mits of the mountains were the haunts of lions and other beasts of prey (Sol. Song iv. 8.), which used to descend and surprise the unwary traveller. But instead of these, the traveller may now frequently see the hart or the deer issue from his covert to slake his thirst in the streams that issue from the mountains. To this circumstance David beautifully al-proving that industry had formerly been employed on this ludes in Psal. xlii. 1., which was composed when he was driven from Jerusalem by the rebellion of Absalom, and was wandering among these mountains. Finally, Mr. Carne, in 1825, states that the forests, the cedar trees, the glory of Lebanon, have in a great measure disappeared, to make way for innumerable plantations of vines.' ANTI-LIBANUS or ANTI-LEBANON is the more lofty ridge of the two, and its summit is clad with almost perpetual snow, which was carried to the neighbouring towns for the purpose of cooling liquors (Prov. xxv. 13. and perhaps Jer. xviii. 14.); | a practice which has obtained in the east to the present day. Its rock is primitive calcareous, of a fine grain, with a sandy slate upon the higher parts: it affords good pasturage in many spots where the Turkmans feed their cattle, but the western declivity towards the district of Baalbec is quite barren. The most elevated summit of this ridge was by the Hebrews called HERMON; by the Sidonians, SIRION; and by the Amorites, SHENIR (Deut. iii. 9.): it formed the northern boundary of the country beyond Jordan. Very copious dews fall here, as they also did in the days of the Psalmist. (See Psal. cxxxiii. 3.) In Deut. iv. 48. this mountain is called Sion, which has been supposed to be either a contraction, or a faulty reading for Sirion: but Bishop Pococke thinks it probable that Hermon was the name of the highest summit of this mountain, and that a lower part of it had the name of Sion. This obviates the geographical difficulty which some interpreters have imagined to exist in Psal. cxxxiii. 3., where Mount Sion is mentioned in connection with Hermon, and is generally understood to be Mount Sion in Jerusalem, which was more than thirty miles distant. According to the oishop's supposition, the dew falling from the top of Hermon down to the lower parts, might well be compared in every respect to the precious ointment upon the head that ran down unto the beard, even Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirts of his garments (Psal. cxxxiii. 2.), and that both of them, in this sense, are very proper emblems of the blessings of unity and friendship, which diffuse themselves throughout the whole society." Both Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon are computed to be about fifteen or sixteen hundred fathoms in height, and offer a grand and magnificent prospect to the beholder; from which many elegant metaphors are derived by the sacred writers. (See Isa. x. 34. xxix. 17. and xxxv. 2.) Lebanon was justly considered as a very strong barrier to the Land of Promise, and opposing an almost insurmountable obstacle to the move ments of cavalry and to chariots of war. "When, therefore, Sennacherib, in the arrogance of his heart, and the pride of his strength, wished to express the ease with which he had subdued the greatest difficulties, and how vain was the resistance of Hezekiah and his people, he says, By the multitude of my chariots have I come to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon! and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof; and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel. (Isa. xxxvii. 24.) What others accomplish on foot, with much labour and the greatest difficulty, by a winding path cut into steps, which no beast of burden, except the cautious and sure-footed mule can tread, that haughty monarch vaunted he could perform with horses and a multitude of chariots." During the latter period of the Roman empire, Lebanon afforded an asylum to numerous robbers, who infested the neighbouring regions, so that the eastern emperors found it necessary to establish garrisons there. 2. MOUNT CARMEL is situated about ten miles to the south of Acre or Ptolemais, on the shore of the Mediterranean sea: it is 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 or Acre. It is very rocky, and is composed of a whitish stone, with flints imbedded in it. On the east is a fine plain watered by the river Kishon; and on the west a narrower plain de scending to the sea. Its greatest height does not exceed fifteen hundred feet. The summits of this mountain are said to abound with oaks, pines, and other trees; and, among brambles, wild vines and olive trees are still to be found, ungrateful soil: nor is there any deficiency of fountains and rivulets, so grateful to the inhabitants of the east. 'There are many caves in this mountainous range, particularly on the western side, the largest of which, called the school of Elijah, is much venerated both by Mohammedans and Jews. On the summit, facing the sea, tradition says, that the prophet stood when he prayed for rain, and beheld the cloud arise out of the sea:9 and on the side next the sea is a cave, to which some commentators have supposed that the prophet Elijah desired Ahab to bring Baal's prophets, when celestial fire descended on his sacrifice. (1 Kings xviii. 19-40.) Carmel appears to have been the name, not of the hill only distinguished as Mount Carmel, on the top of which the faithful prophet Elijah offered sacrifice, but also of the whole district, which afforded the richest pasture: and shepherds with their flocks are to be seen on its long grassy slopes, which at present afford as rich a pasture ground, as in the days when Nabal fed his numerous herds on Carmel.10 This was the excellency of Carmel which Isaiah (xxxv. 2.) opposes to the barren desert. It is mentioned by Amos (i. 2.) as the habitations of the shepherds. The expression forest of his Carmel (2 Kings xix. 23. Isa. xxxvii. 