CLIMATE, SEASONS, AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THE COUNTRY.

L. Climate.-II. Seasons.-1. Seed-time.-2. Winter.-3. The Cold Season, or Winter Solstice.-4. Harvest.-5. Summer. 6. The Hot Season.-Heavy Dews.-III. Rivers, Lakes, Wells, and Fountains.-Cisterns, and Pools of Solomon.-IV. Mountains.-V. Valleys.-VI. Caves.-VII. Plains.-VIII. Deserts.-Horrors and Dangers of travelling in the Great Desert of Arabia.1

I. THE surface of the Holy Land being diversified with | natural phenomena occurring in these several seasons, will mountains and plains, its CLIMATE varies in different places; enable us to form a tolerably correct idea of the climate and though in general it is more settled than in our westerly weather of the Holy Land. countries. From Tripoli to Sidon, the country is much colder than the rest of the coast further to the north and to the south, and its seasons are less regular. The same remark applies to the mountainous parts of Judæa, where the vegetable productions are much later than on the sea-coast, or in the vicinity of Gaza. From its lofty situation, the air of Saphet in Galilee is so fresh and cool, that the heats are scarcely felt there during the summer; though in the neighbouring country, particularly at the foot of Mount Tabor and in the plain of Jericho, the heat is intense. Generally speaking, however, the atmosphere is mild; the summers are commonly dry, and extremely hot :3 intensely hot days, however, are frequently succeeded by intensely cold nights; and these sudden vicissitudes, which an Arab constitution alone can endure, together with their consequent effects on the human frame, verify the words of the patriarch Jacob to his father-in-law, that in the day the drought consumed him, and the frost by night. (Gen. xxxi. 40.)4

II. Six several SEASONS of the natural year are indicated in Gen. viii. 22. viz. seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter; and as agriculture constituted the principal employment of the Jews, we are informed by the rabbinical writers, that they adopted the same division of seasons, with reference to their rural work. These divisions also exist among the Arabs to this day. A brief statement of the

1 Besides the researches of modern travellers and the other authorities, cited for particular facts, the following treatises have been consulted for the present section, viz. Relandi Palæstina, tom. i. pp. 234-379.; Jahn, et Ackerman, Archæologia Biblica, §§ 14-21.; Schulzii Archæologia Hebraica, pp. 4-9.; Pareau, Antiquitas Hebraica, pp. 57-64.; and Alber, Hermeneutica Sacra, tom. i. pp. 64-72.

• Harmer's Observations, vol. i. pp. 2-4. London, 1808.
Of the intensity of the heat in Palestine, during the summer, some idea
may be formed, when it is known that the mercury of Dr. E. D. Clarke's
thermometer, in a subterraneous recess perfectly shaded (the scale being
placed so as not to touch the rock), remained at one hundred degrees of
Fahrenheit. Travels, vol. iv. p. 190. 8vo. edit.
The same vicissitudes of temperature exist to this day at Smyrna (Emer
son's Letters from the Egean, vol. i. p. 94.), also in the Desert of Arabia
(Capt. Keppel's Narrative of a Journey from India to England, vol. i. p. 140:
London, 1827. 8vo.), in the Desert between Damascus and the ruins of Pal-
myra (Carne's Letters from the East, p. 585.), in Persia (Morier's Second
Journey, p. 97. London, 1818. 4to.), and in Egypt. (Capt. Light's Travels,
p. 20. Dr. Richardson's Travels along the Mediterranean, &c. vol. i. pp.
181, 182, London, 1822. 8vo.) Harmer has collected several testimonies to
the same effect, from the earlier travellers in the East. Observations on
Scriptare, vol. i. pp. 61-65. London, 1808.

Bava Metsia, fol. 106. cited by Dr. Lightfoot, in his Hebrew and Talmu
dical Exercitations on John iv. 35. (Works, vol. ii. p. 543.)
•See Golius's Lexicon Arabicum, col. 934.

1. SEED-TIME, by the rabbins termed (zero), comprised the latter half of the Jewish month Tisri, the whole of Marchesvan, and the former half of Kisleu or Chisleu, that is, from the beginning of October to the beginning of December. During this season the weather is various, very often misty, cloudy, with mizzling or pouring rain. Towards the close of October or early in November, the former or early autumnal rains begin to fall; when they usually ploughed their land, and sowed their wheat and barley, and gathered the latter grapes. The rains last for three or four days; they do not fall without intermission, but in frequent showers. The air at this season is frequently warm, sometimes even hot; but is much refreshed by cold in the night, which is so intense as to freeze the very heavy dews that fall. Towards the close it becomes cooler, and at the end of it snow begins to fall upon the mountains. The channels of the rivulets are sometimes dry, and even the large rivers do not contain much water. In the latter part of November the leaves lose their foliage. Towards the end of that month the more delicate light their fires (Jer. xxxvi. 22.), which they continue, almost to the month of April; while others pass the whole winter without fire.

