear of Antiochus Dionysius, the last of 
 
 * D'Anville's Comp. of Anc. Geog. p. 402. 
 
 f Antipatris, sive Antipatrida, prius Caphasalama, Graece 
 Caphasarama et Dora dicta, urbs pulchra et anioena, sita in 
 optimo campo divite arboribus et fluminibus. Amne circiim- 
 fluente ipsum oppidiim et luco circumdante pulcherrimarum 
 arborum. Adrich. Theat. Terr. Sane. p. 70. 
 
 This name in Arabic J(Jcsr« is the participle of Jods^ 
 " making perpetual, eternal, immortal, adorning, &c." and 
 would be exceedingly appropriate to a city founded by a prince 
 so ambitious to convey his fame to posterity by architectural 
 monuments, as Herod is said to have been. 
 
 :{: " Then the soldiers, as it was commanded thetn, took 
 Paul, and brought him by night to Antipatris." Acts of the 
 Apostles, xxiii. 3 1 .
 
 ^^0 MOUNT CARMKL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 the race of the Seleucidae who was marching 
 against the Arabians, is said to have cut a deep 
 trench between Antipatris, which was near the 
 mountain, and the shores of Joppa. He also 
 erected a high wall before the trench, and built 
 wooden towers to hinder any sudden approach. 
 No traces of these now remain ; and their dis- 
 appearance is sufficiently accounted for by the 
 same historian, who soon after says, " But still 
 this Alexander was not able to exclude Antio- 
 chus, for he burnt the towers, filled up the 
 trenches, and marched on with his army." * 
 
 The Roman general Cestius, after marching 
 from Ptolemais to Cassarea, is said to have re- 
 moved with his whole army from thence, and 
 marched to Antipatris in the way to Jerusalem. 
 And when he was informed that there was a 
 great body of Jewish forces gotten together in 
 a certain tower called Aphek, he sent a party 
 before to fight them. This party dispersed the 
 Jews by affrighting them without engaging ; so 
 they came, and finding their camp deserted, 
 they burnt it as well as the villages that lay 
 about it." t As this tower of Aphek was most 
 probably of stone, since the wooden ones are 
 particularly mentioned as such, and as the camp 
 and the villages only are said to have been 
 
 * Josephus, Jewish War, b. i. c. i. s. 7. vol, iii. p. 306. 
 f Ibid. b. ii. c 19. s. I, vol. iii. p. 502.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. Q^l 
 
 burnt, the portion of the fortified building which 
 still exists here may be the remains of the iden- 
 tical building. 
 
 This same Cestius, after marching from Anti- 
 patris to Lydda, and destroying it while all its 
 male population was gone up to the feast of taber- 
 nacles at Jerusalem, and proceeding from thence 
 to besiege the holy city itself, was at length 
 obliged to fly, and was pursued by the enraged 
 Jews even as far as Antipatris back again, but 
 effected his escape. * 
 
 Vespasian also when engaged in prosecuting 
 the Jewish war with increased vigour, from the 
 news of commotions in Gaul and revolutions 
 against Nero in Italy, after wintering at Caesarea, 
 led his army from thence to Antipatris, in the 
 beginning of the spring, and halted there two 
 days, to settle the affairs of that city, before he 
 resumed his career of desolation, by burning, 
 destroying, and laying waste the cities and vil- 
 lages in his way. t 
 
 It seems, therefore, to have been an important 
 and well-frequented military station, and as it is 
 said by Joseph us to have been formerly called 
 Chabarzabat, it may probably be the same place 
 
 ■* Josephus, Jewish War, b. ii. c. 19. s. 9. vol. iii. p. .508. 
 
 f Ibid. b. iv. c. 8. s. 1 . vol. iv. p. 1 1 4. 
 
 :|: Josephus, Ant. Jud. 1. iii. c. 1.5. s. 1. vol. ii. p. 274.
 
 222 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 with Capharsalama, where a battle had been 
 fought in the reign of Demetrius, between Nica- 
 nor, one of his honourable princes, a man that 
 bore deadly hate unto Israel, and Judas Mac- 
 cabeus, the heroic leader of the Jews, when there 
 were slain of Nicanor's side about five thou- 
 sand men, and the rest fled unto the city of 
 David.* 
 
 This place had been confounded with Dora, 
 but the distinction between these has been 
 clearly pointed out by Cellarius. t This geogra- 
 pher supposes the one hundred and forty stadia 
 given to the wall with wooden towers and inter- 
 mediate redoubts erected from Antipatris to 
 Joppa, to be the accurate distance of these 
 places from each other ; which, at the usual 
 computation of eight stadia to a Roman mile, 
 would give about nineteen miles, and correspond 
 pretty nearly with the real distance. The same 
 writer assumes, also, that it was in the third night 
 that St. Paul reached this place from Jerusalem ; 
 and on our enquiring its actual distance from the 
 
 * 1 Maccabees, vii. 26 — 32. 
 
 f Adrichomius sat confuse -. Antipatris prius Capharsalama, 
 Greece Capharsaramn et Dora dicta. Unde hauserit, quod 
 Capharsalama, ut in versionibus legitur 1 Mac. vii. 31., sit 
 oppidum Dora equidem nescio. Dora vero et Antipatris Pto- 
 loniago distincta sunt oppida : illud in Phenice extrema ; hoc 
 in Judea censuit. — Cellarius, Geog. Ant. Saniaritis, p. 324.
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C.ESAREA. 2*23 
 
 holy city, we were told that the journey was per- 
 formed in three days* easy stages. * 
 
 A deep well, enclosed by masonry, and worked 
 by an ox and wheel, lay at the foot of the hill 
 near the town ; and from it those spots which 
 now showed verdure had been watered, as this 
 territory, as well as all the sea-coast of Syria, had 
 suffered equally from the late long drought, 
 which had continued from October to the pre- 
 sent month, excepting only two or three days' 
 fall about . a week since. The heavy rains are 
 generally in December, and in January the 
 country is verdant throughout. At this moment, 
 they were only ploughing a hard soil, and tillage 
 was every where retarded. 
 
 Departing from this village, we had the plain 
 below it on our left, and at three we entered 
 again on desert ground, covered with sand, wild 
 grass, and bushes. At four, we came to a narrow 
 fertile pass, where we remarked caves and grot- 
 toes on each side, as seen before, but could not 
 alight to examine them. 
 
 From hence we ascended to an elevated plain, 
 
 * Quantum distet ab Hierosolymis ex Apostolorum historia 
 quodammodo cognosci potest, quia milites, Paulum a tertia 
 noctis Antipatridem deducturi, eadem nocte si non totuni iter 
 maximam partem tamen confecerunt. Vide cap. 23 — 23. 31. 
 Itinerarium Burdigalense, nisi numeri fallunt, qui suspecti sunt, 
 habet 42 M.P. — Cellarius, Geog. Ant. Saniaritis, p. 324.
 
 524 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND C^SAREA. 
 
 where husbandmen were sowing, and some thou- 
 sands of starHngs covered the ground, as the wild 
 pigeons do in Egypt, laying a heavy contribu- 
 tion on the grain thrown into the furrows, which 
 is not covered by harrowing, as in Europe. 
 
 Continuing along this elevated plain, we came 
 at six to the village of Heram, at a short distance 
 from which, on the left, just before entering it, 
 we again saw caves and other marks of excavated 
 dweUings, as at Waad-el-Ajiil. 
 
 This village, which is seated on a high pro- 
 montory, overlooking the sea, has not more than 
 forty or fifty dwellings, yet possesses a mosque 
 with a minareh, the approach to which is over a 
 small green plat, with a worn foot-path winding 
 up through its centre, like the entrances to many 
 of our country churches in England. 
 
 We passed into the court of the mosque, and, 
 alighting there, found shelter for ourselves and 
 beasts, in a shed erected for the accommodation 
 of travellers, and attached to the building. Our 
 hunger was extreme on arriving here, and we 
 despatched our muleteer to search for food ; but 
 he returned, assuring us that some of the villa- 
 gers already lain down to sleep, others had 
 had finished their suppers, and had nothing 
 eatable in their huts, and others, who possessed 
 flour, would neither part with that nor make us 
 bread. It seemed to me so impossible that a
 
 MOUNT CARMEL, DORA, AND CiESAREA. 225 
 
 whole village could be thus destitute, that I went 
 out myself, but my success was little better, as 
 we returned with a few fragments only of stale 
 bread, and a little lamp oil. On the bread alone 
 I made a scanty supper, assisted by a pipe, which 
 is certainly an allay er of hunger ; my servant 
 and our guide, boiling some coarse grain which 
 was used as food for the mules, and moistening 
 it with oil, made also a temporary meal, and we 
 were soon after lulled asleep by the roaring of 
 the sea below. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 ( ^2'2() ) 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 By JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM, 
 
 January l6(h. We were awakened by the 
 day-break call to prayer from the gallery of the 
 mosque above us, and at six o'clock we left our 
 cold and comfortless lodging by the moon-light. 
 Descending to the beach, we continued along 
 the coast under brown cliffs and hills, and came 
 in about two hours to the outlet of a small river 
 called Nahr-el-Arsoof, which, being shallow, we 
 easily forded. We could not perceive any ruins 
 there, though D*Anville has placed the site of 
 Apollonias * at the mouth of the stream called 
 Arsoof, and the historians of the Crusades speak 
 of a castle at this place, t 
 
 * ApoUonia is enumerated among the cities of the sea-coast 
 by Josephus, and the order in which it is mentioned seems to 
 fix it between Caesarea and Joppa, though its exact distance 
 from either of these is not given. The stream on which it is 
 seated on D'Anville's map is, however, placed farther to the 
 northward of Jaffa than this. 
 
 -J- ♦' Bedreddin a Taberzam, avec d'autres emirs, prirent par 
 V6p6e les chateaux de Cdsar^e et d' Arsoof." Voyez, Les Mines 
 de rOrient, tome iii. p. 81. en folio.
 
 HY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 22"^ 
 
 Keeping still along the sea-shore, we came in 
 half an hour to a little-domed fountain on the 
 brow of the cliff, and observed that the beach 
 beneath was covered with small shells, to the 
 depth of several feet. 
 
 We now approached Jaffa, over a desert soil. 
 This town, seated on a promontory, and facing 
 chiefly to the northward, looks like a heap of 
 buildings crowded as closely as possible into a 
 given space ; and, from the steepness of its site, 
 these buildings appear in some places to stand 
 one on the other. The most prominent features 
 of the architecture from without, are the flat- 
 tened domes by which most of the buildings are 
 crowned, and the appearance of arched vaults. 
 There are no light and elegant edifices, no 
 towering minarehs, no imposing fortifications, 
 but all is mean and of a dull and gloomy aspect. 
 Turning up from the beach a little to the left, 
 we passed through a Mohammedan burying- 
 ground, and came to the great gate in the eastern 
 wall, before which lay six fragments of grey gra- 
 nite columns. The walls and fortifications have 
 a weak and contemptible appearance, compared 
 even with those of Accho ; as at that place, the 
 entrance is prepossessing, but its interior disap- 
 points the expectations raised. After passing a 
 gate crowned with three small cupolas, there is 
 seen on the right a gaudy fountain, faced with 
 
 Q, 2
 
 228 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 marble slabs, and decorated with painted devices 
 and Arabic sentences in characters of gold. 
 Passing within, however, the town has all the 
 appearance of a poor village, and every part of 
 it that we saw was of corresponding meanness. 
 
 It is seated on a hill, and walled all around as 
 far as we could trace, except towards the sea ; 
 the walls are irregular, and weak, and were ap- 
 parently built at different periods. We saw not 
 more than twelve pieces of cannon mounted,'and 
 observed many of the covered arches, intended 
 for musketry, to be filled up with dead horse's 
 bones and other rubbish. The inhabitants here 
 dress like the people of Damietta, wearing a 
 costume intermediate between that of Syria and 
 Egypt, but a still greater poverty seemed to 
 reign throughout all classes. 
 
 After ascending and descending hilly streets, 
 we at length reached the house of Signor Da- 
 miani, the English Consul, and were received 
 there by his domestics. The consul himself soon 
 arrived, and presented one of the most singular 
 mixtures of European and Asiatic costume that 
 we had yet witnessed. His dress consisted of 
 the long robes of the east, surmounted by a pow- 
 dered bag- wig, a cocked hat with anchor buttons 
 and black cockade, and a gold-headed cane, all 
 of the oldest fashion. The airs and grimace of 
 his behaviour were that of a French frizeur rather
 
 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. '229 
 
 than of an old government-officer ; and, indeed, 
 there was nothing about him that seemed con- 
 sistent with the notions that are generally enter- 
 tained of consular dignity. 
 
 We were shown into a miserable hovel, which 
 was dignified with the name of the British resi- 
 dence, though darker, dirtier, and more wretch- 
 edly furnished than the meanest cottage of 
 England. Here, too, we were first consoled by 
 the news that there was a British fleet of eighty 
 sail of the line before Egypt, and that all the 
 consuls of the Levant were flying for safety ; 
 and next assailed with a train of questions which, 
 luckily, were followed up so closely as to leave 
 no intervals for answering them. ** Are you a 
 Milord?'* " Are not the Protestants Jews ? If 
 not, are the English entirely without religion, or 
 are they idolaters, unbelievers, or heretics?" 
 ** Is not St. Helena, where Bonaparte is banished, 
 five thousand leagues to the north of England, 
 in the Frozen Sea ?" &c. &c. 
 
 As we intended our stay here to be but suffi- 
 cient to feed our animals, we had given orders 
 that they should be prepared as soon as possible 
 for the prosecution of our journey ; and short as 
 the interval was, I employed it in walking about 
 the town and in viewing its port. 
 
 The assumed antiquity of this place would be 
 alone sufficient to excite one*s curiosity regard- 
 Q 3
 
 230 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 ing it. It is mentioned by Pliny, being said to 
 have existed before the deluge *, though it has 
 been doubted, whether by the expression " ter- 
 rarum inundatione,'* the Roman writer meant 
 to imply the universal deluge spoken of in Gene- 
 sis. Pomponius Mela has a similar expres- 
 sion t, and it is probable, indeed, that the one 
 writer has but repeated what the other had said 
 before ; but even this tends to confirm the popu- 
 larity of the supposition. 
 
 The fable of Andromeda, Perseus, and the 
 sea-monster, of which this place is said to have 
 been the scene t, has been ingeniously explained 
 by supposing that this daughter of the Ethiopian 
 king was courted by the captain of a ship, who 
 attempted to carry her off, but was prevented by 
 the interposition of Perseus, who, returning from 
 the conquest of the Gorgons, saw her, and was 
 captivated by her beauty. One might be perhaps 
 allowed to explain the meaning of " Antedilu- 
 
 * Joppe Phoenicum antiquiorterrarum inundatione, ut ferunt. 
 Insidet collem prsejacente saxo, in quo vinculorum Andromedae 
 vestigia ostendunt. Hist. Nat. 1. v. c. 13. 
 
 f Est Joppe, ante diluvium, ut ferunt, condita : ubi Cephea 
 regnasse eo signo accolee affirmant quod titulum ejus, fratrisque 
 Phinei veteres quaedam arse cum religione plurima retinent. 
 Quin etiam rei celebratae carminibus ac fabulis, servatteque a 
 Perseo Andromedae clarum vestigium belluae marinae ossa iov"* 
 mania ostendunt. Pomp. Mela. 1. i. c. 11. 
 
 + Stra lib. xvi. p. 759.
 
 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 231 
 
 vium" in a similar way, by supposing tliat it re- 
 ferred to the drowning of this kingdom by Nep- 
 tune, who sent the sea-monster to ravage the 
 country, because Cassiope, the mother of Andro- 
 meda, had boasted herself fairer than Juno and 
 the Nereides. * 
 
 Pliny, it is true, mentions that the skeleton of 
 the huge sea-monster, to which Andromeda was 
 exposed, was brought to Rome by Scaurus, and 
 carefully preserved, and that the marks of the 
 chains, with which this object of Neptune's ven- 
 geance was fastened to the rock, were still to be 
 seen in his day. t Pausanias, too, insists that 
 near Joppa was to be seen a fountain, where 
 Perseus washed off the blood with which he had 
 been covered from the wounds received in his 
 combat with the monster, and adds that from 
 this circumstance the water ever afterwards re- 
 mained of a red colour, t 
 
 It is upon other authority that is handed down 
 to us the account of Jonah and the whale, and 
 as this was the port from whence he embarked to 
 flee to Tarsus from the presence of the Lord §, 
 
 * See the authorities for this fable collected by Lempri^re, 
 under their proper head. 
 
 t Chateaubriand's Travels, vol. i. p. 371. 8vo. 
 
 } Ibid. 
 
 § There seems to have been some error either in the writer 
 or the copyist of the passage itself in the Scriptures, where it is 
 said, " But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence 
 
 Q 4
 
 232 BY JOPPA AND EAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 the profane account of the sea-monster may 
 perhaps have some connection with the sacred 
 one of the large fish that swallowed up the 
 prophet. A late traveller has concluded, from 
 the ribs of forty feet in length, and the other 
 
 of the Lord, and went down to Joppa ; and he found a ship 
 going to Tarshish." Now Tarshish, according to the best 
 authorities, was a port on the Red Sea, for which it would be 
 a circuitous voyage. In the history of the acts of the kings of 
 of Judah, the historian says, " Jehoshaphat made ships of 
 Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they went not ; for the 
 ships were broken at Ezion-geber." (I Kings, xxii. 48.) 
 " And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tar- 
 shish ; and they made the ships in Ezion-gaber. And the 
 ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish." 
 (2 Chronicles, xx. 36, 37.) Now, though Ophir has been 
 placed by some in Arabia, by others in Africa, and by others 
 in India, (see Vincent, Volney, and Bruce,) yet Ezion-gaber 
 is fixed by all authorities at the head of the Elanitic Gulf, or 
 eastern fork of the head of the Red Sea. (D'Anville's Conip. 
 of Anc. Geog. p. 441. 8vo.) So that Tarshish was necessarily 
 somewhere on the east of Africa, unless the circumnavigation 
 of the Cape in this voyage be supposed. Josephus, in detail- 
 ing the same story regarding Jonah, which he professes to 
 have copied accurately as he found it recorded in the Hebrew 
 books, says, that the prophet Jonah finding a ship at Joppa, 
 he went into it, and sailed to Tarsus in Celicia. (Ant. Jud. 
 lib. ix. c. 10. 2.) This port was indeed in a sufficiently direct 
 route as a point of debarkation for a journey to Nineveh ; and 
 that this was the port understood among the inhabitants of the 
 country itself, may be inferred from the fact of a pillar being 
 shown near to Alexandre! ta, and not far from Tarsus, as 
 marking the spot where, according to tradition, the prophet 
 was vomited up from the whale's belly, and from whence he 
 commenced his journey in a straight line to the threatened city.
 
 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM, 233 
 
 anatomical proportions given of the sea-monster 
 to which Andromeda was exposed, that it was 
 really a whale. It is contended that this is suf- 
 ficient evidence of there having been whales in 
 this sea, without having recourse to the testi- 
 mony of the Scriptures, though Mr. Bryant 
 entertained a contrary opinion.* But these 
 conjectures, coupled with the fact of that fish 
 having been from the earliest times an object of 
 worship at Joppa, though it by no means proves 
 the foundation of this city before the deluge 
 described by Moses, as has been assumed, gives 
 the appearance of some affinity between the 
 accounts of the Jews and Gentiles regarding this 
 spot. 
 
 Some authors ascribe the origin of Jaffa to 
 Japhet, son of Noah, and thence derive its name, 
 adding, that it was here the patriarch himself 
 went into the ark, and that at the same place 
 were afterwards deposited the bones of this se- 
 cond father of mankind. Andrichomius says 
 that its name of Jaffa was derived from Joppa, 
 its primitive form, which signifies beautiful or 
 agreeable, and is the same with Japho. t Its 
 
 * See the argument in a note to Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. 
 ii. p. 642. 
 
 t Deinde Joppe est loVTrj jGraece, Ebreeis "]£)» Japho, sila 
 contra extremitatem septemtrionaleni tribiis Dan, cujus termi-
 
 23i< BY JOPPA AND UAMLAH TO Jli-KUSALiLiVi. 
 
 present name is nearer to this than to any other, 
 it being now called Yafah *, and it is one among 
 many other instances, of the oldest name out- 
 living all subsequent ones bestowed on places by 
 foreigners and strangers. 
 
 The fact of this having been the great port of 
 Judea at a very early period, will hardly be ques- 
 tioned ; and we may admit, without hesitation, 
 that this was the point at v/hich were collected 
 such of the materials as were brought by sea for 
 the building of the temple of Jerusalem, it being 
 the nearest place at which they could be landed, t 
 
 nus erat ^f)' /VD ^ regione Japlio, quod LXX Graeci verte- 
 runt tX7)c7wv loTTTij?. Hi Ebraeum Japho, et alibi Iottttkjv, Joppen, 
 expressenmt. il Paralip. ii. 16. Ezras iii. 7. Jonge i. 3. ex quo 
 satis certum est, idem oppidum esse Japho et Joppen. Cel- 
 larius, Geog. Ant. p. 320. 
 
 * «ftj in Arabic, signifies a hill, and f y4. liigh places, in 
 the pkiral ; names which are characteristically appropriate to 
 the local features of Yafah under all its changes. 
 
 ■\ In the correspondence of Hiram with Solomon, regarding 
 the supply of materials for the building of the first temple, the 
 Tyrian king first promises to convey the timber of Lebanon by 
 sea to any place which the Jewish monarch might appoint, and 
 to discharge it there, (1 Kings, c. 5. v. 9.) In another copy of 
 the same letter, it is said, however, " And we will cut wood 
 out of Lebanon as much as thou shalt need ; and we will bring 
 •it to thee in flotes by sea to Joppa, and thou shalt carry it up 
 to Jerusalem." (2 Chron. ii. 16.) In the building of the se- 
 cond temple, it was used for the same purpose. " But the 
 foundation of the temple of'the Lord was not yet laid. They 
 save money also unto the masons and to the carpenters ; and
 
 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. ^35 
 
 In the wars of the Maccabees, when Judea 
 was a scene of great contention, a deed of trea- 
 chery is laid to the. charge of the men of Joppa, 
 in destroying the innocent with the guilty. This 
 was so completely in the spirit of the early wars 
 that deluged this country with blood, as almost 
 to justify the exemplary vengeance which was 
 taken on their town for such an act. It was 
 burnt and exposed to pillage and massacre by 
 Judas Maccabeus, who called on God the right- 
 eous Judge to avenge him on the murderers of 
 his brethren. " The men of Joppe also did such 
 an ungodly deed ; they prayed the Jews that 
 dwelt among them to go with their wives and 
 children into the boats which they had prepared, 
 as though they had meant them no hurt ; who 
 accepted of it according to the common decree 
 of the city, as being desirous to live in peace, 
 and suspecting nothing ; but when they were 
 gone forth into the deep, they drowned no less 
 
 meat, and drink, and oil unto them of Zidon, and to them of 
 Tyre, to bring cedar-trees from Lebanon to the sea of Joppa, 
 according to the grant that they had of Cyrus king of Persia.'' 
 (Ezra, iii. 7.) The Sidonians also were very ready and willing 
 to bring the cedar-trees from Libanus ; to bind them toge- 
 ther, and to make fin united float of them, and bring them to 
 the port of Joppa. For that was what Cyrus had commanded 
 at first, and what was now done at the command of Darius, 
 Jos. Ant. Jud. 1. xi. c. 4. 1 ,
 
 ^36 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 than two hundred of them. When Judas heard 
 of this cruelty done to his countrymen, he com- 
 manded those that were with him to make them 
 ready. And calUng upon God the righteous 
 Judge, he came against those murderers of his 
 brethren, and burnt the haven by night, and set 
 the boats on fire, and those that fled thither he 
 slew. And when the town was shut up he went 
 backwards, as if he would return to root out all 
 of them of the city of Joppe.'** 
 
 About this time Joppe appears as sustaining a 
 siege, and at length falling before the fear of 
 Jonathan the High Priest, w^ho had invested it. 
 It soon after was entered a second time by an 
 officer of Simon, the brother of Jonathan, who 
 had been entrapped at Ptolemais. He had been 
 elected by acclamation to become the captain 
 and leader of the Jews instead of Jonathan, and 
 had sent down a force from Jerusalem, to cast 
 out those who were in Joppe, and to remain 
 therein, t 
 
 * 2 Mace. xii. 13. A. C. 1 66. to 161. 
 • f •* So when Jonathan heard these words of ApoUonius, he 
 was moved in his mind, and choosing 10,000 men, he went 
 out of the city Jerusalem, where Simon his brother met him 
 for to help him. And he pitched his tents against Joppe ; but 
 they of Joppe shut him out of the city, because Apollonius had 
 a garrison there. Then Jonathan laid siege unto it, where- 
 upon they of the city let him in for fear ; and so Jonathan won 
 Joppe." 1 Maccabees," x. 74. A. C. 161. 144.
 
 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 237 
 
 This place is afterwards enumerated among 
 the cities desired to be restored to the Jews by 
 a decree of the Roman senate, after having been 
 taken from them by Antiochiis, as expressed in 
 a letter sent by the ambassadors of the Jews, from 
 Jerusalem to Rome.* 
 
 It was about this time also peculiarly privi- 
 leged by a decree of Caius Julius Caesar, im- 
 perator and dictator, in being exempted from the 
 yearly tribute which all the other cities of the 
 Jews were obliged to pay for the city Jeru- 
 salem, t 
 
 The history of this place in the days of the 
 apostles is more familiar to us, and the vision of 
 Peter, who saw a sheet descending from heaven 
 covered with animals clean and unclean, and 
 heard a voice exclaiming, " Rise, Peter, kill 
 and eat ;" as well as the raising of Tabitha, the 
 female disciple, from the dead, and the reception 
 of the messengers from Caesarea there, need 
 only be rhentioned to be rernembered. 
 
 The history of the taking of this place from 
 the pirates, by Vespasian, is worthy of being 
 detailed more at length, particularly as the ope- 
 rations strikingly illustrate the local description 
 by which the account of them is accompanied, 
 
 * Josephus, Antiq. Jud. 1. xiii. c. 9. s. 2. A. C. 128. 
 t Ibid. 1. xiv. c. 10. s. 6. A. C.45.
 
 ^.'38 liY JOFPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 and which is remarkable for its clearness and 
 fidelity. 
 
 '* In the^niean time there were gathered to- 
 gether, as well such as had seditiously got out 
 from among their enemies, as those that had 
 escaped out of the demolished cities, which were 
 in all a great number, and repaired Joppa, which 
 had been left desolate by Cestius, that it might 
 serve them for a place of refuge. And because 
 the adjoining region had been laid waste in the 
 war, and was not capable of supporting them, 
 they determined to go off to sea. They also 
 built tliemselves a great many piratical ships, and 
 turned pirates upon the seas near to Syria, and 
 Phoenicia, and Egypt ; and made those seas un- 
 navigable to all men. Now as soon as Vespasian 
 knew of their conspiracy, he sent both foot and 
 horse to Joppa, who entered the city, which 
 was unguarded, in the night time. However, 
 those that were in it perceived that they should 
 be attacked, and were afraid of it. Yet did 
 they not endeavour to keep the Romans out, but 
 fled to their ships, and lay at sea all night, out 
 of the reach of their darts. 
 
 " Now Joppa is not naturally a ha^^en ; for it 
 ends in a rough shore, where all the rest of it is 
 straight, but the two ends bend towards each 
 other ; where there are deep precipices and 
 greater rocks that jut out into the sea j and
 
 BY JOPl'A AND KAMLAII TO JKHUSALEM. ^2S 
 
 and wliere the cliaiiis wherewith Andromeda was 
 bound have leflt their footsteps, which attest to 
 the antiquity of that fable. But the north wind 
 opposes and beats upon the shore, and dashes 
 mighty waves against the rocks, which receive 
 them, and renders the haven more dangerous 
 than the country they had deserted. Now as 
 these people of Joppa were floating about in this 
 sea, in the morning there fell a violent wind 
 upon them ; it is called by those that sail there, 
 the black north wind ; and there dashed their 
 ships one against another, and daslied some of 
 them against the rocks, and carried many of 
 them by force, while they strove against the 
 opposite waves, into the main sea. For the 
 shore was so rocky, and had so many of the 
 enemy upon it, that they were afraid to come to 
 land. Nay, the waves rose so very high, that 
 they drowned them. Nor was there any place 
 whither they could fly, nor any way to save 
 themselves; while they were thrust out of the 
 sea by the violence of the wind, if they staid 
 where they were, and out of the city, by the vio- 
 lence of the Romans. And much lamentation 
 there was when the ships were dashed against 
 one another, and a terrible noise when they 
 were broken to pieces. And some of the mul- 
 titude that were in them were covered with the 
 waves, and so perished ; and a great many were
 
 240 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 embarrassed with shipwrecks. But some of" 
 them thought that to die by their own swords, 
 was a lighter death than by the sea, and so 
 killed themselves before they were drowned. 
 Although the greatest part of them were carried 
 by the waves, and dashed to pieces against the 
 abrupt part of the shore. Insomuch that the 
 sea was bloody a long way, and floated with 
 dead bodies ; for the Romans came upon those 
 that were carried to the shore, and destroyed 
 them. And the number of the bodies that were 
 thus thrown out of the sea was four thousand 
 and two hundred. The Romans also took the 
 city, with out opposition, and utterly demo- 
 lished it. 
 
