most part a salt taste. Hence travelling involves great suffering and peril. The caravan roads are indicated by the bleached skeletons of camels that sank beneath fatigue and thirst.

The chief rocks in trans-jordanic Palestine are chalk, lime, flint and sandstone. These prevail from the Mandhur to the Arnon, and even farther, to the vicinity of Ahsa. In the more eastern and elevated districts, from Jebel Hauran northwards, through Ledja as far as Jebel Kessue', basalt is for the most part found. In Jedur and Jaulan, basalt and limestone follow each other. The basalt is commonly thrown up in peaks and heads of mountains or beds of barren rock. The chalk and calcareous strata, which in the main lie horizontally, form flat ridges or plains, and these, when not intersected by brooks, offer a dry and barren aspect.

CHAPTER IV.

PERE A, HISTORICALLY CONSIDERED.

When Moses, at the end of his forty years' wandering, came at length to the Arnon to take possession of the promised land, two kings of the Amorites held sway over the east-jordanic territory from the Arnon northwards to Hermon and the fountains of the Jordan, and from Hermon south-eastwards to Salchah (Deut. iii. 8, seq.), except the small district on the upper Jabbok (Nahr Amman) on which the Ammonites had been driven by the Amorites (Judg. xi. 12-27). One of these petty kings, namely Sihon, had Heshbon for his capital. To him belonged the country lying between the Arnon in the south, the lower Jabbok, often by way of pre-eminence called the Jabbok, in the north, and the Dead Sea and the Jordan on the west, besides the vale of that river from the mouth of the Jabbok to the Sea of Galilee (Deut. iii. 8-10; Josh. xiii. 8-12). The second king, Og, king of Bashan, with Edre'i and A'shtaroth for his chief cities, held possession of the land from the Jabbok northwards to Mount Hermon, eastwards to Salchah, comprising all Bashan and the moiety of Gilead (Deut. iii. 13; Josh. xii. 4, 5). The following were the limits of Bashan: on the east it reached to Salchah, towards the north to Hermon 'unto the borders of the Geshurites and Maä'chathites,' who dwelt near the sources of the Jordan on the western side of Hermon (Josh. xii. 4, 5, xiii. 11). On the west, Bashan extended to the upper Jordan and the Sea of Tiberias. Its boundary-line, then, may be drawn thus: from Hermon and the sources of the Jordan to the

southern end of the Lake of Gennesareth; thence to Erbad and Salchah; thence along the eastern declivity of the high land of the Hauran and Ledja; and finally from the north-east end of Ledja back to Hermon. Bashan, therefore, was much greater than Batane'a, which hence derived its name. In the time of Christ, the ancient Bashan comprehended five provinces, namely, Gauloni'tis, Trachoni'tis, Aurani'tis, Batane'a, and Iture'a. Gaulonitis pretty nearly corresponded with the modern Jaulan, and lay within the upper Jordan and the Sea of Galilee, the Mandhur, and the southern declivity of Jebel Heish. Iture'a was nearly the same as the modern Jedur, and lay on the eastern side of Jebel Heish. Its name is derived from Jetur, Ishmael's son (Gen. xxv. 15). Trachoni'tis is the present Ledsha or Ledja, lying on the south-east of Jedur. Auranitis, the Greek for the more ancient designation Hauran, had Trachonitis for its eastern border, Gaulonitis for its western, and on the south lay open to the desert.

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Gilead also is a name of frequent occurrence in the older Scriptures. The origin of the name is recorded in Gen. xxxi. 47, 48. Laban, in pursuit of Jacob, overtook him in the Mount Gilead' (23). Here they came to a friendly compact. And they took stones and made a heap, and they did eat there upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha (the heap of Witness); but Jacob called it Galeed (the heap of Witness). And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed.' This district lay on the north side of the Jabbok (Gen. xxxii. 22, 23). But in a wider sense Gilead took in the entire range of hills which lies on the south as well as the north side of that river. This high land falls on the west towards the Jordan; on the north, towards the table land near the Mandhur; on the east, towards the plain of the Hauran and the Arabian desert; on the south, towards the plain of Rabbath Ammon and Heshbon in the southern part of the Belka, or the country which lies between the Jabbok and the Arnon. In this sense is the name Gilead often used, especially in the five books of Moses and the book of Joshua, in laying down the boundaries of the kingdoms of Sihon and Og, and of the tribes Gad and Manasseh; but the plain of the Belka is distinguished from the high lands of Gilead. Thus in Deut. iii. 8— 10, the Israelites are spoken of as having taken from the two kings of the Amorites the land beyond the Jordan from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon, namely, 'all the cities of the plain'— that is, the cities of the flat southern Belka; and all Gileadthat is, Mount Gilead on both sides the Jabbok; and all Bashan unto Salchah and Edre'i.' The description proceeds from south to north. The entire land of Gilead, then, was divided by the Jabbok into two halves, a southern and a northern. Sihon reigned over the southern half (Josh. xii. 2), which fell to the

lot of the Reubenites and the Gadites; Og, and at a later period Manasseh, possessed the northern moiety, which was distinct from the territory of Bashan (Deut. iii. 12, 13; Josh. xii. 5, xvii. 1, 5). In its widest sense, the word Gilead comprised the whole of Palestine east of the Jordan. In this sense it is not used with the addition of the term Mount, since hills and plains follow each other. It is generally called 'the land of Gilead' (2 Kings x. 33). The most comprehensive meaning of Gilead, then, takes in, 1, the plain of the southern Belka from the Arnon to Mount Gilead; 2, Mount Gilead itself; 3, Bashan (Deut. iii. 8-10; comp. Deut. xxxiv. 1). To the same effect, Gilead is employed as a comprehensive term for the whole territory of the two and a half east-jordanic tribes, in opposition to Canaan west of the Jordan (Josh. xxii. 9, 13; 2 Sam. ii. 9); also for the dominions of Sihon and Og (1 Kings iv. 19).