2. WINTER, by the rabbins termed (CHOREP), included the latter half of Chisleu, the whole of Tebeth, and the former part of Sebat, that is from the beginning of December to the beginning of February. In the commencement of this season, snows rarely fall, except on the mountains, but they seldom continue a whole day; the ice is thin, and melts as soon as the sun ascends above the horizon. As the season advances, the north wind and the cold, especially on the lofty mountains, which are now covered with snow, is intensely severe, and sometimes even fatal: the cold is frequently so piercing, that persons born in our climate can scarcely endure it. The roads become slippery, and travelling becomes both laborious and dangerous, especially in the steep mountainpaths (Jer. xiii. 16. xxiii. 12.); and on this account our Lord, when predicting the calamities that were to attend the siege at Jerusalem, told his disciples to pray that their flight might not be in the winter. (Matt. xxiv. 20.) The cold however varies in severity according to the local situation of the country. On high mountains (as we have just remarked) it is extreme; but in the plain of Jericho it is scarcely felt, Jerusalem, the vicissitudes of a winter in Palestine were the winter there resembling spring; yet, in the vicinity of experienced by the crusaders at the close of the twelfth cen

23

tury, in all its horrors. Many persons of both sexes perished in consequence of want of food, the intenseness of the cold, and the heaviness of the rains, which kept them wet for four successive days. The ground was alternately deluged with rain, or encrusted with ice, or loaded with snow; the beasts of burthen were carried away by the sudden torrents, that descended (as they still do) from the mountains, and filled the rivers, or sank into the boggy ground. So vehement were the rains, storms of hail, and winds, as to tear up the stakes of the tents, and carry them to a distance. The extremity of the cold and wet killed the horses, and spoiled their provisions.'

In

4. The HARVEST, by the rabbins denominated ~ (KETSIR), includes the latter half of Nisan, the whole of Jyar (or Zif), and the former half of Sivan, that is, from the beginning of April to the beginning of June. In the first fortnight of this season, the latter rains are frequent, but cease towards the end of April, when the sky is generally fair and serene. the plain of Jericho the heat of the sun is excessive, though in other parts of Palestine the weather is most delightful; and on the sea-coast the heat is tempered by morning and evening breezes from the sea. As the harvest depends on the duration of the rainy season, the early or autumnal rains, and the latter or spring rains are absolutely necessary to the support of vegetation, and were consequently objects greatly desired by the Israelites and Jews. These rains, howeve were always chilly (Ezra x. 9. and Sol. Song ii. 11.), ar often preceded by whirlwinds (2 Kings iii. 16, 17.) that raised such quantities of sand as to darken the sky, or, in the words of the sacred historian, to make the heavens black with clouds and wind. (1 Kings xviii. 45.) In Egypt the barley harvest precedes the summer. This may explain Jer. viii. 20. where the harvest is put first in the description,— The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. The rains descend in Palestine with great violence; and as whole villages in the East are constructed only with palm branches, mud, and tiles baked in the sun (perhaps corresponding to and explanatory of the untempered mortar noticed in Ezek. xiii. 11.), these rains not unfrequently dissolve the cement, such as it is, and the houses fall to the ground. To these effects our Lord probably alludes in Matt. vii. 25—27. Very small clouds are likewise the forerunners of violent storms and hurricanes in the east as well as in the west: they rise like a man's hand (1 Kings xvii. 44.), until the whole sky becomes black with rain, which descends in torrents, that rush down the steep hills, and sweep every thing before them.9 In our Lord's time, this phenomenon seems to have become a certain prognostic of wet weather. He said to the people, When ye see THE cloud (THN Neq) rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; AND SO IT IS. (Luke xii. 54.)