 <* And thus was Joppa taken twice by the 
 Romans in a little time ; but Vespasian, in order 
 to prevent these pirates from coming thither any 
 more, erected a camp there where the citadel of 
 Joppa had been, and left a body of horse in it, 
 with a few footmen, that these last might stay 
 there and guard the camp, and the horse might 
 spoil the country that lay round it, and destroy 
 the neighbouring villages and smaller cities. So 
 these troops overran the country, as they were 
 ordered to do, and every day cut many to pieces, 
 and laid desolate the whole region.* 
 
 * Josephus, Wars of the Jews, b. iii. c. 9. s. 2, 3, 4.
 
 DY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 91-1 
 
 About two centuries after this, it was visited 
 by St. Jerome, who speaks of it under its original 
 nameof Japho, which it still retained with' very 
 little corruption, when it was lield by the Sara- 
 cens, into whose hands it had fallen during the 
 Syrian war. 
 
 It was necessarily a contested point with the 
 crusaders, as the port of debarkation for Jerusa- 
 lem, and it therefore figures in all the naval opera- 
 tions of their wars.* The Rabbi Benjamin, who 
 has been so often accused of magnifying the 
 numbers of the Jews in all parts of the world, 
 with a view to enhance the importance of his 
 own nation, found here, about this period, only 
 one solitary individual, who was a dyer of linen t; 
 seemingly the most common occupation of the 
 labouring Jews in those days, as that of money- 
 changing is at present. 
 
 It was among the number of the early con- 
 quests made by the renowned Salah-el-din, who 
 came from his native mountains of Koordistaun 
 to avenge the insults offered by a Frank t to the 
 name of his prophet, and to the cities which had 
 
 * See the details In Ilakluyt's Collection. 
 
 f Quinque ab hinc leucis est Gapha, olini Japho, aliis 
 Joppa dicta ad mare situ ; ubi xinus tantum Judaeus, isque 
 lanae, inficiendee artifex est. From Chateaubriand, vol. i. 
 p. 372. 
 
 :}: Reg;in;ild de Chatilloii. 
 
 VOL. I. U
 
 ^?l•2 CY JOPPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 been honoured by containing, the one his cradle, 
 and tlie other his tomb. * Only three months 
 after the battle of Tiberias, the first city which 
 had fallen before his arms, he had possessed, him- 
 self of all the sea coast excepting Tyre and 
 Tripoly, and appeared before the walls of Jerusa- 
 lem itself, t 
 
 In the third crusade, after the surrender of 
 
 Acre, and the departure of Philip Augustus of 
 
 * Mecca and Medina. 
 
 i Bibliothe(iue Orientale, article Salahheddin, vol. iii. 
 p. 176.: and Gibbon, vol. ix. c. 69. p, 146. 
 
 " After this, king Richard purposed to besiege the city of 
 Jojipe, where, bv the way betweene Achon and .loppe, necre 
 t" a towne called Assiir, Saladine, with a great multitude of his 
 Saracens, came fiercely against the king's rereward, but through 
 God's merciful grace in the same battell, the king's warriers 
 acquitted themselves so well, that the Saladine was put to 
 flight, whom the Christians pursued the space of three miles ; 
 and he lost, that same day, many of his nobles and captaines 
 in such sort, (as it was thought), that the Saladine was not 
 put to such confusion forty yeres before, and but one Christian 
 captive, called James Auernus, in that conflict was over- 
 throwen. 
 
 " From thence king Richard proceeding further, went to 
 Jop})e, and then to Ascalon, where he found first the city of 
 •Toppe forsaken of the Saracens, who durst not abide the king's 
 coming: Ascalon, the Saladine threw downe to the ground, and 
 likewise forsooke the whole land of Syria, thro' all which land 
 the king had free passage without resistance : neither durst 
 the Saracen prince encounter after that with king Richard." 
 The woorthy voiage of Richard the first, king of England, into 
 y\si;i, for the recoverie of Jerusalem out of the hands of the 
 Saracens. Ilakliivt's Collection, vol. ii. p. 62. 4to.
 
 IJY JOPPA AND IIAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 243 
 
 France, the English Richard, Cccur de Lion, 
 led the crusaders to the recovery of the sea coast, 
 and the cities of Ca^sarea and Jaffa were added 
 to the fragments of the kingdom of Lusignan. * 
 It was here that he is said to have leaped himself 
 the foremost on the beach, when the castle was 
 relieved by his presence, and sixty thousand 
 Turks and Saracens fled before his arms. The 
 discovery of his weakness provoked them to 
 return in the morning, and they found him 
 carelessly encamped before the gates, with only 
 seventeen knights and three hundred archers. 
 Without counting their numbers, he sustained 
 their charge ; and we learn, from the evidence 
 of his enemies, that the king of England, grasp- 
 ing his lance, rode furiously along their front, 
 from the right to the left wing, without meeting 
 an adversary who dared to encounter his career. 
 Well might the historian ask, " Am I writing 
 the history of Orlando, or Amadis?"t 
 
 After the last crusade of St. Louis the ninth 
 of France, who expired in his camp before Tunis 
 in Africa, Jaffa fell with the other maritime towns 
 of Syria, under the power of the Mamlouks of 
 Egypt, who first shut up the Franks within their 
 last hold at Acre, and soon after closed by its 
 capture the bloody history of these holy wars. 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. ix. c. (if), p. 14(i. f Ibid. vol. ix. t: G. p. 148. 
 ,, o
 
 '244 BY JOPPA AND RAMLAII TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 It was, no doubt, long before it recovered from 
 the repeated shocks which these successive 
 sackings, plunderings, and conflagrations had 
 given it ; and, indeed, it even seems to have 
 been, only a century or two ago, almost desti- 
 tute of inhabitants. Moneonys, in l6l'7> t^e- 
 scribes the town as having only an old castle, 
 and three caverns hollowed out of the rock ; and 
 Thevenot, some years afterwards, says, that the 
 monks of the holy land erected wooden huts 
 before the caverns, but that they were forced to 
 demolish them by the Turks. 
 
 Le Bruyn, who travelled in 1G75, has given 
 two highly characteristic views of the place in 
 tlie relation of his voyage, from whicli it appears 
 even then to have been, as he expresses it, a 
 place of no importance. * Since that period, 
 however, it must have gradually increased ; 
 though, in l??^* it again suflTered all the horrors 
 of war, having its population, young and old, 
 male and female, barbarously cut to pieces, and 
 a pyramid formed of their bleeding heads as a 
 monument of a monster's victory, t 
 
 Its history, since that period, is numbered 
 among the events of our own day ; and will be 
 long remembered as giving to the world one of 
 
 * Voyage an Levant, p. 249. 
 
 -|- Volney s Travels in Syria, vol. i. p. l.OL). 8vo.
 
 liY JOl'PA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 24i5 
 
 the earliest pledges of Bonaparte*s disregard to 
 the fate of his associates in arms, when his own 
 safety could be purchased by their sacrifice. 
 
 Jaffa, as it is now seen, is seated on a promon- 
 tory jutting out into the sea, and rising to the 
 height of about one hundred and fifty feet above 
 its level, having a desert coast to the north and 
 south, the Mediterranean on the west, and fertile 
 plains and gardens behind it on the east. 
 
 It is walled around on the south and east 
 towards the land, and partially so on the north 
 and west towards the sea. There are not more 
 than a thousand habitations in all the town, and 
 the number of three mosques, one Latin convent, 
 and one Greek church, will afford a guide to 
 estimate the relative proportions of these religi- 
 ous bodies to each other. 
 
 There is a small fort near the sea on the west, 
 another on the north, and a third near the east- 
 ern gate of entrance, mounting in all from fifty 
 to sixty pieces of cannon ; which, with a force 
 of five hundred horse, and nearly the same 
 number of infantry, would enable the town to 
 be defended by a skilful commander. 
 
 The port is formed by a ledge of rocks running 
 north and south before the promontory, leaving 
 a confined and shallow space between these rocks 
 ixnd the town. Here the small trading vessels 
 of the country find shelter from south and wc:5t
 
 ^1'6 BY JOPPA AND KAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 winds, and land their cargoes on narrow wliarfs 
 running along before the magazines. When the 
 wind blows strong from the northward, they are 
 obliged to warp out, and seek shelter in the 
 small bay to the north-east of the town, as the 
 sea breaks in here with great violence, and there 
 is not more than three fathoms water in the 
 deepest part of the harbour ; so accurately do 
 tlie local features of the place correspond with 
 those given of it by Josephus. 
 
 Strabo mentions an opinion, that Jerusalem 
 could be seen from hence * ; but this has been 
 observed to be impossible, since the hills be- 
 tween these places are actually higher than that 
 on which Jerusalem stands. Josephus says, that 
 from the tower Psephinus, which was elevated 
 to the height of seventy cubits above the third 
 wall, where Titus pitched his own tent, there 
 was seen a prospect of Arabia at sun-rising, as 
 well as of the utmost limits of the Hebrew pos- 
 sessions at the sea westward, t The tower Hip- 
 picus is described as fourscore cubits in height, 
 and that of Pliasaelus as ninety, which latter is 
 said to have resembled the tower of Pharos, 
 which exhibited a fire to such as sailed to Alex- 
 andria, but was much larger than it in compass. § 
 
 * Strabo, 1. xvi. 
 
 t Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 1. v. c. 4. ]f. Ibid.
 
 BY JOITA .\ND r.AMLAir lO Jf-IIUSALHM. '^M-7 
 
 li 4
 
 248 BY JOrPA AND RAMLAH TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 It has been attempted to explain the passage 
 of Strabo, by supposing that these towers from 
 their great altitude might have been seen from 
 Joppa, and thus, too, the sight of the sea from 
 Psephinus be confirmed. But this last might 
 easily have been true without the other neces- 
 sarily following ; since, from the great elevation 
 of Jerusalem, the visible horizon to seaward 
 would be extended to a point not only far 
 beyond Joppa, but even beyond the range of 
 vision westerly from thence. The light of the 
 fire occasioned by the conflagration of the Jam- 
 nites' fleet in the harbour of Joppa by Judas 
 Maccabeus, might, however, have been easily 
 seen at Jerusalem, as it is said to have been*, 
 from its illuminating the higher parts of the 
 atmosphere in its ascent. 
 
 On returning from our excursion around the 
 town and port, we Sat down to a dinner of as 
 meagre a kind as could well be prepared in an 
 European manner, and had to drink large 
 potions of the weakest and sourest wines that I 
 had ever yet tasted, even in this country. Here 
 we were unexpectedly joined by a Greek doctor 
 whom I had met at Jedda, on my last voyage 
 from India to Egypt by the Red Sea. This man, 
 rushing suddenly into the room, clasped me 
 round the neck, and, after a profusion of kisses 
 
 * 2 Maccabees, xii. 0.
 
 BY JOPPA AND HAMLAII TO JERUSALLM. 249 
 
 in the fashion of the East, told me that he had 
 just arrived with some pilgrims from Damietta, 
 and begged that we would detain ourselves for 
 him, that he might have the honour of entering 
 Jerusalem with a " Milord Inglese.'* 
 
 I was glad to evade this ill-timed flattery by 
 pressing a subject on which I had determined to 
 make minute enquiry. The fact of Bonaparte's 
 having murdered his prisoners here in cold blood 
 had been doubted, from the mere circumstances of 
 the consul having omitted to mention it, though 
 he had not been once questioned as to the point. 
 This, however, I was resolved to do ; and in 
 reply we were assured by this same consul's son, 
 Damiani, himself an old man of sixty, and a 
 spectator of all that passed here during the 
 French invasion, that such massacre did really 
 take place ; and twenty mouths were opened at 
 once to confirm the tale. 
 
 It was related to us, that Bonaparte had issued 
 a decree, ordering that no one should be per- 
 mitted to pass freely without having a written 
 protection bearing his signature ; but publishing 
 at the same time an assurance that this should be 
 granted to all who would apply for it on a given 
 day. The multitude confided in the promise, 
 and were collected on the appointed day without 
 the city, to the number of ten or twelve hundred 
 persons, including men, women, and children.
 
 ^250 BY JOPl'A AND RAMLAII TO .TKllUSALEM. 
 
 They were tlien ordered on an eminence, and 
 there arranged in battalion, under pretence of 
 counting them one by one. When all was leady, 
 the troops were ordered to fire on them, and only 
 a few escaped their destructive vollies. Asimil'dr 
 scene was transacted on the bed of rocks before 
 the port, where about three hundred persons 
 were either shot or driven to perish in the sea, 
 as if to renew the deeds of treacherous murder 
 which the men of Joppe had of old practised on 
 the Jews, and which their heroic defender had 
 so amply avenged.* 
 
 * 2 Maccabees, xii. 39,
 
 ( '25] 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 VISIT TO RAMLAH, AND ENQUIRIES INTO ITS 
 HISTORY. 
 
 It was about four o'clock when we quitted 
 Yafah, on our journey towards Jerusalem ; and, 
 after leaving the gate we went on through a 
 road bordered on each side by formidable fences 
 of the prickly-pear, within which were gardens 
 filled with orange trees bending beneath the 
 weight of their yellow fruit. 
 
 In about half an hour we halted at an hig-hlv 
 ornamented fountain, similar to that within the 
 gate at Yafah. It was probably the same spring 
 which, in the time of Pausanias, was celebrated 
 as that at which Perseus washed the blood from 
 his wounds ; though the structure around it is 
 purely Turkish. We could answer to the fact 
 of its waters being no longer tinged, however, 
 either from that or any other cause ; since we 
 admired their refreshing coolness and crystal 
 purity, and, after slaking our thirst from their 
 stream, renewed our way, till darkness soon 
 bounded our view on every side. 
 
 After about four hours' ride, chiefly across a
 
 252 * VISIT TO RAMLAH, AND 
 
 fine plain, with here atid there a gentle ascent, 
 passing several small villages at a little distance 
 on the left by the way, and seeing marks of 
 fertility and cultivation, we approached Ramlah. 
 The town of Lydd, the Lydda of the Scriptures, 
 was on our left within sight, when we entered 
 Ramlah through a road similar to that leading 
 from Jaffa, bordered with fences of prickly- 
 pears, and having an abundance of trees scat- 
 tered on each side. 
 
 We were directed to the convent, for the 
 superior of which the president at Nazareth 
 had given us a letter ; and we were kindly 
 received by the good old friars. We were 
 scarcely entered, before there arrived from 
 Jerusalem two Christian pilgrims, ecclesiastics 
 of Turin, who had left Trieste in the vessel 
 now at Caypha, which was to have brought 
 hither the Prince of Sweden, and all his 
 brother pilgrims, but which could not accom- 
 modate them. These ecclesiastics had been at 
 Jerusalem for the last two months, and had 
 spent their Christmas there. They were seem- 
 ingly devout and sincere, and spoke with en- 
 thusiasm of the pleasures of pilgrimage, and of 
 the joy of suffering in the performance of it. 
 Neither of them seemed to be above twenty 
 years of age ; and being full of spirits, their 
 society was extremely agreeable. 
 *2
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS HISTORY. ^.53 
 
 lytli. After an early breakfast with the pil- 
 grims, who were journeying towards their home, 
 we procured a guide from tlie convent to direct 
 us in our examination of the town and its en- 
 virons ; where, as tliroughout the greater part 
 of Palestine, the rained portion seemed more 
 extensive than that which was inhabited. 
 
 This city appears in the early history of tlie 
 kings of Israel, as the residence of Samuel. In 
 the account of Saul's malice against David, he 
 is described to have been first saved from his 
 anger by Jonathan hiding him in a cave ; again, 
 by slipping aside from a thrust of his javelin ; 
 and, lastly, by being let down through a window 
 by Michal his wife, who substituted an image 
 covered with a cloth, lying on a pillow or bolster 
 of goat's hair*, in his place, pretending it to be 
 David lying sick in bed. On this last occasion 
 
 * Josephus tells this story of the stratagem of David in ano- 
 ther way ; saying that his wife put under the bed-clothes a 
 goat's liver, which, by its still quivering or leaping in motion, 
 seemed to those who beheld it, like the respirations of an 
 asthmatic person. Whiston says, on the translation of this 
 word by liver, instead of a pillow or bolster of goaf s hair, " Since 
 the modern Jews have lost the signification of the Hebrew 
 word here used, Cebir ; and since the LXX, as well as Jose- 
 phus, render it the liver of the goat ; and since this rendering, 
 and Josephus's account, are here so much more clear and j)ro- 
 bable than those of others ; 'tis almost unaccountable that our 
 commentators should so much as hesitate about its true inter- 
 pretation." — Notes to Josephus, vol. i. p. 400. Svo.
 
 ^i,54 VISIT TO RAMLAH, AND 
 
 he is said to have fled to Ramah, where Samuel 
 dwelt. * 
 
 It might seem doubtful, however, whether 
 Ramah here meant a town or a district ; the latter 
 being rather probable, from the expression of 
 *' Naioth in Ramah," where it is said David 
 was ; but it is after his arrival in safety at Ramah, 
 that it is said, " And he and Samuel went and 
 dwelt at Naioth ;" which might be interpreted, 
 therefore, as the name of a distinct town. 
 
 In the history of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, 
 with which the first book of Samuel commences, 
 he is called a man of Ramathaim-zophim, of 
 Mount Ephraim. f This was the name of a city, 
 as it is added, " And this man went up out of 
 his city yearly to worship and sacrifice unto the 
 Lord of Hosts in Shiloh." t That this too was 
 the same with Rama, may be inferred from a 
 subsequent verse, which says, on describing their 
 return from Jerusalem, " x\ndthey rose up in the 
 morning early, and worshipped before the Lord, 
 and returned and came to their house to 
 Ramah." § 
 
 It continues to be frequently mentioned in the 
 liistory of Samuel, their son, who was born here, 
 
 * See the 19tb chapter of 1 Samuel, throughout, 
 f 1 Samuel, c. i. ver. 1 , X Ibid. ver. 3. 
 
 § Ibid. ver. 19.
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS IIISTOUV. ^55 
 
 continued to visit it often during his life, and at 
 last ended his days in this place. " And Samuel 
 died, and all the Israelites were gathered toge- 
 ther, and lamented him, and buried him in his 
 house at Ramah."* 
 
 In the history of the Maccabees, it resumes 
 its first name of Ramathaim, in a letter of king 
 Demetrius to his father Lasthenes, of which he 
 sends a copy to his brother Jonatlian and the 
 nation of the Jews. " King Demetrius unto 
 his father Lasthenes sendeth oreetinjr. We are 
 determined to do good to the people of the 
 Jews, wlio are our friends, and keep covenants 
 with us, because of tiieir good will toward us. 
 Wherefore we have ratified unto them the 
 borders of Judea, with the three governments 
 of Appharema, Lydda, and Ramathem, that are 
 added unto Judea from the country of Samaria, 
 and all things appertaining unto them, for all 
 
 * 1 Samuel, c. xxv. ver. 1. In ihe time of Benjamin of Tu- 
 dela, this Ramali had a synagogue, in which the Jews kept the 
 body of Samuel, who was buried there. Of this Ramah, the 
 learned Reland, who did not conceive it to be the place of 
 Samuel's birth and sepulchre, says, " Scriptoreni antiquiorem 
 qui hujus Ramge mentionem facit, non novi Bernardo Mona- 
 cho, qui sseculo nono vixit, et iter instituit in loca sancta anno 
 870, et in Ubro de locis Sanctis ita ejus meminit : ' Deinde 
 venerunt Alarixa : de Alarixa in Ramula juxta quam est monas- 
 terium beati Georgii martyris, ubi ipse requiescit. De Ramula 
 ad Emmaus castellum, de Emmaus ad sanctJim civitatem Hie- 
 rusaleui.' "
 
 256 VISIT TO RAMLAII, AND 
 
 such as do sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the 
 fragments which the kins; received of them 
 yearly aforetime, out of the fruits of the earth 
 and of trees.*** 
 
 It has been conceived, that the Ramah of 
 Samuel was nearer to Jerusalem, and between it 
 and Bethlehem ; though the data on which that 
 is assumed are at least ambiguous. The earliest 
 authentic notice which I have met with of the 
 Ramah there mentioned, as still bearing the 
 same name, is in Le Bniyn*s " Voyage au Le- 
 vant," where that name is given to some insig- 
 nificant ruins ; and this rested only on the tra- 
 dition of the people of the country, whom he 
 accuses of confounding this Ramah with Rama- 
 tba, which was on the road from Joppa to 
 Jerusalem. t 
 
 Pococke, in passing through the same place, 
 saw only some signs of the foundation of a 
 
 * 1 Maccabees, c. xi. ver. 32. et seq. 
 
 f Aiix environs de cette tour il y a quantite de grosses pier- 
 res, et de vieux fondemens de batiniens qui y ont ete autrefois. 
 Les gens du pays disent que ce sont les restes de I'ancienne 
 ville de Rama, dont il est parle dans J^remie, xxxi. 15- " Ainsi 
 a dit TEternel, Une voix de lamentation et de plenrs tr^s-amer 
 a ^te ouie en Rama, Rachel pleurant ses enfans, elle a refuse 
 d'etre consolee touchant ses enfans, de ce qu'il n'y en a plus." 
 Les habitans du pays confondent, mal-k-propos, ce Rama avee 
 Ramatha, qui est sur le cliemin de .Toppe a Jerusalem, er qu'ils 
 appellent, sans raison, Rama. Cliap. lii. p. 284. folio.
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS HISTORY, 257 
 
 house, and equally doubted of this being the 
 Ramah of the Scriptures,* 
 
 Chateaubriand, for the sake of introducing 
 with effect a specimen of Hebrew eloquence, 
 sees lights in the village oft Ramah, though no 
 such village existed ; but he says nothing more 
 of it in his way to Bethlehem. And Dr. Clarke, 
 though he notices minutely, not only all that he 
 passed, but all that could be seen from the 
 road between Jerusalem and Bethelhem, does 
 not even mention any thing regarding the site 
 of Ramah there, t 
 
 Phocas, a very accurate writer, describes the 
 distance of Ramah from Jerusalem as equal to 
 
 * In the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, " we 
 came to a place where there are some signs of the foundation of 
 a house, and near it there are caves and cisterns, which, they 
 say, was the house of Jacob, where Rachel died. Some, 
 though probably without foundation, think that this was Ramah, 
 and others, with as little reason, that it was the house of Keli, 
 the father of Joseph, who was the husband of the blessed 
 Virgin." Vol. ii. part i. p. 39. 
 
 f We perceived in the mountains, for iiight had come on, 
 the lights of the village of Ramah. Profound silence reigned 
 around us. It was, doubtless, in such a night as this that 
 Rachel's voice struck the ear. "A voice was heard in Ramah, 
 lamentation and bitter weeping ; Rachel weeping for her chil- 
 dren, refused to be comforted because they were not." Here 
 the mothers of Astyanax and Euryalus are outdone ; Homer 
 and Virgil must yield the palm of pathos to Jeremiah. — Cha- 
 teaubriand's Travels, vol. i. p. 390. 8vo. 
 
 + Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. c. 18. 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 VISIT TO RAMLAH, AND 
 
 thirty-seven miles * ; " and if this be true,*' 
 says the writer, from whom this is quoted, " Jaffa 
 is forty-seven miles at the least from Jerusalem," 
 evidently, therefore, meaning the Ramah in the 
 plain between. This same place is fixed at 
 thirty miles from Jerusalem by Quaresimus t ; 
 and Phocas, already quoted as an authority for 
 the distance of thirty-seven miles, places Arma- 
 them, the city of Samuel, at only six miles, and 
 Ramplex or Ramola at twenty miles, making 
 them decisively distinct places, t 
 
 There are unfortunately neither local features 
 nor accurate distances, either in the Scriptures 
 or in Josephus, who copies from them, by which 
 we could determine precisely the place of 
 the Ramah of Samuel, or distinguish it from 
 the many other towns of that name which 
 are said to have existed in Palestine. § Cellarius 
 
 * Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. ii. Note p. 624. 
 t " Via a Rama usque ad Jerusalem est triginta circiter 
 milliarium." Eleucid. T. S. torn. ii. p. 12. 
 
 I " A sancta civitate Hierusalem, ad sex milliaria, Armathem 
 urbs conspicitur, in qua Samuel magnus ille propheta ortum 
 habuit. Inde post alia septem et amplius milliaria Emmaus, 
 urbs magna, in media valle supereminenti dorso jacet. Sic 
 ad passuum fere viginti millia Rampleae (base est Ramola, sic 
 leg. Reland) regio effunditur : et templum ingens in eadem, 
 sancti magni martyris Georgii visitur." Phocse Descrip. Loc. 
 Sanct. apud Leon. AUat, Sd/^ju. Colon. 1 653. 
 
 § There seems to have been a place called Ramah, some- 
 where near both to Jerusalem and to Bethlehem, as in the 
 story of the Levite and his concubine, related in the 1 9th chap.
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS HISTORY. 259 
 
 who had all the authorities for deciding the 
 question within his reach, evidently considered 
 this Ramah to be the same with that mentioned 
 in the Book of Samuel, and notices the variation 
 of its names in different passages. * Adrichomius 
 may not, therefore, have confounded these, as 
 he is accused of doing, in dift'ering from Phocas; t 
 and though Bethoron and Ramah are said by 
 
 of Judges, when they were come in the evening near to Jebus, 
 which is Jerusalem, they proposed to pass over to Gibeah, or 
 Ramah, to lodge for the night, rather than enter '• this city of 
 strangers ;" and there were others of the same name, with 
 variations of Ramath, Ramatha, Ramathon, Ramoth, &c. in 
 various parts of Judea. SeeReland's Palestina Illustrata. 
 
 * Vicina Lydda fuit Ramah sive Ramathah, nisi hsec forma 
 ex ilia est cum He localiadfixa: prior occurrit 1 Sam. c. xix. 
 19 — 22, posterior in notione termini ad quem, 1 Sam. 
 e.i. 19 — 22; c. ii. 11; c. xix. 18 — 22. Eadem dicta Ra- 
 mathaim-zophim, I Sam. c. i. 1. Montibus Ephraim adhaera- 
 bat, ut ibidem dicitur : ideo alia ab Rama Benjamin, quae et 
 Saulis vocatur, de qua infra lxx pluribus locis Apja»Sa«ju, 
 Armathsem, tribus syllabis ut in libris est (et inde 1 Mace, 
 c. xi. 34. Pa/.t«^£>,) at 1 Sam. c. xix. 18, 19. « Pa/xa. Patria 
 Samuelis fuit: quiet ibi habitavit, c. xv. 34; c. xvi. 13; 
 c. xix. 18. Joseph, lib. v. c. xi. est PajuSa, dicenti de Elkana 
 Samuelis patre, Pa/Aa9«v voXiy xa-voiKm Ramatham urbem in- 
 colens. Una ex tribus fuit, quae ex Samaritide detractae, 
 et contributae regione Judae sunt, 1 Mace. c. xi. 34. Posteriori 
 aevo dicta fuit Ramula — Guilielmus Tyrius, lib. vii. c. 22. 
 *♦ In vicini (Lyddae) nobilis civitas est Ramula nomine. Est 
 in via quae k Joppe fert Hierosolymam." — Cellarius, Geog. 
 Ant. lib. iii. c. xili. p. 323. 4to. 
 
 I Dr. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 636. Note 7. 
 S 2
 
 260 visit TO RAMLAH, AND 
 
 St. Jerome to have been built by Solomon * ; 
 yet, as no earlier authority is given for that 
 opinion, it might have been merely tradition in 
 his time, in a country where all great works are 
 attributed to that monarch t, and would not, 
 therefore, invalidate the claim to its being the 
 Ramah to which that monarch's father fled, t 
 
 Its origin has been similarly ascribed by an 
 Arabic writer to "Suliman Abd-el-Melek,** who 
 is said to have built it from the ruins of Lydda, 
 in the vicinity § ; but even this may refer only 
 
 * Dr. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 629. Note 1 . " Rama et Betheron et 
 reliquas urbis nobilis a Salomone constructee parvi viculi de- 
 monstrantur." St. Jerome. 
 
 f " Dans toute la Syrie les Mahometans, co'mme les Juifs, et 
 les Chretiens, attribuent tons les grands ouvrages k Salomon." — 
 Volney, Etat. Politique de la Syrie, vol. ii. p. 134. 
 
 I The learned Reland separated this Ramah of Samuel 
 from the Ramah of the plain, as he says at the word 
 •n^"^ urbs in Benjamin. (Jos. xviii. 25.) Inter Ramah et 
 Bethelin montanis Ephraim (Jud. iv. .5. Legitur, Jud. xix. 13.) 
 Perge ut Giheae, vel Ramae pernoctemus, unde situs Ramse 
 
 illustratur Aberat 6 miliaria, ab Delia, sive Jerusalem, 
 
 ad septentrionem contra Bethel, testi Eusebio in CEnamastico. 
 .... Rama quce est juxta Gabaa in septimo lapicle a Jerosolymis 
 situ, scribit Hieron. ad cap. 5. . . . .Est porro Rama in 
 Ephraim, ubi Samuel habitavit et sepultus est. — Palestina 
 lUustrata, 4to. 1714. p. 9C3. 964. 
 
 § Urbem banc idem non antiquam, sed conditam esse scribit. 
 (Abulfeda in geographia sua manuscripta) ab Solimanno, filios 
 Abd-el-Melek, vastato urbe Lydda, et aqueeductu, cisterna, 
 aliisque rebus ornatam abesse ab urbe Hierosolymitana iter 
 unius diei, Lyddam inde abesse tres parasangas (^sr^l Jy 
 versus ortem (^^.>jj.jI XxSy^ is^) ^^ etiam versus septentrio- 
 nem, ut alii referunt. Relandj'tom. ii. p. 9.59.
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS HISTORY. 2()1 
 
 to the same tradition of Solomon, son of David, 
 being its founder, or relate to repairs and aug- 
 mentations actually made by such a person as 
 the one named. 
 
