CHAPTER IX.

_The Natural History of Palestine_.

Travellers too much neglect Natural History; Maundrell, Hasselquist,

Clarke. GEOLOGY--Syrian Chain; Libanus; Calcareous Rocks; Granite;

Trap; Volcanic Remains; Chalk; Marine Exuviae; Precious Stones.

METEOROLOGY--Climate of Palestine; Winds; Thunder; Clouds; Waterspouts;

Ignis Fatuus. ZOOLOGY--Scripture Animals; The Hart; The Roebuck;

Fallow-Deer; Wild Goat; Pygarg; Wild Ox; Chamois; Unicorn; Wild Ass; Wild

Goats of the Rock; Saphan, or Coney; Mouse; Porcupine; Jerboa; Mole; Bat.

BIRDS--Eagle; Ossifrage; Ospray; Vulture; Kite; Raven; Owl; Nighthawk;

Cuckoo; Hawk; Little Owl; Cormorant; Great Owl; Swan; Pelican; Gier Eagle;

Stork; Heron; Lapwing; Hoopoe. AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES--Serpents known to the

Hebrews; Ephe; Chephir; Acshub; Pethen; Tzeboa; Tzimmaon; Tzepho; Kippos;

Shephiphon; Shachal; Saraph, the Flying Serpent; Cockatrice Eggs; The

Scorpion; Sea-monsters, or Seals. FRUITS AND PLANTS--Vegetable Productions

of Palestine; The Fig-tree; Palm; Olive; Cedars of Libanus; Wild Grapes;

Balsam of Aaron; Thorn of Christ.

Every one who writes on the Holy Land has occasion to regret that

travellers in general have paid so little attention to its geological

structure and natural productions. Maundrell, it is true, was not

entirely destitute of physical science; but the few remarks which he

makes are extremely vague and unconnected, and, not being expressed in

the language of system, throw very little light on the researches of the

natural philosopher or the geologist. Hasselquist had more professional

learning, and has accordingly contributed more than any of his

predecessors to our acquaintance with Palestine, viewed in its relations

to the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms. Still the reader

of his Voyages and Travels in the Levant cannot fail to perceive, that

some of the branches of natural knowledge, which are now cultivated with

the greatest care, were in his day very little improved; and more

especially, that they were deficient in accuracy of description and

distinctness of arrangement. Dr. Clarke's observations are perhaps more

scientific than those of the Swedish naturalist just named, and

particularly in the departments of mineralogy and geology to which he had

devoted a large share of his attention. But even in his works we look in

vain for a satisfactory treatise on the mountain-rocks of Palestine, on

the geognostic formation of that interesting part of Western Asia, or on

the fossil treasures which its strata are understood to envelop. We are

therefore reduced to the necessity of collecting from various authors,

belonging to different countries and successive ages, the scattered

notices which appear in their works, and of arranging them according to a

plan most likely to suit the comprehension of the common reader.

SECTION I.--GEOLOGY.

At first view it would appear that the ridges of Palestine are all a

ramification of Mount Taurus. But the proper Syrian chain begins on the

south of Antioch, at the huge peak of Casius, which shoots up to the

heavens its tapering summit, covered with thick forests. The same chain,

under various names, follows the direction of the eastern shore of the

Mediterranean, at no greater distance, generally speaking, than

twenty-four miles from its waters. Mount Libanus forms its most elevated

summit. At length it is divided into two branches, of which the one looks

westward to the sea, the other, which bounds the Plain of Damascus,

verges in the direction of the desert and the banks of the Euphrates.

Hermon, whose lofty top condenses the moisture of the atmosphere, and

gives rise to the dews so much celebrated in the Sacred Writings, stands

between Heliopolis and the capital of Syria. The latter ridge received

from the Greeks the denomination of Anti-Libanus,--a name unknown among

the natives, and which, being employed somewhat arbitrarily by historians

and topographers, has occasioned considerable obscurity in their

writings.