24.), implies that it abounded at one time with wood: but its remoteness, as the border country of Palestine, and the wilderness characteristic of pastoral highlands, rather than its loftiness or its inaccessibility, must be alluded to by the prophet Amos. (ix. 2, 3.) There was another Mount Carmel, with a city of the same name, situated in the tribe of Judah, and mentioned in Joshua xv. 55, 1 Sam. xxv. 2. and 2 Sam. iii. 3. 3. TABOR OF THABOR is a calcareous mountain of a conical form, entirely detached from any neighbouring mountain, and stands on one side of the great plain of Esdraelon: the sides are rugged and precipitous, but clothed with luxuriant trees and brushwood, except on the southern side of the mountain. Here Barak was encamped, when, at the suggestion of Deborah, he descended with ten thousand men, and discomfited the host of Sisera. (Judg. iv.) The mountain is computed to be nearly one mile in height; to a person standing at its foot, it appears to terminate in a point; but when arrived at the top, he is agreeably surprised to find 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 on its eastern side a mass of ruins, seemingly the vestiges of churches, grottoes, and strong walls, all decidedly of some antiquity, and a few appearing to be the works of a very remote age. The prospects from this mountain are singularly delightful and extensive. To the south lie the MOUNTAINS OF ENGEDDA AND SAMARIA; to the north-east, about six miles off, appears MOUNT HERMON, beneath which were Nain and Endor. To the north lie the Mount of the BeatITUDES,12 where Christ delivered his divine sermon to the multitude (who were miraculously fed in its vicinity), and the MOUNTAINS OF GILBOA so fatal to Saul. The latter are still called by the natives Djebel Gilbo, or Mount Gilbo. They are a lengthened ridge, rising up in peaks about eight hundred feet above the level of the road, probably about one thousand feet above the level of the Jordan, and about twelve hundred above that of the sea; and bounding the plain of the Jordan on the west. Utter solitude is on every side of these mountains, which afford no dwelling places for men, except for the wandering shepherd, whose search for pasturage must often be in vain; as a little withered grass and a few scanty shrubs, dispersed in different places, constitute the whole produce of the mountains of Gilboa.13 The sea of Tiberias is clearly discovered towards Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, pp. 119, 120. Mr. Rae Wilson, however, estimates its height at two thousand feet. Travels in the Holy Land, vol. ii. p. 51. Third edition. Scholz's Travels in Egypt, &c. cited in the Brit. Crit. and Theol Re view, vol. i. p. 372. Carne's Letters, p. 249. 10 Carne's Recollections of the East, p. 43. 11 Jolliffe's Letters from Palestine, p. 140. Buckingham's Travels in Palestine, p. 104. Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, &c. p. 334. The vignette of this mountain in p. 23. is copied from Dr. E. D. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 234. It represents the mountain as seen in crossing the plain of Jezree: or Esdraelon. 1 This hill may have an elevation of from two to three hundred feet The prospect from its suminit, which is an area of many acres containing scattered ruins, is both extensive and beautiful. Wilson's Travels p Egypt and the Holy Land, p. 313. (London, 1822, 8vo.) 13 Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 425. Carne's Recollections of the East, p. 19. (London, 1830, 8vo.) the north-east. terminated by the snow-capped Hermon. On the eastern side of Tabor there is a small height, which by ancient tradition is supposed to have been the scene of our Lord's transfiguration.2` (Matt. xvii. 1—8. Mark ix. 2-9.) During the greater part of the summer, the mountain is covered in the morning with thick clouds, which disperse towards mid-day. MOUNT CARMEL is to the south-west, and conceals the Mediterranean from view: and at the foot of this mountain the spacious and cultivated plain of Esdraelon spreads itself. 4. The MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL, also called the MOUNTAINS OF EPHRAIM, were situated in the very centre of the Holy Land, and opposite to the MOUNTAINS OF JUDAH. The soil of both ridges is fertile, excepting those parts of the mountains of Israel which approach the region of the Jordan, and which are both rugged and difficult of ascent, and also with the exception of the chain extending from the Mount of Olives near Jerusalem to the plain of Jericho, which has always afforded lurking places to robbers. (Luke x. 30.) The most elevated summit of this ridge, which appears to be the same that was anciently called the Rock of Rimmon (Judg. xx. 45. 47.), is at present known by the name of Quarantania, and is supposed to have been the scene of our Saviour's temptation. (Matt. iv. 8.) It is described by Maundrell, as situated in a mountainous desert, and being a most miserably dry and barren place, consisting of high rocky mountains, torn and disordered, as if the earth had here suffered some great convulsion. The celebrated Mountains of EBAL (sometimes written Gebal) and GERIZIM (Deut. xi. 29. xxvii. 4. 12. Josh. viii. 30-35.) are separated from each other merely by an intervening valley: they are situate, the former to the north, and the latter to the south of Sichem or Napolose, whose streets run parallel to the latter mountain, which overlooks the town. In the Mountains of Judah there are numerous caves, some of a considerable size: the most remarkable of these is the cave of Adullam, mentioned in 1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2.