Nazareth, October 17, 1836.

We left Jerusalem, and passed northward; and having in view to visit Nabloos, Samaria, Tiberias, Nazareth, and many other interesting localities, on our return to Beyroot.

Our route led us near the tombs of the kings, and I could not but notice the immense quantities of loose stones that lay over the district west and north-west of Jerusalem—most of them are small. They often form immense piles. What may have caused such banks of them is not known. Possibly they indicate that buildings were once spread over this district—or it maybe that much rock has been taken from the upper stratum, and these piles are the refuse rock—or it may be that in the many sieges which Jerusalem sustained, the besieging armies may have collected them for embankments, or for the purpose of defending their camps. To the north of Jerusalem there are some fine orchards of olives. The country is rolling, but not too much so for cultivation; and we passed a succession of small plains, which were fertile and under tillage.

At the distance of about six miles, we passed Rama, the city of Samuel the Prophet. It stood to our left, and on one of the highest points of the hill country of Judea. It is now a poor Moslem village, surrounded with groves of olives and other fruit trees: the Mediterranean sea, and a long stretch of the plains of Sharon, may be seen from Rama.

Near Rama, and north-west of it, stands Gibeon, the city of the ancient Gibeonites, who made peace with Israel under Joshua, and practised a deception on them. (Joshua ix.) It stands on the top of a small sugar-loaf hill, and is capable of being made a strong place. It is now a poor village—several other villages lay to our left, the names of which I do not now recollect.

To our right we passed several villages, but most of them lay at some little distance from the road—as Anathoth, the town of Jeremiah, now a poor Mohammedan village—Geba, and Gibeah of Saul—Michmash, where Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines—Rimmon, in which the Benjamites found refuge when Gideon was destroyed. (Judges xx. 45.)

At the distance of ten or twelve miles from Jerusalem we came to Beer, the town to which Jotham is supposed to have fled from his brother Abimelech. In approaching it, we passed over a fine plain, a part of which was under cultivation; near the town were orchards of olive and other fruit trees.

We had intended to spend the night here, but we found several thousand Turkish horsemen encamped on the plain near the town. They were spread over the whole district adjoining the springs; and men, horses, camels, and donkeys, mixed together in the most irregular manner. Some of the officers and men had tents, but the majority of the army either had none or did not think it necessary to pitch them. The town, which is not large, was overrun with troops. We thought it, on the whole, not best to lodge with such company, and passed on to Ain-Brood. This led us past ancient Bethel,—there is now a small village there, and many ruins that show that it has once been a place of considerable size. It stands near the top of the ridge, and commands a fine view of the adjacent country. It was here that Abraham pitched his tent soon after entering the land of Canaan—and from this place he was made to look north and south, and east and west; and was assured that all the land he saw should be given to him and his seed. (Gen. xii. 8, and xiii. 3-14.) And here Jeroboam set up one of the golden calves, and induced Israel to worship before it. (1 Kings, xii. 29.)

The precise situation of it, which lies a little to the east, is not known. There are ruins in several places, but a doubt remains as to which is the site of the city first taken by the Israelites on the hill country.

The country about Bethel is slightly diversified with small plains and ridges; it is fertile, and well adapted to tillage—olive orchards, fruit trees, and vineyards are more numerous than in most parts of Palestine—the country is, moreover, better watered than the parts of the hill country that lie more to the south.

It became dark before we reached Ain-Brood (Cold Spring). The village of that name stands a little off the road, on the top of a hill. It is a small place, and has nothing that distinguishes it, unless it be the excellent vineyards, and olive-orchards, and fruit trees with which it is surrounded: to which may be added that a good deal of labour has been expended in gathering off the stones, which abound on the surface, and forming low walls around these vineyards. In some places the rock had been broken up about as fine as would suit for a Macadamized road, and earth mixed with it, and thus lots are prepared that produce fine grapes and fruit trees.

As the night was clear, which is always the case in Palestine during the summer, we did not take the trouble to hunt for lodgings; but getting over one of these low stone fences with our horses, we spread our carpets, and made our beds under a large fig-tree, and there spent the night.