The hail-stones which fall during the severity of the winter season are very large, and sometimes fatal to man and Deast. Such was the storm of hail that discomfited the Amorites (Josh. x. 10.); and such also the very grievous hail that destroyed the cattle of the Egyptians. (Exod. ix. 18. 23, 24.) A similar hail-storm fell upon the British fleet in Marmorice bay, in Asiatic Turkey, in the year 1801,2 which affords a fine comment on that expression of the psalmist, He casteth forth his ICE like morsels; who can stand before his cold? (Psal. cxlvii. 17.) The snow which falls in Judæa is by the same elegant inspired writer compared to wool (Psal.cxlvii.16.); and we are informed that in countries which are at no great distance from Palestine, the snow falls in flakes as large as walnuts: but not being very hard or very compact, it does no injury to the traveller whom it covers.3 But, however severe the cold weather sometimes is in these countries, there are intervals even in the depth of winter when the sun shines and there is no wind, and when it is perfectly warm-sometimes almost hot-in the open air. At such seasons the poorer classes in the East enjoy the conversation of their friends, sauntering about in the air, and sitting under the walls of their dwellings; while the houses of the more opulent inhabitants, having porches or gateways, with benches on each side, the master of the family receives visitors there, and despatches his business-few persons (not even the nearest relations) having further admission except on extraordinary occasions. These circumstances materially illustrate a difficult passage in the prophet Ezekiel (xxxiii. 30.)-Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people are still talking concerning thee, by the WALLS AND IN THE DOORS of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. It appears from Ezek. xxxiii. 21. that these things were transacted in the tenth month, corresponding with 6. The HOT SEASON, by the rabbins called on (CHUM), or the close of our December or the commencement of January. the great heat, includes the latter half of Ab, the whole of The poorer people, therefore, sat under their walls for the Elul, and the former half of Tisri, that is, from the beginbenefit of the sun, while those in better circumstances sat inning of August to the beginning of October. During the their porchways or gateways to enjoy its genial rays. It appears, therefore, that one part of the winter is, by the inhabitants of the East, distinguished from the rest by the severity of the cold, which may be denominated the depth of their winter.

3. The COLD SEASON or Winter Solstice, by the rabbins termed (KOR), comprises the latter half of Sebat, the whole of Adar, and the former half of Nisan, from the beginning of February to the beginning of April. At the commencement of this season, the ground is frequently covered with a thick hoar-frost, and the weather is cold; but it gradually becomes warm and even hot, particularly in the plain of Jericho. Thunder, lightning, and hail are frequent. Vegetable nature now revives; the almond tree blossoms, and the gardens assume a delightful appearance. Barley is ripe at Jericho, though but little wheat is in the ear. latter rains sometimes begin to fall in the end of this season, swelling the rising crops, with which the valleys are covered.

1 Harmer's Observations, vol. i. pp. 36-42.

5. The SUMMER, by the rabbins termed vyp (KYITS), comprehends the latter half of Sivan, the whole of Thammuz, and the former half of Ab, that is, from the beginning of June to the beginning of August. The heat of the weather increases, and the nights are so warm that the inhabitants sleep on their house-tops in the open air.

chief part of this season the heat is intense, though less so at Jerusalem than in the plain of Jericho: there is no cold, not even in the night, so that travellers pass whole nights in the open air without inconvenience. Lebanon is for the most part free from snow, except in the caverns and defiles where the sun cannot penetrate. During the hot season, it is not uncommon in the East Indies for persons to die suddenly, in consequence of the extreme heat of the solar rays (whence the necessity of being carried in a palanquin). This is now commonly termed a coup-de-soleil, or stroke of the sun. The son of the woman of Shunem appears to have died in consequence of a coup-de-soleil (2 kings iv. 19, 20.); and to

The following are a few among the many allusions in the Scripture to the importance of the early and latter rains, and the earnestness with which they were desired. The

Deut. xi. 14. Job xxix. 23. Prov. xvi. 15. Jer. iii. 3. v. 24. Hos. vi. 3. Joel ii. 23. Zech. x. 1. "From these bountiful showers of heaven, indeed, the fertility of every land springs: but how dreadful in this country would be such a three years' drought, as was inflicted upon Israel in the days of Ahab, may easily be conceived, when it is remembered that in summer the richest soil is burnt to dust; so that a traveller, riding through the plain of Esdraelon in July or August, would in Syria, p. 306. London, 1825. 8vo.)