 St. Jerome conceived it to be the Arimathea 
 of the * Scriptures ; and Adrichomius, who en- 
 tertained a similar opinion, traces its various 
 names through all their changes, from Rama- 
 thaim and Ramah, as it is called in the Old Tes- 
 tament t , to Ramatha or Armatha t the seat 
 of Samuel, as Joseph us has it, and to the Ari- 
 mathea § of the New Testament, and the Ramla 
 of the present day. || 
 
 The oriental geographers speak of this as the 
 metropolis of Palestine ^ , and every appearance 
 of its ruins even now confirm the opinion of its 
 having been once a considerable city. Its situa- 
 tion, as lying immediately in the high road from 
 Jaffa to Jerusalem, made it necessarily a place of 
 
 * Haud procul ab ea (Lydda) Arimathiam viculum Joseph, 
 qui Dominum sepelevit. Hieronymus in Epitaphio Paulae. 
 
 f 1 Samuel, as already referred to. 
 
 :}: Josephus, Index 3. Letter A. 
 
 § St. Luke, xxiii. 51. 
 
 II Vide Adrichom. Theat. Terr. Sanct. p. 29. Colon. 1628. 
 
 5[ Abulhasen Persa, in geographia sua manuscripta, vocat 
 
 jJsM^ib ^Hmsj iLo\j Ramolam caput Palaestinae. Liceat enini 
 
 vocem <Xj«fli' ita reddere, quae metropolin significat, uti jam 
 
 observavit Golius in notis ad Alferganum, pag, 279. Rel. Pal. 
 
 Jllust. p. 959. 4to. 1/14. 
 
 S 3
 
 262 VISIT TO RAMLAH, AND 
 
 great resort ; and from the fruitfulness of" the 
 country around it, it must have been equally im- 
 portant as a military station or a depot for sup- 
 plies, and as a magazine for the collection of 
 such articles of commerce as were exported from 
 the coast. 
 
 In its present state, the town ofRamlah is about 
 the size of Jaffa, in the extent actually occupied. 
 The dwellings of this last, however, are crowded 
 together around the sides of a hill, while those 
 of Ramlah are scattered widely over the face of 
 the level plain on which it stands. 
 
 The style of building here, is that of high 
 square houses with flattened domes covering 
 them ; and some of the terraced roofs are fenced 
 around with raised walls, in which are seen pyra- 
 mids of hollow earthenware pipes, as if to give 
 air and light without destroying th^ strength of 
 the wall itself. 
 
 On the large mosque we noticed a square 
 tower with pointed arched windows, like many 
 of our country-church steeples in England, dif- 
 fering only from these in being surmounted by 
 an open gallery, and a flat-domed summit. These 
 last, it could be plainly seen, were subsequent 
 additions, and did not harmonize with the tower 
 itself, which was purely Gothic, and, no doubt, 
 a Christian work at the period of the crusades. 
 We saw also in other parts of the town, vestiges
 
 KNQUJRJKS IN'JO ITS HISTOIIV. 
 
 Q6S 
 
 S 1
 
 264 VISIT TO RAMLuAH, AND 
 
 of Gothic edifices, of a character decidedly dif- 
 ferent from Saracen architecture, though both 
 of them have the pointed arch in common j but 
 all these were greatly ruined. 
 
 The convent of the Latins is large and com- 
 modious, though not equal to that of Nazareth. 
 It has a good church, an open court, with a fine 
 spreading orange-tree, and several wells of ex- 
 cellent water in it for their gardens. 
 
 The inhabitants are estimated at little more 
 than five thousand persons, of whom about one- 
 third are Christians of the Greek and Catholic 
 communion, and the remaining two-thirds Mo- 
 hammedans, chiefly Arabs ; the men of power 
 and the military only being Turks, and no Jews 
 residing there. 
 
 The principal occupation of the people is hus- 
 bandry, for which the surrounding country is 
 highly favourable ; and the staple commodities 
 produced by them are corn, olives, oil, and cot- 
 ton, with some soap and coarse cloth made in 
 the town. 
 
 There are still remains of some noble subter- 
 ranean cisterns at Ramlah, not inferior either in 
 extent or execution to many of those at Alex- 
 andria. They were intended for the same pur- 
 pose, namely, to serve in time of war as reservoirs 
 of water ; and they are, no doubt, those spoken 
 of by the Arabian geographer, as quoted before.
 
 ENQUIRIES INTO ITS HISTORY. ^65 
 
 Some writers place here the tomb of St. George 
 the Martyr, the patron saint of our crusading 
 kings*, from whom is descended to us the St. 
 George's ensign, emblazoned with the symbol 
 of the red-cross knights : but neither the fathers 
 of the convent, nor the guide which they had 
 given us, could tell us any thing regarding it. 
 
 Equally ignorant were such of the Moham- 
 medans as we questioned of the tomb of Lock- 
 man the sage, a man as celebrated among them 
 for his wisdom, as St. George is with us for his 
 valour, t 
 
 On our return to the convent, we found every 
 thing ready for the prosecution of our journey, 
 and thanking the friars for their hospitality, we 
 mounted our mules, and set forward on our way. 
 
 * Deinde venerunt Alarixa; de Alarixa in Ramula, juxta 
 quam est monasterium beati Georgii Marty ris, ubi ipse requies- 
 cit. Bernardus de Locis Sanctis. Anno 870. apud Reland, p. 959. 
 
 f Le chapitre 3 1 . de 1' Alcoran, qui porte le nom de Locman, 
 s'appelle Sourat Lokman. Mahomet y fait parler Dieu, qui 
 dit ces paroles. L^cadatina Locman alhecmat. " Nous avons 
 donne la sagesse k Locman." L'auteur du Tarikh Montekheb 
 ecrit que le sepulcre de Locman, se voyoit encore de son temps 
 a Ramlah ou Ramah, petite ville que n'est pas ^loignee de 
 Jerusalem." Bib. Orient, tom. 2. p. 485.
 
 ( ^2G(5 ) • 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, 
 TO JERUSALEM. 
 
 AVe left the town of llamlah through a road 
 again bordered by the prickly-pear, and con- 
 tinued over a fine plain until nine o'clock, 
 when we began to ascend, but gently, over land 
 that was partially cultivated. At ten, we came 
 to rugged hills, and saw on the left, in one or 
 two places, vestiges of old Gothic buildings. 
 
 Passing the first range of hills, we came to a 
 long narrow defile, in which we met a number 
 of Mohammedan pilgrims, chiefly Barbary Arabs, 
 returning from Mecca by way of Damascus and 
 Jerusalem ; there were some few women among 
 them, who were all barefoot and miserably 
 dressed ; and there was only one camel to 
 carry the baggage of the whole party. 
 
 From hence we went up a steep ascent, and 
 passing a small building on the left, at noon we 
 reached another similar one, where a caphar, or 
 toll, of sixteen ])aras was demanded of us.
 
 ToJ'ucc i>(igc '2()(). JOL /.
 
 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, &C. ^^67 
 
 Still ascending, we reached at length the 
 summit of these hills, from whence we had a 
 view of the extensive plains to the west, through 
 a break in the line of the first range of smaller 
 hills, distinguishing plainly, Ramlah, Lydda, and 
 JafFah, with a long line of coast on the north 
 and south, and the distant horizon of the west. 
 Stoney and rugged as the hills were here, there 
 were yet patches of ploughed land, and evident 
 marks of care to save every rood fit for cul- 
 tivation. 
 
 Descendins: now on the eastern brow of these 
 hills, we came at one o'clock to the village of 
 Abu-Gosh, so called from its lord, an Arab chief in 
 great power here. A caphar was again demanded 
 of us by a party of about twenty men, who sat 
 by the way-side armed to enforce it. It was 
 accordingly paid, and soon afterwards the chief 
 himself, a fierce red-bearded man of about forty, 
 coming to accost us, demanded our paper of 
 protection. It was shown to him, and he said, 
 that as he held himself responsible for our safe 
 passage through his territory, which lay between 
 that of the Pasha of Acre, and the Pasha of 
 Damascus, he must keep this paper to certify 
 that we had so passed safely through his hands. 
 
 In this village we saw the ruins of a Christian 
 church, apparently once a handsome edifice, 
 now used as a stable for oxen. There are here
 
 268 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 about two thousand inhabitants, chiefly JMoham- 
 medan ; and though the country around is 
 rocky and hilly in the extreme, it is carefully 
 cultivated, even to the very summit of the hills. 
 Maundrell's observations on the subject are 
 perfectly just *, though the inferences he draws 
 of the ground thus producing more than if the 
 surface were a level, is erroneous, as proved by 
 Sir Humphrey Davy's experiments on the effect 
 of gravitation on roots, t 
 
 The ground is preserved level in steps or 
 stages, by little stone walls, as at Malta and 
 Goza, which give the whole a singular ap- 
 pearance. The hills are all of a white stone, 
 like that of the range of Mount Carmel, en- 
 closing flints, but sparingly, and breaking in 
 horizontal layers of about a foot thick, these 
 again breaking transversely so as to form innu- 
 merable square stones. The soil is lighter and 
 of a redder colour than in the plains of Zabulon 
 and Esdraelon ; and besides corn and cotton, 
 we saw vines in great plenty, with olive-trees in 
 the vale below. 
 
 On reaching the foot of the hill on which the 
 village of Abu-Gosh is situated, we again as- 
 cended, and gaining the summit of this second 
 range at two o'clock, we were obliged to dis- 
 
 * Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 87' 8vo. 
 \ See these in his work on Agricultural Chemistry. 
 
 ^^-
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. ^69 
 
 mount, in order to descend a steep and rugged 
 road. Near the bottom of this we drank at a 
 humble fountain, over which was an Arabic 
 inscription ; and continuing along a rocky road 
 by the side of a hill, we opened upon the village 
 of Ayn Kareem * on the right, and Kalioon on 
 the left, in the former of which are Christians, 
 in the latter Mohammedans. Both these villages 
 are small, but the valleys near them abound 
 with olive-trees, and the hills are cultivated with 
 labour and care. We met here three peasants 
 at different times, two of whom separately de- 
 manded of us, *' When will there be rain ?" and 
 seemed quite disappointed at our replying, 
 "Allah alHm,'' or, " God knows." 
 
 Still descending, we found, at the bottom of 
 the valley, the ruins of a building, which the 
 peasants told us was once a Christian edifice. 
 It was of -small size, yet constructed of massy 
 blocks, and presented an appearance of consi- 
 derable strength, but not enough of it remained 
 to enable us to pronounce on its age or character, 
 though, being of rustic masonry, it was pro- 
 bably Roman, t 
 
 * >j_> X£ literally, the generous or beneficent fountain. 
 
 f Mariti ascribes this structure to some monks or other. 
 For an Italian traveller, the error is a gross one. If the 
 architecUire of this edifice be not Hebrew, it is certainly 
 Roman ; the junctures, the figure, and the bulk of the stones, 
 leave no doubt on this subject. — Chateaubriand, vol. i. p. 384.
 
 270 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 Passing onward through the bottom of the 
 valley, and turning to the north, we came to the 
 remains of a stone bridge, having an excellent 
 pavement of broad and flat stones over it. The 
 bridge itself was now partly broken, and the 
 bed of the torrent below it was perfectly dry. 
 From hence we perceived caverns in the rock 
 near the village of Kalioon, no doubt the ha- 
 bitations of former ages ; and ascending still 
 higher, over a broad but steep and rugged road, 
 we saw, near the summit of the hill, to the 
 north of the village, a grotto entered by a 
 square door-way, evidently artificially hewn. 
 
 We still ascended towards the summit of this 
 high range over a most fatiguing and constantly 
 obstructed path, opening on our left upon a 
 round hollow valley below, with a village, the 
 name of which we could not learn, on the brow 
 of the hill. Reaching the cold and bleak summit 
 of the mountain at four, we saw a convent in an 
 elevated vale on the right, and began to per- 
 ceive a minareh through some trees, with a 
 small domed building nearer to us. Our road 
 upward from the bridge had shown indistinct 
 vestiges of a paved way, but on the top of the 
 hill, where the road was now flat, the pavement 
 was more decidedly seen, from its being better 
 preserved. 
 
 As the sun was hastening fast to decline, we
 
 ' THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. ^71 
 
 quickened the pace of our weary mules, and 
 riding for about half an hour over the rugged 
 face of this mountain's top, we came at five in 
 sight of Jesusalem, on the western brow of this 
 hill, and now but a little below us. 
 
 The appearance of tliis celebrated city, inde- 
 pendently of the feelings and recollections 
 which the approach to it cannot fail to awaken, 
 was greatly inferior to my expectations, and had 
 certainly nothing of grandeur or beauty, of 
 stateliness or magnificence, about it. It ap- 
 peared like a walled town of the third or fourth 
 class, having neither towers, nor domes, nor 
 minarehs within it, in sufficient numbers to give 
 even a character to its impressions on the 
 beholder ; but showing chiefly large flat-roofed 
 buildings, of the most unornamented kind, 
 seated amid rugged hills, on a stoney and 
 forbidding soil, wdth scarcely a picturesque 
 object in the whole compass of the surrounding 
 view. * 
 
 * Dr. Clarke, in approaching Jerusalem from the road of 
 Napolose, says, " We had not been prepared for the grandeur 
 of the spectacle which the city exhibited ; instead of a wretched 
 and ruined town, by some described as the desolated remnant 
 of Jerusalem, we beheld, as it were, a flourishing and stately 
 metropolis ; presenting a magnificent assemblage of domes, 
 towers, palaces, churches, and monasteries ; all of which, glit- 
 tering in the sun's rays, shone with inconceivable splendour." 
 He adds, in a note, however. " At the same time it should be
 
 27^ JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 We hastened to the gate, which was in the 
 act of closing as we entered it ; and turning 
 towards the left, and passing through some 
 narrow paved streets, which were unusually 
 clean, we arrived by a circuitous route, at the 
 Latin convent of the Terra Santa, where we 
 alighted at a dark door beneath a covered 
 passage. 
 
 On being shown up to the friars, I could not 
 help observing that suspicion seemed to exist 
 among them all, of my being a poor man ; my 
 scanty baggage was eyed with contempt, and 
 twenty questions were asked me in a breath. 
 Fortunately, the kind superior of Nazareth had 
 given me a letter for the procuratore generale 
 here, but as it was some time before this could 
 be ffot at, I was kept waiting the whole of the 
 time in the gallery. 
 
 confessed, that there is no other point of view where Jerusalem 
 is seen to such advantage." (Vol. ii. p. 524.) 
 
 Mr. Browne approached it from Jaffa as we did, and he says, 
 " I must confess the first aspect of Jerusalem did not gratify my 
 expectation. On ascending a hill, distant about three miles, this 
 celebrated city arose to view, seated on an eminence, but sur- 
 rounded by others of greater height ; and its walls, which 
 remain tolerably perfect, form the chief object in the approach. 
 Thev are constructed of a reddish stone. As the day was ex- 
 tremely cold, and snow began to fall, the prospect was not so 
 interesting as it might have proved at a more favourable 
 season." (p. 361.)
 
 THROUGH THE MOUxXTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. 273 
 
 . In the mean time, there came two Hano- 
 verians, dirty, ill-dressed, and from their manner 
 and appearance vulgar men, who addressed me 
 in French, to know if I was really an English- 
 man. Next came the Portuguese servant of 
 Mr. Bankes, who was in the neighbourhood, to 
 ask me, in broken English, all the same questions 
 over again, by which time my letter was pro- 
 duced, and sent in to the old superior. 
 
 All was instantly changed : the President of 
 Nazareth, I know not why, having warmly 
 recommended me to his holy care and protec- 
 tion, as a " Milord Inglese, richissimo, affa- 
 bilissimo, ed anche dottissimo," messengers 
 were sent out to escort me into the hall of re- 
 ception, where I met a hearty welcome from 
 four or five of the heads of the church in a cir- 
 cular dome-built library. Sweetmeats and cor- 
 dials were served; I was hailed as "benvenuto" 
 by every voice ; and, shabby as my appearance 
 was, the respect which was paid to me could not 
 have been exceeded, even to a prince. 
 
 Supper was prepared for me, and I was con- 
 ducted to the room occupied by Mr. Bankes, 
 in which there were three beds, as this was the 
 best room, and as such was generally appropri- 
 ated to travellers of distinction. On the doors 
 and windows here, among other names carved 
 with great care, those most familiar to me, were 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 JOURNEY FROM RAM LA H, 
 
 Dr. Shaw, the Barbary traveller j Dr. E, Clarke, 
 1801, and Captam Culverhouse, his companion ; 
 Dr. Wittman ; John Gordon, 1804, whose name 
 is everywhere in Egypt ; Colonel John Maxwell, 
 and Captain Bramson, my companions from 
 Alexandria to Cairo ; Mr. Fiot, whom I knew 
 at Smyrna ; and several others, of whom I had 
 often heard as travellers in the East ; but I saw 
 neither the names of Maundrell, Sandys, Po- 
 cocke, nor Browne. 
 
 I was visited in the course of the morning by 
 all the friars, in turn, and by the two Hano- 
 verians. These last were both young men, 
 dressed as Europeans, who had come with Mr. 
 Bankes's party from Cairo to this place, across 
 the desert, passing the ruins of Ascalon and 
 Gaza on their way from El Arish to YafFa. Al- 
 though travelling without any professed object 
 beyond their own pleasure, they were both so poor 
 and destitute as to suffer Mr. B. to pay their ex- 
 pences ; and they were here almost without 
 clothes, without servants, and without knowing 
 a word of the language. The friars (not much 
 to their honour), treated them with great con- 
 tempt, merely on account of their poverty ; for 
 though they affected to despise them, as being 
 Lutherans, and therefore not Christians, that 
 objection was not even raised against me, who 
 was at least as far removed from them by religion
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSAI.EM. 275 
 
 as these strangers could be, from an idea that, 
 being an Englishman, I must be rich. They 
 had therefore, put the young Germans into the 
 poorest chamber, and barely permitted their 
 food to be dressed in the common kitchen, 
 instead of feeding them from their own table, 
 which is said to be their practice with poor pil- 
 grims. Besides this, they traduced them when 
 not present, and talked of their forcing them 
 soon to quit the convent ; so that, even in this 
 early stage of our acquaintance, I was almost 
 inclined to rebuke them for their want of Chris- 
 tian charity. 
 
 These young men were evidently persons of 
 low origin and confined education, and their 
 manners were decidedly vulgar, though set off 
 by the language in which they spoke ; as French 
 to an English ear generally conveys with it a 
 notion of breeding and politeness. They had 
 visited all the sacred places except the Holy 
 Sepulchre, which could not be entered but by a 
 payment of thirty-three piastres, a sum they 
 confessed themselves unable and unwilling to 
 pay ; yet they constantly assigned their not 
 having seen this, the chief end for which they 
 came to Jerusalem, as the only cause of their 
 further detention. This morning, howe\'er, the 
 sepulchre being opened for the Armenian and 
 Greek celebration of the Epiphany, they put on 
 
 T 2
 
 276 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 turbans, enveloped themselves in cloaks, and 
 were carried in, amidst the crowd of the poor, 
 for a piastre each j a triumph which they them- 
 selves related to me with an air of self-appro- 
 bation and delight, and which the friars present 
 all applauded ; declaring that thus to cheat the 
 Turks of their exactions was more than just, — 
 it was meritorious. 
 
 These young Germans resembled in age, in 
 person, and in many extravagant features of 
 their minds, their countryman. Dr. Kesler, who 
 died in Jedda, and whom they personally knew. 
 They said they had been six years travelling, 
 though neither of them was twenty-six years of 
 age ; but their confined information on local 
 topics, proved at least that they had profited 
 little by so long a tour. Having now completed 
 their visits to all the holy places, they received 
 their patents from the superior of the convent, 
 and determined to seize the opportunity of the 
 return of our mules to go to Accho, there to 
 join the pilgrims of Turin, and embark together 
 with them for Europe. 
 
 In their excursions around Jerusalem, and in 
 their walks through the town itself, they had re- 
 ceived repeated insults from the children, and 
 from the soldiers, which they dared not resent. 
 As these were entirely drawn upon them by their 
 European dresses, we were advised by all those
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. 277 
 
 of the convent not to expose ourselves to a simi- 
 lar fate ; so that as it would be indispensably 
 necessary to adopt the dress of the country in 
 prosecuting the remainder of my journey, it 
 appeared more prudent to wait until this could 
 be procured, before we ventured without the 
 walls of the house. 
 
 Being in the large room on the terrace usually 
 occupied by travellers, every part of the door 
 of which is crowded with names, from Humphrey 
 Edwin, 1699, to William Turner, 1815, I was 
 suffered to live as best suited my inclination ; 
 and, taking a pipe and coffee at day-break, and 
 an early dinner at ten o'clock, I supped on a 
 rice pilaw at sun-set, after which the visits of 
 the friars were again paid, and these occupied 
 the whole of the evening. 
 
 These men appeared to me to be much less 
 happy than those at Nazareth or at Ramlah, but 
 at the former place more particularly. Among 
 the whole number of those I had yet seen, were 
 only two Italians, one of whom was a Livor- 
 nese, and was the spenditore of the convent, and 
 the other, a native of Lucca, cook to the 
 establishment, was recently from Alexandria. 
 The rest were all Spaniards. Though the offices 
 of the Italians were of the lowest kind, their 
 manners were more like those of men of the 
 world, and their understandings more enlarged 
 
 t3
 
 278 JOURNEY FROM R A ML AH, 
 
 than even those Spaniards who were much su- 
 perior to them in rank. Some of these last were 
 not only inferior to the peasantry of this country 
 in common sense and knowledge, but even to 
 the clowns of our own. 
 
 Among the news of Europe, the re-establish- 
 ment of the Inquisition was spoken of, and all 
 exulted in the hope, that under so wise and 
 pious a king as Ferdinand, the church would 
 again resume its empire, and Christianity flourish. 
 The brightest trait which they could find in his 
 character was, that on any application to him 
 for money to be applied to pious purposes, if the 
 ^' Convento delia Terra Santa " was named, he 
 usually gave double the sum demanded. " Let 
 the Inquisition reign," said they, " and the 
 church will be secure. Let the cross triumph, 
 and the Holy Sepulchre shall soon be redeemed 
 from the hands of infidels by another crusade, 
 in which all our injuries will be avenged." 
 
 Instead of the comfort, apparent equality, and 
 cheerfulness, which reigned at Nazareth, and 
 even at Ramlah, all seemed here to stand in fear 
 of each other ; gloom and jealousy reigned 
 throughout, and the names of the padre superiore, 
 and of the procuratore generate were as much 
 dreaded as they were respected. 
 
 When we talked of the nature of their duties 
 here, every one complained of them as severe in 
 the extreme. The tinkle of the bell for service
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. 279 
 
 was heard at almost every hour of the day ; and, 
 besides getting up two hours before sunrise to 
 celebrate a mass, they were obliged to leave 
 their beds every niglit at half-past eleven, for 
 midnight prayers. Nothing was talked of but 
 suffering, and the difficulty of obedience, ardent 
 desires to return to Europe, and a wish to be sent 
 any where, indeed, on the out-stations, rather 
 than to continue at Jerusalem. 
 
 Not even in a solitary instance did 1 hear a 
 word of resignation, or of the joy of suffering for 
 Christ's sake, or the love of persecution, or of 
 the paradise found in a life of mortification, so 
 often attributed to these men. Either they must 
 think and feel differently in different societies, 
 or be hypocrites in their behaviour and profes- 
 sions ; or else those who have reported such 
 things of them must have drawn a picture 
 widely different from the truth. 
 
 For myself, I believe the friars to be, in 
 general, sincere, and to display that sincerity 
 whenever they may dare to do so. 1 am per- 
 suaded that they themselves have faith in all the 
 legends which they retail, and that they think 
 their life to be a meritorious one ; but as they are 
 still men, they feel sensibly the privations to 
 which they are subject ; and all, as far as I 
 could discover, longed to escape from them. 
 
 One complained, " I came here for three 
 T 4^
 
 ^280 JOURNEY FROiM RAMLAH, 
 
 years only, and have been kept seven ; God 
 grant that I may be able to return home at the 
 coming spring." Another said, " What can we 
 do? we are poor ; the voyage is long; and un- 
 less we have permission, and some provision made 
 for our way, how can we think of going?'* A 
 third added, *' In Christendom we can amuse 
 ourselves by occasional visits to friends ; and, 
 during long fasts, good fish, excellent fruit, and 
 exquisite wines are to be iiad." While a fourth 
 continued, " And if one should be taken sick 
 here, either of the plague or any other disease, 
 we have no doctor but an old frater of the con- 
 vent, no aid but from a few spurious medicines, 
 and nothing, in short, to preserve one's life, 
 dearer than all beside ; so that we must end our 
 days unpitied, and quit the world before our 
 time." 
 
 These were almost the literal expressions that 
 escaped from the mouths of my visitors, and 
 that too without a question framed to excite 
 them OH my part. They were such as I really did 
 not expect to hear, althougli they offered to me 
 the best explanation of the jealousy and seeming 
 reserve which I had before remarked to reign 
 here, and of which 1 had seen nothing in the 
 convents described before. 
 
 This being the head-quarters, and the court 
 of the church-militant on earth, favour and in*
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. 281 
 
 trigiie, no doubt, prevail, and interest becomes 
 necessary to procure tlie appointments to more 
 agreeable stations, where the duties are less 
 severe, and where the liberty of action is greater. 
 During my stay at Nazareth, I remember to 
 have met three young friars, one from Damas- 
 cus, and two from Aleppo, both of them having 
 been ordered there to await their destination 
 from the procuratore generale of Jerusalem. 
 Observing to one of them, who seemed amiable 
 and communicative, that I should be delighted 
 to find his appointment for the Holy City arrive 
 during my stay, so that I might have the pleasure 
 of his company on my way thus far, he replied, 
 '' We are all in doubt as to our destinations, but 
 God grant that mine may be for Aleppo ;'* 
 ** And mine also," said another ; while the third 
 replied, that, " bad as Damascus was for Chris- 
 tians, he would rather remain ten years there, 
 than be condemned to pass five in Jerusalem." 
 I could not then understand the motive of the 
 dislike to the Holy City, and I was unwilling to 
 give offence by asking an explanation ; but now 
 it seemed more intelligible to me. 
 
 After the picture of Chateaubriand's first 
 descent at Yaffa, where he found a Spanish friar, 
 with a " cuore limpido e bianco," who assured 
 him that the life he had led for the last fifty years 
 in the Holy land was " un vero paradiso," I
 
 S82 JOURNEV FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 knew not what to think of the confessions which 
 I had this evening heard with my own ears. The 
 zeal of this enthusiastic writer may have carried 
 him very far, but surely not to state a deliberate 
 falsehood ; so that the only conclusion at which 
 I could arrive was, that either the characters of 
 the men or the manner in which they lived had 
 changed, or that such happy individuals as Padre 
 Franciscos Munos were extremely rare. * 
 
 19th. We were busily engaged, during the 
 whole of the morning, in necessary arrangements 
 for our future journey, and in procuring Tur- 
 kish clothes from the bazar. This was an affair 
 of greater difficulty than we had at first imagined; 
 the town itself being the residence of a mixed 
 and poor population, is not at all a mart of trade, 
 and consequently its bazars are scantily supplied; 
 so that every thing, even to the, necessaries of 
 life, are scarce and dear. 
 
 Possessing, at the close of the day, an hour of 
 leisure, I employed it in walking on the terrace 
 of the convent, accompanied by one of the 
 Italians, who pointed out to me the most remark- 
 able objects in the environs, while we com- 
 manded a view of the city below, and became 
 partly familiarised with its topography, I was 
 led also through the whole of the convent itself, 
 
 * Travels in Palestine, vol. i. p. 364. 8vo.
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. ^83 
 
 a labyrinth so intricate, and so extensive, that a 
 stranger might well lose himself in it on a first 
 visit. 
 
 In the evening, it being one of the days of 
 constant fast, and the supper light and soon 
 dispatched, I had scarcely finished my own 
 before a party of six friars were already assembled 
 in my room. The gloomy conversations of yes- 
 terday were again repeated, and additional 
 causes of regret enumerated. 
 
 20th. Early this morning, Mr. Bankes re- 
 turned from an excursion to the Jordan and the 
 Dead Sea, where he had been accompanied by a 
 crowd of Greek pilgrims, and protected by an 
 escort of soldiers. They had visited Rihhah, 
 the supposed site of Jericho, where there are 
 not the slightest remains of high antiquity ; and 
 returning by another route, saw some ancient 
 aqueducts, apparently of Roman execution. 
 They had passed a night at a Mohammedan 
 mosque called ** Mesjed el Nebbe Moosa,** from 
 an idea prevalent among the people of the coun- 
 try, that here was the tomb of Moses, although, 
 when his death is described in the last chapter 
 of Deuteronomy, it is said, " And he buried 
 him in the valley in the land of Moab, over 
 against Beth-peor, but no man knoweth of his 
 sepulchre unto this day." * 
 
 * Deut. xxxiv. 6.
 