The territory of Reuben was bounded on the south by the Arnon (Josh. xiii. 16), on the west by the Dead Sea to the entrance of the Jordan (23), on the east by the desert, and on the north by Gad. The tribe Gad possessed the eastern side of the vale of Jordan from the Dead Sea upwards beyond the mouth of the Jabbok to the Sea of Tiberias. It received the half of Mount Gilead, on the south side of the Jabbok, the same country which had been held by king Sihon (Deut. iii. 12, 16; Josh. xii. 2); while Manasseh had the northern half of that high land (Deut. iii. 13). Towards the east, the upper Jabbok (Nahr Amman) at Rabboth Ammon separated Gad from the Ammonites (Deut. iii. 16; Josh. xiii. 23): thus far had reached the dominion of Sihon (Josh. xii. 2). The eastern half of Manasseh had for its share the northern half of Gilead as well as Bashan, the land of Og, king of Bashan, the borders of whose territory we have already mentioned (Deut. iii. 13-15; Josh. xiii. 29— 31).

CHAPTER V.

PALESTINE, WEST OF THE JORDAN.

From Antilebanon I must ask you to transfer yourself to Lebanon, and to take your position just above the ancient city of Tyre, lying on your right hand, on the shore of the Mediterranean. Immediately before and below you lies Galilee, the land where Jesus was brought up, and whence he and his followers derived the name of Galilean. Your eye first meets what the Scriptures name Mount Naphtali (Joshua xx. 7), having

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Asher on its western border, and Dan on the north-east. This is a portion of the curving ridge which, springing from a northeastern point in Antilebanon and proceeding in a south-westerly course, forms the hills of Galilee, and, leaving the plain of Tyre on the south-west, extends in sinking spurs towards the sea-coast and to the plain of Esdrae'lon. In general, this range of high lands bears the modern name of Jebel Safed. Jebel Safed on the south-west, and Jebel Heish on the south-east, enclose the plain in which is found the Sea of Merom, called in ancient times Lacus Samochonitis, and now el-Hule. The whole district is limestone, with very little basalt. In the centre is a vale, or bosom, where stood the ancient Giskala. On the sea-board, the mountains leave in the north from Tyre only a narrow strip of coast, till, proceeding southwards, you come to Achzib (Ecdippa), where the low land widens into the curved plain of Ptolemais (Acco, the modern Acre), and the curve of the coast forms the only good harbour in Palestine, namely, that of Acre, having the promontory of Carmel as its south-western horn. south-eastern extremity of this range of hills is marked by the town Safed, lying on the north-west, just above the Lake of Galilee, which, from its lofty position, is supposed to be the place meant by our Lord when he spoke of a city set upon a hill (Matt. v. 14). From this elevation, hills of less height extend towards Nazareth in the south-west, and Tabor (perhaps the Mount of Beatitudes) in the south-east. The same spot affords on the west a sight of the Mediterranean, and on the south-east a view of the Lake of Galilee. Surveyed at a distance, the country lying south of Safed appears to be a broad lofty plain, covered with huge waves; but if you travel over it, you find that you have to ascend and descend to a great extent. You may pass from Safed to Tyre in about thirteen hours, and will find well-watered, fruitful, and woody high lands. In going across this country, from Antilebanon to Carmel, you will also meet with groves. The general aspect of it is so much like the higher portions of our own land, that English travellers are reported to have sighed for home when amid its scenes.

On the southern side of these hills is, in the territory of the same name, the plain of Zebulon, which proceeds as far as the south-western shore of the Sea of Galilee, comprising the plain of Gennesareth. The beautiful and fertile plain of Zebulon, Clarke compared with the southern parts of England. Above this plain, on the south, rises a hilly ridge, on the northern declivity of which, in the middle, is Sepphoris, and on the southern Na'zareth, where Jesus spent the greater part of his short life. Nazareth has before it the large and very fruitful plain of Esdrae ́lon, or Jezre'el, formed by a range of hills which curve round from Scytho'polis (Bethsan) on the north-east, to the promontory of Carmel on the north-west. As Carmel forms the west

ern, so Mount Gilbo'a the eastern end of this wide sweep of hills. From Mount Gilbo'a, in a north-westerly direction, runs a spur bearing the name of Jezreel, whence the plain at its base has the same appellation. That plain is watered by the Kishon, whose stream is supplied by tributaries from the encircling hills. Around those hills there stood, on the sides and looking down on the plain (beginning on the north-west), Nazareth, Nain, Endor, Jezreel (town), Gine'a, Dothan, Taä'nach, and Megiddo.

Galilee, comprising also parts of Issachar and Western Manasseh, is a high land which on the west sinks gradually to the coast of Acre, on the south falls more rapidly to the plain of Esdrae'lon, and on the east has a very steep descent to the Sea of Tiberias, and the Galilean or upper Jordan. Formerly, Galilee was a well-cultivated, most productive, and thickly-peopled land; now, for the most part, it lies uncultivated and unproductive.

On crossing the hills which encompass the plain of Jezreel, you see before you the hill-country of Ephraim, comprising Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and constituting the province of Samaria; that is, parts of Issachar, Manasseh, and the whole of

Ephraim. The hills in this district run in ridges from east to west, with a slight inclination towards the south. On the east they are high, sinking suddenly to the Jordan, and passing off in spurs gradually towards the west, till, falling at a distance from the sea, they form the famous plain of Sharon, which, however, is not without eminences that for the most part stretch in a line with the coast. If you keep a generally southern direction, you come, after passing a valley whose waters run on one side to the sea, and on the other to the Jordan, to an ascent, at the