8 Jowett's Christian Researches in the Mediterranean, &c. p. 144. London, 1822. 8vo.

"On the 8th of February commenced the most violent thunder and hail-imagine himself to be crossing a desert." (Jowett's Christian Researches storm ever remembered, and which continued two days and nights intermittingly. The hail, or rather the ice-stones, were as big as large walnuts. The camps were deluged with a torrent of them two feet deep, which, pouring from the mountains, swept every thing before it. The scene of confusion on shore, by the horses breaking loose, and the men being unable to face the storm, or remain still in the freezing deluge, surpasses description. It is not in the power of language to convey an adequate idea of such a tempest." Sir Robert Wilson's History of the British Expedition to Egypt, vol. i. p. 8. 8vo. edit. Hail storms are so violent in some parts of Persia, as frequently to destroy the cattle in the fields. Kinneir's Geographical Memoir, p. 158.

Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 45. note.

The same usage still obtains at Smyrna. Emerson's Letters from the

gean, vol. i. pp. 96, 97.

In our authorized version, the preposition (BаK) is rendered against thee, which is erroneous, as the context shows that the Jews were talking of or concerning the prophet, and so it is properly rendered in Psal. Lxxxvii. 3. Glorious things are spoken or thee, O city of God.

• Harmer's Observations, vol. i. pp. 50-53.

A similar phenomenon is noticed by Homer (Пiad, lib. iv. 275—278), and also takes place in Abyssinia. Mr. Bruce, speaking of the phenomena attending the inundation of the Nile, says,-Every morning, "about nine, a small cloud, not above four feet broad, appears in the east, whirling vio lently round, as if upon an axis; but, arrived near the zenith, it first abates its motion, then loses its form, and extends itself greatly, and seems to call up vapours from all opposite quarters. These clouds, having attained nearly the same height, rush against each other with great violence, and put me

v. p. 336. 8vo.

always in mind of Elijah foretelling rain on Mount Carmel." Travels, vol. 10 The article here is unquestionably demonstrative. See Bp. Middleton's Doctrine of the Greek Article, p. 327. (first edit.)

11 Egmont and Heyman (who travelled in Palestine in the beginning of the eighteenth century) found the air about Jericho extremely hot, and say that it destroyed several persons the year before they were there. The army of King Baldwin IV. suffered considerably from this circum

this fatal effect of the solar heat the psalmist alludes (Psal. | royal psalmist alludes. (Psal. xxxii. 4.) If, at this season, exxi. 6.), as he also does to the effect of the lunar rays, which a single spark falls upon the grass, a conflagration immediatein Arabia (as well as in Egypt) are singularly injurious to ly ensues, especially if there should be any briers or thorns, the eyes of those who sleep in the open air. "The moon low shrubs or woods contiguous. (Psal. lxxxiii. 14. Isa. here really strikes and affects the sight when you sleep ex- ix. 18. x. 17, 18. Jer. xxi. 14. Compare also Exod. xxii. 6. posed to it much more than the sun: indeed, the sight of a and Joel i. 19, 20.) The face of the country becomes enperson, who should sleep with his face exposed at night, tirely changed; the fields, so lately clothed with the richest would soon be utterly impaired or destroyed." verdure and adorned with the loveliest flowers, are converted into a brown and arid wilderness; the grass withereth, the flower fadeth (Isa. xl. 6, 7.);3 the fountains and rivulets are dried up; and the soil becomes so hard as to exhibit large fissures or clefts. These effects are accelerated if the east wind blow for a few days; which, being usually dry and producing a blight, becomes fatal to the corn and vines (Job xv. 2. Gen. xli. 6. 23. Ezek. xvii. 10. xix. 12. Hos. xiii. 15. Jonah iv. 8. Psal. ciii. 15, 16.); and is particularly dangerous to navigators in the Mediterranean Sea. This is alluded to in Psla. xlviii. 7. and Ezek. xxvii. 26. The people of the East generally term every wind an east wind, that blows between the east and north and the east and south. The Euroclydon, which caused the wreck of the vessel in which Paul was sailing to Rome, was one of these tempestuous east winds, dres Tupovines, that drove every thing before it. (Acts xxvii. 14.) Such winds are common in the Medi