The hills in this part of Syria are composed of a calcareous rock having

a whitish colour, is extremely hard, and which rings in the ear when

smartly struck with a hammer. The same description applies to the masses

that surround Jerusalem, which on the one hand stretch to the River

Jordan, and on the other extend to the Plain of Acre and Jaffa. Like all

limestone strata, they present a great number of caverns, to which, as

places of retreat, frequent allusion is made in the books of Samuel and

of the Kings. There is one near Damascus, capable of containing four

thousand men; and it must have been in a similar recess that David and

his men encountered the ill-fated Saul when pursued by him on the hills

of the wild goats.

The mountains that skirt the Valley of the Dead Sea present granite and

those other rocks which, according to the system of Werner, characterize

the oldest or primitive formation. Mount Sinai is a member of the same

group, and exhibits mineral qualities of a similar nature, extending to a

certain distance on both sides of the Arabian Gulf. It is probable that

this region, at a remote epoch, was the theatre of immense volcanoes, the

effects of which may still be traced along the banks of the Lower Jordan,

and more especially in the lake itself. The warm baths at Tabaria show

that the same cause still exists, although much restricted in its

operation,--an inference which is amply confirmed by the lavas, the

bitumen, and pumice which continue to be thrown ashore by the waves of

Asphaltites.

Dr. Clarke remarks, that in the neighborhood of Cana there are several

basaltic appearances. The extremities of columns, prismatically formed,

penetrated the surface of the soil, so as to render the path very rough

and unpleasant. These marks of regular or of irregular crystallization

generally denote, according to his opinion, the vicinity of water lying

beneath their level. The traveller, having passed over a series of

successive plains, resembling in their gradation the order of a

staircase, observes, as he descends to the inferior stratum upon which

the water rests, that where rocks are disclosed the symptoms of

crystallization have taken place, and then the prismatic configuration is

commonly denoted basaltic. Such an appearance, therefore, in the approach

to the Lake of Tiberias is only a parallel to similar phenomena exhibited

by rocks near the Lakes of Locarno and Bolsenna in Italy, by those of the

Wenner Lake in Sweden, by the bed of the Rhine near Cologne in Germany,

by the Valley of Ronca in the territory of Verona, by the Pont de Bridon

in the state of Venice, and by numerous other examples in the same

country. A corresponding effect is produced on a small scale on the

southern declivity, of Arthur Seat, near Edinburgh, where the hill

overhangs the Lake of Duddingstone; and numerous other instances are

known to occur in the islands which lie between the coast of Ireland and

Norway, as well as Spain, Portugal, Arabia, and India.

When these crystals have obtained a certain regularity of structure, the

form is often hexagonal, or six-sided, resembling particular kinds of

spar, and the emerald. Patrin, during his travels in the deserts of

Oriental Tartary, discovered when breaking the Asiatic emerald, if fresh

taken from the matrix, not only the same alternate concave and convex

fractures which sometimes characterize the horizontal fissures of

basaltic pillars, but also the concentric layers which denote

concretionary formation: It is hardly possible to have a more striking

proof of coincidence, resulting from similarity of structure, in two

substances otherwise remarkably distinguished from each other. In this

state science remains at present, concerning an appearance in nature

which exhibits nothing more than the common process of crystallization

upon a larger scale than has usually excited attention. Suffice it to

remark, that such a phenomenon is very frequent in the vicinity of very

ancient lakes, in the bed of all considerable rivers, or by the borders

of the ocean.[187]

In a country where there are so many traces of volcanic action, the rocks

of the lower levels cannot fail to bear marks of their origin.