Knowing that the company of troops that we had left at Beer were moving northward, we concluded we would make an early start, and try and keep before them. In this, however, we were disappointed. We had not gone many miles before we saw some horsemen not far behind. We whipped up our animals, but it would not do; they gained on us continually: and in a few hours we had them pouring by us in all the confusion of the Turkish march. They, however, were perfectly civil, and some of their officers entered pleasantly into conversation with us.

They had been to the south of Bethlehem, disarming a tribe of Arabs that frequented the country near the south end of the Dead Sea; and having accomplished that service they were returning to the north, where most of them lived.

They were much scattered, and altogether regardless of order on their march; and it was several hours before they all passed us. Between ten and twelve o'clock we descended a long steep hill into a plain of some extent. Near the foot of the hill was a spring, and when that came in view there was a kind of rush made for the water; and it was a striking spectacle to see such a body of horsemen pouring down the hill, each trying to be the first, or at least not the last, to water his horse, and obtain a portion for himself.

We were willing to let the men of war be satisfied before we approached. They then rode to a fine growth of olive-trees that covered a part of the plain, and then separating themselves into small companies, dismounted and placed themselves and horses in the shade to pass the heat of the day.

We pursued our journey and passed several villages, and one or two of a larger size than are usually met with. The country was more hilly, and intersected with deeper valleys, than it had been near Jerusalem; but on the whole it was fertile, and a considerable portion set with vineyards and orchards, or bearing marks of cultivation. Passing over a ridge from the plain in which we left the troops, we entered a wide plain, which ran north and south. The hills which bounded the plain on our left were of considerable height, and had several villages on their sides. On the east side of this plain, the hills were lower, and appeared to become still more so as we proceeded north. After several hours' travel along this plain, which was a fine one, and partly set with cotton, we reached a place where a small plain came in from the west at right angles. The hill on the north of this small plain is the Ebal, and that on the south the Gerezim, of the Scriptures; and this is the place which Moses pointed out as the place at which the Law was to be read, while six tribes stood on the one side to say amen when the blessings were read, and six on the other side to say amen when the curses were read. (Deut. xxvii. 12-14.)

I do not understand it as meaning that all the people stood on the top of the mountains; I suppose they were divided into two parts—one part stood on one side of the priests, who probably occupied the middle of the plain, and the other part on the other side, and occupied the sides of the mountains as far as might be necessary. The place is most admirably adapted for such a thing; possibly a more suitable place could not be found. In this plain the ancient Sychar or Shechem stood. It is now called Nabloos. It may have 6,000 or 8,000 people; the most of them are Moslems.

At the mouth of the small plain is shown the piece of ground Jacob bought when he came from Padanaram, and which he, at his death, gave to his son Joseph; (Genesis xxxiii. 19; John iv. 5.) There are some sepulchral monuments on it; and nearer the city they show what is called Jacob's well. A little east of the town is a spring, the waters of which flow eastward; and close to the town, on the west side, is a fine spring, the waters of which flow west, and fall into the Mediterranean. There are fine olive orchards, and other fruit trees about the town, and some fine gardens, especially on the west of the town.

I saw at the gate of Nabloos eight or ten lepers. They were covered with spots that looked like raw flesh; had a most disgusting appearance; they seemed to be shut out from the city, and were most importunate as beggars. They were the only lepers that I recollect to have seen in Palestine.

There are remains of an old Christian church here, which must have been a most splendid building. The pillars, and other parts which remain, have a richness of workmanship about them that excels anything that I saw in Palestine. Not much of them, however, remains. There are many indications about the town, and on the mountains, that a large city once stood here.

Passing west along the narrow plain for a few miles, we then turned due north, and at the distance of eight or ten miles, we came to the site of ancient Samaria, the capital of the kingdom of Israel. The country around it is rocky, but very fertile. The rock is the soft limestone, which disintegrates so easily that very little is seen on the surface. There are about it more extensive orchards of olive and other fruit trees than are usually met with, and the whole aspect of the country is fine.