-"There is a kind of sublime horror in the lofty, craggy, and barren aspect of these two mountains, which seem to face each other with an air of defiance; especially as they stand contrasted with the rich valley beneath, where the city [of Shechem or Napolose] appears to be embedded on either side in green gardens and extensive olive grounds, rendered more verdant by the lengthened periods of shade which they enjoy from the mountains on each side. Of the two, Gerizim is not wholly without cultivation."4 5. The MOUNTAINS OF GILEAD are situated beyond the Jordan, and extend from Anti-Libanus or Mount Hermon southward into Arabia Petræa. The northern part of them, known by the name of BASHAN, was celebrated for its stately oaks, and numerous herds of cattle pastured on its fertile soil, to which there are many allusions in the Scriptures. (See, among other passages, Deut. xxxii. 14. Psal. xxii. 12. and lxviii. 15. Isa. ii. 13. Ezek. xxxix. 18. Amos iv. 1.) The hair of the goats that browsed about Mount Gilead, appears from Cant. iv. 1. to have been as fine as that of the oriental goat, which is well known to be possessed of the fineness of the most delicate silk, and is often employed in modern times for the manufacture of muffs. The middle part of this mountainous range, in a stricter sense, was termed Gilead; and in all probability is the mountain now called Djebel Djelaad or Djebel Djelaoud, on which is the ruined town of Djelaad, which may be the site of the ancient city Gilead (Hos. vi. 8.), elsewhere called Ramoth Gilead. In the southern part of the same range, beyond the Jordan, were, 6. The MOUNTAINS OF ABARIM, a range of rugged hills, forming the northern limits of the territory of Moab, which Light's Travels, p. 200. From the silence of the evangelists as to the mountain of transfigura tion, and from the circumstance of Jesus Christ being just before at Cæsarea Philippi, some learned men have contended that Tabor could not have been the scene of that great event. No mountain, it is true, is specified by the evangelist, nor is the fact of Tabor being a mountain apart by itself any argument in point; but, as the sacred writers expressly state it to have happened six days after our Saviour's discourse at Cæsarea Philippi, he had time enough to return into Galilee, which was not above twenty-five leagues' distance from Tabor. It is, therefore, not improbable that this mountain was the scene of his transfiguration. Beausobre and L'Enfant's Introduction. (Bp. Watson's Tracts, vol. iii. pp. 271, 272.) Maundrell, pp. 106, 107. A later traveller, however, (Mr. Jolliffe) is of opinion that the view from this mountain is not sufficiently extensive. Letters from Palestine, p. 129. Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, &c. p. 102. (London, 1825. 8vo.) The oak, which in ancient times supplied the Tyrians with oars (Ezek. xxvii. 6.) is still frequently to be found here; the soil is most luxuriantly fertile; and the romadic Arab inhabitants are as robust and comely as we may conceive its ancient possessors to have been, according to the notices which incidentally occur in the Sacred Volume. See Mr. Buckingham's interesting description of this region. Travels, pp. 325-329 • Abarim denotes passes or passages. are conjectured to have derived their name from the passes between the hills, of which they were formed, or perhaps. from the Israelites having passed the river Jordan into the promised land, opposite to these mountains. According to Dr. Shaw, they are a long ridge of frightful, rocky, and precipitous hills, which are continued all along the eastern coast of the Dead Sea, as far as the eye can reach. Near these mountains the Israelites had several encampments. The most eminent among them are PISGAH and NEBO, which form a continued chain, and command a view of the whole land of Canaan. (Deut. iii. 27. xxxii. 48–50. xxxiv. 1, 2, 3.) From Mount Nebo Moses surveyed the promised land, before he was gathered to his people. (Num. xxvii. 12, 13.) The Hebrews frequently give the epithet of everlasting to their mountains, because they are as old as the earth itself. See, among other instances, Gen. xlix. 26. and Deut. xxxiii. 15. The mountains of Palestine were anciently places of refuge to the inhabitants when defeated in war (Gen. xiv. 10.); and modern travellers assure us that they are still resorted to for the same purpose. The rocky summits found on many of them appear to have been not unfrequently employed as altars, on which sacrifices were offered to Jehovah (Judg. vi. 19-21. and xiii. 15-20.); although they were afterwards converted into places for idol worship, for which the prophets Isaiah (lvii. 7.) and Ezekiel (xviii. 6.) severely reprove their degenerate countrymen. And as many of the mountains of Palestine were situated in desert places, the shadow they project has furnished the prophet Isaiah with a pleasing image of the security that shall be enjoyed under the kingdom of Messiah.8 (xxxii. 2.) From the mountains, the transition to the VALLEYS IS natural and easy. Of those which are mentioned in the Sacred Writings, the following are the most celebrated; viz. 1. The VALLEY OF BLESSING (in Hebrew, the Valley of Berachah), in the tribe of Judah, on the west side of the lake of Sodom, and in the wilderness of Tekoah. It derived its name from a signal victory which God granted to the pious king Jehoshaphat over the combined forces of the Moabites Edomites, and Ammonites. (2 Chron. xx. 22-26.) 2. The VALE OF SIDDIM, memorable for the overthrow of Chedorlaomer and his confederate emirs or kings. (Gen. xiv. 2-10.) In this vale stood the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which were afterwards destroyed by fire from heaven, on which account this vale is also termed the Salt Sea. (Gen. xiv. 3.) 3. The VALLEY OF SHAVEH, also called the King's Dale (Gen. xiv. 17. 2 Sam. xviii. 18.), derived its name from a city of the same name that stood in it. Here Melchisedek, king of Salem, met the victorious Abraham after the defeat of the confederate kings. (Gen. xiv. 18.) 4. The VALE OF SALT is supposed to have been in the land of Edom, east of the Dead Sea, between Tadmor and Bozrah. Here both David and Amaziah discomfited the Edomites. (2 Sam. viii. 13. 2 Kings xiv. 7.). 