 284 JOURNEY FROM RAMLAH, 
 
 Protected as this party was by an escort, and a 
 large company, they were in considerable dan- 
 ger, from falling into the hands of an Arab tribe, 
 who scoured the plains of Jericho, and had even 
 recently committed robberies between Bethle- 
 hem and Jerusalem, close to the walls of the 
 latter. The chief, to whom they were con- 
 ducted, declared himself independent both of 
 the sultan and all his pashas, and boasted that 
 they spared no Christians who fell into their 
 hands. He consented, however, to protect 
 Mr. Bankes during his stay in the desert, and 
 to return him in safety to Jerusalem, on condition 
 of his interceding for the release of a boy of 
 their tribe, who was now imprisoned at the latter 
 place for a robbery of some camels committed 
 by the tribe itself. Mr. Bankes engaged to use 
 his utmost influence, and on that promise they 
 were all released, while the father of the boy 
 had accompanied them here to await the issue 
 of the negociation. 
 
 We were scarcely met, before a visit was paid 
 to us by an Abyssinian prince, named Moosa, 
 who had left Gondar about two years since, with 
 the sister of the Ras Welleta, on a pilgrimage 
 to Jerusalem. His female charge had died here 
 only a few months since, and he had subsequently 
 by some means become acquainted with the 
 amiable and excellent Lady Hester Stanhope,
 
 THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS, TO JERUSALEM. 285 
 
 witli whom he liad remained some time at her 
 residence near Seyda. 
 
 Of this Abyssinian, who was not more than 
 forty years of age, we could learn nothing of 
 Bruce, of whom he had not even heard the name, 
 as " Yakoube el Hakeem." He had seen Mr. 
 Salt, however, at Antalovv, and said that he 
 passed in the country for the son of the king of 
 England. He knew also Mr. Coffin, and Mr. 
 Pearce, who were still in Abyssinia. These, he 
 assured us, were admitted to the table and con- 
 fidence of the Ras, and were looked up to as 
 prodigies of excellence in understanding ; al- 
 though one was a man from the lowest walks of 
 life, and the other a common sailor, who could 
 scarcely read. So much for Abyssinian discern- 
 ment of character ! 
 
 This prince, soon after leaving us, returned 
 again, bringing with him a large white glass 
 bottle of rakee, and about a pound of tobacco, 
 as presents, and in return he received a piece of 
 white linen, large enough for a turban, and a 
 pair of English scissars, with which he was 
 pleased.
 
 Q8() 
 
 CHAR XI. 
 
 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, CHIEFLY WITHOUT 
 THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 January 21. We set out from the convent on an 
 excursion round the city, taking with us a Chris- 
 tian guide, and the Janisary of the friars as an 
 escort J and commenced our perambulation at 
 nine o'clock. 
 
 After passing through some small and winding 
 streets, we approached the castle, near which we 
 were shown the house of Uriah ; and in a piece of 
 ground near it, an old tank, said to be that in 
 which Bathsheba his wife was washing herself, 
 when David saw and became enamoured of 
 her. In the castle was pointed out to us the 
 very window from which this monarch is said to 
 have been looking out at the time ; but when I 
 remarked to our guide that the Scriptures stated 
 it to have been from the roof of the kind's 
 house that this woman was beheld *^ as well as 
 that the whole of the present building was of 
 modern work, he replied, that he considered the 
 
 * 2 Samuel, xi. 2.
 
 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, &C. 287 
 
 authority of the friars, who had lived here many 
 years, to be of greater weight than any Scriptures, 
 and that if I began to start doubts of this nature 
 in the beginning of our visit to the holy places, 
 there would be an end to all pleasure in the ex- 
 cursion. I therefore bow^d assent, and remained 
 silent. 
 
 We came next to the castle itself, called by 
 some the Castle of the Pisans, which D'Anville 
 thinks was built on the ruins of the ancient 
 palace of David. It is at present a large for- 
 tress, surrounded by a ditch, crowned by battle- 
 ments, and occupying a considerable space of 
 ground. We could not obtain admission into 
 the interior ; but as far as we could perceive, 
 from the outer walls, the whole was compara- 
 tively a modern work, of Saracen execution ; 
 nothing remaining but some masses of strong 
 masonry in large rough blocks near the founda- 
 tion, which bore the appearance of higher anti- 
 quity, and which seemed like the rustic masonry 
 of the Romans. 
 
 Leaving this on the left, we went out of the 
 Bethlehem gate, in the south-west quarter of 
 the city ; and going down the hill toward the 
 south-east along the foot of Mount Sion, w^e had 
 on our right a deep valley, in which were several 
 olive-trees, and on our left the celebrated holy 
 hill on which the walls of the city now stand.
 
 288 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 although Sion is said to have been nearly in the 
 centre of the ancient Jerusalem. In this valley 
 a large reservoir was seen, which some main- 
 tained to be Bathsheba's pool, so that disputes 
 ran high thereon. It was at this moment in a 
 ruinous state, and perfectly dry. 
 
 From the ,foot of Sion we crossed over the 
 valley of Hinnom, a little beyond this tank, and, 
 turning eastward over the side of the opposite 
 hills, we passed, on our right, a number of ca- 
 verns and grottoes cut out of the rock. These 
 were all small, and, from their situation, must 
 have been originally within the site of the an- 
 cient city, if it is satisfactorily pro^^ed to have 
 contracted its limits from the southward. This 
 it is said to have done so much, as to exclude 
 all the southern side of Mount Sion which was 
 in its centre, as well as to have extended its 
 limits to the north waard, so as to bring the se* 
 pulchre of Jesus and Mount Calvary, which 
 were without the ancient walls, into the centre 
 of the modern city. 
 
 Near these grottoes we were shown an old 
 vaulted building in ruins, erected on the 
 spot supposed to have been purchased by the 
 thirty pieces of silver for which Jesus was be- 
 trayed. It was formerly so venerated as to 
 change its name from the " Field of Blood,'* to 
 that of " Campo Sancto j" and the Armenians
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. ^2H9 
 
 paid to the Turks a rent of one sequin a-day 
 for the privilege of burying their dead there. 
 Close by this we were shown also a small grotto, 
 descended to by steps, and entered by a rude 
 door-way : it was once used by the Greeks for 
 the purpose of interring those of their church 
 who might die here on their pilgrimage. Either 
 from the expense of tlie heavy rents demanded, 
 or from some change in their opinions as to 
 the propriety of venerating the spot, both 
 parties have discontinued the practice of bury- 
 ing their dead there for the last thirty or forty 
 years. 
 
 Still descending to the eastward, we passed 
 a number of small grottoes excavated in the rock, 
 and similar to those before described. In some 
 there were appearances of benches, fire-places, 
 ovens, &c., and, though small and confined, their 
 whole character seemed rather that of humble 
 dwellings than of tombs. We observed some 
 fragments of sculptured ornaments on one of 
 these only, where a frieze of flowers ran along its 
 front, but all the others were plain. 
 
 Leaving these grottoes, we descended into 
 the valley of Siloa, by some included in the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, running nearly north and 
 south, between Mount Sion and the Mountain 
 of Offence, " the hill that is before Jerusalem, 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 *290 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 where Solomon built high places for Chemosh 
 and Molech." * 
 
 At the soLitiiern extreme of this valley, we 
 were shown a well, bearing the name of the pro- 
 phet Nehemiah, from a belief that the fire of 
 the altar was recovered by him at this place 
 after the Babylonish captivity, t It is narrow, 
 but of considerable depth, and is sunk entirely 
 through a bed of rock. Being lower than any 
 of the wells about Jerusalem, it retains a good 
 supply of water while the otiiers are dry. We 
 found here a party of twelve or fifteen Arabs 
 drawing water in leathern buckets, by cords and 
 pulleys, and from twenty to thirty asses laden 
 with skins of it for the city. On ascending the 
 surrounding work of masonry to drink of this 
 spring, the Mohammedans insisted on our putting 
 off our shoes out of veneration to the place ; this 
 was complied v.ith, and after leaving them the 
 usual present of a few paras, we departed. 
 
 Turning to the north v,'ard, through the valley 
 of Jehoshaphat, we had the village of Siloane on 
 our right, at the foot of the Mountain of Offence ; 
 and Mount Sion, on which the city walls stood, 
 still on our left. 
 
 . We came next to the pool of Siloam, at which 
 the blind man washed off the clay and spittle 
 
 * 1 Kings, xi. 7. f 2 Maccabees, i. 1 9. et seq.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 291 
 
 placed by the Saviour on his eyes, and received 
 his sight. * It is now a dirty little brook, with 
 scarcely any water in it ; and even in the rainy 
 season, it is said to be an insignificant muddy 
 stream. The illusion created by Milton's sub- 
 lime invocation to it, in the opening of the 
 Paradise Lost, is entirely done away by the sight 
 of the spot itself. 
 
 Going a few paces to the northward, we came 
 to the source of this brook, by some called also 
 the Fountain of the Virgin, from an opinion that 
 she frequently came hither to drink. We des- 
 cended by tw^o flights of about fifteen steps each, 
 under an arched vault of masonry, to a small 
 pool, containing a little dirty and brackish 
 water. The rock had been hewn down originally 
 to get at this, and a small and crooked passage, 
 of which we saw the beginning only, was said 
 to convey the water out into the valley of Siloa 
 through which we had come up, and to supply 
 the little garden plots there, from which the city 
 of Jerusalem is chiefly furnished with vegetables. 
 Notwithstanding the black and dirty state of the 
 water, and its harsh and brackish nature, it is 
 still used for diseases of the eyes by devout pil- 
 grims. 
 
 The village of Siloane, which stands imme- 
 
 * St. Luke, ix. 7. 
 u 2
 
 '^9i^ VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 diately opposite to this, on the east, is built on 
 the steep side of the hill, and contains not more 
 than fifty or sixty dwellings. This is thought to 
 be the hill over against Jerusalem, in which 
 Solomon kept his harem of seven hundred wives, 
 princesses, and three hundred concubines, when, 
 even in his old age, his heart clave unto these 
 strange women in love, instead of being perfect 
 with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David 
 his father. * 
 
 We saw, on the steep brow of this hill, a great 
 number of excavations ; some of the smaller ones 
 of which are now used as habitations, and as 
 places of shelter for cattle. Among them we 
 observed more particularly, an isolated square 
 mass, hewn down out of the solid rock, and, 
 though small, possessing the usual proportions, 
 the full moulding above the frieze, and the 
 deep overhanging cornice, of the Egyptian archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 * Among these seducers of his heart from holier affections, 
 are enumerated the women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edo- 
 mites, Zidonians, and Hittites. (1 Kings, xi. 1.) For love of 
 these he went after Ashtoreth, and Milcom, and built high 
 places for Chemosh and for Molech. (ver. 5.7 .) Of the strange 
 women who worshippeil these gods, the Lord had said unto the 
 children of Israel, " Ye shall not go in unto them, neither shall 
 they come in unto you. Therefore Solomon did evil in the sight 
 of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord as did David his 
 father." (ver. 6.)
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. ^293 
 
 Being still dressed as Franks, we were accom- 
 panied by a Janisary and a guide ; yet it was 
 not thought altogether safe for us to ascend this 
 hill ; although I was extremely desirous of ex- 
 amining more closely this remarkable monument, 
 to see if any of its smaller details might justify 
 the suggestion of its being one of those high 
 places spoken of as built by Solomon to strange 
 gods, and thus partaking of the taste and religious 
 character of the Egyptian edifices, from the 
 daughter of Pharaoh, the principal and most 
 honoured of all his wives. The Janisary mur- 
 mured and magnified obstacles, and the guide 
 insisted on its not having been the scene of any 
 miracle, which, with all the rest of the party, 
 was a sufficient reason for not turning aside to 
 visit it. 
 
 In passing along the foot of this hill, we re- 
 marked small flights of steps cut in the rock, and 
 leading from cave to cave, for facilitating the 
 communication between them where the brow 
 of the hill was steepest, exactly similar to those 
 seen among the caves of Kenneri in Salsette. 
 
 We now entered that part of the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat, properly so considered by the Jews ; 
 it being here a deep ravine between the foot of 
 Mount Moriah as a continuation of Sion on the 
 west, where the temple of Solomon once stood, 
 and on which the eastern front of the city walls 
 
 u S
 
 294 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 now lead along, and the foot of the Mount of 
 Olives on the east, commencing from that part 
 of the same hill described before as the Moun- 
 tain of Offence. 
 
 In the rainy season, this narrow bed is filled 
 by a torrent, which is still called the Brook of 
 Kedron ; but it was, at the period of our visit, 
 perfectly dry. This confined space is nearly 
 covered witli the grave -stones of Jews, with in- 
 scriptions in Hebrew characters ; as it is esteem- 
 ed among them one of the greatest blessings to 
 end their days at Jerusalem, and to obtain a 
 burial in the valley of Jehoshaphat. For this 
 purpose, the more dev^out among them come 
 from distant parts of the world, and it is certain 
 that immense prices are paid by them for the 
 privilege of depositing their bones in this vene- 
 rated spot.* 
 
 Independently of the celebrity of this valley 
 as the scene of other important and interesting 
 events, the prophet Joel had chosen it for the 
 place of a pleading between God and the. enemies 
 of tlie Jews. " For behold, in those days, and 
 in that time, when I shall bring again the cap- 
 tivity of Judaii and Jerusalem, I will also gather 
 
 * See the general aspect of this Vale of Death, with its 
 ancient and modern sepulchres, in the vignette on the oppo- 
 site page.
 
 rnrEi-Lv withoct tiii: walls of jkrusalk.m. 1>9.3 
 
 
 r 4
 
 296 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 all nations, and will bring them down into the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them 
 there for my people and for my heritage Israel, 
 whom they have scattered among the nations, 
 and parted my land."* Those spiritualising 
 Jews, Christians, and Mohammedans, who 
 wrest this passage, like a thousand others of the 
 Scriptures, from a literal to a mystical sense, 
 insist on its applying to the resurrection of the 
 dead on the last great day. From this belief, 
 the modern Jews, whose fathers are thought by 
 some of the most learned to have had no idea of 
 a resurrection or a future state, have their bones 
 deposited in the valley of Jehoshaphat. From 
 the same hope, the Mohammedans have left a 
 stone jutting out of the eastern wall of Jerusa- 
 lem, for the accommodation of their prophet, 
 who, they insist, is to sit on it here, and call 
 the whole world from below to judgment.! 
 And a late traveller, journeying with the staff of 
 a Christian pilgrim, after summoning up all the 
 images of desolation which the place presents, 
 but without once thinking of the contemptible 
 size of this theatre for so grand a display, says, 
 " One might say that the trumpet of judgment 
 had already sounded, and that the dead were 
 about to rise in the valley of Jehoshaphat.^ 
 
 * Joel, iii. 1,2. f Maundrell, p. 138. 8vo. 
 
 X Chateaubriand, vol. ii. p 3!).
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. ^97 
 
 Passing onward, we came to the monument 
 whicli is called the Tomb of Zacharias : it is a 
 square mass of rock, hewn down into form, 
 and isolated from the quarry out of which it is 
 cut, by a passage of twelve or fifteen feet wide 
 on three of its sides ; the fourth or western 
 front, being open towards the valley and to 
 Mount Moriah, the foot of which is only a few 
 yards distant. This square mass is eight paces 
 in length on each side, and about twenty feet 
 high in the front, and ten feet high at the back, 
 the hill on which it stands having a steep ascent. 
 It has four semi-columns cut out of the same 
 rock on each of its faces, with a pilaster at each 
 angle, all of a bastard tonic order, and orna- 
 mented in bad taste. The architrave, the full 
 moulding, and the deep overhanging cornice 
 which finishes the square, are all perfectly after 
 the Egyptian manner ; and the whole is sur- 
 mounted by a pyramid, the sloping sides of 
 which rise from the very edges of the square 
 below, and terminate in a finished point. The 
 square of this monument is one solid mass of 
 rock, as well as its semi-columns on each face ; 
 but the surmounting pyramid appears to be of 
 masonry : its sides, however, are perfectly 
 smooth, like the coated pyramids of Saecara and 
 Dashour, and not graduatetl by stages, as the 
 pyramids of Gizeh in Egypt.
 
 ^98 VISIT TO Till] II(>f,Y I'J.ACKS, 
 
 Inconsiderable in size, and paltry in its orna- 
 ments, this monument is eminently curious, 
 from the mixture of styles which it presents. 
 There is no appearance of an entrance into any 
 part of it ; so that it seems, if a tomb, to have 
 been as firmly closed as the Egyptian pyramids 
 themselves ; perhaps from the same respect for 
 the inviolability of the repose of the dead. The 
 features before described gave the whole such 
 a strangely mixed character, that there seemed 
 no other solution of the problem which it offered, 
 than that of supposing the piaiti square monu- 
 ment, the moulding, the broad cornice, and the 
 pyramid above, to be a work of the Jewish age, 
 as partaking of the style of the country in which 
 their fathers had sojourned so long ; and, admit- 
 ting the bastard Ionic columns and pilasters 
 raised from the mass on each of its sides to have 
 been the ornamental work of a more modern 
 period, added either out of veneration for the 
 monument itself, or on its transfer by dedication 
 to some other purpose. At the present moment 
 it is surrounded by the graves of Jews, and its 
 sides are covered Vvith names inscribed in Hebrew 
 characters, evidently of recent execution. 
 
 Close by this, on the north, we came to a 
 cavern called the Grotto of the Disciples, from 
 an idea that they came fre(juently hither to be 
 taught by their Divine Master; although by
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. Q[)9 
 
 others it is called the tomb of Jehoshaphat, and 
 is supposed to give its name to the valley below. 
 This is an excavation, the open front of which 
 has two Doric pillars of small size, but of just 
 proportions. Within the first porch is a broad 
 passage, descended into by a few steps, and 
 leading to the right, where it ends at a low 
 door-way, opposite to the northern fi"ont of the 
 reputed tomb of Zacharias. Within this cave, in a 
 straight line from the front, is a second chamber, 
 with two others leading from it ; all of them rude 
 and irregular in their form, and a|)pearing to 
 liave been ancient h.^bitations, perhaps subse- 
 quently ornamented with the two Doric pillars 
 in front. We saw in one of the inner chambers, 
 several Jewish grave-stones, removed from the 
 valley into this place for security. Like all the 
 rest, they were oblong flat blocks, of from three 
 to six inches in thickness, and formed of the 
 rock of the mountain itseli', in whicli these 
 excavations were made, being a yellowish lime- 
 stone, in some places approaching to a coarse 
 marble. 
 
 Going on from hence but a few paces more to 
 the northward, we came to a small bridge of 
 one arch, thrown over the brook of Kedioi], 
 and connecting the foot of tlie Mount of Olives 
 witii that of Mount Moriah. It was gravely 
 asserted to us, tliat Jesus was pushed off this
 
 300 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 identical bridge, though the present work 
 scarcely seems to be a century old from its 
 appearance, and is not noticed as existing even 
 in the time of Maundrell.^* It was added that this 
 act of violence being committed by the unbeliev- 
 ing Jews, when they were hurrying away their 
 prisoner to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, 
 after all his disciples had forsaken him and fled, 
 he fell on a large stone below, which yielded 
 to the impression of his feet, and left the marks 
 now pointed out to us as such. If the Jews 
 then on the spot failed to remark this extra- 
 ordinary softness of the stone, or the hardness 
 of the feet that pressed it, and the Evangelists 
 omitted all mention of the fact in their gospels t, 
 one would have thought, that at this late period, 
 a stranger would be allowed the liberty to attri- 
 bute the shapeless indentations to some more 
 ordinary cause. Not at all : the very inquiry 
 whether the fact was recorded by the Scriptures 
 or not, was considered an innovation as un- 
 
 * There was a bridge near this spot, and over the brook of 
 Kedron, at an earher period, however ; as Adrichomius notices 
 it in the description which he has left us of the monuments 
 around Jerusalem : — " Pons Cedron lapideus uno arco supra 
 torrentum Cedron erectus, quern Helena Imperatrix eo in loco 
 construi fecit, ubi in hunc usuni antea lignum illud, ex quo 
 pila Domini crucis facta est, jacuisse dicitur." Thealrum 
 Terrae Sanctae, p. 171. folio. 
 
 t St. Matthew, xxvi, ^7.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 301 
 
 orthodox as a scruple about transubstantiation, 
 or any other of the more popular doctrines of 
 the holy church. * 
 
 Opposite to this, on the east, we came to the 
 reputed tomb of Absalom ; resembling nearly in 
 the size, form, and the decoration of its square 
 base, that of Zacharias, before described; ex- 
 cept that it is sculptured with the metopes and 
 triglyphs of the Doric order. This is sur- 
 mounted by a sharp conical dome, of the form used 
 in our modern parasols, having large mouldings 
 resembling rope running round its base, and on 
 the summit something like an imitation of flame. 
 There is here again so strange a mixture of 
 style and ornament, that one knows not to what 
 aece to attribute the monument as a whole. The 
 square mass below is solid, and the bastard Ionic 
 columns, which are seen on each of its faces, 
 are half engaged in the rock itself. The dome 
 is of masonry, and on the eastern side there is a 
 
 * These indentations were shown to an old English sailor, 
 commander of a merchant ship, who had left liis vessel in the 
 harbour of Alexandria to go up to Jesusalem, more than two 
 hundred years ago ; and in a note on the passage by Mr. 
 Henry Timbertake, the writer of the Travels, he says, " The 
 authority for these prints of the elbows of Christ, is not the 
 Scriptures, nor any good author, but the monks and friars that 
 are now in possession, and contrive all means to pick the 
 pockets of the devout and credulous." — Harleian Misc. vol. iii. 
 p. 332.
 
 302 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 square aperture in it. On the whole, the sight 
 of this monument rather confirmed the idea 
 suggested by the supposed tomb of Zacharias ; 
 namely, that the hewn mass of solid rock, the 
 surmounting pyramid and dome of masonry, 
 and the sculptured frieze and Ionic columns 
 wrought on the faces of the square below, were 
 the works of different periods, and that possibly 
 they might have been tombs of antiquity, the 
 primitive character of which had been changed 
 by the subsequent addition of foreign orna- 
 ments. 
 
 It is probable that this monument really 
 occupies the place of that mentioned to have 
 been set up by him whose name it bears. " Now 
 Absalom in his life-time had taken and reared 
 up for himself a pillar, which is in the King's 
 Dale : for he said, I have no son to keep my 
 name in remembrance ; and he called the pillar 
 after his own name, and it is called unto this 
 day Absalom's Place."* Joseph us, in relating 
 the same circumstance, calls the pillar a marble 
 one ; he fixes its distance as two furlongs from 
 Jerusalem, and says it was named ''Absalom's 
 Hand." t 
 
 Some doubts have existed, whether this valley 
 of Jehoshaphat was the King's Dale here spoken 
 
 * 2Sam'. xviii. 18. 
 
 f Joseph. Ant. Jud. 1. vii. c. 10. s. 3.
 
 fHIKlLV WITIlOir JIIi; WAI.I.S OF JERLSALfclM. 303 
 
 of; but this seems liiglily })robable, as the 
 Valley of Shaveh, which is the King's Dale, 
 where Abrani was met by the king of Sodom, 
 and blessed by Melchizedeck, king of Salem, 
 after his defeat and slaughter of the confederated 
 kings *, was certainly very near to the city of the 
 Jebusites. The distance of two furlongs from 
 Jerusalem, as given to the situation of the 
 pillar in the King's Dale, would depend on 
 what i)art of the city it was measured from, 
 but it could not in any case be far from the 
 truth ; and the term war^/e may be indefinitely 
 used to imply any fine stone, and that of 
 pilla?\ to express a lofty monument. The en- 
 trance in the upper part of the cone leads to 
 a room which is described to be much above 
 the level of the ground on the outside, and to 
 have niches in the sides of tit, which can leave 
 no doubt as to its having been a place of sepul- " 
 chre, more particularly as there are other tombs 
 excavated out of the same rocks close by. 
 
 The terms "immense," "prodigious," "en- 
 ormous," &c. t when applied to these monu- 
 ments, are certainly misplaced, as their measure- 
 ments, which are given, will best prove ; nor is 
 the assertion, that this last is " altogether very 
 beautiful," any more appropriate. In their 
 
 * Genesis, xiv. 17, 18. f Pococke, vol. ii. p. 23. 
 
 :J: Dr. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 590
 
 '304 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 dimensions, they are among the smallest of an- 
 cient tombs ; in design, they are unchaste and 
 barbarous ; nor is there any thing of " a marvell- 
 ous nature in their hewn chambers ;" so that it 
 is hardly true that their appearance alone, inde- 
 pendently of every other consideration, denotes 
 the former existence of a numerous, flourishing, 
 and powerful people. * 
 
 From hence, we continued our way a little 
 farther to the northward, and arrived at the 
 sepulchre of the Virgin. This has a building 
 over it, with a pretty front, although the sculp- 
 tured Greek ornaments in marble are not in 
 harmony with the pointed arched door of en- 
 trance. It is approached by a paved court, and 
 stands near a raised way, leading from the foot 
 of the Mount of Olives over the brook Kedron. 
 We descended into this grotto by a handsome 
 flight of marble steps, about fifty in number, 
 and of a noble breadth. The entrance into this 
 vaulted cavern is certainly fine; and notwith- 
 stand the paltry lamps, and tawdry ornaments of 
 ostriches' eggs, &c. seen among them, the grand 
 descent, and the lofty arched roof of masonry 
 above, produce an imposing eflTect. Nearly 
 midway down, are two arched recesses in the 
 sides, that on the right containing the ashes of 
 
 * Dr. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 592.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 305 
 
 ♦St. Anna, the mother of Mary, and that on tlie 
 left the dust of Joseph, her husband. 
 
 Reaching the bottom of the stairs, we were 
 sliown, at an altar to the right, the tomb of the 
 Holy Virgin herself, who, not having died at Jeru- 
 salem, was miraculouly transported either after 
 her death by the apostles, according to the opinion 
 of certain fathers of the church, whose authority 
 the Christians of Jerusalem would think it pre- 
 sumption to deny. At this moment, it is con- 
 tended that even the corruptible remains of her 
 mortal corpse are not here ; a resurrection of 
 them having taken place, as the pious Chateau- 
 briand relates. * 
 
 At this tomb, which is in the form of a 
 simple bench cased with marble, the Greeks and 
 Armenians say their mass by turns ; close to it 
 there is an humble altar for the Syrians ; and on 
 the left of the grotto, on going down, or oppo- 
 site to these last described, is an altar of raised 
 earth for the Copts, entirely destitute of furni- 
 ture, lamps, pictures, or even a covering. 
 
 In the time of Chateaubriand, the Turks are 
 said to have had a portion of the grotto, and the 
 
 * " St. Thomas ayant fait ouvrir le cercueil, on n'y trouva 
 plus qu' une robe virginale, simple et pauvre vetement de 
 cette Reine de gloire que les anges avaient enlev^e aux cieux," 
 Vol.ii. p. 361. 
 
 VOL. I. X
 
 306 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 tomb of Mary was then in the hands of the 
 Catholics. At this moment the Turks have no 
 portion of it, nor could we learn from the 
 keepers of the place that they ever had. The 
 tomb of the Virgin is no longer in the possession 
 of the Catholics, having been bought out of 
 their hands by the Greeks and Armenians. 
 These, again, try to rival each other in the costly 
 yet gaudy decorations of their sepai'ate altars, 
 as well as to drive each other out, if possible, by 
 intrigues and large payments to the Turks, Both 
 parties, however, look down with sovereign 
 contempt on the poor Syrians and Copts, whose 
 altars are so inferior to their own in glitter and 
 tinsel, but whose hearts, it is to be feared, from 
 all accounts, are still filled with hatred, envy, 
 and all un charitableness toward their pompous 
 and haughty superiors. 
 
 After quitting this sepulchre, we went to an 
 adjoining grotto, thought to have been the scene 
 of Christ's agony and bloody sweat. This is a 
 small and rude cavern, supported by portions of 
 the earth left in excavating it, and has now only 
 two recesses or altars, with some humble cruci- 
 fixes made from the wood of the olive-tree above. 
 This is said to have been the tree under which 
 Jesus wiped away the drops of blood, after 
 coming out of this cool grotto at night ; for the
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 307 
 
 even was nigh when he sat down to supper with 
 his apostles.* This cave is in the hands of the 
 Cathohcs ; and though containing nothing worth 
 the pains of taking away, is guarded by an iron- 
 plated doorj and a lock of such security, that 
 even to remove the piece which covers the large 
 key-hole, a smaller key is used in a preparatory 
 lock attached to the greater one. The man who 
 conducted us through this grotto was very much 
 intoxicated ; and all impressions of solemnity 
 having been overcome either by the fumes of 
 wine, or by the habit of showing the place to 
 strangers, he did not scruple to utter the most 
 profane jests on the sublime mystery for which 
 this scene was celebrated. 
 
 We went from hence to the spot in which are 
 enclosed eight olive-trees, built up about the 
 roots, and thought to have existed in the time of 
 Jesus, " so that the olives, and olive-stones, and 
 oyl, which they produced, became," as Maund^ 
 rell quaintly observes, *' an excellent commodity 
 in Spain." But the proof which he offers of 
 their not being so ancient as is pretended (not- 
 withstanding the difference of rent spoken of by 
 Chateaubriandt, which proves only that the Turks 
 think them to be as old as their conquest of the 
 
 * St, Matthew, xxvi. 20. 
 t Chateaubriand, vol. ii. p. 39^ 
 X 2
 
 308 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 country) is satisfactory. He says, " Josephus 
 testifies, (lib. vii. de Bello. Jud. c. xv. and in 
 other places,) that Titus, in his siege of Jerusa- 
 lem, cut down all the trees within about one 
 hundred furlongs of the city, and that the sol- 
 diers were forced to fetch wood so far, for 
 making the mounts when they assaulted the 
 Temple.'* * 
 
 From hence, the supposed gate of the Tem- 
 ple was pointed out to us, in the eastern wall 
 of the city, it being still blocked up, from a 
 belief among the Turks, that their destruction 
 is to enter there; but the whole of this wall, 
 as well as that which surrounds Jerusalem on 
 the odier sides, appeared to me of modern 
 structure ; althougli, if there be any part of 
 the skirts of the city v/here the present walls 
 may be thought to occupy the site of the 
 ancient, it is certainly here. 
 
