them; one has been accidentally broken in two, but the pieces have been reunited by means of iron.

A wooden cross stands in the Jordan, on the spot where our Lord was baptized, the depth of which, when the water is highest, reaches to the neck of a tall man, and, when lowest, to the breast. The river is here about as broad as a man can throw a stone with a sling.. A stone bridge, raised on arches, reaches from the bank of the river to the cross, where people bathe. Arculf swam backwards and forwards in the water. A little church stands at the brink of

the water, on the spot where our Lord is said to have laid his clothes when he entered the river. On the higher ground is a large monastery of monks, and a church dedicated to St. John. Arculf found the waters of the Jordan of a yellowish milky colour, and observed that they preserved this colour to a considerable distance, after they flowed into the Dead Sea, where he also witnessed the way in which salt was obtained from the waters of the latter.

In another excursion, Arculf visited the spot at the foot of Mount Libanus where the Jordan has its rise from two fountains, which are named Jor and Dan, the waters of which uniting, take the name of Jordan; and he went round the greater part of the Sea of Galilee, called also the Lake of Gennesareth, and the Sea of Tiberias, which is surrounded by thick woods, and is a hundred and forty stadia in length. The waters are sweet, and fit to drink; for it receives no mud, or other coarse substance, from any marshy pools, but is surrounded on all sides by a sandy shore. Arculf also travelled over the country of Samaria, and visited the town called in Hebrew. Sichem, but by the Greeks and Latins Sicima, and now more usually Sichar. Here, without the walls, he saw a cruciform church, in the centre of which is the well of Jacob, where our Saviour met the Samaritan woman. Arculf, who drank of the water, estimated its depth at forty cubits. He also saw in the wilderness a clear fountain, protected with a covering of masonry, at which it is reported John the Baptist used to drink. He likewise saw a very small species of locust, the bodies of which are slender and short, about the size of a finger; and, because they make short leaps like frogs, they are easily caught among the grass. When boiled in oil, they form a poor sort of food. In the same desert he saw trees with broad round leaves of a milky colour, with the savour of honey,

which are naturally fragile, and, after being bruised with the hand, are eaten; and this is the wild honey found in the woods. He further saw, on this side of the Sea of Galilee, to the north of the city of Tiberias, the place where our Lord blessed the loaves and fishes, a grassy and level plain, which has never been ploughed since that event, and shows no traces of buildings, except a few columns round the fountain where, as they say, those persons drank after they had eaten their fill.

Those who wish to go from Jerusalem to Capernaum, take the direct way by Tiberias, and from thence, along the Sea of Gennesareth, to the place where the loaves were blessed, from which Capernaum is at no great distance. Arculf saw this place from a neighbouring hill, and observed that it has no walls, but lies on a narrow piece of ground between the mountain and the lake. On the shore, towards the east, it extends a long way, having the mountain on the north and the water on the south. Arculf remained two days and two nights at Nazareth, which is on a hill, and is also without walls, but it has large houses of stone, and two very large churches. One of these is raised upon mounds and arches connecting them, and under it, between the mounds, is a clear fountain, from which all the citizens draw water in vessels, which they raise up into the church by means of pulleys. On this site stood formerly the house in which our Lord was nursed when an infant. The other church was built on the site of the house in which the archangel Gabriel came to the blessed Mary.

Mount Tabor, in Galilee, is three miles from the Lake of Gennesareth, of a remarkably round shape, and covered in an extraordinary manner with grass and flowers. At the top is a pleasant and extensive meadow, surrounded by a thick wood, and in the middle of the meadow a great monastery, with numerous cells of monks. The meadow is about twentyfour stadia in breadth, and the height of the mountain about thirty stadia. There are also three handsome churches on the top, according to the number of tabernacles described by Peter. The monastery and churches are inclosed by a stone wall.

From Mount Tabor, Arculf went to the royal city of

* Matth. xvii. 4.

Damascus, eight days' journey, and remained there some days. It is situated in a plain, surrounded by a broad and ample circuit of walls, with numerous towers, and is intersected by four great rivers. On all sides beyond the walls are numerous groves of olives. The king of the Saracens has obtained possession of this city, and reigns in it*. It contains a large church of St. John the Baptist, frequented by the Christians. The unbelieving Saracens have built themselves a large mosque here. From hence Arculf repaired to Tyre, and thence (as it appears) he returned to Jerusalem. He went subsequently from Jerusalem to Joppa, and thence sailed, in forty days, to Alexandria in Egypt, a city famous throughout the whole world. It extends to a great length from east to west, so that Arculf, who began to enter the city at nine o'clock in the morning (hora tertia), in the month of October, and proceeding through the whole length of the city, hardly reached the other side before darkt. On the south it is bounded by the mouths of the Nile, and on the north by the Lake Mareotis. Its port is difficult of access, and bears some resemblance to the human body; for in its head it is sufficiently ample, but at its entrance it is very narrow, where it admits the tide of the sea, together with such ships as run into the port to take shelter and refit. But when you have passed the narrow neck and mouth of the harbour, the sea, like the human body, stretches out far and wide. On the right hand side is a small port, in which is the Pharos, a large tower, which is every night lighted up with torches, lest mariners might mistake their way in the dark, and be dashed against the rocks in their attempt to find the entrance, particularly as this is much impeded and disturbed by the waves dashing to and fro. The port, however, is always calm, and in magnitude about thirty stadia. The precautions alluded to are necessary for a port which is, in a manner, the emporium of the whole world; for innumerable people from all parts go there for commerce, and the sur