From the time of harvest, that is, from the middle of April to the middle of September, it neither rains nor thunders. (Prov. xxvi. 1. 1 Sam. xii. 17.) During the latter part of April, or about the middle of the harvest, the morning cloud is seen early in the morning, which disappears as the sun ascends above the horizon. (Hos. vi. 4. xiii. 3.) These light fleecy clouds are without water (vapenas dvuses); and to them the apostle Jude (verse 12.) compares the false teachers, who even then began to contaminate the church of Christ. In Deut. xxxii. 2. the doctrine of Jehovah is compared to the rain, and clouds are the instruments by which rain is distilled upon the earth. In arid or parched countries, the very appearance of a cloud is delightful, because it is a token of refreshing showers; but when sudden winds arise, and disperse these clouds, the hope of the husbandman and shepherd is cut off. The false teachers alluded to, are represented as clouds; they have the form and office of teachers of right-terranean to this day, where they are called Levanters, the eousness, and from such appearances pure doctrine may term Levant meaning that country which lies at the eastern naturally be expected. But these are clouds without water; extremity of that sea. they distil no refreshing showers, because they contain none; and they are carried about by their passion, as those light and fleecy clouds in question are carried by the winds.2

From the Jewish month Sivan, through the entire months of Tammuz, Ab, and the former part of Elul, corresponding with our months of May, June, July, and August, not a single cloud is to be seen; but during the night, the earth is moistened by a copious dew, which in the sacred volume is frequently made a symbol of the divine goodness. (Compare Gen. xxvii. 28. and xlix. 25. where the blessing from above is equivalent with dew, Deut. xxxii. 2. xxxiii. 13. Job xxix. 19. Mic. v. 7.) In Arabia Petræa the dews are so heavy, as to wet to the skin those who are exposed to them: but as soon as the sun arises, and the atmosphere becomes a little warmed, the mists are quickly dispersed, and the abundant moisture, which the dews had communicated to the sands, is entirely evaporated. What a forcible description is this of the transiently good impressions, felt by many, to which the prophet Hosea alludes! (vi. 4.) Other references to the refreshing nature of the dews of Palestine occur in Psal. exxxiii. 3. and Hos. xiv. 5.3 These dews fall, as in other countries, very fast as well as very suddenly, upon every blade of grass and every spot of earth whence an active and expeditious soldiery is in 2 Sam. xvii. 12. by a beautiful figure compared to dew. But, however copious the dews are, they nourish only the more robust or hardy plants; and as the season of heat advances, the grass withers, the flowers fade, every green herb is dried up by the roots and dies, unless watered by the rivulets or by the labour of man. To this appearance of the fields, during an eastern summer, the

vations, vol. i. p. 4.

stance near Tiberias. The heat at the time was so unusally great, that as many died by that as by the sword. After the battle, in their return to their former encampment, a certain ecclesiastic, of some distinction in the church and in the army, not being able to bear the vehemence of the heat, was carried in a litter, but expired under Mount Tabor.-Harmer's Obser1 Carne's Letters from the East, p. 77. A nearly similar account is given by Mr. R. R. Madden, who travelled in the East, between the years 1824 and 1827. Travels in Turkey, &c. vol. ii. pp. 197, 198. The deadly influence of the moon is equally felt in the East and West Indies. Thus, in Bengal, meat hung up, if exposed to moonlight, will not take the salt, but taints and spoils speedily: whereas the same kind of meat, if kept from the moonlight, will take salt, and keep good for some time. (Extract of a letter from India, in the Christian Observer for 1808, p. 754.) And at Demerara the moon strikes (similarly to the sun) with a coup-de-lune; so that people walk out at night with umbrellas or paralunes. Such indeed are the effects of the lunar rays upon fish, as to make it part from the bones. (From information communicated by the Rev. Mr. Elliott, missionary at Demerara.)

s Dr. A. Clarke, on Jude 12.

Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 325. The very heavy dews which fall in the Holy Land, are noticed by almost every one who has travelled in that coun. try. We shall adduce the testimonies of two or three. Maundrell, travelling near Mount Hermon, in the year 1697, says, "We were instructed by experience, what the Psalmist means by the dew of Hermon (Psal. cxxxiii. 3) our tents being as wet with it, as if it had rained all night." (Travels from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 77.) Dr. E. D. Clarke, when on his journey from Aboukir to Rosetta, in 1801, says, "We had a tent allotted to us for the night; it was double lined; yet so copious are the dews of Egypt" (the climate of which country is similar to that of the Holy Land), "after sunset that the water ran copiously down the tent-pole." (Travels, vol. iii. p. 35. Svo.) Mr. Carne says, "The dews had fallen heavily for some nights, and the clothes that covered us were quite wet in the morning." Letters from the Fast, p. 178.

• Harmer's Observations, vol. i. p. 6. VOL. II.