 A sliort distance from this, in the right-hand 
 wall of the road, on ascending the hill, our 
 guide approached a large stone, and kissing it 
 with great fervour of devotion, assured us that 
 it was from hence tlie Holy Virgin ascended to 
 heaven. As a proof of this new fact, he pointed 
 to a little indentation in the surface, and called 
 it the mark of Our Lady's girdle, which fell 
 
 * Maundrell's Journey, p. 142.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 309 
 
 from her waist as she mounted in the air. Of* 
 the girdle itself, he had never heard the fate ; of 
 the authority on which tiiis story rested, he 
 knew nothing, but believed it was in the Gos- 
 pels ; and he was so shocked at our not follow- 
 ing the example he had set us, of kissing the 
 holy impression, that he really doubted of our 
 having faith in any thing. 
 
 Descending from hence, and turning to the 
 southward, we came to the rock on which it is 
 said the disciples, Peter and the two sons of 
 Zebedee, slept, while their master retired to 
 pray. Close by, is a small paved way, now in- 
 closed, being from thirty to forty feet long, and 
 three or four broad, where Judas is said to have 
 betrayed the Son of Man with a kiss *; and not 
 far from hence, is shown the rock from which 
 Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple of 
 Jerusalem. Here, as he sat upon the Mount of 
 Olives, that' conspicuous building must have 
 been full in sight on the Mount Moriah, opposite 
 to him, the brook of Kedron, in the valley of 
 Jehoshaphat, running between and at the foot of 
 both these celebrated hills. 
 
 We crossed from hence over the southern brow of 
 the Mount of Olives, and descending on its eastern 
 side by a rugged and stony road, from which we 
 
 * St. Luke, xxii. 48. 
 
 x3
 
 310 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 had a view of part of the Dead Sea, lying deep 
 in a vale, and hemmed in on the east by the high 
 mountains of Arabia, we came, in about half an 
 hour, to the village of Beit-Ania, or Bethany. 
 It consists, at present, of only thirty or forty 
 dwellings, but it is visited on account of a grotto 
 there, which is called the Sepulchre of Lazarus. 
 The building, called the House of Lazarus, is no 
 longer distinguishable, but the supposed place of 
 his interment is still shewn. 
 
 We descended into it by a flight of narrow 
 steps, to the number of about twenty-five, and 
 first reached a small square apartment, where 
 there is an altar of earth, on which the Latin 
 friars say mass twice in the year. Below this, on 
 the left, we descended by three or four steps 
 into a vaulted room, about eight or ten feet 
 square, and of sufficient height to admit of our 
 standing upright. This room was arched over 
 with masonry; and the appearance of the whole, 
 from the small door of entrance above, and the 
 steps leading down to the two rooms below, was 
 rather like the portion of some ancient dwelling 
 than of a tomb. As, however, it is situated in 
 Bethany, and the grave of Lazarus is said to 
 have been a cave on which a stone lay*, it may 
 
 * St. Juluii xi. 38,
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 311 
 
 be thought to correspond to the description with 
 much greater accuracy than many of the grottoes 
 shewn about Jerusalem can pretend to. There 
 were at this moment no Turks having an oratory 
 in the place, nor was any thing demanded for 
 our descent. The inhabitants of the village are 
 chiefly Mohammedans, and amount, perhaps, 
 to five or six hundred, for whose accommodation 
 there is a neat little mosque, with a dome sur- 
 mounted by the crescent. 
 
 From hence it took us more than half an 
 hour, and that of the most fatiguing labour, to go 
 out to the eastward, where we were led to see 
 the spot on which Martha, the sister of Lazarus, 
 met Jesus on his way from the desert beyond 
 Jordan, eastward to Bethany.* This spot is now 
 marked by a large stone, in the centre of a circular 
 enclosure of smaller stones ; and it was kissed 
 most devoutly by our guide. The place is 
 pointed out, only a few yards off, on which the 
 house of the two sisters stood ; but from the 
 story itself, as related by St. John, it would 
 rather appear that this was in the village of 
 Bethany. With the guardians of the holy places 
 at Jerusalem, however, convenience is often a 
 powerful motive for crowding many sacred 
 spots within a small space, that they may be 
 visited with the greater ease, particularly when 
 
 * St John, xi. 20—30. 
 x4
 
 312 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 nothing but the spot itself is to be shown, and 
 no remains are requisite to prove its identity. 
 
 From a part of this eminence, we had a sight 
 of the river Jordan, as well as of the country 
 beyond it. The river winds its course through 
 a deep valley, until it discharges itself into the 
 head of the Dead Sea to the southward, and the 
 eastern view is bounded by an even range of 
 high and woodless mountains, stretcliing as far 
 as the eye can reach in a north and south direc- 
 tion, and thus cutting off the river and the sea 
 from the wide wastes beyond. * 
 
 We now returned toward Jerusalem, and 
 ascending the eastern side of the Mount of 
 Olives, went by the road on which Jesus rode 
 from Bethany and Bethpage into Jerusalem. 
 
 It was about two o'clock when we reached 
 the summit of the Mount of Olives, on our 
 return from Bethany. There is a mosque here, 
 with a minareh rising froni it, and I was desirous 
 of ascending to its gallery for the sake of the 
 view which it must command, but the keepers 
 became enraged at the very proposal. We en- 
 tered, however, into the lower court, where a 
 small octagonal building, crowned with a dome, 
 
 * In describing the same view from hence, Benjamin of 
 Tudela, calls the Dead Sea the Sea of Sodom, and the river 
 Jordan the river of Sittim, which went through the plain as far 
 as Mount Neho. — Bergenon's Collection.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 31-5 
 
 still remains as part of a large church, said to 
 have been formerly erected there. Within this 
 is shown a piece of rock with an impression in 
 it, not much unlike, though far from exactly 
 resembling, the foot of a man. This is main- 
 tained to be the print of Christ's left foot, when 
 he ascended to heaven after his resurrection; and 
 it is affirmed, that the print of the right foot was 
 seen here also, but was taken away to ornament 
 the mosque of Solomon, in the site of the Hebrew 
 temple on Mount Moriah, from whence the 
 Mohammedans insist that their prophet mounted 
 up to heaven, as if in rivalship to the ascent of 
 Christ. St. Luke is the only evangelist who 
 speaks decidedly of this ascension, the others 
 making the appearance of Jesus to have hap- 
 pened in different places ; and this writer says, 
 " And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and 
 he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And 
 it came to pass, as he blessed them, that he 
 was parted from them, and carried up into 
 heaven." * 
 
 * St. Luke, xxiv. 50, 51. 
 
 The quality which rocks formerly possessed, of receiving 
 impressions from the weight of men and of animals, seems to 
 have been almost too general to render it even a rarity. The 
 mark of Adam's foot on the peak of Ceylon, is visited by 
 pilgrims of all classes ; and, considering his reputed size, it is 
 scarcely to be wondered at. The impression of the entire 
 figure of Moses, is shown in the granite mountains of Horeb
 
 Si4f VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 The octagonal chapel, containing the relic 
 described, has been ornamented on the outside 
 with small marble pillars and sculptured capitals ; 
 but has now nothing within it except this rock, 
 which serves for the altar of the Catholics, who 
 perform mass here once a-year. They enjoy 
 this exclusive privilege by the payment of a 
 large sum to the Turks ; and the Greeks, the 
 Armenians, the Syrians, and the Copts, are 
 
 and Sinai, when the rock became soft at the presumption of 
 Moses, in wishing to see the face of God as he passed. The 
 print of the foot of Mohammed's camel, when he was taken 
 up, beast and all, by the angel Gabriel into heaven, is also 
 shown on the same holy mountain ; and considering that, 
 according to Mohammedan belief, the animal was large enough 
 to have one foot at Mecca, another on Damascus, a third on 
 Cairo, and a fourth on Mount Sinai, the enormity of his weight 
 might be almost sufficient to account for this also. * At 
 Jerusalem, and in the other parts of the Holy Land, one can 
 scarcely move a hundred yards without seeing marks of fingers, 
 elbows, knees, and toes, as if imprinted in wax. At the two 
 ascents made from hence, the Virgin drops her girdle from her 
 waist, and our Saviour leaves the impression of both his feet. 
 These are now widely separated, but at some future age it 
 will, perhaps, be insisted on that they both occupy their 
 original places. If those blind guides could but perceive the 
 injury which they do to their own cause, by the propagation 
 of such puerile stories, they would surely abandon them to 
 their Mohammedan rivals in aid of their Koran, and suffer the 
 simplicity of the Gospels to stand on its own basis alone. 
 
 * See Journal of a Prefetto of Egypt from Cairo to Mount Sinai, trans- 
 lated from tlie Italian by Lord Bishop Clayton, and attached to the octavo 
 edition of Maundrell's Journey, 1810, p. 245.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 315 
 
 obliged to content themselves with small altars 
 of stone, for the same purpose, in the open 
 court. 
 
 We saw here some Armenian visitors, among 
 whom were several women ; these, either from 
 poverty or parsimony, refusing to pay the few 
 paras demanded by the Turks, in whose custody 
 the place remains, a quarrel arose, which ap- 
 proached to blows among the men, while the 
 shrill voices of the women rather increased than 
 quelled the tumult, by the abuse which they 
 lavished on the unbelieving Arabs. 
 
 On leaving the summit of this hill, the spot 
 was pointed out to us a little to the northward, 
 where our Saviour taught his disciples the Lord's 
 Prayer* ; and descending the hill to the south- 
 ward, we passed the ruins of a building which 
 was called the Grotto of the Apostles, from an 
 idea that they compiled their creed there. The 
 cave of St. Pelagia was said to be a little above, 
 in which the Virgin received three days* warning 
 of her death from an angel ; and, in fact, so 
 many places had been already pointed out to us, 
 and so many yet remained to be seen, that I 
 began to be weary of dwelling on the particular 
 details of them, and was glad to stretch my 
 limbs on the grass, and abandon for a moment 
 both the book and the pencil. 
 
 * St. Luke, xi. 1,2.
 
 3l6 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 Reposing beneath the shade of an olive-tree 
 upon the brow of this hill, we enjoyed from 
 hence a fine prospect of Jerusalem on the oppo- 
 site one. This city occupies an irregular square 
 of about two miles and a half in circumference. 
 Its shortest apparent side, is that which faces the 
 east, and in this is the supposed gate of the 
 ancient Temple, now closed up for the reason 
 before assigned, and the small projecting storle 
 on which Mohammed is to sit when the world is 
 to be assembled to judgment in the vale below. 
 The southern side is exceedingly irregular, 
 taking quite a zigzag direction ; the south-west 
 extreme being terminated by a mosque built 
 over the supposed sepulchre of David, on the 
 summit of Mount Zion. The form and exact 
 direction of the western and northern walls are 
 not distinctly seen from hence ; but every part 
 of this appears to be a modern w^ork, and exe- 
 cuted at the same time. The walls are flanked 
 at irregular distances by square towers, and have 
 battlements running all around on their summits, 
 with loop-holes for arrows or musquetry close to 
 the top. The walls appear to be about fifty feet 
 in height, but are not surrounded by a ditch. 
 The northern wall runs over slightly declining 
 ground ; the eastern wall runs straight along the 
 brow of Mount Moriah, with the deep valley of 
 Jehoshaphat below j the southern wall crosses
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 317 
 
 over the summit of tlie hill assumed as Mount 
 Sion, with the vale of Hiunom at its feet ; and 
 the western wall runs along on more level 
 ground, near the summit of the high and stony 
 mountains over which we had first approached 
 the town. 
 
 As the city is thus seated on the brow of one 
 large hill, divided by name into several smaller 
 hills, and the whole of these slope gently down 
 towards the east, this view from the Mount of 
 Olives, a position of greater height than that on 
 which the highest part of the city stands, com- 
 mands nearly the whole of it at once. 
 
 On the north, it is bounded by a level, and 
 apparently fertile space, now covered with olive- 
 trees, particularly near the north-east angle. 
 On the south, the steep side of Mount Sion, 
 and the Valley of Hinnom, both show patches 
 of cultivation and little garden enclosures. On 
 the west, the sterile summits of the hills there, 
 barely lift their outlines above the dwellings. 
 And on the east, the deep valley of Jehoshaphat, 
 now at our feet, has some partial spots relieved 
 by trees, though as forbidding in its general 
 aspect as the Vale of Death could ever be de- 
 sired to be by those who have chosen it for the 
 place of their interment. 
 
 Within the walls of the city are seen, to the
 
 318 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 north, crowded dwellings, remarkable in no 
 respect, except being terraced by flat roofs, and 
 generally built of stone. On the south are some 
 gardens and vineyards, with the long red mosque 
 of Al Sakhara, having two tiers of windows, a 
 sloping roof, and a dark dome at one end, and 
 the mosque of Sion on the Sepulchre of David, 
 in the same quarter. On the west is seen the high 
 square, castle, and palace of the same monarch, 
 near the Bethlehem Gate. In the centre rise 
 the two cupolas, of unequal form and size ; the 
 one blue, and the other white, covering the 
 church of the Holy Sepulchre. Around, in 
 different directions, are seen the minarehs of 
 eight or ten mosques, amid an assemblage of 
 about two thousand dwellings. And on the 
 east is seated the great mosque of Al Harrem, 
 or, as called by Christians, the Mosque of 
 Solomon, from being supposed, with that of Al 
 Sakhara near it, to occupy the site of the ancient 
 temple of that splendid and luxurious king. 
 
 This mosque of Al Harrem is an octagonal 
 building, with numerous windows, and sur- 
 mounted by a dome, of the form of that of 
 St. PauPs, in London, and about half the size. 
 The whole stands in the centre of a large paved 
 square, to which there are several entrances 
 through arcades. Beyond these again is a large
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 319 
 
 open space, surrounding the walls of the inner 
 court, and now displaying a carpet of verdure, 
 interspersed with olive and cypress trees. The 
 appearance of this edifice, with its courts and 
 walls, produces on the whole a most imposing 
 effect, and relieves in a great degree the dull 
 monotony of the rest of the interior view of the 
 city, of which it is by far the most prominent 
 object, from the space which it occupies, and the 
 commanding situation it enjoys. 
 
 After having at once reposed and gratified 
 ourselves by a more undisturbed view of Jerusa- 
 lem than we could have enjoyed from any other 
 spot on our way, we resumed the labour of ex- 
 amining the remaining monuments without the 
 walls. We first visited what are called the 
 Sepulchres of the Prophets, close to the spot 
 where we had halted. We descended through a 
 circular hole, into an excavated cavern of some 
 extent, cut with winding passages, and forming 
 a kind of subterranean labyrinth. The superin- 
 cumbent mass was supported by portions of the 
 rock left in the form of walls and irregular pil- 
 lars, apparently once stuccoed j and, from the 
 niches still remaining visible in many places, we 
 had no doubt of its having been once appro- 
 priated to sepulture ; but whether any, or which 
 of the prophets were interred here, even tradition
 
 8W VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 tloes not suggest, beyond the name which k 
 bestows on the place. * . 
 
 Descending from hence, to go to the western 
 foot of the Mount of Ohves, we left, at the dis- 
 tance of a few yards on our right, the spot from 
 whence Jesus is said to have wept over Jerusa- 
 lem : and continuing our way up "the north- 
 eastern brow of Mount Moriah, we came to the 
 northern side of the city itself. Here we pur- 
 sued our way in a north-westerly direction, 
 through cultivated grounds, abounding in olive- 
 trees ; and passed a considerable number of ex- 
 cavations in the rocks, apparently ancient dwell- 
 ings, and now used as such by the families of 
 peasants, and as places of shelter for their cattle 
 at night. In the course of our way, we did not 
 see fewer than a hundred of these, including 
 large and small, perfect and imperfect ; when, 
 after upwards of an hour's walk from the time 
 of our leaving the Mount of Olives, we reached 
 the caves called the Sepulchres of the Judges. 
 
 There are in all six of these tombs, into the 
 
 * The observations of Dr. Clarke, regarding this crypt, and 
 the arguments used to prove it originally a place of pagan 
 worship, appear to me judicious ; and the use made of the au- 
 thorities quoted to support the opinion of its being one of the 
 high places built for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom, is 
 equally ingenious.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 32 L 
 
 largest and most accessible of which we entered. 
 It presented first a square court, hewn down on 
 three sides of the rock, in front of the cave. 
 From an outer chamber, entered by a broad 
 door-way, we were led into other smaller cham- 
 bers by narrow passages of entrance. In these 
 there were arched recesses and benches, as if for 
 receiving the bodies of the dead ; and on one 
 side of the innermost chamber we remarked a 
 deep sarcophagus, hollowed out, but still attached 
 to the wall, and now without a lid. Through- 
 out this excavation, we found no appearance 
 either of painting or sculpture. 
 
 From hence, we returned towards the city, in a 
 southerly direction, and after traversing the most 
 stony roads that could be well passed over, we 
 reached, in half an hour, the tombs of the kings. 
 
 We entered, by an arched gate-way, into a 
 large open court, hewn down on all sides out of 
 the rock, to the depth of about fifteen feet, and 
 forming a square of from thirty to forty paces. 
 On the left of the court, on entering, is the por- 
 tico of a cave, originally supported by columns, 
 but now perfectly open. This portico is about 
 forty feet broad by fifteen feet deep, and from 
 eight to ten feet high, in its present state, the 
 bottom not being visible from accumulated rub- 
 bish. The only ornament of sculpture seen on 
 the exterior of this monument, is a frieze, in 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 3^2 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 which the most striking object is a pendant clus- 
 ter of" grapes, frequently repeated, and reminding 
 me of our old Bible prints, representing the 
 return of the spies with such a token from the pro- 
 mised land. Below this again, is another line of 
 sculptured flowers and fruits, in a light and airy 
 style ; but both are much defaced by time, and 
 still more injured by the breaking away of the 
 outer surface of the rock. 
 
 The interior of the portico is entirely destitute 
 of ornament ; and instead of passing from it on- 
 ward through a central door, as is usual, both in 
 the ancient tombs here, and in most of those in 
 Egypt, a small opening, through which it is now 
 necessary to crawl, leads down from the left side, 
 near the corner, to the apartments below. The 
 first room into wliicli we entered by this passage 
 was about eighteen feet. square, nearly filled with 
 rubbish, and having one door- way leading from 
 it on the right, but no corresponding one on tlie 
 left, and two immediately opposite to the passage 
 of entrance, making in all three doors which 
 communicate with other chambers within. In 
 each of these were smaller divisions for the re- 
 ception of the dead, with benches and sarcophagi, 
 niches of a triangular form for lamps above the 
 tx)mbs, and channels below to carry off water. 
 From one of these inner chambers a flight of 
 steps descended to an apartment below, where
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 323 
 
 was seen the lid of a violated sarcophagus, iiighly 
 ornamented with sculptured flow^ers in relief. In 
 most of these chambers were also seen fragments 
 of the stone doors which closed the innermost 
 sepulchres. They were of the same stone as the 
 excavation itself, a coarse yellowish marble ; and 
 were, in . general, about the size of a common 
 door in length and breadth, and three or four 
 inches in thickness. They were pannelled by 
 little mouldings, in two divisions, above and 
 below, exactly in the way in which our modern 
 doors are made in England ; and are said, in this 
 particular, to resemble the pair of stone doors 
 still hanging in the Pantheon at Rome. 
 
 The whole of this monument, both within and 
 without, displays great care in the execution, and 
 a reffularitv not often observable in the more 
 ancient excavations of this nature. For myself, 
 I should not conceive it to be of very high an- 
 tiquity, either from its interior plan, or from its 
 exterior ornaments. The observation of Maund- 
 rell, that none of the kings either of Israel or 
 Judah were buried here, is sufficiently well- 
 founded to prevent this being considered as a 
 work of the Jewish monarchy * ; and the de- 
 scription of Hezekiah's interment has no local 
 
 * Maundrell, p. 102, 
 Y 2
 
 324 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 details from which one could safely infer that he 
 was placed in this sepulchre, since the Chronicles 
 say merely, "And Hezekiah slept with his fa- 
 thers, and they buried him in the chiefest of the 
 sepulchres of the sons of David : and all Judah, 
 and the inliabitants of Jerusalem, did him honour 
 at his death. * 
 
 The reasoning of M. Chateaubriand to prove 
 this monument the tomb of Herod the Tetrarch, 
 appears to me by no means sufficiently borne out 
 by the premises to decide certainly t thereon ; 
 and even the theories of Pococke t , and Clarke §, 
 are liable to some objections. Indeed, consider- 
 ing the changes of masters which Jerusalem has 
 suffered, and the consequent variation in the taste 
 of its possessors, it is at this moment a matter of 
 extreme difficulty to separate the monuments of 
 high antiquity from those of a more modern 
 age, or to decide what parts of their remains 
 preserve their original form, and what parts have 
 been subsequently altered or ornamented by later 
 hands. This, however, is certain, that among 
 all the monuments which we had this day visited 
 in the environs of Jerusalem, and of which this 
 is by far the largest, the most expensive, and the 
 most interesting, there is not one which can be 
 
 * 2 Chronicles, xxxii. 33. f Vol. ii. p. 105. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 20. § Ibid. p. 596.
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WAI/LS OF JERUSALEM. 32.5 
 
 called either "enormous" or '* splendid,'* with- 
 out the strangest abuse of these terms. * 
 
 In almost every part of Upper Egypt, there 
 are grottoes, scarcely visited from their compa- 
 rative insignificance, which are superior in de- 
 
 * As a proof that even those who are very pious may enter- 
 tain contemptible opinions of the extent and riches of the Holy 
 Land, a passage may be given here from an English pilgrim, 
 who visited it about the year 1 600. He concludes the account 
 which he has given of the Holy City, with these words : " Thus 
 have I described the city of Jerusalem as it is now built, with 
 all the notable places therein, and near unto the same, and the 
 country about it, by which comparisons you may well under- 
 stand the situation of most of the places near unto it ; and 
 thereby you may perceive that it was but a small country, and 
 a very little plot of ground which the Israelites possessed in the 
 land of Canaan, which, as now, is a very barren country; for 
 that within fifteen miles of Jerusalem, the country is wholly 
 barren, and full of rocks, and stony ; and unless it be about the 
 plain of Jericho, I know not any part of the country at this 
 present, that is fruitful." Thus far is a simple declaration of 
 what tlie pilgrim witnessed. The reasons which he gives for 
 the change, and the proofs which he adduces to show the 
 utterly destitute state of its inhabitants through its barrenness, 
 are too curious to be omitted. He continues : "What hath 
 been in times past, I refer you to the declaration thereof made 
 in the Holy Scriptures. My opinion is, that when it was fruit- 
 ful, and a land that flowed with milk and honey, that then God 
 blessed it, and that as then they followed his commandments ; 
 but now, being inhabited by infidels that profane the name of 
 Christ, and live in all filthy and beastly manner, God curseth it, 
 and so it is made barren ; for it is so barren that I could get 
 no bread when 1 came near unto it ; for that one night as I 
 lodged short of Jerusalem, at a place called in the Arabian 
 tongue, Cuda Chenaleb, I sent a Moor to the house (not far 
 
 Y 3
 
 3^26 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, 
 
 sign, richer in ornament, and costing more labour 
 in execution, than any ancient monument in the 
 neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The hewing out 
 and transportation of the two obelisks at Alex- 
 andria, mere specks amid the numerous and 
 splendid embellishments of Egypt, would have 
 required more time and expence than the exca- 
 vation of any cavern near this city. The tombs 
 in the mountains at Siout, an inconsiderable set- 
 tlement, those still more numerous at Eliethias, 
 the grottoes of El Kouriio, and, in short, a hun- 
 dred others that could be named as among the 
 commonest monuments of that country, are all 
 superior to those here. If such be the case, the 
 pyramids of Memphis, the palace of Abydos, the 
 
 from where we had pitched our tents) to get some bread, and 
 he brought me word that there was no bread there to be had, 
 and that the man of that liouse did never eat bread in all his 
 life, but only dried dates, nor any of his household ; whereby 
 you may partly perceive the barrenness of the country at this 
 day, only, as I suppose, by the curse that God layeth upon the 
 same. For that they use the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah very 
 much in that country, whereby the poor Christians who inha- 
 bit therein are glad to marry their daughters at twelve years of 
 ac-e unto Christians, lest the Turks should ravish them. And, 
 to conclude, there is not that sin in the world, but it is used 
 there among those inlidels that now inhabit tlierein ; and yet 
 it is called Terra Sancta, and, in the Arabian tongue, Cuthea, 
 whicli is, the Holy Land, bearing the name only, and no more ; 
 for all holiness is clean banished from thence by those thieves, 
 fiUhy Turks, and infidels, that inhabit the same." — Harleian 
 Miscellany, vol. iii. p. 34 1 .
 
 CHIEFLY WITHOUT THE WALLS OF JERUSALEM. 3^7 
 
 sanctuary of Tentyra, tlie colossal statues and 
 sphinxes, the tombs and temples of Thebes, and 
 the less-known, but still more beautiful and sur- 
 prising monuments of Nubia, with the gigantic 
 grottoes of Girshe, Meshgarali, and Ipsamboul, 
 so eclipse in splendour and in size the poor re- 
 mains which are found around this far-famed 
 capital of Judea, that, on comparing them toge- 
 ther, one cannot help applying to the latter the 
 terms of '* paltry '* and "insignificant." All 
 these ideas of beauty and of greatness, are, how- 
 ever, quite relative : what woidd be thought 
 ** superb " and " magnificent " in one age and 
 country, would be scarcely esteemed in another; 
 and what would be beheld with wonder by one 
 person, a second would regard with indiffer- 
 ence. 
 
 On quitting these sepulchres of the kings, we 
 continued to approach the city in a southerly 
 direction, and after nearly half an hour's walk, 
 came to an enclosure at the foot of a large quarry, 
 in which is shown a grotto and a recess in the 
 rock, said to have been the bed of the prophet 
 Jeremiah. Within the same enclosure, there is 
 a spot thought to be that on which he wrote his 
 Lamentations over the Holy City. This place 
 is in possession of the Turks, who hold it in ex- 
 treme veneration ; but, as it was shut up, we 
 could only look down into it from above. 
 
 Y 4
 
 328 VISIT TO THE HOLY PLACES, &C. 
 
 It was just sunrset when we reached the Da- 
 mascus gate, to return to the convent; and 
 having performed the whole of this day's excur- 
 sion on foot, over the most rocky and rugged 
 roads that .could be trodden, besides crawling 
 into all the grottoes we had seen, we were suffi- 
 ciently fatigued to render repose exceedingly 
 desirable.
 
 ( 329 ) 
 
 CHAR XIIv 
 
 EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, AND THE CAVE OF 
 THE NATIVITY. 
 
 January 22. Having procured Turkish dresses 
 for myself and my servant, we to-day put off 
 our European clothes, which were sent to the 
 young Frenchman, whom I had seen in distress 
 at Jaffa ; and after these duties of the morning 
 were passed through, I accompanied Mr. Bankes 
 in returning a visit to the Abyssinian prince 
 who had visited us two days before. We found 
 him lodged in the Coptic Convent, which in- 
 cludes an assemblage of small rooms around 
 a large paved court adjoining to the Holy Se- 
 pulchre. In the centre of this, one of the 
 cupolas of the Sepulchre elevated itself above 
 the houses, and on one side of it were the ruined 
 arched recesses of some ancient religious 
 building. 
 
 We ascended to one of the upper rooms, 
 through a miserable entrance, and were received 
 in a small apartment possessing no other fur- 
 niture than a dirty mat and ragged carpet ; and 
 having no aperture for the admission of" hght
 
 330 EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 except the door-way. Being seated on tlie floor, 
 and surrounded by the Prhice Moosa, and five 
 or six Abyssinians of his retinue, we were served 
 with large tumblers of rakhee, some dried figs, 
 and a pipe ; a cooking kettle, placed on a char- 
 coal fire, in an earthen pan, stood in the centre 
 of the room, and occupied the attention of our 
 host in those intervals when conversation failed, 
 and these were pretty frequent, as he himself 
 spoke Arabic but imperfectly, and Mr. Bankes's 
 interpreter, an Italian renegado, still more so. 
 
 After a few minutes, the females of the family 
 were sent for ; and presently there appeared a 
 young Abyssinian girl of handsome features, 
 but very dark complexion, attended by two 
 elderly women, who appeared to be her servants 
 or assistants. These all seated themselves, and 
 as the young girl placed herself beside me, and 
 spoke Arabic sufficiently well to make herself 
 understood, we soon became familiar. Some 
 Amharie books of devotion were now shewn to 
 us, very finely written on vellum, and adorned 
 with paintings of the evangelists, saints, &;c. 
 drawn in the rudest manner, and very gaudily 
 coloured. Then followed some Abyssinian 
 paintings of horses in all their various furniture 
 and trappings, and other pictures, displaying 
 the costume of the country. 
 
