captain Culverhouse busied in surveying with his glass about three hundred of the rebels, stationed in a village near the mouth of the defile, by which we had previously proceeded." It was at this unlucky moment, while the party were deliberating whether to advance or to retreat, that the author, unable to restrain the impulse of his feelings, most imprudently punished the Arab who had caused the delay, by striking him. It is impossible to describe the confusion thus occasioned. The Mahometans, to a man, maintained that the infidel who had lifted his hand against one of the faithful should atone for the sacrilegious insult by his blood. The Arab recovered from the shock he had sustained, sought only to gratify his anger by the death of his assailant. Having speedily charged his carbine, although trembling with rage to such a degree that his whole frame appeared agitated, he very deliberately pointed it at the object of his revenge, who escaped assassination by dodging beneath the horses, as often as the muzzel of the piece was directed towards him. Finding himself thus frustrated in his intentions, his fury became ungovernable. His features, livid and convulsed, seemed to denote madness: no longer knowing what he did, he levelled his carbine at the captain of Djezzar's guard, and aferwards at his dragoman signior Bertocino, who, with captain Culverhouse, and the rest of us, by this time had surrounded him, and endeavoured to wrest it from him. The fidelity of the officers of the guard, added to the firmness and intrepidity of captain Culverhouse and of signior Bertocino, saved the lives of every Christian then preMost of our party, destitute of arms, and encumbered by baggage, were wholly unprepared either for attack or defence; and every individual of our Mahometan escort was waiting to assist in a general massacre of all the Englishmen, as soon as the affront offered to a Mahometan had been atoned by the death of the offender. Captain Culverhouse, by a violent effort, succeeded in wresting the loaded carbine from the hands of the infuriate Arab; and signor Bertocino, in the same instant, with equal intrepidity and presence of mind, galloping among the rest of them, brandished his drawn sabre over their heads, and threatened to cut down the first person

sent.

who should betray the slightest symptom of mutiny. The captain of Djezzar's guard then secured the trembling culprit, and it was with the greatest difficulty we could prevent him from putting this man to death. The rest of them, now awed into submission, would gladly have consented to such a sacrifice, upon the condition of our concealing their conduct from Djezzar, when we returned to Acre, These men afterwards confessed, that if any blood had been shed, it was their inten tion to desert, and to have joined the rebel army.

'Here on this plain, the most fertile part of all the land of Canaan, which, though a solitude, we found like one vast meadow, covered with the richest pasture,) the tribe of Issachar "rejoiced in their tents." In the first In the first ages of Jewish history, as well as during the Roman empire, the crusades, and even in later times, it has been the scene of many a memorable contest. Here it was that Barak, descending with his ten thousand from Mount Thabôr, discomfited Sisera and "and all his chariots, even nine hundred chariots of iron, and all the people that were with him," gathered "from Harosheth of the Gentiles, unto the river of Kishon;" when "all the host of Sisera fell upon the edge of the sword; and there was not a man left;" when "the kings came and fought, the kings of Canaan in Taanach, by the waters of Meggido." Here also it was, that Josiah, king of Judah, fought in disguise against Necho, king of Egypt, and fell by the arrows of his antagonist. So great were the lamentations for his death, that the mourning for Josiah became "an ordinance in Israel." The

66

great mourning in Jerusalem," foretold by Zechariah, is said to be as the lamentations in the plain of Esdraelon, or, according to the language of the prophet, "as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Meggidon." Josephus often mentions this very remarkable part of the Holy Land, and always under the appellation of "The Great Plain." The supplies that Vespasian sent to the people of Sepphoris, are said to have been reviewed in the great plain, prior to their distribution into two divisions; the infantry being quartered within the city, and the cavalry encamped upon the plain. Under the same name it is also mentioned by Eusebius, and

by St. Jerome. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nabuchodonosor, king of the Assyrians, (in the history of whose war with Arphaxed, it is mentioned as the great Plain of Esdraelon,) until the disastrous march of Napoleon Bonaparte from Egypt into Syria. Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christian crusaders, and anti-Christian Frenchmen, Egyptians, Persians, Druses, Turks, and Arabs, warriors out of " every nation which is under heaven," have pitched their tents upon the plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various banners of their nations wet with the dews of Thabor and of Hermon.

'Being provided with an addition to our escort of ten wellmounted and well accoutred Arabs in the service of Djezzar, we took leave of the general at three o'clock P. M. and, having mounted our horses, continued our journey across the plain, towards Jennin.'

