number of fresh-water tortoises* were disporting themselves. It formed by far the most copious spring which we had yet seen in the country. Two large streams of the purest water emerge from it, which, after forming a little island, immediately unite into a rapid river, ten yards wide, and two feet deep, having a very quick descent through a luxuriant grove of oleanders, briers, and wild figs, and poplar, pistacia, and mulberry-trees. The branch of this river was highest on the eastern side." +

The inhabitants of the region in which these interesting localities are situated use the Indian Buffalo, in association with the common ox, for the purposes of husbandry. It is an uncouth and unprepossessing animal, with shaggy hair, laterally-spreading horns, and a savage expression of countenance. The hot and pestilent morass is its favourite resort, where it delights to wallow in the mud and stagnant water, or to remain for hours, in the heat of the day, almost entirely submerged, with its black, broad muzzle alone elevated above the green surface. Its power to bear moisture and heat makes it valuable in the neighbourhood of water; and thus, around Lake Houle and the Sea of Tiberias it is much cultivated. Its prodigious strength, also, renders it a serviceable acquisition, though its treacherous and savage temper is always dangerous. Dr. Robinson considers this to be the Reem (b) of the Hebrew Scriptures,

*The Doctor calls them Testudo Græca; but he has, no doubt, mistaken the genus; for the land tortoises do not affect the water. The fresh-water tortoises constitute a very different family, that of the Emydida, to which, doubtless, belong those mentioned in his note. + Lands of the Bible, (Edinburgh, 1847,) p. 170.

(translated "unicorn" in our version); but there seems more probability that some species of rhinoceros was intended. In the monuments both of ancient Egypt and of Nineveh, there is a species of

wild-bull or buffalo frequently represented, under circumstances which seem to imply that the hunting of this savage animal, was an exploit worthy of the prowess of a king, and fit to be put into competition with the hunting of the lion himself.

VI.

THE RIVER JARMUK.

TOPOGRAPHY.-Ashtaroth Karnaim-Beautiful Lake-Mountains of Bashan and Gilead-Magnificence of the Scenery-Trees of Bashan -The Kingdom of Og-The Eastern Tribes-The Boundary of the Land.

THE COUNTRY OF THE GADARENES.-Demoniacal Possession-The Man among the Tombs-Demons and Swine-A Sinner's Deliverance-Gadara-Its Ancient Sepulchres.

NUMBERS XXXII.

In considering the remaining rivers of Palestine, it will be convenient to take them in the following order; those which fall into the Jordan and Dead Sea on the east, those which have the same termination on the west side, and those which empty themselves into the Mediterranean.

On the left bank of the Jordan, the first stream of any importance which the traveller meets with is the Jarmuk, or, as it was called by the Greeks, the Hieromax. Its name does not occur in the Scripture, though the region through which it flows is often mentioned both in the Old and in the New Testament. One of its sources is at a place called Mezareib, supposed to be the ancient Ashtaroth Karnaim, or,

"the two-horned," a town of Bashan, which was assigned to the Levites. The name of this city indicates its dedication to the Syrian Venus,

"Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent-horns,"

whose debasing worship was such a snare to Israel, and even captivated their greatest and wisest monarch, King Solomon.

The Jarmuk near this place issues from a lake about a mile in circumference. According to Mr. Buckingham, there is a small grass-covered islet in the centre, and a great number of fish swim in its crystal waters, equal in size and not inferior in beauty to the elegant gold and silver fishes which we keep in glass vases. The water is sweet and transparent, and is never dried up in the most arid seasons. A copious stream issues from this beautiful lake, which pursues a westerly direction, with comparatively few windings, until after a course of about forty miles (in a straight line) it empties itself into the Jordan, not far from the southern extremity of the Lake of Gennesaret. At its mouth it is forty yards wide, being nearly as broad and as deep as the Jordan itself. Mr. Buckingham in February found difficulty in fording it, a little above its debouchure.

The lake just mentioned is considered as the source of the Jarmuk, not because it is the most remote, but because it is the most permanent. Many streams appear to combine to form this river, draining a wide extent of country to the eastward; one of these was described to the traveller just named as having its origin three days' journey from the Jordan, at a place called Shillal. This word is used

by the Arabs of the Nile, to signify a rapid or a cataract, but whether it indicated such a feature here, he could not clearly understand.

The elevated country, through which the Jarmuk flows, is the ancient mountain region of Bashan and Gilead. It was renowned for its fertility, its extensive pastures, its high-fed and fierce cattle, and its towering forests, the "oaks of Bashan," being scarcely less proverbial than the "cedars of Lebanon." Bashan may be considered as lying to the north, Gilead to the south, of the Jarmuk. The former is the great pasture region, the soil being remarkably fertile, and the vegetation most rich and luxuriant. The latter is more elevated, and more broken into hill and dale. The northern part is somewhat tame, the central picturesque, the southern sublime.

As the traveller recedes from the Lake of Tiberias and from the valley of the Jordan into the heart of this region, the scenery becomes very magnificent. Trees, which had before been scarce, begin to occur, first singly, then in clumps and groves, and at length in forests. The roads wind in the most picturesque manner along the sides of the mountains, or round the fantastic hills, through secluded valleys, and narrow rocky gorges overhung with precipices, out of the sides and clefts of which springs at every turn the Valonidi Oak, the characteristic tree of this part of the country. Many other fine trees, the pricklyoak, the olive, and the pine, and another species of Valonidi with broader leaves, are scattered over the less lofty heights; and at greater elevations, the arbutus and the fir are seen. The enormous crags that jut out from the summits of the mountains are