 While these particularly attracted the attention
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 331 
 
 of Mr. Bankes, as an admirer of the arts, and a lover 
 of new and curious information of every kind, I 
 was somewhat surprised to find the young lady 
 on my left approaching close to me ; and pre- 
 sently a pressure of my hand, as it rested on the 
 carpet to support me in leaning forward while 
 looking at the drawings, intimated the wishes 
 and intentions of the lady. I turned round to 
 observe her, without being noticed, and certain 
 signs still further intimated the desire of a 
 present. 
 
 Conversation now grew louder ; and, as we 
 had taken with us some trifling articles to offer 
 to these people on our visit, according to the 
 known custom of their country, I gave her a 
 small huswife, furnished with needles, thread, 
 &c., the only article I possessed that was at 
 all adapted to the purpose. It was received 
 with many thanks and kisses of the hand. But 
 this was not all ; advantage was taken of the 
 general attention being occupied, to ask me 
 whether I had nothing more that I could bestow. 
 I hesitated, and talked of things at home. A 
 reply was made : *^ I love you more than I can 
 express ; and if you will give me a large present, 
 come hither to-morrow, and you shall be my 
 favourite." 
 
 I thought it impossible that I could have 
 rightly understood her meaning j but though
 
 33'2 EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 repeated a second time in a lower voice, the 
 proposition was still the same. I asked her what 
 she desired. She replied, that she must first 
 see the things I possessed, before she could fix 
 her choice ; and altercations followed in whis- 
 pers, like the bargaining for a contraband com- 
 modity in the presence of revenue-officers. It 
 was to me the most satisfactory elucidation of all 
 that had been said on the cupidity and pro- 
 fligacy of female Abyssinian manners. 
 
 In the inquisitive conversation which publicly 
 passed among us all, we learnt from Moosa, 
 that he himself was the son of one of the great 
 men at the Court of Gondar ; but this seemed 
 extremely doubtful, from his hesitating both as 
 to the name and the titles of his father. He said, 
 that, two years since, he had left Abyssinia in 
 charge of two young ladies whom he insisted 
 were " Binteen el Wizeer,'* or two daughters of 
 the prime-minister there. They were accom- 
 panied, he said, by five or six men, and the two 
 women whom we now saw ; and the object of 
 their voyage was a visit to the Sepulchre of the 
 Messiah, and the holy places at Jerusalem. They 
 intended, as he stated, after completing their pil- 
 grimage at the ensuing Easter, to return again to 
 Abyssinia, by way of the Red Sea, as they came. 
 Some few months after their arrival at Jerusalem, 
 the elder of the girls had died, and the younger
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. S33 
 
 only now remained ; the names of the two being 
 Miriam and Martha, names which are common 
 in Abyssinia, from those of the sister favourites 
 of the Saviour. 
 
 After a long conversation with this Abyssinian 
 party, and a parting request from the young lady 
 that I would call again on the morrow, we left them, 
 to return to the convent. Passing in our way 
 through a dark passage, luider an arched gate, 
 we observed a large court above, on the stairs of 
 which were several good-looking females, who 
 seemed to invite us up tojoin them. Accord- 
 ingly, turning back,we all ascended, and were 
 treated with a familiarity which we did not well 
 comprehend, until it was told us that this house 
 had been left as a legacy by some pious Christian 
 to the friars of our convent, and that they suffered 
 it to be occupied rent-free by families, on very 
 improper conditions. This being told us by a 
 Copht, we conceived it to be a scandal, on ac- 
 count of a difference in their faith ; but it was 
 confirmed to us by other corroborating testimo- 
 nies, and we returned to our quarters surprised 
 at the disclosures of the short ramble of to-day. 
 
 23d. Tt being a rainy morning, our depar- 
 ture was put off again, and the former part of the 
 day was passed in examining the drawings which 
 Mr. Bankes had made of the monuments in 
 Egypt and Nubia, which were all particularly
 
 3.34 EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 fine, and, as far I could recollect, perfectly 
 accurate. He had added to these, also, during 
 his long stay at Jerusalem, plans and views of 
 all the tombs in the neighbourhood, and draw- 
 ings of other interesting subjects ; the whole 
 together forming a collection of at least two 
 hundred in number, and highly valuable. 
 
 24th. Some causes still continuing to detain 
 Mr. Bankes here, I devoted the day to an ex- 
 cursion on horseback, and set out early in the 
 morning for Beit-Lahhm, the Bethlehem of the 
 Scriptures. We quitted Jerusalem at the gate 
 near the Palace of David, and passing over the 
 Valley of Hinnom, crossed the hill opposite to 
 Sion on the south, the top of which is slightly 
 cultivated with olives trees, and some patches 
 of corn land. 
 
 From hence we continued our way towards 
 the Convent of St. Ehas, which lies at about an 
 hour's distance from the city. It is a Greek 
 sanctuary ; and the priests of that order, not to 
 be behind the Latins, who show in so many 
 places the -print of the hands, and feet, and toes, 
 and fingers of the Messiah, show here the im- 
 pression of St. Elias's ivhole body in a hard stone. 
 This rock served him as a couch ; but, by yield- 
 ing to his sacred weight, it became to him, one 
 would think, so like a feather-bed, as to take 
 away all the merit of penance and mortification,
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 33.5 
 
 which sleeping on a bed of stone would seem to 
 imply. 
 
 In the route between Jerusalem and St. Eli as, 
 other sacred spots were pointed out ; but I was 
 more particularly struck with the appearance of 
 several small and detached square towers in the 
 midst of vine-lands, said by our guide to be used 
 as watch-towers, from which watchmen looked 
 out to guard the produce of the lands themselves, 
 even in the present day. This may explain, I 
 think, the use and intention of that mentioned 
 in the gospel : " A certain man planted a vine- 
 yard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a 
 place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and let 
 it out to husbandmen, and went into a far 
 country." * 
 
 From the Convent of St. Elias, we descended 
 into the Valley of Rephaim, mentioned by 
 Josephus, and celebrated as the theatre of 
 David's victories over the Philistines, f Like 
 all the country about Jerusalem, it is stony, and 
 scantily furnished with patches of light red soil. 
 
 In the way, on the right, at a little distance 
 from the road, is shown the reputed tomb of 
 Rachel, which we turned ofFto enter. This may 
 be near the spot of Rachel's interment, as it is 
 not far from Ephrath, and may correspond well 
 enough with the place assigned for her sepul- 
 
 * St. Mark, .\ii. 1. | Antiq. Jiid. lib. iv. clmp. 10.
 
 336 EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 chre by Moses, who says, in describing her death 
 in child-birth of Benjamin, " And Rachel died, 
 and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is 
 Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon her 
 grave ; that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto 
 this day.'' * Instead of a pillar, the spot is now 
 covered by a Mohammedan building, resembling 
 in its exterior the tombs of saints and sheikhs 
 in Arabia and Egypt, being small, square, and 
 surmounted by a dome. 
 
 We entered it on the south side, by an aper- 
 ture through which it was difficult to crawl, as it 
 has no door-way, and found on the inside a 
 square mass of masonry in the centre, built up 
 from the floor nearly to the roof, and of such a 
 size as to leave barely a narrow passage for walk- 
 ing around it. It is plastered with white stucco 
 on the outer surface, and is sufficiently large and 
 high to enclose within it any ancient pillar that 
 might have been found on the grave of Rachel. 
 This central mass is certainly different irom any 
 thing that I have ever observed in Arabian 
 tombs ; and it struck me on the spot, as by no 
 means improbable, that its intention might have 
 
 * Genesis, xxxv. 19, 20. — Benjamin of Tudela describes 
 the tomb of Rachel as being half a league from Bethlehem, 
 built in a cross-way of twelve stones, according to the number 
 of the children of Jacob, and covered by a dome supported by 
 four columns. Upon the stones of this building the Jews who 
 passed wrote their names.
 
 ANJ> THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITV. SSJ 
 
 VOL. I.
 
 33S EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 originally been to enclose either a pillar, or frag- 
 ment of one, which tradition had pointed out as 
 the pillar of Rachel's grave ; and that as the place 
 is held in equal veneration by Jews, by Christians, 
 and by Mohammedans, the last, as lords of the 
 country, might have subsequently built the pre- 
 sent structure over it in their own style, and 
 plastered the high square pillar within. Around 
 the interior face of the walls is an arched recess 
 on each side, and over every part of the stucco 
 are written and engraved a profusion of names in 
 Hebrew, Arabic, and Roman characters, the 
 first executed in curious devices, as if a sort of 
 Abracadabra. 
 
 After a ride of about two hours nearly in a 
 southern direction, we entered Bethlehem, which 
 is agreeably situated on a rising ground, and has 
 an air of cleanliness and comfort not commonly 
 seen in the villages of the East. Almost the first 
 novelty that struck me on entering the place 
 was, that the Christian inhabitants, from there 
 being scarcely any Mohammedans living near 
 them, wear white and gay-coloured turbans with 
 impunity ; whereas in Jerusalem, no Christian, 
 subject to the Porte, dares to wear any other 
 than blue, without risk of losing his head. 
 
 This place is among the oldest of those men- 
 tioned in the history of the Jews, and that too
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 339 
 
 by the name which it still retains. It was also 
 called Ephrath, which has been interpreted 
 *' The Fruitful ;*' and its name of Bethlehem, in 
 Hebrew, is said to signify " The House of 
 Bread ;" though " Beitlahem,'*as it is pronounced 
 by the Arabs on the spot, is literally the " House 
 of Flesh." It is noticed in the history of Ra- 
 chel, the daughter of Laban, " who died and was 
 buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Beth- 
 lehem." 
 
 In the remarkable story of the Levite and his 
 concubine, related in the Book of Judges, it is 
 called Beth-lehem-Judah, from its being within 
 the limits of that tribe, to distinguish it from 
 Bethlehem-Zabulon ; and Josephus, in telling the 
 same tale, with some variations, says, that this 
 Levite was a man of a vulgar family, who 
 dwelt in Bethlehem, and married a beautiful 
 wife from that town, which was a place belong- 
 ing to the tribe of Judah. It was also fre- 
 quently called the city of David, because 
 that monarch, as well as his father Jesse, was 
 born there. 
 
 The admirable Eclogue of Ruth has its scene 
 laid in Bethlehem, after the return of the family 
 of Elimelech from the land of Moab, bringing 
 with them from thence this young Moabitess, 
 who became the wife of Baaz, and gave birth to 
 z ^2
 
 iJ40 EXCURSION' TO UETHLEHEM, 
 
 Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David, 
 from whom the Messiah was to come. 
 
 Cellarius has industriously collected all the 
 authorities for fixing with accuracy its geo- 
 graphical position, and distance from Jerusalem, 
 which is about six miles in nearly a southerly * 
 direction. As one of the principal sanctuaries 
 of the Holy Land, mention of it occurs in all 
 the pilgrimages of Christians there ; so that 
 little could be said on it that would be perfectly 
 new. Yet this scarcely lessened our natural 
 desire to see such objects as were usually visited. 
 
 Being conducted to the convent, we entered 
 by a small wicket through a large iron-cased 
 door, and came into a fine open hall, supported 
 by a double avenue of twenty-four marble 
 columns on each side, of tiie Corinthian order, 
 making in all forty-eight, in four rows of twelve 
 each. These were two feet six iaches in dia- 
 meter, and eighteen feet in height, and were of 
 chaste execution, and in excellent preservation.^ 
 This is the nave of the great church built by 
 St. Helena, on the spot where the early Chris- 
 tians had made the sanctuary of the birtli-place 
 of their Saviour, and where Hadrian had subse- 
 quently placed on its ruins a stait^e of Adonis. 
 
 •* CfUariub, Geog. Aulin lib iii i- 13. p. 34...'.
 
 AND THE CAVE UF THE NATIVITY. 341 
 
 From hence we were led through the inner 
 parts of the church, now cut off from this fine 
 nave in consequence of the possession of the 
 pecuHar sanctuaries being constantly disputed 
 by the Greeks, the Armenians, and the Ca- 
 tholics. No part of the interior is either chaste 
 or handsome, though some portion of the 
 Armenian altars have great richness amid the 
 fantastic profusion of their ornaments. 
 
 We were conducted by dark passages to the 
 grottoes below ; among which was that of St. 
 Jerome, who passed the greater part of his life 
 here, and of whom there is a wretched picture, 
 representing him nearly naked, in the act of 
 writing; that of Santa Paula, and Santa Eus- 
 tasia, the Roman mother and daughter, de- 
 scendants of Gracchus and Scipio ; that of the 
 chapel of the Innocents ; of Saint Eusebius of 
 Cremona ; and of Joseph, the husband of the 
 Virgin Mary. In all these, the paintings are of 
 the meanest kind ; but that which represents the 
 Roman mother and daughter in death, has 
 something melancholy and impressive in it. 
 
 The principal sanctuary of Bethlehem is the 
 Grotto of the Nativity, the descent to which is 
 by twenty or thirty steps, all below the general 
 level of the church. These lead down narrow 
 and winding passages, so as to render it alto- 
 gether certain that this never could have been 
 
 z 3
 
 34-^ EXCURSION TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 the stable of an inn, without some material 
 alterations in its construction ; since, at the 
 present moment, it is difficult even for men to 
 descend into it, and cattle could not do so at 
 all, by any passage that I could perceive. 
 
 Here, however, we were shown a cave, very 
 splendidly ornamented with a marble pavement, 
 recesses decorated with sculpture and painting, 
 and a double row of massy silver lamps of ex- 
 quisite workmanship, furnished by the patrons 
 of either sect who may share the possession of 
 the altars. Among the paintings, a concert of 
 angels celebrating the birth of Jesus, seemed to 
 possess great merit ; though there was something 
 strange to my eye, in observing one of these 
 angels, whose wings were expanded, seated on a 
 cloud with a huge violoncello between his legs, 
 and the bow in his right hand. Another^ of the 
 eastern Magi adoring the Infant Saviour, and 
 angels bearing censers of incense, was equally 
 beautiful. Beneath this last is a marble altar, 
 and still below it, a semicircular recess, orna- 
 mented at the back with some fine sculpture, on 
 white marble, and hung around with large silver 
 lamps, kept constantly burning. Here is shown, 
 upon the pavement, an inlaid star, which is said 
 to mark the spot of the Saviour's birth, and to lie 
 immediately underneath that point of the hea- 
 vens where the star of the east became fixed in
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 343 
 
 its course, to direct tlie wise men to the object 
 of their search. * 
 
 The facts of this grotto having been a stable, 
 and the place on which the star is seen, a man- 
 ger, seem improbable, chiefly from the difficulty 
 of access to it in its present state ; but if the 
 means of entrance were formerly more open and 
 enlarged, the subterranean excavation might as 
 easily have been attached to an inn, as to any 
 other kind of building. As such, it might have 
 been occasionally appropriated to the reception 
 of guests, particularly on an occasion like that 
 described by St. Luke, who says of Mary, " And 
 she brought forth her first-born son, and wrapped 
 him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in a 
 manger, because there was no room for them 
 in the inn.'* 
 
 The possession of this spot, once so mean 
 and insignificant, is now disputed by contending 
 sects of Christians, with the same rage and 
 animosity as that which marks their struggle for 
 the command of the Holy Sepulchre. During 
 the last Christmas only, at the celebration of the 
 Feast of the Nativity, at which Mr. Bankes was 
 
 * Some contend that this was the spot on which the star 
 fell from the firmament, and sunk into the earth ; and there 
 was formerly a corresponding place shown between Bethle- 
 hem and Jerusalem, where the wise men found the star after 
 it was lost, close to the place where the angel took up Habbakuk 
 by the hair of the head to carry meat to Daniel in the lion's 
 den. — Ilarleian Misc. vol. iii. p. 331. 
 
 z 4
 
 O'il EXCURSION' TO BETHLEHEM, 
 
 present, a battle took place, in which several of 
 the combatants were wounded, and others 
 severely beaten ; and on the preceding year, 
 the privilege of* saying mass at the altar on that 
 particular day, had been fought lor at the door 
 of the sanctuary itselfi with drawn swords. * 
 
 Returning from these grottoes up to the con- 
 vent, we ascended the terrace, and enjoyed from 
 thence a commanding view of the surrounding 
 country. Among the more interesting objects, 
 were pointed out the tower of St. Paul t, but why 
 
 * Dr. Clarke, in speaking of the sanctuary at Bethlehem, 
 says, " The degrading superstitions maintained by all the 
 monkisli establishments in the Holy Land, excite pain and 
 disgust. The Turks use the monastery here when they travel 
 this way, as they would a common caravansary, making the 
 church both a dormitory and a tavern, while they remain. 
 Neither is the sanctuary more polluted by the presence of these 
 Moslems, than by a set of men, whose grovelling understand- 
 ings have sunk so low as to vilify the sacred name of Chris- 
 tianity, by the grossest outrages upon human intellect. In 
 the pavement of the church, a hole, formerly used to carry off 
 water, is exhibited as the place where the star fell, and sunk 
 into the earth, after conducting the Magi to the cave of the 
 nativity. A list of fifty other things of this nature might be 
 added'J if either the patience of the author or of the reader 
 were equal to the detail." Vol. ii. p. 622. 
 
 t The tower of Edar, as some say, was near this place, 
 where Jacob fed his flock after his return from INIesojjotamia, 
 and where Reuben defiled his father's concubine. Pococke, 
 vol. ii. p. 40. " And Israel journeyed and spread his tent 
 beyond the tower of Edar ; and it came to pass, when Israel 
 dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his 
 father's concubine." Gen. xxxv. 2J, 22.
 
 A\D THE CAVE OF THE XATIVITY. 315 
 
 SO called, I could not learn, as it seemed to be 
 a watch-tower in a vineyard, like those already 
 described between Jerusalem and St. Elias. We 
 saw also near this, preserved in a square en- 
 closure, now bearing olive-trees, the field in 
 which the shepherds fed their flocks when the 
 angels announced to them the birth of Christ. 
 A conical hill was also pointed out to us, called 
 the mountain of the Franks, because a party of 
 the crusaders defended themselves on it forty 
 years after the taking of Jerusalem.* 
 
 The valleys on the east of Bethlehem are more 
 fertile and better cultivated than the hills around 
 Jerusalem, and the town itself has an appearance 
 of great activity for a mere agricultural settle- 
 ment. It is seated on the north-eastern brow of 
 a hill, and is nearly as large as Nazareth, being 
 
 * This place seems to agree with the situation of Beth-hac- 
 cerem, mentioned by Jeremiah as a proper place for a beacon, 
 when the children of Benjamin were to sound the trumpet in 
 Tekoa, particularly when considering what St. Jerome says on 
 the passage in question : " O ye children of Benjamin, gather 
 yourselves to flee out of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow 
 the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of lire in Beth- 
 haccerem ; for evil appeareth out of the north, and great de- 
 struction." Jeremiah, vi. 1 . This hill was laid out in terraces, 
 and had fortifications at the top, with walls and ditches. It 
 was supplied with water by aqueducts from the cisterns of 
 Solomon, and has now ruins of a church and other buildings 
 at its foot. Pococke, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 42.
 
 3'hG EXCURSION TO UETHLEIlExM, 
 
 thought to contain from a thousand to fifteen 
 hundred inhabitants, who are ahnost wholly 
 Christians. The men are robust and well-made, 
 and the women are among the fairest and hand- 
 somest that I had yet seen in Palestine. There 
 is said to be here, as at Jerusalem, an accommo- 
 dating disposition on the part of the friars 
 towards an establishment for female poor. Seve- 
 ral anecdotes were mentioned to me of con- 
 nivance on the part of husbands, and the ques- 
 tions which I put to some of the members of the 
 convent, rather strengthened than destroyed this 
 opinion, but nothing fell beneath my actual 
 observation. * 
 
 The superior of the convent had very kindly 
 prepared for me a refreshment of fruit and wine ; 
 and while I partook of it, the same song of lamenta- 
 tion which I had listened to at Jerusalem, was 
 
 * Pococke observed in his time, that the Christians at 
 Jerusalem, Bethlehem, St. John's, and Nazareth, were worse 
 than any other Christians. *' I was informed,'' says he, *' that 
 the women of Bethlehem are very good, whereas those at Jeru- 
 salem are worse than the men, who are generally better there 
 than at the other places. This may be occasioned by the great 
 converse which the women have there with those of their own 
 sex, who go thither as pilgrims ; and I will not venture to say 
 whether too great a familiarity with those places in which the 
 sacred mysteries of our redemption were acted, may not be a 
 cause to take off from the reverence and awe which they 
 should have for them, and lessen the influence they ought to 
 have on their conduct." Vol. ii, pt. i. p. 40.
 
 AND THE CAVE OF THE NATIVITY. 34-7 
 
 repeated to me here : every one seemed to think 
 that his being sent to the Holy Land was a 
 species of banishment, and every one exclaimed, 
 ** When will the happy day come, in which we 
 may hope to return again to Europe ?'* I asked 
 them why they did not quit a life which was so 
 full of mortification ? None among them replied, 
 that their sufferings were borne for religion's 
 sake ; but one said that he was poor and without 
 another calling ; a second said, that if his former 
 friends had been alive, his last effort would have 
 been to escape from hence ; and most of them 
 lamented the rigorous exaction of obedience, and 
 the impossibility of quitting the church without 
 danger of excommunication.
 
 ( 3iS ) 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 VfSIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 W^E left Bethleliem about ten o'clock, and di- 
 recting our course still to the southward, inclin- 
 ing easterly, through a stony valley, and over 
 the barest and most rugged hills, we came, in 
 about an hour, to the large reservoirs, which are 
 called the Cisterns of Solomon. It is thought 
 that these pools were the work of that king, and 
 that they are the places alluded to by him, when 
 he says, *' I made me great works : I builded me 
 houses : I planted me vineyards : I made me 
 gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in 
 them of all kinds of fruits : I made me pools of 
 water to water therewith the wood that bringeth 
 forth trees." 
 
 Maundrell's description of them is so accurate, 
 that nothing can be added to it. They are seated 
 in a valley, and are three in number, each occu- 
 pying a different level, and placed in a right line 
 with each other, so that the waters of the one 
 may descend into the next below it. Their figure 
 is quadrangular ; the first, or southern one being
 
 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. . 349
 
 350 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 about three hundred feet long, the second four 
 hundred, and the third five hundred, the breadth 
 of each being about two hundred feet. They 
 are all lined with masonry, and descended to by 
 narrow flights of steps at one of the corners ; the 
 whole depth when empty, not exceeding twenty 
 or thirty feet. They were, at the present mo- 
 ment, all dry ; but though they may be consi- 
 dered useful works in so barren and destitute a 
 country as Judea, yet they are hardly to be reck- 
 oned among the splendid monuments of a luxu- 
 rious sovereign*s wealth or power, since there 
 are many of the Hindoo tanks in Bombay, the 
 works of private individuals, in a mere commer- 
 cial settlement, which are much more elegant in 
 their design, and more expensive in their con- 
 struction than any of these. 
 
 Near these reservoirs there are two small foun- 
 tains, of whose waters we drank and thought 
 them good. These are said to have originally 
 supplied the cisterns through subterranean aque- 
 ducts, but they are now fallen into decay from 
 neglect, and merely serve as a watering-place for 
 cattle, and a washing stream for the females of 
 the neighbouring country. 
 
 To the northward of the cisterns, the valley 
 closed in so as to form a narrow ravine at the foot 
 of the two opposite hills, and this is pretended 
 to be the place meant by the enamoured mo-
 
 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 351 
 
 narch, when he exclaims, " A garden enclosed 
 is my sister, my spouse, a spring shut up, a foun- 
 tain sealed ;" and to be alluded to also by the 
 spouse who had ravished his heart with one 
 chain of her neck, when she replies, " Awake, 
 O! north wind; and come, thou south; blow 
 upon my garden, that the spices thereof may 
 flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, 
 and eat his pleasant * fruits." Whether these 
 luxurious and enamoured descriptions be not 
 wholly figurative might admit, however, of some 
 question. 
 
 We quitted the cisterns about noon, seeing 
 nothing of the aqueduct by which the w^aters 
 were said to have been conveyed from this place 
 to Jerusalem t , and passed, at a few yards* dis- 
 
 * Canticles, iv. 12. ; ix. 16. 
 
 This place is thought to be the Etham, very pleasant for fine 
 gardens, and abounding in rivulets of water, mentioned by 
 Josephus as the favourite morning-ride of Solomon the king. 
 The heights above it have been for this reason thought to be 
 the Etam of the Scriptures, to which Samson retired after he 
 had burned the corn of the Philistines (Judges, xv. 8,), particu- 
 larly as it is said that Rehoboam built Bethlehem, Etam, and 
 Tekoa, this being in the neighbourhood of both these places. 
 Pococke has observed, that an aqueduct from these cisterns to 
 Jerusalem would be useless, as they could always be cut off by 
 an enemy ; and regarding the site, as one fit for a house of 
 pleasure, he has remarked, that it is a very bad situation, and 
 there is no prospect from it, but of the dismal hills on the other 
 side. — Pococke, vol. ii. part i. p. 4'A. 
 
 •\ Joseph. Aiitiq. Jud. 1. viii. c. 7. 3,
 
 3.52 VISIT TO TIIR CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 tance, an old Saracen castle. It is a square 
 building of considerable size, liaving battlements 
 on its walls, and Arabic inscriptions over its 
 door of entrance. The masonry of this edifice 
 appeared to be of the same age as the lining of 
 the reservoirs themselves ; and I was induced to 
 think the whole rather the work of the Moham- 
 medan conquerors of Judea than of the Jewish 
 monarch, who, in constructing gardens and vine- 
 yards, and works of magnificence and pleasure, 
 could not have selected a more unfit spot in all 
 the country around his capital, than this stony 
 valley for such a purpose *. The preservation 
 of the water of these fountains, as a work of pub- 
 lic utility, and military importance, in a country 
 whose possession was disputed, might, however, 
 have made both the cisterns, and the castle to 
 guard them, a work worthy the attention of the 
 Saracens of a later age. Within this enclosure 
 is now a small village, consisting only of a few 
 Arab families of the Mohammedan faith, who 
 are rather shepherds than cultivators. 
 
 From hence we returned by another route to 
 within sight of Bethlehem, when we turned off* 
 to the westward, on our way to the village of 
 Ain Kareem. Our road was still over a bare 
 and rocky country, in some places almost impas- 
 sable on horseback ; and on our way we passed 
 the villao-e of Beit Jallah, inhabited bv Chris-
 
 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 353 
 
 tians. Soon afterwards we came to a spring, 
 in which it is pretended that Philip baptized the 
 Ethiopian eunuch, who had the charge of Queen 
 Candace's treasure, and was coming from Gaza 
 to Jerusalem to worship. The whole of the 
 country here was such, however, that chariots 
 could certainly not travel through it * ; nor are 
 there at this moment any visible marks of better 
 roads in ancient days than exist now across those 
 mountains. This spring indeed must always 
 have been distant from the more frequented and 
 great public roads on which the eunuch is repre- 
 sented as travelling. 
 
 The country, for some miles before our reach- 
 ing the village, bore marks of a higher state of 
 cultivatioii than the lands near Jerusalem ; and 
 besides the olive in abundance, we saw large 
 portions of the land appropriated to the culture 
 of vines. There was a part of the road which 
 was called " Belled-el Melhhe," or the country 
 of salt, for which our guide could assign no 
 reason. It was the more remarkable that such 
 a name should be given to it, inasmuch as on 
 this spot were grown all the roses which 
 suppUed the sanctuaries and altars both of 
 Jerusalem and of the holy places in its neigh- 
 bourhood. 
 
 * Acts of the Apostles, viii. 26. et seq. 
 VOL. I. A A
 
 354 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON., 
 
 We passed also, in the course of our route, 
 the village of Beit Safafa, where the inhabitants 
 consist of both Mohammedans and Christians ; 
 but from the ignorance and stupidity o£ our 
 guide, our road was altogether " a wandering," 
 and not followed in the common track. 
 
 Our approach to the village of Ain Kareem, 
 was from the eastward, and over a steep descent, 
 where we were obliged to dismount, and go 
 down on foot. We proceeded to the Latin con- 
 vent of St. Giovanni, which occupies nearly the 
 centre of the town, and here we were well re- 
 ceived. After the refreshment of a cup of coffee, 
 we walked on the terrace, to enjoy a more com- 
 manding view of the surrounding scenery. 
 
 The village is seated in the hollow of a deep 
 valley, and has on all sides some portions of cul- 
 tivated and garden land. To the north is seen 
 the village of Kalioon, through which we passed 
 on our road from Jaffa to Jerusalem. From 
 thence to this village there is a deep ravine, 
 through which runs the torrent or brook of 
 Elah, giving its name to the valley.* It was 
 here that David is thought to have gathered the 
 pebbles with which he slew the great Goliath, 
 as the valley of Elah was the scene of that 
 event. The village of Kalioon stands on the 
 west, and Ain Kareem on the east of this stream, 
 
 * See I Samuel, xvii.
 
 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 355 
 
 the bed of which was now dry. Mudden, or 
 Modin, a small town on the summit of the south- 
 western hills, was seen from hence, and pointed 
 out to us as being the spot which contained the 
 tombs of the heroical Maccabees.* Theliouse and 
 grotto of Elizabeth were also shewn to us, on 
 the opposite southern hill, but we did not visit 
 them. 
 