5. The VALLEY OF MAMRE received its name from Mamre an Amorite, who was in alliance with Abraham : it was celebrated for the oak (or as some critics render it terebinth) tree, under which the patriarch dwelt (Gen. xiii. 18.), in the vicinity of Hebron. 6. The VALLEY OF AJALON is contiguous to the city of the same name, in the canton allotted to the tribe of Dan: it is memorable as the scene of the miracle related in Josh. x. 12. It is said to be of sufficient breadth and compass to allow a numerous host to engage thereon. "This valley is better inhabited and cultivated than most other places in the territory, and seems to enjoy a more equal and healthful tempera ture." was so called from its gigantic inhabitants: it was situated 7. The VALLEY OF THE REPHAIM (or the Giant's Valley) on the confines of the territories allotted to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It was memorable, as oftentimes being the field of battle between the Philistines and the Jews under David and his successors. (2 Sam. v. 18. 22. xxiii. 13. ⚫ Harmer's Observations, vol. iii. pp. 429, 430. "Ascending a sand hill that overlooked the plain, we saw Jericho, contrary to our hopes, at a great distance; and the level tract we must pass to arrive at it was exposed to a sultry sun, without a single tree to afford us a temporary shade. The simile of the shadow of a great rock in a weary land' was never more forcibly felt." (Carne's Letters, p. 320.) "The shadow of a great projecting rock is the most refreshing that is possible in a hot country, not only as most perfectly excluding the rays of the sun, but also having in itself a natural coolness, which it reflects and communicates to every thing about it." Bishop Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 221. See also Dr. Henderson's Travels in Iceland, vol. i. p. 206., and D: Ricardson's Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. ij. n. 186. Carne's Recollections of the East, pp. 137. 140 Chron. xi. 15. and xiv. 9.) This valley also appears anciently to have been distinguished for its abundant harvests. (Isa. xvii. 5.) Like all the country about Jerusalem, it is now stony, and scantily furnished with patches of light red soil. 8. The VALLEY OF BOCHIM (or of Weeping) was thus denominated from the universal mourning of the Israelites, on account of the denunciations there made against them, for their disobedience to the divine commands respecting the nations whom they had invaded. (Judg. ii. 5.) 9. Three miles from Bethlehem, on the road to Jaffa, lies the celebrated Terebinthine Vale, or VALLEY OF ELAH, not above half a mile in breadth, and memorable as the field of the victory gained by the youthful David over the uncircumcised champion of the Philistines, who had defied the armies of the living God. (1 Sam. xvii. 2, 3.) "It is a pretty and nteresting looking spot; the bottom covered with olive trees. Its present appearance answers exactly to the description given in Scripture: for nothing has ever occurred to alter the appearance of the country. The two hills, on which the armies of the Israelites and Philistines stood, entirely confine it on the right and left. The very brook, whence David chose him five smooth stones (which has been noticed by many a thirsty pilgrim, journeying from Jaffa to Jerusalem), still flows through the vale, which is varied with banks and undulations. The ruins of goodly edifices attest the religious veneration entertained in later periods for the hallowed spot: but even these are now become so insignificant, that they are scarcely discernible; and nothing can be said to interrupt the native dignity of this memorable scene." 10. The narrow VALLEY OF HINNOM lies at the foot of Mount Zion, just south of Jerusalem: it was well watered, and in ancient times was most verdant and delightfully shaded with trees. This valley is celebrated for the inhuman and barbarous, as well as idolatrous worship, here paid to Moloch; to which deity parents sacrificed their smiling offspring by making them pass through the fire. (2 Kings xxiii. 10. 2 Chron. xxviii. 3.) To drown the lamentable shrieks of the children thus immolated, musical instruments (in Hebrew termed Tuph) were played; whence the spot, where the victims were burnt, was called Tophet. After the captivity, the Jews regarded this spot with abhorrence on account of the abominations which had been practised there: and, following the example of Josiah (2 Kings xxiii. 10.), they threw into it every species of filth, as well as the carcasses of animals, and the dead bodies of malefactors, &c. To prevent the pestilence which such a mass would occasion, if left to putrefy, constant fires were maintained in the valley, in order to consume the whole: hence the place received the appellation of Tuvva TU UDOC. (Matt. v. 26.) By an easy metaphor, the Jews, who could imagine no severer torment than that of fire, transferred this name to the infernal fire, to that part of "Adas or the Invisible World, in which they supposed that demons and the souls of wicked men were punished in eternal fire. The place now shown as the Valley of Hinnom "is a deep ravine, closed in on the right by the steep acclivity of Mount Zion, and on the left by a line of cliffs more or less elevated. From some point in these cliffs tradition relates that the apostate betrayer of our Lord sought his desperate end: and the position of the trees, which in various parts overhang the brow of the cliff, accords with the manner of his death."3 11. The VALE OF SHARON (Song of Sol. ii. 1. Isa. lxv. 10.) was, as it is to this day, a spacious and fertile plain of arable land, extending from Cæsarea to Joppa. How valuable this land must have been to Solomon when he made his engagement with Hiram king of Tyre,-and to Herod when he marked his displeasure against them of Tyre and Sidon, may be inferred from 1 Kings v. 7-11. and Acts xii. 20.4 At present, this plain is only partially cultivated: the grinding exactions of the Turk, and the predatory incursions of the Arab, prevent the wretched inhabitants from tilling more than is absolutely necessary for their support. 