* Damascus was taken by the Arabs in 634. By the capitulation, the Christians were to have seven churches; but one of the Arabian leaders having broken into the city before the capitulation was completed, it was only very partially observed.

Alexandria fell into the power of the Arabs in 640. The account given of the city by Arculf would lead us to believe that its prosperity and importance were not so suddenly reduced by that event as is generally believed.

rounding region is extremely fruitful. Although the country is destitute of rain, the Nile serves both as a cultivator of the land, and as the means of transferring its products from one place to another. Here you see people sowing, there navigating, which are their chief occupations. The Nile is navigable to the place they call the town of Elephants*; beyond that the cataracts hinder a ship from proceeding, not from want of water, but because all the waters of the river run in a sort of wild ruin down a steep descent. Towards Egypt, as we enter the city, there is a large church on the right, in which St. Mark the Evangelist is interred. The body is buried in the eastern part of the church, before the altar, with a monument of squared marble over it. Along the Nile, the Egyptians are in the habit of constructing numerous embankments, to prevent the irruption of the water, which, if these mounds were broken down by the neglect of their keepers, would rather inundate and destroy than irrigate the lands below. The Egyptians who inhabit the plains, as Arculf, who frequently passed backward and forward along the Nile, observed, make their houses over canals by laying planks across. Arculf relates further, that the river Nile is haunted by crocodiles, aquatic beasts, not so large as they are ravenous, and so strong, that if one of them see by chance a horse or an ass, or even an ox, feeding near the bank of the river, he suddenly rushes out to attack it, and seizing it perhaps by the foot, drags it under the water, and devours the whole.

On his return from Alexandria, Arculf went to Constantinople, which is bounded on all sides, except the north, by the sea. The circuit of the walls, which are angular, according to the line of the sea, is about twelve miles. Constantine was at first disposed to build it in Cilicia, near the sea which separates Europe and Asia; but on a certain night all the iron tools were carried away, and when men were sent to seek them, they were found on the European side; for there it was God's will that the city should be built. In this

* Urbs Elephantorum. The town of Elephantina, famous for its interesting monuments, situate on the Nile, just below the cataracts. It is to be presumed that Arculf had visited this place; and perhaps he had here seen the crocodiles subsequently described, as those animals are said not to be found in Lower Egypt. It must, however, be observed, that St. Antoninus, who visited Egypt in the seventh century, appears to have seen crocodiles in Lower Egypt. See his Life, in the Act. Sanct. of the Bollandists.

city is a church of wonderful workmanship, called the Church of St. Sophia, built circular from its foundation, domed in, and surrounded by three walls. It is supported to a great height on columns and arches, and has, in its inmost part, on the north side, a large and beautiful closet, wherein is a wooden chest with a wooden lid, containing three pieces of our Lord's cross*; that is to say, the long timber cut in two, and the transverse part of the same holy cross. These pieces are exhibited for the adoration of the people three times only. in the year; namely, on the day of our Lord's Supper, the day of the Preparation, and on Holy Saturday. On the first of these, the chest, which is two cubits long and one broad, is set out on a golden altar, with the holy cross exposed to view the Emperor first approaches, and, after him, all the different ranks of laymen in order kiss and worship it; on the following day, the Empress and all the married. women and virgins do the same; on the third day, the bishops and different orders of the clergy observe the same ceremonies; and then the chest is shut, and carried back to the closet before mentioned.

Arculf saw other sacred relics in Constantinople, and then sailed for his own country. About twelve miles from Sicily he saw the isle of Vulcano, whence constantly issued smoke by day and fire by night, with a noise like thunder, but with more intensity on Fridays and Saturdays. The noise is heard in Sicily, where Arculf made a short stay; and afterwards, on his way home, he was carried by contrary winds to the shores of Britain, and at length came to me, Adamnan, who by diligent inquiry obtained from him the above particulars, which I have carefully committed to writing.

*The subsequent history of the supposed real cross, or rather the supposed fragments of it, which were scattered as relics over Christian Europe, would fill a volume. It was pretended that it was brought to France by Charlemagne.