 After enjoying the evening air of this de- 
 licious climate, beneath the clearest sky, in half 
 an hour's walk upon the terrace, we descended 
 into the convent, which appeared to be superior 
 in comfort and arrangement to that of Jerusa- 
 lem, and equal to that of Nazareth. 
 
 The church is one of the most simply beauti- 
 ful throughout the Holy Land. As the friars 
 
 * The magnificence of the sepulchres of these Maccabees 
 may be judged of from the description given of them in the 
 apocryphal books. " Then sent Simon, and took the bones of 
 Jonatlvan his brother, and buried them in Modin, the city of 
 his fathers. And edl Israel made great lamentation for him, 
 and bewailed him many days. 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. More- 
 over, 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 ii standetli yet unto this day." — 
 Mace. xiil. 2.") — 30. 
 
 A A y #
 
 356 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 here are all Spaniards, it partakes more of the 
 style of that nation than of any other, in its 
 ornaments. It is a small oblong square building, 
 with three aisles, the central one of which is 
 crowned by a dome ; and the great altar to 
 which it leads, is adorned by some excellent 
 pictures of the Spanish school. One of these, 
 representing Zacharias, the father of John, in 
 his priestly robes before the altar, is particularly 
 fine, and many of the others are superior to those 
 generally seen in this country. 
 
 In the recess at the end of the aisle on the 
 right hand, is a smaller altar, and near it a large 
 stone, caged in a grating, famed for some mira- 
 culous quality, but I could not learn what, as 
 our old conductor mumbled indistinct Spanish, 
 so that I could scarcely understand one word in 
 five of his discourse. 
 
 At the end of the aisle, on the left, is the chief 
 sanctuary of the church, being the grotto in 
 which it is thought that Elizabeth was delivered 
 of John the Baptist, to whom the convent is 
 dedicated. The descent to it is by a flight of 
 marble steps, and the walls are hung round with 
 crimson damask. The altar itself is ornamented 
 with beautiful sculpture in white marble ; and 
 the general appearance of the recess resembles 
 that of the Grotto of the Nativity, at Bethlehem, 
 being, howev^er, far more beautiful. A fine 
 
 9
 
 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 357 
 
 painting represents the Visitation of Elizabeth, 
 and the whole of the church is ilhiminated by a 
 profusion of rich and massy silver lamps, pro- 
 ducing a chaste yet imposing effect. 
 
 The Mosaic pavement of this church is justly 
 admired ; and such portions of it as were shewn 
 to us by lifting up the carpets that now covered 
 it, displayed a work of most expensive labour. 
 On the whole, I was more pleased with this vil- 
 lage, on account of its situation, the comfort of 
 its convent, and the simplicity of beauty observ- 
 able in its church, than with any other place 
 that I had yet visited in Palestine. 
 
 Leaving this place for Jerusalem, we set out 
 about four o'clock, keeping a north-easterly 
 course, and ascending bare and rugged hills, 
 until we reached their summit in about half an 
 hour, the scenery of the country from every point 
 of view being as uninteresting as could be con- 
 ceived. 
 
 Soon afterwards, we passed on our right the 
 Greek convent of the Holy Cross, a walled 
 building, standing in a little valley, relieved by 
 the presence of olive-trees, and other wood. 
 Maundrell, in assigning the reason of its name 
 and foundation, most satirically says, " It is be- 
 cause that here is the earth, that nourished the 
 root, that bore the tree, that yielded the timber, 
 that made the cross." We did not enter here to 
 A A o
 
 358 VISIT TO THE CISTERNS OF SOLOMON. 
 
 be numbered among the ** much veryer stocks 
 than the stump of the tree itself^" as he justly 
 calls those who fall down to worship the hole in 
 which it stood, but pushed on with all possible 
 speed ; yet, though we reached the gates within 
 five minutes after sun-set, we had the mortifica- 
 tion to find them closed. 
 
 It now became necessary that the warders 
 should obtain the express permission of the 
 governor himself to open them for us, which, 
 after our waiting about half an hour in the cold 
 air, was granted, by the mere mention of my 
 being an English traveller. As I had never yet 
 personally seen the governor, nor even signified 
 to him my arrival in a formal way, it could only 
 have been from the high consideration which 
 our nation enjoys in the East, that such a favour 
 was thus bestowed on a perfect stranger, without 
 a present of any kind being either given or pro- 
 mised to insure it.
 
 ( 369 ) 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 Uanuary 25th. We began to prepare for our 
 departure to-day, but new obstacles arose to 
 retard us. Mr.Bankes preferred using hired 
 horses for his journey, but in the present state of 
 discord and agitation throughout the country, 
 no one could be prevailed on to lend us animals 
 for an excursion beyond the mere vicinity of 
 the city. 
 
 The Arab, whose son Mr. Bankes had released 
 from prison, being well acquainted with the 
 country east of the Jordan, offered to take us to 
 Tiberias by that route, on condition of our pur- 
 chasing horses ; and, as he assured us that he 
 could procure men from the Bedouin tribes in 
 the way, who would secure our safe passage 
 through their territories, we were of opinion that 
 we could not do better than accept his offer. 
 
 He accordingly set out to seek for horses 
 among his own people, from whom we might 
 get them better and cheaper than in town ; as 
 weH as to procure a man from the tribe of 
 Zaliane, on the other side of the river, to add to 
 our escort. 
 
 A A '^
 
 360 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 Having therefore another day of leisure, I 
 passed it in a visit to most of the remarkable 
 places within the city, beginning first with the 
 Latin convent in which we lodged. 
 
 This is a large irregular building, with courts 
 and galleries within, and some small spaces of 
 garden-land without, the whole being so enclosed 
 as to form a safe retreat in time of intestine 
 trouble or commotion. It stands near the south- 
 west angle of the city, on a sloping ground, and 
 is entered from a hilly street by a large iron- 
 ased door, beneath an overhanging building, 
 which darkens the passage, and gives an air of 
 mystery and gloom to the whole. The way 
 beyond leads to a small open paved court below, 
 and other still darker passages lead from this on 
 the right to the first flight of stairs. Ascending 
 these, a range of galleries, winding in various 
 directions, leads to the private apartments and 
 domestic offices of the convent ; and courts be- 
 yond, and terraces above, afford sufficient space 
 for agreeable walks in the morning and evening, 
 and offer a commanding view of all Jerusalem 
 and the country around. 
 
 This edifice is said to be capable of entertain- 
 ing, commodiously, a hundred persons ; and 
 from what I myself saw of its numerous cham- 
 bers, I should have thought it might lodge even 
 a larger number. The Superior and Procurator
 
 INTElllOR OF JERUSALEM. 36i 
 
 have each his suite of apartments, conveniently 
 furnished, besides which there is a pubhc room 
 of reception for visitors, which is crowned by a 
 dome, and serves also for the library of the 
 convent. 
 
 The friars have their separate rooms, furnished 
 with a bed and bedding, a table, wash-bason and 
 jug, a lamp, a crucifix, and a chair, all at the 
 expense of the church, to which they add such 
 other conveniences as they may desire from their 
 own funds. As they are of the Franciscan order, 
 they are under a vow of perpetual poverty, and 
 live professedly by alms, so that they can nomi- 
 nally possess no property individually ; but this 
 does not practically prevent their appropriating 
 presents to the purchase of what may be called 
 mere domestic comforts. 
 
 The convent of Jerusalem is called, ** II Con- 
 vento della Terra Santa," by way of distinction, 
 and is at the head of all the religious establish- 
 ments of the Catholic faith throughout the 
 Holy Land. The Superior is immediately de- 
 pendent on the Pope, but the inferior members 
 are sent from Naples, from Sicily, and from the 
 south of Spain indiscriminately, being all mem- 
 bers of the church of Rome. 
 
 The funds of the institution are supplied from 
 that capital chiefly ; but, during the late war, 
 these supplies were interrupted, and they then
 
 S&2 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 subsisted on tiie charitable donations of their 
 flock here. Legacies, however, are frequently 
 left to them by the devout in Europe, and large 
 sums are sent to them by the monarchs of that 
 quarter. The present king of Spain is extolled 
 as being exceedingly liberal, and is said to give 
 always double the amount solicited of him, when 
 its appropriation is to the Terra Santa ; and 
 most of the friars here being of that nation, con- 
 stantly laud his bounty. 
 
 We were somewhat surprised at being in- 
 formed that the Prince Regent of England had 
 extended his liberality to this long-forgotten 
 land, for the first time, during the last year, when 
 a secretary of our ambassador at Constantinople 
 was sent down to Jerusalem with fifteen hundred 
 pounds to the guardians of the Holy Sepulchre, 
 as a present. The secretary's reception, how- 
 ever, was not of the most flattering kind, as they 
 told him that the King of Spain had just before 
 sent them about six thousand pounds sterling ; 
 and although they always treated the English 
 well, on account of the liberal payment which 
 they were sure to receive from them, yet they 
 never scrupled to say that they were not Chris- 
 tians, calling them either Lutherans, or free- 
 thinkers, or atheists, as might most readily occur, 
 and firmly believing that they had not among 
 them either the Scriptures, the Paternoster, or 
 the Creed.
 
 INTElUOll OF JERUSALEM. 363 
 
 There are at present in the convent, eighty- 
 eight persons, and these are all fed from the 
 same table. There is therefore a purser, a baker, 
 a cook, a steward, and their respective assistants, 
 as in a large ship. The stated quantity of food 
 is apportioned to every man, and no one can 
 demand more than his allowance. The days of 
 fast are also regularly observed, and all proceeds 
 in established order. The bread, the wine, and 
 the vegetables of the convent are excellent, and 
 these are at all times allowed without restric- 
 tion. Meat is rather scarce and dear, fish is 
 not generally to be procured ; and poultry is 
 used but sparingly. Rice and oil are among the 
 great articles of consumption, and fire-wood is 
 said to be among the dearest of all. 
 
 The friars, on coming from Europe, have their 
 passage and travelling expenses paid ; and on 
 entering here they must bow implicit obedience 
 to their superior, on pain of excommunication. 
 Their time of service is generally fixed on set- 
 ting out, either for three, or five, or seven 
 years. When this period has expired, if they 
 desire to return, the superior cannot detain 
 them ; but he is not bound to furnish them with 
 the means of going home. If they remain 
 longer than the fixed period, it is at the discre- 
 tion of the superior ; but if he insists on their 
 going back, the full charge of the passage-
 
 36i INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 
 
 money by ship must be furnished fi'om the ge- 
 neral fund. During their stay here, they all 
 receive an equal portion of food, and are clothed 
 once in two years ; their habit being an under 
 garment, and outer cloak of dark brown cloth, 
 with the white knotted cord of St. Francis, to 
 flog themselves into discipline. Medicines are 
 also furnished by the convent when needed, but 
 no money is ever given to any of them, so that 
 if they possess any, it must be from the charities 
 of others. 
 
 Attached to the convent are two dragomans 
 or interpreters, from Constantinople, both of 
 whom are Christians ; two janissaries or guards, 
 both Mohammedans , an Arab muleteer, a door- 
 keeper, and several inferior servants, all of 
 whom are Arab Christians ; and each of these 
 has a fixed salary allowed him. 
 
 The whole arrangement within this establish- 
 ment seems fitted for ultimate economy and 
 long duration. All the apartments, the galleries, 
 the courts, and the terraces, are paved with 
 stone. There are no less than twenty-two wells 
 of excellent water within the walls, and all these 
 are grated with iron at the top, and worked 
 with strong buckets and iron chains fitted to 
 wear for centuries. 
 
 The inferior Catholic convents, throughout 
 Palestine and Syria, are subject to this of Jerusa-
 
 EXAMINATION OF THE 365 
 
 lem. They are supplied from its funds, when- 
 ever the voluntary contributions of the flock 
 over which they preside fall short ; and all 
 appointments and changes of station among the 
 friars throughout the country are entirely di- 
 rected by the procuratore generale of the Holy 
 City ; so that constant intrigues are prac- 
 tised to keep well with this chief, the convent 
 resembling, in this respect, a sort of ecclesias- 
 tical court, or the head-quarters of a hierarchical 
 camp. 
 
 The mode of life pursued by the friars is a 
 mixture of indolence and exertion, at intervals ; 
 and to them it is certainly not a happy one. 
 They generally retire to sleep at eight o'clock, 
 and are obliged to rise again at half-past eleven, 
 to attend the midnight mass. At one they again 
 lie down, and are all stirring at five, the morn- 
 ing-hour of service throughout the Holy Land. 
 Coffee is made for them at this hour; and at ten 
 they take an early dinner, after which they sleep 
 until past noon. Several services are to be at- 
 tended by some portion of the whole, in stated 
 turns, throughout the day ; as the small hand- 
 bell of call is rung through the cloisters at 
 almost every hour. On days of public feasts, 
 every one is obliged to attend ; and in the pro- 
 cessions of the community to the holy places.
 
 366 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 nothing but illness can justify absence ; so that, 
 on the whole, they are sufficiently occupied. 
 
 In such intervals as they possess, however, 
 nothing is done. Not a book is looked into by 
 an individual of the convent ; and it will scarcely 
 be believed, that not a map, even of the Holy 
 Land, could be found in their library. They 
 either sun themselves alone in some corner of the 
 court or terrace, or lean over the walls of the 
 galleries to regard what is going on in the courts 
 below. 
 
 After sunset they all meet at supper in the 
 common hall. The furniture of this hall is 
 plain, but substantial ; the table-linen is coarse, 
 but clean ; and the table-service is all of pewter, 
 including even the drinking-vessels. There ap- 
 peared to me to be less of content, or union 
 among them, than in any body of men that I 
 had ever seen, who were necessarily compelled 
 to live together ; and throughout the whole 
 number, while I remember to have heard more 
 than twenty complain of the curse of banishment 
 to the Holy Land, the privations to which they 
 were subject, and their longing desire to return 
 to Europe, I did not hear from even one of 
 them a single expression of resignation, of the 
 joy of suffering for religion's sake, of that calm 
 acquiescence in the will of God, or of self-con-
 
 INTKUIOU OF JKUIJSAI.EM. SGy 
 
 gratulation on being so happy as to live and die 
 near their Saviour's tomb, which has been so 
 falsely pictured of them. * 
 
 The church of the convent, which w^as the 
 last object shown to me, is not remarkable either 
 for size or beauty ; and its embellisluments are 
 rather mean than splendid, though it is con- 
 sidered to be the principal church in Palestine. 
 It is furnished with a sufficient number of gaudy 
 altars, gilded candlesticks, censers, images, flow- 
 ers, and pictures, to inspire devotion in those 
 who constantly attend it; and it has a fine altar, 
 
 * Lk viveut des religieux Chretiens, que rien ne peut forcer 
 h, abandonner le tombeau de Jesus-Christ, ni spoliations, ni 
 maiivais traitemens, ni menaces de la mort. Leur cantiques 
 retentissent, nuit et jour, autour du Saint Sepulcre. Dd- 
 pouilles le matin par un gouverneur Ture, le soir les retrouve 
 au pied du Calvaire, priant au lieu oil Jdsus-Christ souffrit 
 pour le salut des hommes. Leur front est serein, leur bouche 
 riante. lis resolvent I'dtranger avec joie. Sans forces, et sans 
 soldats, ils prol^gent des villages entiers contra I'iniquite. 
 Pressd par le baton et le sabre, les femmes, les enfans, les trou- 
 peaux, se r6fugient dans les cloitres de ces solitaires. Qui em- 
 p§che la mdchante arniee de poursuivre sa proie, et de renverser 
 d'aussi foibles remparts ? La charite des moines : ils se privent 
 des derni^res ressources de la vie pour racheter leurs supplians, 
 Turcs, Arabes, Grecs, Chretiens schismatiques ; tous se jettent 
 sous la protection de quelques pauvres religieux, qui ne peuvent 
 se defendre eux-mSmes. C'est ici qu' il faut reconnoitre, avec 
 Bossuet, " que les mains levies vers le ciel enfoncent plus de 
 bataillons que de mains armees dejavelots." Itineraire de 
 Paris k Jdrusalem, cinqui^me partie, tome ii. p. 178,
 
 368 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 and an organ, played on with tolerable skill by 
 one of their members. 
 
 On quitting the Latin convent, we went to 
 the Greek church, which is situated on the left 
 of the street leading to the Bethlehem gate. 
 We descended to it by steps, so that it is partly 
 subterranean ; but it is so small and mean, that 
 I could not conceive it to be the best place of 
 worship of that sect here, until I learned that 
 the Greeks bestowed all their wealth in the de- 
 coration of the Holy Sepulchre, and the other 
 sanctuaries which they possessed in places con- 
 secrated by some sacred event,- and that this, as 
 merely a church, was consequently neglected. 
 
 From hence we passed by the house of Uriah, 
 the pool of Bathsheba, and the palace of David ; 
 in the street beyond which was shown the place, 
 said to be that at which Christ appeared to 
 Mary Magdalen and the other Mary, after his 
 resurrection, when he cried to them, *' All 
 hail !" and they held him by the feet and wor- 
 shipped him. * 
 
 Continuing through this street, which is 
 bounded on the right by the southern wall of 
 the city, and is the cleanest, most spacious, and 
 altogether the best in Jerusalem, we reached the 
 
 * St. Matthew, xxviii. 9.
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 360 
 
 Armenian convent on our left. We entered 
 here, and found Turkish guards seated at the 
 door, who took our pistols from us before we 
 went in, and wlio were evidently placed there 
 as police-orticers to preserve order. There was 
 an air of neatness and comfort about this con- 
 vent which was superior to any tiling I had seen 
 throughout the city ; and the tranquillity, the 
 cleanliness, and the cheerful aspect of the place, 
 seemed to be all in harmony with each other. 
 
 This convent, with its church and gardens, 
 occupies the wliole of that part of the supposed 
 Mount Sion which is within the city, the south- 
 ern walls going directly across its summit, and 
 consequently excluding at least one half of it. 
 The establishment is spacious, and well pro- 
 vided with every comfort for the accommodation 
 of pilgrims, as the Armenians are compelled to 
 receive and maintain all the worshippers of their 
 sect during their stay in Jerusalem, which is 
 not the case 'with any other of the Christian 
 churches. The funds of this convent, though 
 there are neither rich public bodies, nor devout 
 sovereign princes to contribute to them, are said to 
 be superior to all others here, and every thing 
 belonging to their establishment confirms the re- 
 port; so that their devotees must be more wealthy, 
 or their adherents more numerous, or the rich 
 traders of their nation more devout, than those 
 
 VOL. I. B B
 
 3J0 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 of" the European Christians, to support such 
 funds. 
 
 The church itself, is said to be built on 
 the spot where James, the brother of John, 
 was killed by the sword, when Herod the king 
 stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the 
 church. * We entered it by passing through an 
 open paved coint, and the general effect of a 
 first view, was as gorgeous and imposing as 
 could be imagined. The church, though small, 
 is of a lofty height, and crowned by a central 
 dome, and being entirely free of pews or stalls 
 of any description, looks considerably larger 
 than it really is. The walls are every where 
 covered with pictures, executed in the worst 
 taste ; yet, from the mere profusion of their 
 numbers, and the gaiety of their colouring, they 
 produce on the whole an agreeable effect. The 
 pillars, both of the church and the offices of the 
 sacristy, as well as the portals of the door lead- 
 ing to it, and the inner walls, are all cased with 
 porcelain tiles, painted in blue, with crosses and 
 other sacred devices. The Mosaic pavement is 
 the most beautiful of its kind, and appeared to 
 me to be of better execution than that at the 
 convent of St. John at Ain Kareem, or even 
 the great church of the knights at Malta. The 
 
 * Acts of tlie Apostles, xii. 1, 2.
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 371 
 
 whole is carefully covered with rich Turkey 
 carpets, excepting only a small space before the 
 great altar. 
 
 In a small recess on the left, is shown the 
 sanctuary of St. James, thought to be on the 
 spot on which he was beheaded ; and this is 
 ornamented with sculpture in white marble, with 
 massy silver lamps, and gilding, and painting, pro- 
 ducing altogether a surprising richness of effect. 
 The door which leads to this, is, however, still 
 more beautiful, and is composed entirely of tor- 
 toise-shell, mother-of-pearl, gold, and silver, all 
 so exquisitely inlaid and intermixed with each 
 other, that one knows not whether most to ad- 
 mire the costliness of the materials, or the sur- 
 prising skill of the workmanship. 
 
 The three altars which front the door of en- 
 trance, and stand at the northern end of the 
 church, are all as splendid as wealth and profu- 
 fusion could make them. Their loftiness alone 
 produces the most imposing impression; and 
 the massy vessels, and crosses, and mitres, and 
 candlesticks of gold and silver, with here and 
 there the introduction of flowers, and gems, and 
 precious stones, remind one of the splendour of 
 Hiram and Solomon, in the building and furni- 
 ture of the great Temple, which was dedicated 
 to the God of Israel not far from this same spot. 
 
 B B 2
 
 j37^ examination of the 
 
 Quitting tlie church, we pursued our course 
 eastward through this street, which, from the 
 quiet and cleanliness observed in it, as well as 
 its spacious breadth, seemed rather like the un- 
 frequented court of some great building, than a 
 public thoroughfare. In our way, we were 
 shown the supposed house of Annas, the father- 
 in-law of Caiaphas, the high-priest, where Peter 
 tremblingly denied to the damsel who kept the 
 door, all knowledge of Him unto whom he had 
 sworn to remain faithful, even to imprisonment 
 and * death. 
 
 From thence, we passed out of the Sion gate, 
 and came upon the southern brow of the mount, 
 wliere is a burying-ground of the Catholics, with 
 many of their tombs bearing Latin inscriptions, 
 and other tombs of the Armenians with inscrip- 
 tions in their character and language. The 
 house of Caiaphas, the high priest, was pointed 
 out on a spot where a chapel of the Armenians 
 stood in Maundrell's time ; but our guide, who 
 was a sufficiently zealous Catholic to hate this 
 sect, told us he knew nothing of such a chapel 
 now. He seemed delighted, too, in denying 
 the fact of their possessing here the stone that 
 secured the door of our Saviour's sepulchre, 
 although the same author mentions it, and says, 
 
 * Luke, jixil. 33., and John, xviii. 17.
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 373 
 
 " This stone was a long time kept in the church 
 of the sepulchre, but the Armenians, not long 
 since, stole it from thence by a stratagem, and 
 conveyed it to this place." * This house was 
 now closed, so that we could not enter it, any 
 more than the mosque which stands close by on 
 the ground where Christ instituted his last sup- 
 per. We were shown also the well at which the 
 Apostles divided to go abroad and preach the 
 Gospel ; the place of the Virgin's death ; the 
 spot where a Jew obstructed her corpse on its 
 way to the grave, for which his hand was in- 
 stantly withered ; and the grotto in which 
 Peter wept for having denied his master ; all 
 fixed on as good tradition as a thousand other 
 scenes of inferior events here. 
 
 I was particularly anxious to find the large 
 vaults " built of huge firm stone, and sustained 
 with tall pillars, consisting each of one single 
 stone, and two yards in diameter," as described 
 by Maundrell.t With his accustomed minuteness 
 of detail, he gives their situation so accurately, 
 that we could not well have missed them in our 
 search, and they would have been highly in- 
 teresting monuments of the Jewish age, if, as he 
 supposes, they were constructed to enlarge the 
 
 * Maundrell, p. J 3 4. 
 
 f Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 135. 8vo, . 
 
 B B .'3
 
 374- EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 area of the Temple, as mentioned by Josephus * j 
 more particularly, as nothing indisputably of 
 Hebrew workmanship is elsewhere found through- 
 out all the city or its environs. But our guide, 
 after finding that his arguments of their insigni- 
 ficance, founded on the idea that nothing sacred 
 had been done there, were not sufficient to de- 
 stroy our wish of seeing them, at last flatly insisted 
 that no such place existed, and, compelled as we 
 were to follow liis ipse-diiit, or lose him altoge- 
 ther by an affront, we were obliged to yield to 
 Jiis superior judgment. 
 
 Continuing along by the walls toward the 
 south-east angle of the city, we observed several 
 immensely large stones, used in the masonry, 
 one of which measured twenty feet in length by 
 eight in depth, and was, no doubt, of a corres^ 
 ponding thickness. If any part of the original 
 wall of Jerusalem remains, w hich is highly un- 
 certain, it would seem to be in the foundations 
 here ; first, as the wall itself just excludes the 
 valley of Jehoshaphat, which was always without 
 the city ; and next, as it extends beyond the 
 site of the great Temple of Solomon, which was 
 originally within it. It is not impossible, howr 
 ever, that from the ruins, both of the old walls, 
 and of the Temple itself, these large blocks 
 might have been preserved, and worked into 
 
 * yVnt. Jiid. lib. xv. c. ult.
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 37^ 
 
 the more modern enclosure of the Saracens on 
 the spot. * 
 
 We returned from hence by the way that we 
 came, observing the walls to be from forty to 
 fifty feet high in their extreme, but more fie- 
 quently thirty, and no where a hundred, as 
 stated by Chateaubriand. We re-entered the 
 city at the Sion gate, which is arched, and has 
 an Arabic inscription over it, and turning down 
 a little on the right, we came into the quarter 
 of the town inhabited by the Jews. We met 
 here a number of that nation, conversing always 
 in Hebrew. There was an appearance of po- 
 verty, and a seeming love of concealment, in 
 the seclusion of their humble dwellings ; and 
 they themselves were marked by the same pecu- 
 liarities of dress and feature as all the other Jews 
 that I had seen throughout the East. 
 
 From hence we turned into the bazars, which 
 
 * Benjamin of Tudela tells a long story of some labourers, 
 who were going to repair the wall of Sion by order of the 
 Patriarch there, as it hadiately fallen down, and that they dis- 
 covered the sepulchre of the House of David, with this king, 
 as well as Solomon, and others of the Chiefs of Israel and 
 Judah, in great state ; but a sudden burst of wind, and a 
 voice heard to warn them to be gone, so alarmed them, that 
 they fled, and were confined afterwards to their bed with the 
 fright. The place was then closed, ,aad for ever afterwards 
 forbidden to be violated, as the voice of heaven seemed to 
 command it to be respected and hallowed.— Bergeron's Col- 
 •lection* 
 
 B B 4
 
 SJG EXAMINATION' OF THE 
 
 were narrow, dark, and crowded. They Iiad 
 been originally well built in right lines, and were 
 also well paved below, and arched over wath 
 stone roofs, leaving square apertures for the 
 admission of b'ght and air from above. Their 
 arrangement into shops and benches resembled 
 those of Cairo ; but the whole bore marks 
 of neglect and decay, though tliey appeared to 
 be well furnished with most of the necessaries 
 of life. 
 
 We at length reached the gate of entrance to 
 the great mosque of Solomon, which is said to 
 occupy the site of the Jewish temple ; but, 
 being known as Christians, we were not suffered 
 to enter it. Its appearance from without has 
 been already described, as viewed from the 
 Mount of Olives ; and it loses nothing of its 
 grandeur or beauty by a nearer approach. The 
 spacious paved courts, the flights of steps and 
 surrounding arcades, the dark tall cypress-trees 
 and running fountains, and the large octagonal 
 body of the mosque, with its surmounting dome, 
 produce altogether the finest effect, and increase 
 the desire to enter its forbidden walls. It is 
 said to contain some columns of the precious 
 marbles within, but we could obtain no account 
 of its interior to be depended on. The details 
 which Chateaubriand has collected from the 
 writers which he cites are highly interesting,
 
 iNij:iaoi{ or jkuusalem. 
 
 377
 
 378 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 and his observations apparently well-founded 
 and just. 
 
 From the great mosque of Solomon, or from 
 its outer gate, beyond which we dared not enter, 
 and to which our guide accompanied us with 
 reluctance, we were taken to the palace of 
 Pilate. It is now a Turkish residence, and 
 stands near to the way in which Christ was led 
 from thence to Calvary, to be crucified. Here 
 was pointed out to us the spot on which Pilate 
 presented Jesus to the people, declaring he could 
 find no guilt in him ; the place on which he 
 fainted under the weight of the cross, and where 
 liis virgin mother swooned also at the sight ; 
 the spot where St. Veronica gave him her hand- 
 kerchief to wipe his forehead; and, lastly, where 
 the soldiers compelled Simon of Cyrene to bear 
 his cross. No one among the whole of these 
 places has any particular monument to mark 
 it ; but all of them are carefully preserved by 
 tradition, and by being constantly shown to 
 pilgrims. 
 
 We were by this time close to the holy sepul- 
 chre, which had not been opened for several 
 days, so that I had yet possessed no opportunity 
 of entering it. Having intimated to our guide 
 all that I had heard of the female establishment 
 of the friars here, which was now close by, he 
 at first denied the fact of its being of the nature
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 379 
 
 represented : by persisting, however, in the ac- 
 curacy of my information, he at length relented 
 into an admission of its possibility ; and by the 
 further influence of three piastres secretly put 
 into his hand, he winked assent, and whispered 
 to me that if I was desirous of it, he would con- 
 duct me thither. It was now near the evening, 
 and my wish to get at the truth of this singular 
 state of society, determined me to pursue this 
 matter somewhat further : we accordingly went 
 to the house, and while Gabriel, for that was my 
 guardian angel's name, remained in the court 
 below, I ascended the flight of winding-stairs 
 which led from the dark street to an open upper 
 court, and from thence again went by another 
 flight to the gallery above, from which the pri- 
 vate chambers led off. I was here met by an 
 elderly man, of about fifty, who addressed me in 
 Arabic, and I answered him that I was the Eng, 
 lish traveller, who, but a few days since, had 
 called in company with my companion as we 
 came from the Coptic convent. A door was in- 
 stantly opened, and I was shown into a room 
 where were mattresses and cushions on the floor, 
 and some little children playing. Presently af^ 
 terwards there appeared a woman of about thirty, 
 the mother of these children, and the wife of the 
 man who first received me, and who, having 
 named her to me as *' Sitte Tereza," retired. 
 The children were also removed on various pre-
 
 380 EXAMINATION OF THE 
 
 tences made to them, tlie door was closed, and 
 we were perfectly alone. 
 