12. The VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT mentioned in Joel iii. 2-12., is situated a short distance to the east of Jerusalem; it has also been called the Valley of the Kedron, because the brook Kedron flows through it. Aben Ezra, however, imagines it to be the Valley of Blessing above noticed: and some commentators consider the word to be symbolical, sig 1 Buckingham's Travels, p. 216. 5 299, 300. Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 422. Carne's Letters, PP. ett's ChrisRobinson's Gr. Lex. to New Testament, voce. Five, Ban Researches in Syria, &c. p. 262. Jowett's Researches, p. 305. Three Weeks' Residence in Palestine, p. 11. nifying the judgment of God; or, Jehovah judgeth. They are of opinion, that it may mean some place where Nebu chadnezzar should gain a great battle, which would utterly discomfit the ancient enemies of the Jews, and resemble the victory obtained by Jehoshaphat over the Ammonites, Moa bites, and Edomites. This narrow valley has, from a very early period, served as a burial place for the inhabitants of Jerusalem; as we may infer from the account of the destruction of idolatry in Judah and of the vessels made for Baa., when the bones of the priests were burned to ashes at the brook Kedron, and were cast upon the graves of the children of the people. (1 Kings xiii. 2. 2 Kings xxiii. 6. 2 Chron. xxxiv. 4.) The Hebrew population of Jerusalem still inter their dead in this valley, in which there are numerous tombstones: and as a strong inclination still exists among the Jews to have their remains entombed in the country of their ancestors, many of them arrive here with this view, in the course of the year, from the most distant lands. One day in the year the Jews purchase from their oppressors the permission to assemble in this place, which they pass in weeping and mourning over the desolation of Jerusalem, and their lengthened captivity. It was on this side, that the city was carried by assault by the besiegers in the first crusade. VI. The country of Judæa, being mountainous and rocky, is full of CAVERNS; to which the inhabitants were accustomed to flee for shelter from the incursions of their enemies. (Josh. x. 16. Judg. vi. 2. 1 Sam. xiii. 6. xiv. 11.) Some of these appear to have been on low grounds, and liable to inundations, when the rivers, swollen by torrents or dissolving snows, overflowed their banks, and carried all before them with resistless fury. To the sudden destruction thus produced Isaiah probably alludes. (xxxviii. 17.) There fore, to enter into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord (Isa. ii. 19.), was to the Jews a very proper image to express terror and consternation. The prophet Hosea has carried the same image further, and added great strength and spirit to it (x. 8.); which image, together with these of Isaiah, is adopted by the sublime author of the Revelation (vi. 15, 16.), who frequently borrows his imagery from the prophet Isaiah.9 Some of these caves were very capacious: that of ADULLAM afforded an asylum to David and four hundred men, including his family, who resorted thither to him. (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2.) The cave of ENGEDI was so large, that David and six hundred men concealed themselves in its sides; and Saul entered the mouth of the cave without perceiving that any one was there. "At first, it appears neither lofty nor spacious, but a low passage on the left leads into apartments, where a party could easily remain concealed from those without. The face of the hill around it corresponds to the description, he came to the rocks of the wild goats." (1 Sam. xxiv. 2.)10 Bishop Pococke has described a cave, which he thinks may be this of Engedi; concerning which there is a tradition, that thirty thousand people retired into it to avoid a bad air." Josephus12 has taken particular notice of similar caverns, which in his time were the abode of robbers. Maundrell13 has described a large cavern under a high rocky mountain in the vicinity of Sidon, containing two hundred smaller caverns, which are supposed to have been the residence of the original inhabitants. Numerous caves were noticed by Mr. Buckingham' in the rock to the south of Nazareth; several of which now, as anciently, serve as dwellings to the Nazarenes. Mr. Hartley has described a similar cavern, capable of holding one thousand men by actual enumeration, whither the Greeks fled, and found a secure asylum from their Mohammedan enemies.15 Captain Lyon has described similar residences occupied by a tribe of Troglodytes in northern Africa. 16 It was probably in some Archbp. Newcome, and Dr. A. Clarke, on Joel iii. 2. Mr. Rae Wilson's Travels in the Holy Land, vol. i. p. 220. The same intelligent traveller continues:-"Observing many Jews, whom I could easily recognise by their yellow turbans, black eyebrows, and bushy beards, walking about the place, and reposing along the brook Kedron in a pensive mood, the pathetic language of the Psalmist occurred to me, as expressing the subject of their meditation,-By the rivers we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. Upon frequently inquiring the motive that prompted them in attempting to go to Jerusalem, the answer was, To die in the land of our fathers." Ibid. Three Weeks' Residence in Palestine, p. 39. • Bishop Lowth's Isaiah, vol. ii. p. 37. 10 Carne's Letters, p. 307. Pococke's Travels, vol. ii. part i. p. 41. 12 Antiq. lib. xiv. c. 15. §5. 13 Travels, pp. 158, 159. 14 Travels in Palestine, p. 113. 