Samaria stood on a low, broad, sugar-loaf hill. It seems to have been terraced all round, and all the way to the top; but the terraces were so wide as to admit a row or rows of houses, and a street. These rose one above another, and, when filled with houses, must have had a fine appearance. All are now gone but a few ruins, piles of rock and rubbish, and a few pillars. This hill is surrounded with a narrow plain, except at the east side, where a low ridge connects it with some adjacent hills, which, at a little distance, border this plain.

Samaria was the seat of great wickedness while the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and now it lies desolate. It deserves notice, that the capital of both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah stood on the hill country, and distant about forty miles from each other, and each of them about midway from the Mediterranean to the Jordan. Jerusalem is on the highest ground, but Samaria on the most fertile.

North of Samaria, we passed over a high hill. There is more brushwood on this hill than is usually met with, and among it some small oaks. On the north of this hill, the country presented a variegated, rolling surface, with more natural growth than usual, and a number of small villages and ruins. Many of the small plains were very fertile, and we saw some fields of cotton.

As it grew dark, we reached a fine spring of water, and about it grew a good many fig and olive trees. We spread our mats and made our beds under one of them, and there spent the night. A number of other travellers encamped at the same place, and all slept under the trees in the open air.

Next morning we pursued our route three or four hours northward, to the plain of Esdralon; we passed over two or three plains of considerable extent, separated by hilly districts. The plains were very fertile, and on some of them cotton was growing. The hills were low, and on some of them were small villages, and ruins indicating that villages or towns had once stood there. In much of this district the rock was of that soft kind which I have often mentioned. Many of these hills exhibited remains of the ancient terrace-work, and showed that, in days past, more labour was expended on them, and much more of them were cultivated, than at present.

We at length approached the great plain of Esdralon. A row of low hills, with small spaces between them, separated a strip of the plain to the south. This portion was especially rich; a good deal of it had the appearance of having once been under water. It looked like the bottom of a lake, from which the water had been removed. It being the latter part of the long dry season, the ground was so shaped in many places, that I really felt a fear that my animal might step in some of the cracks and fall, or break a limb. The soil, as seen in the edge of these cracks, seemed as rich as soil could be.

We reached the edge of the great plain at a considerable town called Jeneen. It stands on the point of a ridge, a little above the level of the plain. The similarity of the name made me think it might be the ancient Jesreel. Its distance from Carmel would agree with this supposition, as Ahab passed from Carmel to Jesreel in a part of a day, when Elisha ran before his chariot. (1 Kings, xviii. 40-46.) There are ruins about the town which indicate that it may have been larger in time past than it is now.

There is near this village a large garden spot, well inclosed, and planted with various trees, which grow so thriftily as to show how easy it would be, with proper care, to raise trees of various kinds, in such quantities as greatly to contribute to the comfort and advantage of the population of this country.

We passed from Jeneen north-east across the plain. But a small part of it is cultivated—around its edge a few villages were to be seen, with their vineyards, olive and other trees about them. We saw some flocks and herds on the plain, but not in as great numbers as I had been led to expect.

To our right the point of a ridge ran out considerably into the plain. This is Mount Gilboa, on which Saul and his sons fell in battle against the Philistines. Bethshan, the village to which the Philistines fastened their bodies, lies a few miles north-east of the end of this hill. The battle seems to have begun on the plain, and when overcome, Israel fled to the hill, and then Saul and his sons fell. I could not but notice, while looking on the mount from the plain, how it accorded with the statement, that the chariots and horsemen followed hard after Saul on Mount Gilboa. The ascent from the plain is such that horsemen and chariots might pass up even to the top of this hill.

