404 THE PLAIN OF ZEBULON. days one of the largest towns in Galilee. We stood for a while admiring the remains of the church of the Holy Virgin, which according to tradition was dedicated to her because here had been the residence of her ancestors. We then bid each other farewell. He would soon again reach his home at Nazareth, from which Sephouris, or Sefouriëh as it is now called, is distant only one hour's ride; my home, that is to say, my tent, although following my very steps, was still to be for a long while beyond my reach. From this point I directed my course towards the north-east, first through the beautiful olive-grounds below Sefourieh, and then over the plain of Zebulon, or, as Josephus calls it, the Great Plain, which with considerable breadth stretches in its greater length from the south-west to the north east. In the midst of this plain, to the west of the village Rûmaneh, I lighted unexpectedly on an ancient and ruined tank, and, five minutes further, upon a hill covered with the remains of walls of high antiquity. The people of the country whom I met here, called these ruins Haromeh. When riding up from this to the ruins of Cana, I was struck with a singular occurrence, namely, the gathering in of hay. Often had I thought how much it was to be regretted that the splendid grass of this country was left to perish on the field without being turned to account by any one, while the cattle are almost starved to death during winter, when they can hardly scent out a single green blade among the dry prickly shrubs on the slopes of the hills, their careless masters never making any provision of food for them. I was, therefore, glad to see the hay gathered here, and brought into the village. And how? you ask,—perhaps, in hay-carts or wains? No, no, my friend, people have not got so far as that in Palestine ; all here proceeds according to the modes of the country ; the hay is piled up on the back of a camel, which, with his huge bundle thus towering above him, when seen from afar, really does look very like a hay-laden cart. Cana lies on the north side of the plain at the base of a range of hills which bounds it on this side, under the name of Jebel-Kaukab, or Jebel-Djefat. It is distant from Nazareth two hours and a quarter, when following the nearest road, and presents nothing at present but a heap of forsaken houses, already half in ruins. Relics of the days of Nathanael,* who was born here, and of the days when the Lord Jesus sat at the nuptial table, where the wine ran short, but was provided by His almighty power,t-such relics, in the form of ancient building stones, lie spread around. The nearest water I found is a well a quarter of an hour to the east of the ruins. The marriage feast, with the happy guests, and the Son of God, even that Jesus who came to seek and to save sinners, in the midst of them; and the heap of ruined houses now abandoned by every human soul, -what a contrast, what a change! Three quarters of an hour past Cana to the east, a narrow ascending pass in the hills shewed us the way to the north. Had we, after ascending the winding path half-way among the thick brushwood, struck off to the left, we should soon have found ourselves upon the rock of Jotapata. The shortness of the time and * John xxi. 2. + John ii. 7-11; John iv. 46. 406 BEAUTIFUL PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. eye the length of the journey that still lay before me, did not, however, permit me to make this deviation. Our course accordingly continued northerly, and led down into a basin among the hills, where the could hardly desire anything more lovely or picturesque. Here lie 'Arrabeh and Sachnîn with their ancient remains, in the midst of corn-fields, olive-gardens, orchards of pomegranates, apricots, and other fruits, and surrounded by dark-leaved oak woods, amid which here and there the thick tufted branches of the garûb might be seen rising aloft. My predecessors have already declared these villages to be the Araba and Sogane of Josephus.* A short way past 'Arrabeh, that most picturesque valley which I had admired before from the heights near Ba'neh (vol. i. p. 285), opens out. I had now to traverse its north-eastern half, close by the ruins of a castle dating from the wars between the European Christians and the Saracens for the possession of this land. It is now called Deir-Hana (the convent of John). We here came on and followed for some time the highway from 'Akka to Damascus, right across the plain. Had not the day been so uncommonly oppressive, this would have been one of my pleasantest excursions. Just imagine, the plain is covered with oaks and other trees as far as the eye can reach. Truly not the half is known in Europe of the picturesque and lovely spots to be found in Palestine. How should I, who have been allowed to see them, urge upon all who take an interest in Israel's land, and the land of Israel's Redeemer, to come and see! * Schultz held 'Arrabeh to be Gabara. This is a mistake. See Ritter, Erdkunde, 16te Th., on the above-named place. MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF SAFED. 407 Through the beautiful Wadi-Sellameh, with its fountain and brook, which flows past the ruin Sellameh, the ancient Selame of Josephus, our path ascended to a more elevated plain on the south-eastern base of the richly wooded Jebel Jermak. Here are the villages of Kefr-'Anân and Ferathi. As soon as the latter of these is passed, the winding mountain-path takes a steep turn upwards. The whole of southern Galilee now begins to display itself, with all its plains and mountains, its woods and villages, its Tabor, and the close adjacent Sea of Tiberias. In passing over this hill in the afternoon, when the lowering sun begins to throw his long horizontal shadows, the beauty of the landscape is, of course, still increased; and really I think no traveller could follow a route more rich in noble, and at the same time ever-varying, prospects than this from Nazareth to Safed. The ride over these hills, especially, seems to take you through a garden that has no end. The bushes and trees are infinite in number and sorts, while the whole air is embalmed with the odours of flowers and plants. Had my mule-driver been a little more on the alert, we would have reached Safed about five o'clock P.M. Already I saw the town lying before me, scattered as its houses are, over the high mountain top. I thought one more half hour and we shall have gained our point; but unfortunately a wrong path took us first a good way off the Safed road; our mukhari then led us through the open ground, where we soon were brought to a stand among the corn fields. Some people passing put us right, but it was too late. In order to reach Safed we had to go down into a glen, so narrow and so deep, 408 A FEARFUL GLEN-SAFED. that it would have made my hair stand on end had it been the first time I had to descend into such a gorge. How we ever contrived to reach the bed of the stream below I know not, and as little do I know how we contrived to climb the almost perpendicular ascent on the other side, but the feat was accomplished at last, and that was enough. Think, however, what this missing the high road cost us. It was half-past seven before we pitched the tent under a hawthorn tree at Safed. Nevertheless, to that mistake I owe my making acquaintance with one of the boldest glens of all Galilee. Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I never could have had an idea of so rich a vegetation, or of such splendid scenery, as that of the deep mountain ravine through which we had to find our way. In Safed, my friend, you are no longer a stranger. Travellers and compilers have already described it to you copiously and repeatedly in their books. Recollect, then, the mountain, nearly 3000 feet high,* with its different groups of houses that lie spread over the slopes like so many quarters or wards, and which, owing to the white colour of the soft limestone of which they are built, stand out conspicuously amid the dark green of the olive, fig, and pomegranate trees in which they are embosomed. Remember, too, the castle ruin on the top of the mountain, from which one enjoys that noble panorama of southern Galilee and the Sea of Gennesareth-a view of which I yesterday morning drew a sketch at the time the sun was rising above the Hhauran mountains. Should you * According to Russegger. |