1 Journal of a Tour in Greece, 1828. (Mission. Register, May, 1830, p. 231., 18 "As the natives live under ground, a person unacquainted with the circumstance might cross the mountain without once suspecting that i such cave that Lot and his two daughters dwelt after the destruction of Sodom (Gen. xix. 30.); and in similar caverns, excavated by primeval shepherds as a shelter from the scorching beams of the sun, Dr. Clarke and his fellow-travellers found a grateful protection from the intense heat of the solar rays; as Captains Irby and Mangles subsequently did, from a violent storm.2 These caves were sometimes the haunts or strongholds of robbers (as the excavations in the rocks near Bethlehem are to this day), and to them our Lord probably alludes in Matt. xxi. 13., where he reproaches the Jews with having profaned the temple of God, and made it a den of thieves. VII. Numerous fertile and level tracts are mentioned in the Sacred Volume, under the title of PLAINS. Three of these are particularly worthy of notice; viz. 1. The PLAIN OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA, which reached from the river of Egypt to Mount Carmel. The tract between Gaza and Joppa was simply called the Plain; in this stood the five principal cities of the Philistine satrapies, Ascalon, Gath, Gaza, Ekron or Accaron, and Azotus or Ashdod. The tract from Joppa to Mount Carmel was called Saron or Sharon; which however is a different place from the Sharon that lies between Mount Tabor and the sea of Tiberias, and from another place of the same name, which was celebrated for its pastures, and was situated in the tribe of Gad beyond Jordan. 2. The PLAIN OF JEZREEL, or of ESDRAELON, also called the GREAT PLAIN (the Armageddon of the Apocalypse), extends from Mount Carmel and the Mediterranean to the place where the Jordan issues from the sea of Tiberias, through the middle of the Holy Land. Here, in the most fertile part of the land of Canaan, the tribe of Issachar rejoiced in their tents. (Deut. xxxiii. 18.) In the first ages of Jewish history, as well as during the Roman empire and 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 men from Mount Tabor, discomfited Sisera 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 sword, and there was not a man left; when the kings came and fought, the kings of Canaan in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo. (Judg. iv. 13. 15, 16. v. 19.) 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. (2 Kings xxiii. 29.) So great were the lamentations for his death, that the mourning of Josiah Became an ordinance in Israel (2 Chron. xxxv. 24, 25.): and the great mourning in Jerusalem, foretold by Zechariah (xii. 11.), is said to be as the lamentations in the plain of Esdraelon, or, according to the prophet's language, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. Josephus often mentions this very remarkable part of the Holy Land, and always under the appellation of the Great Plain; and under the same name it is also mentioned by Eusebius and by Jerome. It has been a chosen place for encampment in every contest carried on in this country, from the days of Nabuchadonosor king of the Assyrians, in the history of whose war with Arphaxad it is mentioned as the Great Plain of Esdrelom, until the disastrous march of the late Napo 4 was inhabited. All the dwelling places being formed in the same manner, a description of the scheik's may suffice for the rest. sandy earth of about four feet in depth; under this sand, and in some The upper soil is places line-stone, a large hole is dug to the depth of twenty-five or thirty feet, and its breadth in every direction is about the same, being as nearly as can be made, a perfect square. The rock is then smoothed, so as to form perpendicular sides to this space, in which doors are cut through, and arched chambers excavated, so as to receive their light from the doors: these rooms are sometimes three or four of a side, in others, a whole side composes one: the arrangements depending on the number of the inhabi tants In the open court is generally a well, water being found at about ten or twelve feet below the base of the square. The entrance to the house is about thirty-six yards from the pit, and opens above ground. It is arched overhead is generally cut in a winding direction, and is perfectly dark. Some of these passages are sufficiently large to admit a loaded camel. The entrance has a strong wall built over it, something resembling an ice-house. This is covered overhead, and has a very strong heavy door, which is shut at night, or in cases of danger. At about ten yards from the bottom is another door equally strong, so that it is almost impossible to enter these houses, should the inhabitants determine to resist. Few Arab attacks last long enough to end in a siege. All their sheep and poultry being confined in the house at night, the bashaw's army, when here, had recourse to suffocating the inmates, being unable to starve them out."-See Capt. Lyon's Travels in Northern Africa, p. 25. Travels in Greece, &c. vol. iv. pp. 189, 190. Travels, p. 217. > Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 421. See also Sir R. K. Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, &c. vol. ii. pp. 540-554. for a description of the caves in the mountain of Kerefto (in the province of eastern Courdistan), which tradition states to have been anciently used for the same purpose. Judith i. 8. leon 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 in the Plain of Esdraelon, and have beheld the various banners of their nation wet with the dews of Tabor and of Hermon." This plain is enclosed on all sides by mountains the hills of Nazareth to the north,-those of Samaria to the south,-to the east, the mountains of Tabor and Hermon, and Carmel to the south-west. The Rev. Mr. Jowett, in November, 1823, counted in his road across this plain only five very small villages, consisting of wretched mud hovels, chiefly in ruins, and only a very few persons moving on the road; so that to this scene the words of Deborah might again be truly applied:-The highways were unoccupied; the inhabitants of the villages ceased; they ceased in Israel. (Judg. v. 6, 7.) The soil is stated to be extremely rich; and in every direction are the most picturesque views. The plain of Esdraelon now bears the name of Fooli, and has beer. celebrated in modern times by the victory which Murat gained over the Mamelukes and Arabs, in their attempt to relieve Acri or Acre, in April, 1799. Mr. Jowett computes this plain to be at least fifteen miles square, making allowances for some apparent irregularities. Though it bears the title of "Plain," yet it abounds with hills, which in the view of it from the adjacent mountains shrink into nothing.8 3. The REGION ROUND ABOUT JORDAN (Matt. iii. 5.) comprised the level country on both sides of that river, from the lake of Gennesareth to the Dead Sea. Of this district the Plain of Jericho, celebrated for its fertility and the intense heat that prevails there during the hot season, forms a part; as also do the Valley of Salt near the Salt or Dead Sea (where David defeated the Syrians (1 Chron. xviii. 