The plain of Esdralon may be thirty-five or thirty-six miles by forty. Our course led us to the east of a rough and very rocky hill, that rises in the plain a little south-east of Mount Tabor. As soon as we passed the south-east corner of this hill we entered on a district that was evidently volcanic. The lava was very old, and much disintegrated, so as to make a most excellent soil. This continued all the way to the edge of the lake. We did, indeed, for a short distance, as we passed close by the foot of Mount Tabor, get off, for a short distance, the bed of lava. Mount Tabor did not to me appear volcanic. I did not, however, ascend it. It was Saturday afternoon, and wishing to reach Tiberias to spend the Sabbath, I had not time to make the ascent. We, however, wound round nearly one-third of the mountain at its very foot, and examined the stone that cropt out, and the stone that had rolled down from its sides, and saw no signs of its being volcanic. How the matter may appear on its top I know not. There are ruins there, and as much lava lies on the plain a little east of Tabor; and as it is used in the buildings of several villages, the fact that some of it may be found on the top of the Tabor would not prove that the mountain was volcanic. It may have been taken up as building stone. Tabor is a sugar-loaf hill, and rises to a considerable height. It is supposed that our Lord was transfigured on this mountain.

A small branch of the Kishon rises north of the Tabor, flows east of the mountain, washing its foot, and then runs south and west, and falls into the Mediterranean Sea at the north end of Carmel. The Kishon is at best a small stream; and the branch which we crossed at the foot of the Tabor was about the size of a good spring.

Near Tabor we passed a small village called Nain, the place where Christ brought to life the widow's son.

Leaving Mount Tabor, we passed over a high part of the plain, covered with disintegrated lava. Part of this plain had been cultivated. It is, perhaps, the most fertile district in Palestine. In many places the weeds were nearly as high as a man's head, a thing of rare occurrence in the East.

The descent to the lake from the level of the plain is very considerable—I should think from five hundred to eight hundred feet, opposite the town of Tiberias; at the southern end of the lake of course it is much less, as the plain lies like an inclined plane towards the south.

It was night before we reached the town; but we were readily admitted by the guard of soldiers who kept the gates. We found some difficulty in finding a place to lodge in. After employing several persons to look for a place, and waiting some time, we were conducted to the court of the Greek church, and told we might lodge there. It might be called a church-yard. It was a space before the church, inclosed with a wall, with a gate to it; but all open to the travellers. It was in part at least paved with rock. We found other travellers there, with their animals. As the air was mild, and there was no danger of rain, the case was not as bad as some might suppose. We had slept out every night since we left Jerusalem—and in places not more comfortable than Tiberias. It did indeed appear rather hard that in the heart of a walled and garrisoned town we could not find a house to lodge in.

We found a great merry-making going on in the town. Nearly the whole population were gathered before what we learned was the governor's palace. On inquiry we were informed that the merry-making was in honour of the circumcision of the governor's son. The Moslem religion has borrowed the rite of circumcision from the Jews; and they perform it on all their male children—at the age of thirteen, if I remember right. They usually honour this occasion with some festivities. They had various kinds of musical instruments—some that were bad enough in all reason. They had dancing; and some, especially the women, made a singular noise, somewhat like a short, shrill whistle. I was especially struck with one thing which took place. It was a procession of a considerable body of persons, who bore torches. I was told that they were Jews, and did it in honour of the occasion. It reminded me of the parable of the virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. (Matt. xxv.)

In the morning of the Sabbath, before we had dressed and finished our breakfast, the people began to come to church. Our situation was even worse than it had been at Baalbec, where we had to make our toilette on the house-top, in the face of all who chose to look at us. Here we were, with men and women, and children, all crowding about us, and looking and thinking more, I fear, about us than they did about the church-service that was going on. We hurried and got things put to rights as soon as we could, and deemed it proper to be present at their service, although we could understand but little of it. It consisted of a great variety of prayers, and crossings, and bowing before the pictures and kissing them; and reading portions of God's word.

There was a great want of reverence in the worshippers; and, for the most part, the reading was so hurried and indistinct, that not much of it could, I should think, be understood. The whole of the service was not performed by the priest himself; from time to time he called on some one to read portions of the service. At its close, the priest and a number of his people remained for some time, in part to look at us and talk to us. We asked him why he did not preach to the people, and instruct them in religion? He seemed surprised that we should think this necessary. We reminded him that the apostles preached and taught the people; at this he shrugged up his shoulders, and said somewhat significantly—"Oh! that was before the church was regulated as it now is." This was getting out of the difficulty with more tact than we had expected from him. It must be a bad regulation, however, that sets aside the preaching of the gospel!