D

III. In consequence of the paucity of showers in the East, water is an article of great importance to the inhabitants. Hence, in Lot's estimation, it was a principal recommenda tion of the plain of Jordan that it was well watered every where (Gen. xiii. 10.); and the same advantage continued in later ages to be enjoyed by the Israelites, whose country was intersected by numerous brooks and streams; whence it is not more emphatically than beautifully described as a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills. And the same preference is given to this day by the Eelauts (a Tartar tribe occupying a district in the northern part of the Persian empire), who carry their flocks to the highest parts of the mountains, where the blessings of pasturage and of good water are to be found in abundance. The knowledge of this circumstance will, perhaps, impart new force to the promises made to the Gentiles by the evangelical prophet. Their pastures shall be in all high places, they shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the sun or heat smite them; for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. (Isa. xlix. 9— 11.) See also Rev. vii. 16, 17.

Although RIVERS are frequently mentioned in the Sacred Writings, yet, strictly speaking, the only river in the Holy Land is the Jordan, which is sometimes designated in the Scripture as the river without any addition; as also is the Nile (Gen. xli. 1. Exod. i. 22. ii. 5. iv. 9. vii. 18. and viii. 3. 9. 11.), and, occasionally, the Euphrates (as in Jer. ii. 18.); in these cases, the tenor of the discourse must determine which is the river actually intended by the sacred writers. The name of river is also given to inconsiderable streams and rivulets, as to the Kishon (Judges iv. 7. and v. 21.) and the Arnon. (Deut. iii. 16.)8

1. The principal river which waters Palestine is the JORDAN or Yar-Dan, i. e. the river of Dan, so called because it takes its rise in the vicinity of the little city of Dan. Its true source is in two fountains at Paneas (a city better known by its subsequent name of Cæsarea Philippi), at the foot of Anti-Libanus; its apparent source flows from beneath a cave at the foot of a precipice, in the sides of which are several niches with Greek inscriptions. During several hours of its course, it continues to be a small and insignificant

"The very affecting images of Scripture, which compare the shortliving existence of man to the decay of the vegetable creation, are scarcely understood in this country. The verdure is perpetual in England. It is difficult to discover a time when it can be said, 'the grass withereth.' But, let the traveller visit the beautiful plain of Smyrna, or any other part of the East, in the month of May, and revisit it towards the end of June, and he will perceive the force and beauty of these allusions. In May, an appearance of fresh verdure and of rich luxuriance every where meets the eye; the face of nature is adorned with a carpet of flowers and herbage, of the most elegant kind. But a month or six weeks subsequently, how changed is the entire scene! The beauty is gone; the grass is withered; the flower is faded; a brown and dusty desert has taken place of a delicious garden. It is doubtless to this rapid transformation of nature that the Scriptures compare the fate of man." Hartley's Researches in Greece, p. 237. Shaw's Travels in Barbary, &c. vol. ii. pp. 127-133. Morier's Second Journey through Persia, p. 121.

• In a few instances, the sea is called a river, as in Hab. iii. 8. where the Red Sea is intended.

Capt. Irby's and Mangle's Travels in Egypt, &c. pp. 287-289.

2. The ARNON, which descends from the mountains of the same name, and discharges itself into the Dead Sea. 3. The SIHOR (the Belus of ancient geographers, at present called the Kardanah), has its source about four miles to the east of the head of the river Kishon. It waters the plains of Acre and Esdraelon, and falls into the sea at the gulph of Keilah.6

4. The brook JABBOK takes its rise in the same mountains, and falls into the river Jordan. It is a rapid stream, flowing over a rocky bed; its waters are clear, and agreeable to the taste, and its banks are very thickly wooded with oleander and plane trees, wild olives, wild almonds, and numerous other trees. By the Arabs it is now termed Nahr-el-Zerkah, or the river of Kerkah, from a neighbouring station or vil

rivulet. It flows due south through the centre of the coun-
try, intersecting the lake Merom and the sea or lake of Gali-
lee, and (it is said) without mingling with its waters; and
it loses itself in the lake Asphaltites or the Dead Sea, into
which it rolls a considerable volume of deep water, with such
rapidity as to prevent a strong, active, and expert swimmer
from swimming across it. The course of the Jordan is about
one hundred miles; its breadth and depth are various. Dr.
Shaw computed it to be about thirty yards broad, and three
yards or nine feet in depth; and states that it discharges
daily into the Dead Sea about 6,090,000 tuns of water.
Viscount Chateaubriand (who travelled nearly a century after
him) found the Jordan to be six or seven feet deep close to
the shore, and about fifty paces in breadth. The late count
Volney asserts it to be scarcely sixty paces wide at its em-lage of that name."
bouchure. Messrs. Banks and Buckingham, who crossed it
in January, 1816, pretty nearly at the same ford over which
the Israelites passed on their first entering the promised land,
found the stream extremely rapid; and as it flowed at that
part over a bed of pebbles, its otherwise turbid waters were
tolerably clear, as well as pure and sweet to the taste. It is
here fordable, being not more than four feet deep, with a
rapid current.4

