on the other side of the sea, believing him not to have entered into the boat with his disciples; since, if Gennesaret and the point from which they departed were on the same side of the sea, the passage from one to the other would have been as easy by land as by water, and would have excited no surprise. Besides this, it is said, "Howbeit, there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks." Now the place here fixed on by tradition, and bearing the name of Khamsi Khabshaat, is nearer to Tiberias than to any other part of the sea, being nearly two hours from the edge of the lake in a westerly direction, and on the top of a high and rocky hill; so that it does not correspond with the local features of the place described in any one particular, and may be cited as another proof of the bungling ignorance of those blind guides, who so proudly call themselves the guardians of the holy places. †

From Khamsi Khabshaat we arrived, in about half an hour, opposite to Loobee, a considerable village, seated on the top of a high hill. We passed beneath it in the beaten track, leaving the village itself about a quarter of a mile on our left. It now grew

St. John, vi. 23.

+ I remember the anger which Chateaubriand expresses against those who dare to examine for a moment into the evidence on which such traditionary localities as these rest, and the implicit confidence with which he would have every one to believe all that might be told him by his spiritual superiors. He asks, "What would be thought of the man who should travel over Italy and Greece, and criticise Homer and Virgil at every step?" I should answer, "He would be thought a tasteless and fastidious pedant."—"Yet," says he, "it is thus that travellers go over the Holy Land, which, if only to be examined for such a purpose, is not worth the coming so far to see." But M. Chateaubriand will surely admit that there is a wide difference between the licence universally allowed in a mere poem, and the accuracy required in the Word of God and in those who call themselves the expounders of these writings, and the guardians of the scenes of his Son's miracles. We take up the Iliad and the Eneid as works of taste and genius, and read them as much for amusement as instruction. We take up the Bible as a work which we are taught to consider infallible, and whose contents must be believed; so that we examine all that can tend to its illustration, with more than ordinary rigour. As we know that truth must always gain by investigation, and shine forth with increased brightness, when the dark clouds of error with which human weakness has obscured it are in any degree removed.

dark, and the rest of our way was indistinct. We passed, however, several smaller villages, on our right; and, just as the moon rose, we entered Kusr Kelna, the Cana of Galilee, where water was turned to wine at a marriage feast *; and which was, at one time, the abode of Josephus, the historian †, and, at another, the headquarters of Vespasian's army. We halted here for a moment to refresh, and await the higher rising of the moon to light us on our way; and in half an hour set forward again, going by El Misshed, and Arreyna, over hilly and rugged ground. It was about ten o'clock when we entered Nazareth; but the doors of the convent were readily opened to us, and we were kindly received.

* St. John, ch. ii. throughout.

Wars of the Jews.

+ Life of Josephus, s. 17. v. 1. p. 14.

FEBRUARY 15th. The whole of the day was directed to enquiries about the best method of proceeding on my journey to the northward, when I learned that a caravan, with a large escort, would be departing from Nablous for Damascus on Saturday; and it was recommended to me to hasten thither, in order to join it, as the most secure mode of prosecuting my way. It was late at night when we learned this, but as there was still a hope of my being able to reach Nablous in time, I determined to set out on the following day.

The road even from hence to Nablous was thought to be so bad, that few people would attempt it without a caravan. By great exertion we procured, however, a man of that town, who was settled here, to accompany us thus far for fifteen piastres; and obtaining from Mr. Catafago a letter to his friend Hadjee Ahmed Gerar, the Chief of Sanhour, we left Nazareth about ten o'clock on our way thither.

Our course was directed to the southward, going in which direction for about half an hour, we began to descend the steep range of hills by which Nazareth is bounded on the south. Dismounting here, we reached the foot of it in another half-hour, and came out on the Plain of Esdraelon, very near to the ravine on the west side of which is the mountain of the precipitation, before described. At the foot of this hill were now some Bedouins' tents, and a few flocks grazing, but the soil and its produce was so burnt up by the long drought, that every species of animal suffered the want of food.

Continuing in a southerly direction across the plain, we reached at noon the small village of Mezra. This, from its being enclosed by walls with loop-holes in them, and having only one gate of entrance, appears to have been once a fortified post, though of the weakest kind. It is at present destitute of any other inhabitants than the herds of cattle which are driven within the enclosure for shelter during the night. Near its southern angle are two good wells which are still frequented, and we observed here several sarcophagi of a grey stone, of the common oblong form, extremely thick, and rather larger than the ordinary size. Though all of these were much broken and defaced by the action of the atmosphere, the sculpture on the side of one was still distinct, representing pillars, festoons, and wheels.

Continuing over the plain in the same direction, we passed at one o'clock, under the village of Fooli, leaving it a little on our left. We observed here the fragment of a large building still remaining, whose wall seemed to be of Saracenic structure, and at

the wells without the village we saw two pent-roofed covers of sarcophagi; one of which was ornamented with sculpture, the raised corners being the same as those at Geraza, and at Gamala, except that here the edges of them were sculptured, and that all the covers at the two former cities, as far as we observed, were plain.

On the west of this village, about a mile, is Affouli, built like this on a rising ground, and containing only a few dwellings. On the east of it, about two miles, is the larger village of Noori, surrounded with olive-trees, and there are besides several other settlements in sight from hence, all inhabited by Mohammedans.

We now kept in a south-easterly direction, having shut in Mount Tabor, and passed Mount Hermon, which we kept on our left, and at three o'clock we reached the village of Zaraheen. This is larger than either of the former, and is peopled also by Mohammedans. It is seated on the brow of a stony hill, facing to the north-east, and overlooking a valley into which the plain of Esdraelon seems to descend; and through the openings of which the mountains on the east of the Jordan are visible. It has a high modern building in the centre, like that at Shufammer, and perhaps about fifty dwellings around it. We saw here also several sarcophagi, both plain and sculptured, corresponding in size, form, and material, to those seen before.

To the east of this place, in a vale, is another village, and a smaller one is seen in the same direction on the peaked top of a high hill. Of these our guide knew not even the names; but all of them, he said, were peopled by Moslems.

At four o'clock we came to a ridge of stony ground, interrupting the general line of the plain, and passed another deserted village, called Makhaebly, leaving it on our right. It has a ruined mosque in its centre, and a white-washed tomb of some saint a little to the left of it. From hence we continued again in a southerly direction, over uneven, and generally stony ground, until at five we came in sight of Jeneen.

The approach to this town from the northward is interesting, as