 All at once, a loud knocking interrupted the 
 scene : the cunning Tereza exclaimed, " Min 
 hoo ?'* (who is there?) and, placing her fingers 
 on her lips, implied an injunction of" silence. No 
 reply was made ; but a second knocking occa- 
 sioned the door to be opened, and behold my 
 Abyssinian friend, Moosa, appeared, stuttering 
 with rage, and scarcely able to contain his anger. 
 I beffo'ed him to sit down. Tereza was still 
 more polite, and said, " My dear Sir, wont you 
 take a glass of rakhee, or a pipe, or coffee ?" 
 The man replied, surlily, that he could not stay, 
 insisted that he wanted me on urgent business, 
 and declared that he would not stir from the 
 door without taking me with him. I rose and 
 followed him, when he chid me for the folly of 
 the risk that I had exposed myself to. It ap- 
 peared that, passing by below, he had seen 
 Gabrielli at the door, and suspected me to be 
 within, though this fellow insisted that he knew 
 nothing of the man for whom he enquired. 
 
 Moosa, according to his own account, had 
 come up to rescue me from the threatening dan- 
 ger. He then assured me that the system here, 
 to all wIk) were not members of the convent to 
 which the house belonged, was to detain the 
 stranger in the room as long as possible ; and 
 that, in the mean time, the husband, or the
 
 INTERIOR OF JERUSALEM. 381 
 
 brother, or some male friend concerned, perso- 
 nated a Turkish soldier by a change of dress, and 
 pretending to have discovered a Christian vio- 
 lating the law, insisted upon the immediate pay- 
 ment of a large sum, or a watch, or some other 
 equivalent, to bribe him to silence ; so that the 
 adventurer was sure of being fleeced of all he 
 might possess about his person, and be drawn in, 
 perhaps, for promises of more to purchase his 
 escape, while the courtezan and her colleagues 
 divided the spoil. 
 
 I had heard before of similar things being 
 done by Turks in Constantinople, but could 
 scarcely credit its existence here, under the cir- 
 cumstances related. Moosa insisted on the fact, 
 and Gabriellidid not pretend to deny it, though 
 he gave no active assent ; for dissatisfaction at 
 discovery had made him silent. What I myself 
 witnessed, however, I have faithfully related ; 
 and what I myself heard I too firmly believed. 
 
 On our way to the convent, Moosa inibrmed 
 me that he was going to set out instantly for 
 Jaffa, that Lady Hester Stanhope had sent for 
 him with all possible urgency, and that he was 
 impatient to be gone. As a last injunction, he 
 bade me be kind to his charge, but conjured 
 me never to set my foot again within the door 
 of this brothel of the Catholic monks.
 
 ( 382 ) 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 
 
 January ^6th. It being signified to us, at the 
 convent, that the Holy Sepulchre would be open 
 for admission to-day, Mr. Bankes was desirous 
 of visiting it, and I profited also by the same 
 occasion to enter this celebrated monument. 
 
 "We left the convent at an early hour, and con- 
 stantly descending till we reached nearly the 
 centre of the city, we arrived in about ten mi- 
 nutes at the low part of the town, in which the 
 church stands. In the large open space before 
 it were at least a hundred venders of relics, with 
 their little stalls ofchaplets, amulets, and crosses 
 of coloured berries and mother-of-pearl, laid out 
 before them ; besides other sellers of glass-ware, 
 bracelets, beads, and trinkets, suited to the taste 
 of the various visitors, and equally unobjection- 
 able to purchasers of every faith. 
 
 The front of the church presents a singular 
 mixture of eastern and western architecture ; 
 but the combination, however contrary to the 
 rigid chastity of taste, produces an agreeable
 
 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 383 
 
 effect. Among the small columns of the front 
 are two of verd-antique, and the aspect of the 
 whole cannot be denied to possess a venerable 
 richness, though it be destitute of regular beauty. 
 We entered by a large door, now thrown open, 
 and found two Turkish guards, lolling on cush- 
 ions, and smoking their long pipes, in a recess 
 on our left. To these we were each obliged to 
 pay thirt\^-three piastres^ as the fee of admission 
 demanded from all Europeans who are not fur- 
 nished with the Sultan's firman. This document 
 exempts the possessor of it from all such charges, 
 but neither of us were thus provided. The 
 Christian subjects of the Porte and European 
 ecclesiastics pay only half this sum, and Moham- 
 medans are admitted gratis whenever they are 
 disposed to enter. The money being once paid, 
 either by pilgrim or resident, ensures his free 
 admission for the whole of the year, on days of 
 public service only. If the door be opened on 
 any other occasion, at the express desire of 
 visitors, the original entrance-fee must be paid 
 over again. The days of opening are regulated 
 by the feasts of the different sects who occupy 
 the church; and they, for the celebration of 
 their stated services, are obliged to pay a fixed 
 sum from their separate and peculiar funds ; so 
 that, on the whole, the receipts of the Turks 
 from the devotion of the Christians here, may be
 
 881. VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 estimated to amount to several thousand pounds 
 annually. 
 
 A great portion of the church having been 
 destroyed by fire about nine years since, it has 
 been recently restored ; and both the architec- 
 ture and decoration of the interior are said to be 
 much inferior to those of the original edifice. 
 The general plan of the whole building, and the 
 arrangement of the holy stations which it con- 
 tains, are, however, so exactly preserved, that 
 the descriptions of the earliest visitors apply as 
 correctly to its present as to its former state. 
 The account which Chateaubriand has given 
 from Deshayes, though written nearly two cen- 
 turies ago, contains almost every thing that could 
 be said upon the subject, and the few observa- 
 tions of that writer which follow the description 
 referred to, on the style of architecture, &c. 
 appear to be generally just. 
 
 The tombs of Godefroy de Bouillon, and of 
 Baudouin, his brother, which drew forth the 
 enthusiastic apostrophe of that writer to the 
 ashes of his heroic countrymen, have been 
 spitefully destroyed by their rivals the Greeks, 
 so that not a vestige of them remains to mark 
 even the spot whereon they stood. 
 
 Having visited all the stations, so often enu- 
 merated in a hundred books of pilgrimage, from 
 the stone of unction near the entrance, to the
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 385 
 
 top of Calvary on which the cross was elevated, 
 in the regular order of their succession, we 
 remained another hour within to examine more 
 at leisure the different parts of the whole, and 
 to witness the strange scenes that were trans- 
 acting at one and the same moment, in different 
 parts of the church. 
 
 Tlie Corinthian cohunns of fine marble which 
 formerly adorned the interior, being destroyed 
 by tlie late fire, the dome is now supported by 
 tall and slender square pillars of masonry, plas- 
 tered on the outside, and placed so thickly to- 
 gether as to produce the worst effect. The mean- 
 ness of every thing about the architecture of the 
 central dome, and of the whole rotunda which 
 surrounds the sepulchre itself, can only be ex- 
 ceeded indeed by the wretched taste of its painted 
 decorations. Mr. Bankes observed, that he knew 
 of nothing to which he could aptly compare it, 
 but to a poor and paltry French theatre ; and, 
 for myself, the nearest models to which I could 
 liken it, were the painted country-houses of the 
 Turks, in what is called the true Constantinople 
 taste, and which might be light and flowery 
 enough for garden summer-houses, but is 
 strangely misplaced in a sanctuary of devotion, 
 or in adorning the tomb of the Deity. 
 
 Among the inferior objects which attracted 
 
 VOL. I. c c
 
 3S6 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 our notice, were, first, the capitals of two large 
 pillars, evidently very ancient, and of an order 
 differing from any that we had before seen. These 
 capitals reminded us of the pomegranates and net- 
 work which are enumerated among the ornaments 
 of the Temple. They are now placed on short 
 thick shafts, and serve to support the roof of a 
 grotto, in which the holy cross is said to have 
 been found by St. Helena ; the place where she 
 sat to view the workmen employed in the exca- 
 vation being shown close by. It is by no means 
 improbable but that these capitals belonged 
 originally to some ancient Jewish building, and 
 that they might have been selected from among 
 a heap of other ruins to be applied to their pre- 
 sent purpose J but there is not even a tradition 
 regarding their origin. 
 
 In another part of the church, we were shown 
 two round holes cut in the rock, and descending 
 to a sort of a grotto beneath. One of these 
 holes was considerably larger than the other, 
 and the use made of them is this. The Greek 
 pilgrims, who are sufficiently meagre to try the 
 experiment with some hope of success, go down 
 through the large hole, and come up through 
 the small one, in which, if they succeed, though 
 at the risk .of being bruised and losing their 
 skin, they are thought to be in a fit state for
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 387 
 
 heaven, and to be secure of its enjoyment if 
 they happen to grow no fatter. * 
 
 After passing these holes, and going beyond 
 the Coptic chapel, where a solitary oLd priest 
 was singing his service at the altar, we entered 
 into a dark grotto, where were several appear- 
 ances of ancient sepulchres hewn in the rock ; 
 and though some of them were very small, per- 
 haps for children, they seemed to remove all 
 doubt of the ground itself having been used as 
 a place of burial, at a very early age. 
 
 As the last and most important monument 
 
 * The corpulent friars of Europe seem not to admit this 
 maxim of leanness being a passport lo heaven, if one might judge • 
 from their pride in a full round belly. Yet Christians are not 
 peculiar in their indulgence of that idea. In the great INIosque 
 of Solomon, according to Pere Roger, as cited by Chateau- 
 briand, a similar mode of trial is practised by the devout. 
 *• Besides the thirty-two columns which sustain the dome, 
 there are two other smaller ones pretty near to the western 
 door, which they show to foreign pilgrims, whom they make 
 to believe, that when they pass freely between these columns, 
 they are predestinated to the paradise of Mohammed ; and 
 they say that if a Christian were to pass through these columns, 
 they would assureilly close together and crush him." The 
 pious father, who seems himself to have entered within these 
 forbidden precincts by stealth, slyly remarks, " I kno^v very 
 well, however, to whom that accident has not happened, 
 notwithstanding that they were good Christians."-f- At Malabar 
 Point, in the island of Bombay, is a similar hole of probation 
 passed through by devout Hindoos ; so that the notion seems 
 to be borne out by examples in very opposite religions. 
 
 •j- Chateaubriand's Travels, vol. ii. p. 870. Frencli ediii^i, Svo. 
 C C2
 
 .388 
 
 VISTT TO CALVARY, AND
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 389 
 
 within these walls, and that to which every 
 other is made subservient, we entered the Holy 
 Sepulchre itself, the venerated tomb of the 
 Living God ; an excavation originally made by 
 human hands, though destined to contain, for a 
 given period, the lifeless corpse of the great 
 Creator and Director of the Universe ! 
 
 To enter here, and kneel before the shrine, 
 and kiss the marble that encases it with abso- 
 lute indifference, I should hold to be impos- 
 sible ; but if I were asked what were the 
 sentiments that possessed me at the moment of 
 bowing before the altar, I should say, with Cha- 
 teaubriand, that it would be impossible for me 
 to describe them, and that such a train of ideas 
 presented themselves at once to my mind, that 
 none remained for a moment fixed there. My 
 feelings, however, though equally indescribable 
 as his own, were, I believe, of a very different 
 kind. 
 
 After having been for some time the most 
 honoured sanctuary of the Christians, it became 
 a Pagan altar, and the statue of Jupiter usurped 
 the place of Christ ; while Venus was worship. 
 ped on the scene of his death, and Adonis 
 bowed to on the spot which gave him birth. 
 Constantine followed to break down the idols of 
 the unbelievers, and the Persian Kosroes soon 
 succeeded to rase again to the ground the 
 
 c c 3
 
 390 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 edifice of the imperial Greek. Heraclius re- 
 stored the cross ; the Saracens appeared and 
 laid it low. The crusading armies of Europe 
 exhausted their best blood and treasure to rescue 
 it from the hands of infidels, if but for a mo- 
 ment, until it fell again before the conquering 
 crescent of Mohammed j and at the present 
 instant, the avarice and indolence of the Turks 
 suffer the tomb of the Messiah to remain un- 
 molested, in consideration only of the gold and 
 silver which it yields up yearly to their coffers. 
 
 The descriptions which have been so often 
 given of this monument, leave nothing to be 
 added to their details. Chateaubriand has in- 
 dustriously collected all that can tend to illus- 
 trate either its history or its present state ; and, 
 as far as I could judge, his remarks, both on 
 the tomb and the church, have the merit of 
 general accuracy. 
 
 Our stay in the sepulchre itself was very short. 
 The crowds pressing at the door ; the smallness 
 of the aperture of entrance ; the confined space 
 within, hung round with crimson damask, and 
 ornamented with silver lamps and painting ; the 
 hurry and bustle occasioned by the worshippers 
 searching for their shoes, left at the door, as 
 every one \vent in barefoot ; the struggles to be 
 the first to get near enough to kiss the marble ; 
 and sometimes the forcibly pulling ofi" the tur-
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 391 
 
 bans of those who might have forgotten to un- 
 cover their heads, presented altogether a scene 
 of such confusion, that, added to the risk of 
 suffocation in so impure an atmosphere, it 
 drove us out rapidly to make room for others. 
 
 In reviewing again the different chapels in 
 which the various worship of the Latins, Greeks, 
 Armenians, Copts, and Abyssinians, was all 
 going on at once, and that too in every diversity 
 of manner, nothing was more striking than the 
 religious pride of the worshippers of each sect, 
 which made them cast down a look of contempt 
 on those of the others, as men irretrievably lost 
 in error, though we ourselves, who belonged 
 professedly to none, were for that reason treated 
 with respect by all. 
 
 From a number of lesser incidents which 
 passed under our own eyes, we could perfectly 
 believe and understand what Maundrell had 
 said of the church here, in his day, and which 
 remains unaltered to the present. * 
 
 The same traveller's description of the cere- 
 
 * That which has always been the great prize contended 
 for by the several sects, is, the command and appropriation of 
 the Holy Sepulchre ; a privilege contested with so much un- 
 christian fury and animosity, especially between the Greeks 
 and Latins, that, in disputing which party should go into it 
 to celebrate their mass, they have sometimes proceeded to 
 blows and wounds, even at the very door of the sepulchre^ 
 mingling their own blood with their sacrifices : an evidence of 
 
 c c 4
 
 392 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 mony of the holy fire, of which he was himself 
 an eye-witness, is a faithful but disgraceful pic- 
 ture of the scenes transacted here from one end 
 of the year to the other, and inclines one to call 
 the church of the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, a 
 temple combining the most surprising mixture 
 of credulity and imposition, devotion and wicked- 
 ness, that has ever issued from any one source since 
 the world began. That which I myself witnessed 
 confirmed to me all that I had heard and seen of 
 the vile appropriation of religion here to the 
 worst of purposes, and induced me to believe 
 what I had at first thought at least a highly- 
 coloured picture, though painted by the chaste, 
 the accurate, and the pious Maundrell. * 
 
 After our return from the sepulchre, while 
 
 which fury the father guardian showed us, in a great scar upon 
 his arm, which, he told us, was the mark of a wound given him 
 by a sturdy Greek priest in one of these unholy wars. — ^Maun- 
 drell's Journey, p. 94. 
 
 * " We went," says he, " to take our last leave of the Holy 
 Sepulchre, this being the last time that it was to be opened 
 this festival. Upon this finishing-day, and the night following, 
 the Turks allow free admittance for all people, without demand- 
 ing any fee for entrance, as at other times, calling it a day of 
 charity. By this promiscuous licence they let in not only the 
 poor, but, as I was told, the lewd and vicious also, who come 
 hither to get convenient opportunity for prostitution, profaning 
 the holy places in such a manner (as it is said) that they were 
 not worse defiled than when the Heathen here celebrated their. 
 Aphrodisia."
 
 THE TOiMB OF CHRIST. 39^ 
 
 Mr. Bankes and myself sat at dinner in the pil- 
 grims* room at the convent, we were visited as 
 usual by the two Italians, who were chiefly oc- 
 cupied in our supply ; the one a Padre Isidore 
 of Livorno, the communiero, and the other a 
 Padre ~ of Lucca, the spenditore, of the 
 establishment. 
 
 The first of these had passed his early years as 
 a travelling dentist in Italy, but finding this 
 trade to fail, had entered the order of St. Francis- 
 He was a modest, and perhaps a moral man, his 
 only visible failing being that of being a syco- 
 phant and an intolerable proser. The second 
 had been bred a shoemaker, and, disliking con- 
 stant manual labour, had become also a Francis- 
 can. He had been several years the sacristan 
 of the convent at Alexandria, where we remem- 
 bered to have seen each other often, as he had 
 only recently returned from thence to the Holy 
 Land. This circumstance of our having met 
 before, had given him a greater degree of fami- 
 liarity than any of the rest had ever presumed 
 to ; so that he always remained the last in our 
 room, under pretence to the others of attending 
 our wishes for to-morrow's dinner. The chief 
 inducement, however, lay in a bottle of French 
 brandy, which was always placed on our table, 
 but of which neither Mr. Bankes nor myself par- 
 took. From this he regularly took his evening
 
 894< VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 cup, wliich was generally a deep one ; and he 
 both drank of it and dwelt upon its praises after- 
 wards with a high degree of pleasure. 
 
 Our conversation was interrupted by the 
 entry of Mohammed, the Italian renegado, who, 
 though he had lived long in Albania and Egypt, 
 and had been at Mecca and Medina, was almost 
 as much a Christian as a Turk ; yet he could not 
 avoid a burst of laughter, when he told us that 
 the monks were all employed in flogging them- 
 selves severely, and asked the old brandy-loving 
 friar why he was not of the number ? The monk 
 answered, that it was penance enough for him 
 to cook for eighty-eight people, and teach the 
 boys of the convent to make shoes, over both 
 of which duties he presided. We learnt, how- 
 ever, from his communications, that to-night 
 was a night of flagellation, and that all the Frati 
 flogged themselves on Wednesdays and Fridays 
 throughout the year, besides every night during 
 Lent and other great fasts, in penance for gene- 
 ral sins ; some doing it with the cords of their 
 order, others with rods, and others with small 
 chains, in proportion to the strength of their 
 bodies to bear, and their devotion to inflict. 
 Such was the extraordinary mixture of profligacy 
 and piety, which the history of another day in 
 Jerusalem disclosed. 
 
 ^7tii. It being the sabbath of the Jews, whose
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. SQ5 
 
 worship we were very desirous of witnessing in 
 this their once imperial city, Mr. Bankes and I 
 went at day-light to attend the morning-service 
 at the Jewish synagogue. 
 
 Arriving at the spot, which was in a low and 
 obscure street near the centre of the town, we 
 descended by a flight of steps into a grotto. On 
 getting down into this, we found it to be a large 
 suit of subterranean rooms, lighted by small 
 windows from above, around the sides, and near 
 the roof. 
 
 The whole place was divided into seven or 
 eight smaller rooms, in the centre of each of 
 which was a raised square enclosure, open above 
 at the sides ; and here stood the priest who read 
 the service. The female worshippers were above, 
 looking down on the congregation through a 
 skreen of lattice-work. The males were below, 
 all seated on benches, and every one had a white 
 serge-cloth, striped with blue at the ends, thrown 
 over his head. At the front corners of this cloth 
 were, two long cords, and around two of the 
 edges of it was a fringe of threads. 
 
 After some time passed in reading and re- 
 sponses, we went into the central rooms, which 
 were both of them longer than the outer ones ; 
 and at the end of these were curtains for the 
 vail of the temple. In the principal room, this 
 vail was of purple cloth worked with gold ; and
 
 396 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 on its centre were the two tables of the law in 
 Hebrew, nearly in the same form as we have 
 them in English in our own churches. 
 
 The priest who officiated had, during this last 
 week, arrived here from Amsterdam. The book 
 from which he read rested on a piece of crimson 
 velvet, worked with Hebrew letters of gold; after 
 an apparent weeping on the part of the people, 
 who covered their faces with the white head- 
 cloth, and moved to and fro as if distressed for 
 the loss of something, a man walked round the 
 synagogue, crying out with a loud voice, and 
 changing the first word only at every subsequent 
 exclamation. This we learnt was the publica- 
 tion of the sum offered for the sight of the torat 
 or scriptures. Advances were then made by 
 individuals of the audience, and repeated by the 
 crier, until either a sufficient or some specified 
 sum was raised. 
 
 The priest then made a loud shout, and all 
 the people joined ; when some of the elders drew 
 aside the vail of the temple, and opening a recess 
 like that of a sanctum sanctorum, took from 
 thence a cabinet highly ornamented with silver. 
 In this were two rolls, containing the book of 
 the law on parchment, rolled round a small 
 pillar in the centre, which, on being turned, 
 exposed the writing of the roll successively to 
 view. On the top of this roll was fixed two sil-
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 397 
 
 ver censers with small bells, and it was carried 
 round the assembly, when each of the congrega- 
 tion touched the writing with the cords at the 
 front corners of his head-cloths, afterwards 
 placing these cords to his lips, and then across 
 his eyes. The cabinet was followed by a boy, 
 bearing four silver censers with bells on a stand ; 
 and after every one had touched it, it was placed 
 on the altar, in the central sanctuary, before the 
 priest. 
 
 "We had been suffered to go through every part 
 of the synagogue during the service, which con- 
 sisted chiefly in reading, and had to press 
 through narrow ranks of the worshippers. We 
 were at length accosted in Italian by an old 
 rabbi, wiio called himself Moallim Zacharias, and - 
 told us that he was the banker of the governor, 
 and the chief of the Jews here. He said that he 
 had left Leghorn at the age of fifteen, against 
 the wish of his friends, to end his days ill Jeru- 
 salem, and that he had remained here ever since, 
 being now nearly sixty years of age. From him 
 we learnt the chief particulars of the worship 
 aheady described, and he told us that the ser- 
 vice was the same in all the separate divisions of 
 the synagogue, which we had reason to believe 
 was true, as we had ourselves seen it to be the 
 same in two oftiiese places. 
 
 The priests wore no particular robes or sym-
 
 398 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 bols, nor was there any difference between the 
 dresses of the elder and the younger people, the 
 rich or the poor ; all wore the white serge-cloth 
 with blue stripes at the ends, two cords at the 
 front corners, and an open fringe around it ; and 
 all were provided with a small Hebrew book of 
 prayers. The service of the day included the 
 reading of the history of the departure of the 
 children of Israel from Egypt ; and in the midst 
 of this we had a song of rejoicing for the circum- 
 cision of a child on the eighth day. 
 
 On the breaking up of the assembly, five 
 elders, who were near the vail of the temple, 
 bowed before it ; and placed their faces on the 
 cloth itself, as if they were kissing it. All the 
 congregation then turned their faces that way, 
 and these elders, who, we were told, must be 
 real descendants of Moses to enjoy that privi- 
 lege, implored a blessing on the people ; while 
 they exclaimed in Hebrew, " Glory to the most 
 High !'* repeatedly rising on their toes at the 
 same time, and alternately bending their heads 
 backwards and forwards. 
 
 When this was ended, the white serge-cloths 
 were taken off from their heads, and carefully 
 rolled up j after which they were put into a 
 little bag, and carried home in the hand. Rose- 
 water was sprinkled upon the assembly by the 
 man who had cried out before the producing of
 
 THE TOMB OF CHRIST. 399 
 
 the Scriptures, and we received from him our 
 portion with the rest of the congregation. No- 
 thing could be more mean than this subterranean 
 synagogue, and nothing more paltry than its 
 ornaments. Its lamps, only a few of which were 
 lighted, were disposed in circles of five each, 
 suspended from gilded hoops ; and the carving 
 and painting was chiefly flowers, but of the 
 poorest kind. We learned that the money 
 raised by the bringing out the Book of the Law, 
 which could be seen only thrice in the week, was 
 appropriated to the general fund for the ex- 
 penses of the synagogue ; and the readers, it 
 was said, were paid only three hundred piastres 
 per year. We could distinguish no high priesty 
 as every room seemed to have had a similar 
 teacher. On the feast of the Paschal, three 
 hundred piastres more are spent on the decora- 
 tion of the synagogue alone. 
 
 In the whole congregation, there were about 
 five hundred men and male children, and above 
 were said to be nearly eight hundred women 
 and female children. In all Jerusalem, Moallim 
 Zachariah told us that there were not one thou- 
 sand male Jews, but that there were at least 
 three thousand females. This difference, he 
 said, was thus occasioned. No male Jews came 
 hither but such as were contented to live poorly, 
 or had money to let out at interest for their sub-
 
 400 VISIT TO CALVARY, AND 
 
 sistence ; as there was no commerce practised 
 in the place, and all were therefore rabbis, or 
 dwellers in the courts of the Lord, or students, 
 or devout persons. Widows, however, from all 
 countries, if they could get to Jerusalem, were 
 sure of being maintained by the community of 
 their own religion ; and, accordingly, as many 
 as could get together the means of doing so, 
 flocked here for that purpose. 
 
 The great happiness of their people, he added, 
 was to die at Jerusalem, and to be buried in the 
 valley of Jehoshapliat. They still firmly ex- 
 pected the Messiah, and thought that the past 
 wars were preparatory to his coming ; while 
 they laughed at the Christians and Mohamme- 
 dans and despised them, as not of the seed of 
 Abraham, to whom only the Christ would come. 
 Altliough many of the Jews now here came 
 from different parts of the world, their physiog- 
 nomy was as strikingly national as if they were 
 all descended from one common father. 
 
 Previous to the invasion of Syria by Buona- 
 parte, a law existed among the Turks that there 
 should be no more than two thousand Jews in 
 Jerusalem, on pain of death to those who ex- 
 ceeded that number. At that period, the 
 Christians were all shut up in their convents, 
 and the Jews in their quarter, and if Jerusalem 
 had then been attacked by the French, it was
 
 THR TOMB OF CHRIST. 401 
 
 intended by the Turks here to massacre all who 
 were not Mohammedans without distinction of 
 age or sex. 
 
 The picture which is drawn of these people by 
 M. Chateaubriand, like that which he has given 
 of the Christians, is remarkable rather for its 
 eloquence than its truth ; and, like it too, proves 
 how far enthusiasm, and the infection of holy 
 fervour, may occasion men of the most accurate 
 judgment on general subjects, to deceive even 
 themselves on particular points. * 
 
 * " Tandis que la nouvelle Jerusalem sort ainsi du ddsert, 
 brillante de clarte, jetez les yeux entre la montagne de Sion et 
 le temple ; voyez cet autre petit peuple qui vit s^par^ du rests 
 des habitans de la cite. Objet particulier de tous les mepris 
 il baisse la tete sans se plaindre ; il souffre toutes les avanies 
 sans demander justice ; il se laisse accabler de coups sans 
 soupirer ; on lui demande sa tete : il la pr^sente au cimeterre. 
 Si quelque membre de cette society proscrite vient k mourir 
 son compagnon ira, pendant la nuit, I'enterrer furtivement 
 dans la valine de Josaphat, k I'ombre du Temple de Salomon. 
 P^n^trez dans la demeure de ce peuple, vous le trouverez dans 
 une affreuse misfere, faisant lire un livre myst^rieux k des enfans 
 qui, k ieur tour, le feront lire h. leurs enfans, Ce qu'il faisoit 
 il y a cinq mille ans, ce peuple le fait encore. II a assist^ dix- 
 sept fois h. la ruine de Jerusalem, et rien ne peutle decourager ; 
 rien ne peut rempgeher de tourner ses regards vers Sion. 
 Quand on voit les Juifs disperses sur la terre, selon la parole de 
 Dieu, on est surpris sans doute : mais, pour 6tre frappd dun 
 6tonnement surnaturel, il faut les retrouver a Jerusalem ; il 
 faut voir ces legitimes maitres de la Judde esclaves et Stran- 
 gers dans Ieur propre pays ; il faut les voir attendant, sous 
 toutes les oppressions, un roi qui doit les dSlivrer, EcrasSs 
 VOL. I. D D
 
 402 VISIT TO CALVARY, &C. 
 
 par la croix qui les condamne, et qui est plant^e sur leurs 
 tfites, caches pr^s du temple dont il ne reste pas pierre sur 
 pierre, ils demeurent dans leur deplorable aveuglement. Les 
 Perses, les Grecs, les Remains, ont disparu de la terre ; et 
 xm petit peuple, dont I'origine prec^da celle de ces grands-peu- 
 ples, existe encore sans melange dans les ddcombres de sa 
 patrie. Si quelque chose, parmi les nations, porte le caractfere 
 du miracle, nous pensons que ce caractfere est ici. Et qu'y 
 a-t-il de plus merveilleux, m§me aux yeux du philosophe, que 
 cette rencontre de I'antique et de la nouvelle Jerusalem au 
 l)ied du Calvaire : la premiere s'affligeant k I'aspect du sepulcre 
 de Jesus Christ ressuscit^ ; la seconde se consolant aupr^s du 
 seul tombeau qui n'aura rien k rendre k la fin des siecles !" — 
 Itin^raire de Paris k Jerusalem, torn. ii. p. 1/9. 
 
 THE END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 LoxDON : 
 Printed by A. & R. Spottiswoode, 
 New-Street- Square.
 
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