As we were a good deal annoyed with the multitude of people that came into the court to see us, and as our baggage was not altogether safe unless we kept a watch over it, we requested the priest to allow us to take up our quarters in the church; which he permitted, on our engaging that we would take care that nothing was injured.

This church is said to be the house of Peter. It is an old building, with an arched roof, but has no just claims to an origin so early as the days of the apostles. There is, I think, another reason given why it is called the house of Peter, that is, it stands on the place where our Lord appeared to the disciples, and put the searching question to Peter—"Lovest thou me?"

Among those travellers who spent the night in the court of the church, was a sick man for whom we felt most deeply. He lived near Constantinople, and had visited the Holy Land as a pilgrim. He had left a family at home; was well dressed; rode a good horse, and travelled with a company of the better sort of pilgrims. He had been unwell for several days; but as his company could not or would not stop, his great unwillingness to be left induced him to travel on, when under a raging fever. On Sabbath morning he was utterly unable to rise—and seldom have I seen a person that more needed medical aid. We tried to do what we could for him; but I had not the medical knowledge which his case called for. While I stood over him and felt his pulse, he gazed on me with a brightening countenance; no doubt in the hope that I might give him relief. He tried to make me understand the nature and seat of his pain; but he spoke modern Greek, and we had no one that could interpret; and, moreover, his case was one that was utterly beyond my skill. Never did I feel so deeply my need of medical knowledge; never did I feel more deeply how impotent is man to save his fellow-man. When I turned from him in despair of doing anything that would at all benefit him, he seemed to read my feelings; and never did I see a deeper disappointment than was expressed in his looks. It seemed to say, You see I am dying, and yet you do not save me.

We gave him some simples, which might possibly afford momentary relief. His company had left him. We prevailed on the Greek priest to take him into his family, and had him conveyed there. What became of him I know not. There was little prospect of his living.

The lake is a pretty sheet of clean, fresh water, about twelve miles long and six miles broad, of an oval shape. The water deepens very gradually on the western side where I visited it. I saw many small fish in it; but saw no means for taking them. It is said, however, that the Jews have a fishery at the southern part, and take a good many. I saw but one boat on the lake. It would hold eight or ten men—it lay off the town—but I saw no one in it during the time I was there.

The banks of the lake were more precipitous on the eastern than on the western side; and as it seems to have been on the eastern side that our Lord healed the demoniac, and permitted the devils to enter the swine, I could not but think that it did argue that the swine were possessed, that the whole herd should leap from the top of such a precipice into the sea.

The town of Tiberias stands on the western side, about mid-way of the lake, and on the edge of the water; it is walled, and has a small garrison in it. The population is but a few thousand, possibly not above 3,000. Most of these are Moslems; there are a few Christians of the Greek church, and a small number of Jews.

The whole district about the lake, as far as I saw it, is volcanic. The walls of the town, and of most of the houses are built of lava, and most of the rock that lies about the town, and the bottom of the lake is lava. There is a mixture of limestone among it; for the whole district is based on limestone. The volcanic district extends north of the lake, and also far to the east of the Jordan, according to my best information.

There were originally many towns about this lake—most of them have disappeared; and the very sites of Chorasin, and Bethsaida, and Capernaum, on which the Lord pronounced a woe, are not with certainty known.

The Jordan rises some distance to the north-east of Tiberias, and passes through another small lake called the waters of Merom. It was by it that Joshua defeated the second confederacy of kings. (Joshua ii. 5.) Passing through this lake, the Jordan enters the lake of Tiberias at the north-east corner, and leaves it at the south end, and passes through the plain of Jordan from sixty to eighty miles, and falls into the Dead Sea. There is no outlet to this sea. The waters are carried off, as is supposed, by evaporation.