5. The KANAH, or Brook of Reeds, springs from the mountains of Judah, but only flows during the winter, and it falls into the Mediterranean Sea near Cæsarea: it formerly sepa rated the tribe of Ephraim from that of Manasseh. (Josh. xvii. 8, 9.)

6. The brook BESOR (1 Sam. xxx. 9.) falls into the same sea between Gaza and Rhinocorura.

7. The KISHON, now called the Moukattoua, issues from the mountains of Carmel, at the foot of which it forms two streams; one flows eastward into the sea of Galilee, and the other, taking a westerly course through the plain of Jezreel or Esdraelon, discharges itself into the Mediterranean Sea, at a short distance to the south of Acro or Acre. This is the stream noticed in 1 Kings xviii. 40.: when swollen by heavy rains it is impassable.

Anciently the Jordan overflowed its banks about the time of barley harvest (Josh. iii. 15. iv. 18. 1 Chron. xii. 15. Jer. xlix. 19.), or the feast of the passover; when, the snows being dissolved on the mountains, the torrents discharged themselves into its channel with great impetuosity. When visited by Mr. Maundrell, at the beginning of the last century, he could discern no sign or probability of such inundations, though so late as the 30th of March; and so far was 8. The KEDRON, Kidron, or CeDRON, as it is variously the river from overflowing, that it ran almost two yards termed (2 Sam. xv. 23. 1 Kings xv. 13. 2 Kings xxiii. 6. below the brink of its channel. It may be said to have two 12. 2 Chron. xxix. 16. Jer. xxxi. 40. John xviii. 1.), runs banks, the first, that of the river in its natural state; the in the valley of Jehoshaphat, eastward of Jerusalem, between second, that of its overflowings. After descending the outer- that city and the Mount of Olives. Except during the winmost bank, the traveller proceeds about a furlong upon a level ter, or after heavy rains, its channel is generally dry, but, strand, before he comes to the immediate bank of the river. when swollen by torrents, it flows with great impetuosity;9 This second bank is now (as it anciently was) so beset with its waters are said to become dark and turbid, probably bepushes, reeds, tamarisks, willows, ofeanders, and other cause it collects the waste of the adjacent hills; and, like shrubs and trees, which form an asylum for various wild other brooks in cities, it is contaminated with the filth, of animals, that no water is perceptible until the traveller has which it is the receptacle and common sewer. The blood made his way through them. In this thicket several kinds and offal of the victims sacrificed in the temple are said, in of wild beasts used formerly to conceal themselves, until the later times, to have been carried off by a drain into the Keswelling of the river drove them from their coverts. To this dron.10 As no mention is made of bridges in Palestine, it is fact the prophet Jeremiah alludes, when he compares the probable that the inhabitants forded the rivers and brooks impatience of Edom and Babylon under the divine judg-wherever it was practicable, (in the same manner as persons ments, to the coming up of a lion from the swellings of Jordan, of both sexes do to this day in Bengal), which is alluded to (Jer. xlix. 19.) On the level strand above noticed, it proba- in Isa. xlvii. 2. bly was, that John the Baptist stood, and pointed to the stones of which it was composed, when he exclaimed, I say unto you, that God is able of THESE STONES to raise up children unto Abraham and turning to the second bank, which was overgrown with various shrubs and trees that had been suffered to grow wild for ages, he added, and now also the 1. The SEA OF GALILEE (so called from its situation on the axe is laid unto the root of THE TREES: therefore every tree, eastern borders of that division of Palestine), through which which bringeth not forth good FRUIT, is hewn down and cast the Jordan flows, was anciently called the Sea of Chinnereth into the fire. (Matt. iii. 9, 10.) The passage of this deep and (Num. xxxiv. 11.) or Chinneroth (Josh. xii. 3.), from its rapid river by the Israelites, at the most unfavourable season, vicinity to the town of that name; afterwards Gennesar (1 when augmented by the dissolution of the winter snows, was Macc. xi. 67.), and in the time of Jesus Christ Genesareth or more manifestly miraculous, if possible, than that of the Red Gennesareth (Luke v. 1.), from the neighbouring land of the Sea; because here was no natural agency whatever employed; same name (Matt. xiv. 34. Mark vi. 53.); and also the Sea no mighty winds to sweep a passage as in the former case; of Tiberias (John vi. 1. xxi. 1.), from the contiguous city of no reflux in the tide on which minute philosophers might Tiberias. This capacious lake, almost equal in the grandeur fasten to depreciate the miracle. It seems, therefore, to have of its appearance to that of Geneva, spreads its transparent been providentially designed, to silence cavils respecting the waters over all the lower territory, extending from the northformer: it was done at noonday, in the presence of the neigh-east to the south-west. The waters of the northern part of bouring inhabitants: and it struck terror into the kings of this lake abound with fish: this circumstance marks the the Amorites and Canaanites westward of the river, whose propriety of our Lord's parable of the net cast into the sea hearts melted, neither was there any spirit in them any more, | because of the children of Israel. (Josh. v. 1.) The place where the Israelites thus miraculously passed this river, is supposed to be the fords of Jordan mentioned in Judg. iii. 26.