3-8.) and Amaziah discomfited the Edomites), and the Plains of Moab where the Israelites encamped, and which are also called Shittim in Num. xxv. 1. Josh. ii. 1. and iii. 1.. the Plains of Shittim, in Num. xxxiii. 49. (marginal rendering), and the Valley of Shittim, in Joel iii. 18. VIII. Frequent mention is made in the Scriptures of WILDERNESSES or DESERTS, by which we usually understand desolate places, equally devoid of cities and inhabitants. The deserts noticed in the Bible, however, are of a different description; as the Hebrews were accustomed to give the name of desert or wilderness to all places that were not cultivated," but which were chiefly appropriated to the feeding of cattle, and in many of them trees and shrubs grew wild. Hence this term is frequently applied to the commons (as they would be called in England) which were contiguous to cities or villages, and on which the plough never came. The wildernesses or deserts of Palestine, therefore, are two-fold: some are mountainous and well watered, while others are sterile sandy plains, either destitute of water, or affording a very scanty supply from the few brackish springs that are occasionally to be found in them; yet even these afford a grateful though meagre pasturage to camels, goats, and sheep. The Deserts of the Hebrews frequently derive their appellations from the places to which they were contiguous. Thus, 1. The DESERT or WILDERNESS OF SHUR lay towards the northeastern point of the Red Sea. In this wilderness, Hagar wandered, when unjustly driven from Abraham's Israelites marched through this wilderness after they had house by the jealousy of Sarah (Gen. xvi. 7.): and the miraculously crossed the Red Sea (Exod. xv. 22.), as they also did subsequently through, 2. The WILDERNESS or DESERT OF PARAN, which lay considerably more to the south. (Num. x. 12.) In this desert (which was situated in Arabia Petræa, near a city of the same name), Ishmael resided: and hence Moses sent out spies to bring intelligence concerning the promised land. (Num. xiii. 3.) The Desert of Paran "is in many parts intersected by numerous ravines and glens, and broken by lofty barriers. Among these, the noble mountain of Paran, with its enormous precipices, is only a long day's journey VOL. II. E distant, and always in sight from the neighbourhood: it is capable of ascent only on the farthest side, and that not without difficulty. Around its base are flat plains of sand, well adapted to large encampments: here and there, at long intervals, a clump of palm trees is seen, and in their vicinity water is generally found." 3. The DESERT OF SINAI was that in the vicinity of Mount Sinai in Arabia: here the Israelites were for a long time encamped, and received the chief part of the laws delivered to them by Jehovah through the ministry of Moses. 4. The WILDERNESS OF ZIPH was contiguous to a town or village of the same name, and here David concealed himself for some time. (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, 15.) But the most celebrated of all is, 5. The WILDERNESS or DESERT OF JUDAH. (Psal. lxiii. title.) The Desert of Judæa in which John the Baptist abode till the day of his showing unto Israel (Luke i. 80.), and where he first taught his countrymen (Matt. iii. 1. Mark i. 4. John x. 39.), was a mountainous, wooded, and thinly inhabited tract of country, but abounding in pastures; it was situated adjacent to the Dead Sea, and the river Jordan. In the time of Joshua it had six cities, with their villages. (Josh. xv. 61, 62.) It is now one of the most dreary and desolate regions of the whole country. 6. The vast DESERT OF ARABIA, reaching from the eastern side of the Red Sea to the confines of the land of Canaan, in which the children of Israel sojourned after their departure from Egypt, is in the Sacred Writings particularly called THE DESERT; very numerous are the allusions made to it, and to the divine protection and support which were extended to them during their migration. Moses, when recapitulating their various deliverances, terms this desert a desert land and waste howling wilderness (Deut. xxxii. 10.)—and that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, scorpions, and drought, where there was no water. (Deut. viii. 15.) The prophet Hosea describes it as a land of great drought (Hos. xiii. 5.); but the most minute description is that in Jer. ii. 6.a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwell. These characteristics of the desert, particularly the want of water, will account for the repeated murmurings of the Israelites both for food and water (especially the latter) and the extremity of their sufferings is thus concisely, but most emphatically portrayed by the Psalmist. (cvii. 5.) with mountains of all sizes and heights, without roads or shelter, without any sort of produce for food. The few scat tered trees and shrubs of thorns, that only appear when the rainy season leaves some moisture, barely serve to feed wild animals, and a few birds. Every thing is left to nature; the wandering inhabitants do not care to cultivate even these few plants, and when there is no more of them in one place they go to