From thence they proceeded to the ancient Sichem, where are the sepulchres of the patriarchs, and the well of Joseph. "We left this place,' says our traveller, 'one hour after midnight, that we might reach Jerusalem early the same day. We were, however, much deceived concerning the distance. Our guides represented the journey as a short excursion of five hours; it proved a most fatiguing pilgrimage of eighteen. The road was mountainous, rocky, and full of loose stones: yet the cultivation was every where marvellous; it afforded one of the most striking pictures of human industry which it is possible to behold. The limestone rocks and stony valleys of Judea were entirely covered with plantations of figs, vines, and olive-trees; not a single spot seemed to be neglected. The hills, from their bases to their upmost summits, were entirely covered with gardens: all of these were free from weeds, and in the highest state of agricultural perfection. Even the sides of the most barren mountains had been rendered fertile, by being divided into terraces, like steps rising one above another, whereon soil had been accumulated with astonishing labour. Among the standing crops, we noticed millet, cotton, linseed, and tobacco; and occasionally small fields of barley. A sight of this territory can alone convey

any adequate idea of its surprising produce: it is truly the Eden of the East, rejoicing in the abundance of its wealth. The effect of this upon the people was strikingly pourtrayed in every countenance: instead of the depressed and gloomy looks of Djezzar pacha's desolated plains, health, hilarity, and peace, were visible in the features of the inhabitants. Under a wise and a beneficent government, the produce of the Holy Land would exceed all calculation. Its perennial harvest; the salubrity of its air; its limpid springs; its rivers, lakes, and matchless plains; its hills and vales;--all these added to the serenity of its climate, prove this land to be indeed "a field which the Lord hath blessed: God hath given it of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine."

The first part of our journey led through the valley lying between the two mountains Ebal and Gerizim. We passed the sepulchre of Joseph, and the well of Jacob, where the valley of Sichem opens into a fruitful plain, watered by a stream which rises near the town. This is allowed, by all writers to be the piece of land mentioned by St. John, which Jacob bought "at the hand of the children of Emmor," and where he erected his altar to "the God of Israel." We pass ed, without notice, a place called Leban by Maundrell, the Lebonah of scripture: also, about six hours distance from Napolose, in a narrow valley, between two high rocky hills, the ruins of a village, and of a monastery, situated where the Bethel of Jacob is supposed to have been. The nature of the soil is an existing comment upon the record of the stony territory, where he took of the stones of the place, and put them for his pillows." At two o'clock P. M. we halted for a little repose, near a well, beneath the shade of a ruined building. This place was said to be three hours distance from Jerusalem. It is perhaps the same described by Maundrell, under the name of Beer; so called, says he, from its fountain of water, and supposed to be the Michmash of sacred scripture. It is described by him as distant three hours and twenty minutes from the holy city. This name of our halting-place is not found, however, in any of our journals. Here, upon some

pieces of very mouldy biscuit, a few raw onions, (the only food we could find upon the spot,) and the water of the well, we all of us fed with the best possible appetite; and could we have procured a little salt, we should have deemed our fare delicious.

on our route.

‘At three P. M. we again mounted our horses, and proceeded No sensation of fatigue or heat could counterbalance the eagerness and zeal which animated all our party, in the approach to Jerusalem; every individual pressed forward, hoping first to announce the joyful intelligence of its appearance. We passed some insignificant ruins, either of ancient buildings or of modern villages: but had they been of more importance, they would have excited little notice at the time, so earnestly bent was every mind towards the main object of interest and curiosity. At length, after about two hours had been passed in this state of anxiety and suspense, ascending a bill towards the south--" HAGIOPOLIS !" exclaimed a Greek in the van of our cavalcade; and instantly throwing himself from his horse, was seen bareheaded, upon his knees, facing the prospect he surveyed. Suddenly the sight burst upon us all. Who shall describe it? The effect produced was that of total silence throughout the whole company. Many of the party, by an immediate impulse, took off their hats, as if entering a church, without being sensible of so doing. The Greeks and catholics shed torrents of tears; and presently beginning to cross themselves, with unfeigned devotion, asked if they might be permitted to take off the covering from their feet, and proceed, barefooted, to the holy sepulchre. We had not been prepared for the grandeur of the spectacle which the city alone 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, glittering in the sun's rays, shone with inconceivable splendor. As we drew nearer, our whole attention was engrossed by its noble and interesting appearance. The lofty hills whereby it is surrounded give to the city itself an appearance of elevation

1