1 Carne's Recollections of Travels in the East, p. 38. London, 1830. 8vo. 2 Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. pp. 156, 157. Buckingham's Travels, p. 315. Three Weeks in Palestine, p. 90. Maundrell's Journey, p. 110. Dr. Macmichael's Travels from Moscow to Constantinople, in the years 1917, 1818, p. 191. (Lond. 1819. 4to.) The Jordan is annually frequented by many thousand pilgrims, chiefly of the Greek church, under the protection of the Moosillin, or Turkish governor of Jerusalem, and a strong military escort. Ibid. pp. 191, 192 Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 387. Irby's and Mangles' Travels, pp. 329, 330.

Of the LAKES mentioned in the Scriptures, three are particularly worthy of notice; that of Galilee or Gennesareth, the Lake Merom, and the Lake of Sodom, both of which are termed seas, agreeably to the Hebrew phraseology, which gives the name of sea to any large body of water.

(Matt. xiii. 47, 48.), which was delivered by him from a vessel near the shore. The fish are said to be most delicious. There is not much variety, but the best sort is the most common; it is a species of bream, equal to the finest perch. It is remarkable, that there is not a single boat of any description

Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 33.
Buckingham's Travels, p. 325.

8 Carne's Letters, p. 250. Richter's Pilgrimages in the East, in 18151816. (Cabinet of Foreign Voyages, vol. i. pp. 159, 160. London, 1825.)

In like manner the rivers of Cyprus (which island lies to the north-west of the Holy Land) are dry during the summer months, and are swollen into torrents by sudden rains. Dr. Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 75. (Works, vol. i. p. 80.) 10 Lightfoot's Chorographical Century, on Matthew, chap. 38. fine.

its vicinity, who, like the earliest ones, call their water a sea, and reckon This appellation is retained by the modern inhabitants, who reside in it and the Dead Sea to the south of them to be the two largest known except the great ocean." Buckingham's Travels, p. 471.

Dr. Clarke, by whom this lake was visited a few years before Mr. Buckingham's arrival, describes it as longer and finer than our Cumberland and Westmorland lakes, although it yields in majesty to the stupendous features of Loch Lomond in Scotland: like our Windermere, the lake of Gennesareth is often greatly agitated by winds. (Matt. viii. 2327.) A strong current marks the passage of the Jordan through the middle of this lake; and when this is opposed by contrary winds, which blow here with the force of a hurricane from the south-east, sweeping into the lake from the mountains, a boisterous sea is instantly raised: this the small vessels of the country are ill qualified to resist. "The wind," says he, "rendered its surface rough, and called to mind the situation of our Saviour's disciples; when, in one of the small vessels, which traversed these waters, they were tossed in a storm, and saw Jesus in the fourth watch of the night walking to them upon the waves." (Matt. xiv. 2426.) These agitations, however, do not last for any length of time.-Its broad and extended surface, covering the bottom of a profound valley, environed by lofty and precipitous eminences (excepting only the narrow entrance and outlets at the Jordan at each extremity), added to the impression of a certain reverential awe under which every Christian pilgrim approaches it, give it a character of dignity unparalTeled by any similar scenery. When not agitated by tem- water would be:pests, the water is stated to be as clear as the purest crystal, sweet, cool, and most refreshing to the taste.