another. When these trees become old and love their vegetation, the sun, which constantly beams upon them, burns and reduces them to ashes. I have seen many of them entirely burnt. The other smaller plants have no sooner risen out of the earth than they are dried up, and all take the colour of straw, with the exception of the plant harrack; this falls off before it is dry. 66 Generally speaking, in a desert, there are few springs of water, some of them at the distance of four, six, and eight days' journey from one another, and not all of sweet water: on the contrary, it is generally salt or bitter; so that if the thirsty traveller drinks of it, it increases his thirst, and he suffers more than before. But, when the calamity happens, that the next well, which is so anxiously sought for, is found dry, the misery of such a situation cannot be well described. The camels, which afford the only means of escape, are so thirsty, that they cannot proceed to another well and, if the travellers kill them, to extract the little liquid which remains in their stomachs, they themselves cannot advance any farther. The situation must be dreadful, and admits of no resource. Many perish victims of the most horrible thirst. It is then that the value of a cup of water is really felt. He that has a zenzabia of it is the richest of all. In such a case there is no distinction. If the master has none, the servant will not give it to him; for very few are the instances where a man will voluntarily lose his life to save that of another, particularly in a caravan in the desert, where people are stran gers to each other. What as tuation for a man, though a rich one, perhaps the owner of all the caravans! He is dying for a cup of water-no one gives it to him he offers all he possesses no one hears him—they are all dying-though by walking a few hours farther they might be saved.-If the camels are lying down, and cannot be made to rise-no one has strength to walk-only he that has a glass of that precious liquor lives to walk a mile farther, and, perhaps, dies too. If the voyages on seas are dangerous, so are those in the deserts. At sea, the provisions very often fail; in the desert it is worse: at sea, storms are met with; in the desert there cannot be a greater storm than to find a dry well: at sea, one meets with Hungry and thirsty, THEIR SOULS FAINTED in them. pirates we escape-we surrender-we die; in the desert In this our temperate climate, surrounded as we are with they rob the traveller of all his property and water; they perpetual verdure and with every object that can delight the let him live perhaps, but what a life! to die the most barbaeye, we can scarcely conceive the horrors encountered by the rous and agonizing death. In short, to be thirsty in t desert, hapless traveller when crossing the trackless sands, and ex-without water, exposed to the burning sun without shelter, and posed to all the ardours of a vertical sun. The most recent NO HOPES of finding either, is the most terrible situation that a as well as the most graphic description of a desert (which man can be placed in, and one of the greatest sufferings that a admirably illustrates the passages above cited) is that given human being can sustain: the eyes grow in flamed; the tongu by the enterprising traveller, M. Belzoni, whose researches and lips swell; a hollow sound is heard in the ears, which bring have contributed so much to the elucidation of the Sacred on deafness, and the brains appear to grow thick and inflamed: Writings. Speaking of a desert crossed by him in Upper all these feelings arise from the want of a little water. Egypt, on the western side of the Red Sea, and which is the midst of all this misery the deceitful morasses appear be parallel with the great desert traversed by the Israelites on fore the traveller at no great distance, something like a lake the eastern side of that sea, he says, "It is difficult to form or river of clear fresh water." If, perchance, a traveller is a correct idea of a desert, without having been in one: it is not undeceived, he hastens his pace to reach it sooner; the an endless plain of sand and stones, sometimes intermixed more he advances towards it, the more it recedes from him, till at last it vanishes entirely, and the deluded passenger often asks, where is the water he saw at no great distance? He can scarcely believe that he was so deceived; he protests that he saw the waves running before the wind, and the re 1 Carne's Recollections of the East, p. 279. The In 2 Scorpions are numerous in the desert as well as in all the adjacent "If unfortunately any one falls sick on the road, there is no alternative; he must endure the fatigue of travelling on a camel, which is troublesome even to healthy people, or he must be left behind on the sand, without any assistance, and remain so till a slow death come to relieve him. What horror! What a brutal proceeding to an unfortunate sick man! See particularly Num. xx. 2-5. and xxi. 5. In the Christian Observer for 1810, pp. 1-9. there is a new and elegant version of the hundred and seventh psalin, accompanied with critical and xplanatory notes, from the pen of Bishop Jebb. Terrific as the above description is, it is confirmed in most of its details by Quint. Curtius; who, describing the passage of Alexander the Great and his ariny across the deserts of Sogdiana, thus graphically delineates its horrors: "Amidst a dearth of water, despair of obtaining any kindled thirst before nature excited it. Throughout four hundred stadia not a drop of moisture springs. As soon as the fire of summer pervades the sands, every thing is dried up, as in a kiln always burning. Steaming from the fervid expanse, which appears like a surface of sea, a cloudy vapour darkens the day... The heat, which commences at dawn, exhausts the anal juices, blisters the skin, and causes internal inflammation. The soldiers sunk under depression of spirits caused by bodily debility. Quint. Curt. lib. vi. c |