There is a fine district of country, it is said, about the waters of Merom, and formerly the towns of Cesarea and Philippi stood there.

North of lake Tiberias, and on the top of a high mountain in sight, stands Safet, a town of considerable size. This is one of the sacred cities of the Jews; and more Jews are found here than in any place in Palestine. The whole district about it is volcanic, and has been a good deal disturbed by earthquakes. On the western side of the lake, and a mile or two south of the town, are some copious springs of warm salt water. They are so hot as to require to be tempered when used for bathing. There is a good bathing-house, and a considerable resort here for that purpose. On the east side of the lake, and a little from it, is another spring of warm water; and, if I was rightly informed, there is another west of the lake, and I think on some part of the hills near Mount Tabor. The whole district is a good deal subject to earthquakes, and gives evidence of internal fires.

The road from Tiberias to Nazareth runs nearly west; and the distance maybe about twenty or twenty-five miles. At the distance of six or eight miles, we passed a low hill to our right, with two little elevations on it; this is called the Mount of Beatitudes. It would afford a very good place to take a seat and address a large assembly collected on the plain below. We cannot be certain, however, as to the sermon on the mount having been preached here.

Our road passed north of Mount Tabor, and the range of hills called the hills of Nazareth. The plain over which we passed was fertile. It was uneven on its northern side, where the ridges of the Anti-Lebanon shut it in. We passed several villages, both to our right and left, but most of them were at a distance, and their names did not accord with those of the Bible. But a small part of the plain was cultivated. A few miles before reaching Nazareth, we came to Cana of Galilee, the place where our Lord turned water into wine. It is a small village, and has nothing that gives it much interest, except the above fact.

At a large well below the town, we saw a fine sample of their mode of drawing water, and pouring it into troughs, and allowing their flocks and herds to come up in succession and drink. Thus the shepherds were engaged as we passed the well. They allowed us to ride up, and let our animals drink of the water which they had drawn.

Cana lies on the north side of the hills of Nazareth, and Nazareth lies on the south side, a mile or two farther to the west. This range of hills is not high, and Nazareth is built on the side of it, and, in part, on a little level space that is somewhat elevated above the small plain that spreads out before it. A ridge of the hills runs to the south-east, so as nearly to shut out Nazareth from a view of the great plain in which it stands.

Nazareth is one of the best built towns that I saw in Palestine. At its east end, and on the edge of the little plain that lies before it, is a spring or well; and here, it is said, the angel appeared to Mary; and here she often came, accompanied by the infant Saviour, to draw water for family use.

There is a church over the place that is shown as the house of Mary, and adjoining it is a Latin convent. We lodged in this convent, and were kindly entertained. There was a paper in our room, stating that the convent was authorised and required by the Pope to receive all persons who were devoutly visiting the holy places, and entertain them three days; after which, it was expected, that such persons would pass on their way. The church was the best we saw in Palestine; the organ was good, and well played; and the religious service was, on the whole, better conducted than any one I had seen in Syria.

Near the middle of the church, a wide flight of stairs descends for about twelve or fourteen feet; there stands an altar. Passing a door, we entered a small room, in which is another altar. On both of these, religious service appears at times to be performed. Passing through another door, we were in a low cave, that has been hewn out of the soft limestone rock. The wall on all sides is rough; made so, perhaps, by the pilgrims breaking off pieces of the rock to carry home as holy earth. This is shown as the room in which Mary lived and raised the infant Saviour. It did not appear to me a comfortable place for a residence; and I could not but think that Joseph must have loved his wife, and prized the privilege of raising the Messiah, to such a degree as to have induced him to provide for them a more suitable place. The whole appearance of the place was, in my view, against its being the true locality. We know they lived at Nazareth, but as to the precise spot, the Bible is silent, and we are left in doubt.

They show the synagogue in which our Lord read the law; and, a little out of town, they show the precipice over which the enraged people wished to cast him. The situation of the town on the hill, and the height of the hill, agrees with the account recorded, but which is the precise spot may not be perfectly certain. They show also the shop in which Joseph followed his trade, with some other things that need not be specified.