Hasselquist relates, that the Hill of Tiberias, out of which issues the

fountain whence the baths are supplied, consists of a black and brittle

sulphurous stone, which is only to be found in large masses in the

neighborhood, though it is commonly met with in rolled specimens on the

shores of the Dead Sea, and in other parts of the valley. The sediment

deposited by the water is also black, as thick as paste, smells strongly

of sulphur, and is covered with two skins or cuticles, of which the lower

is of a fine dark-green, and the uppermost of a light rusty colour. At

the mouth of the outlet, where the stream formed little cascades over the

stones, the first cuticle alone was found, and so much resembled a

conferva, that one might have taken it for a vegetable production; but

nearer the river, where the current became stagnant, both skins were

visible, the yellow on the surface, and under it the green.[188]

There are observed, in the same hollow, small portions of quartz

incrusted with an impure salt, and nodules of clay extremely compact.

Near the edge of the valley there lie scattered on the sand considerable

portions of flinty slate; and amid the common clay, which forms the basis

of the soil, are perpendicular layers of a lamellated brown argil,

assuming, as it were, the slaty structure. Dr. Clarke noticed among the

pebbles near the Lake of Tiberias pieces of a porous rock resembling the

substance called toadstone in England; its cavities were filled with

zeolite. Native gold was likewise found there, but the quantity was so

small as not to draw from the travellers a suitable degree of attention.

The Vale of the Asphaltites is further remarkable for a species of

limestone called the fetid, the smell of which, as its name imports, is

extremely offensive. It is still manufactured in the East into amulets,

and worn as a specific against the plague; and that a similar

superstition existed in regard to this stone in very early ages is

rendered manifest by the circumstance, that charms made of the same

substance were found in the subterranean chambers under the pyramids of

Sakhara in Upper Egypt. The cause of the fetid effluvia emitted from this

rock, when partially decomposed by means of friction, is now known to be

connected with the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen. All bituminous

limestone, however, does not possess this property. It is not uncommon in

the calcareous beds called in England black marble, but it is by no means

their characteristic. The fragments obtained in the valley of the Jordan

have this savour in a high degree; and it is admitted that the oriental

limestone is more highly impregnated with hydrosulphuret than any

hitherto found in Europe.[189]

According to Dr. Shaw, the upper strata of rocks on the hills along the

coast are composed of a soft chalky substance, including a great variety

of corals, shells, and other marine exuviae. Upon the Castravan

mountains, near Beirout, there is a singular bed, consisting likewise of

a whitish stone, but of the slate-kind, which unfolds in every flake of

it a great number and variety of fishes. These, for the most part, lie

exceedingly flat and compressed, like the fossil specimens of fern; yet

are, at the same time, so well preserved, that the smallest lineaments

and fibres of their fins, scales, and other specific properties of

structure are easily distinguished. Among these were some individuals of

the squilla tribe, which, though one of the tenderest of the crustaceous

family, had not suffered the least injury from pressure or friction. The

heights of Carmel, too, present similar phenomena. In the chalky beds

which surround its summit are gathered numerous hollow flints, lined in

the inside with a variety of sparry matter, and having some resemblance

to petrified fruit. These are commonly bestowed upon pilgrims, not only

as curiosities, but as antidotes against several distempers. Those which

bear a likeness to the olive, usually denominated "lapides Judaici," are

looked upon, when dissolved in the juice of lemons, as an approved

medicine for curing the stone and gravel,--a specific, we may presume;

which, after the fashion of many others, operates upon the body through

the power of the imagination.[190]

The miserable condition of ignorance and neglect into which every thing

connected with industry has fallen under the Turkish government, prevents

us from obtaining any information in regard to the mineral stores of that

country, "whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayst dig

brass." Volney indeed relates, that ores of the former metal abound, in

the mountains of Kesraoun and of the Druses, in other words, in the

extensive range of which Libanus is the principal member. Every summer

the inhabitants work those mines which are simply ochreous. There is a

vague report in the district, that there was anciently a vein of copper

near Aleppo, but it must have been long since abandoned. It was also

mentioned to the traveller, when among the Druses, that a mineral was

discovered which produced both lead and silver; though, as such a

discovery would have ruined the whole district by attracting the

attention of the Turks, they made haste to destroy every vestige of it. A

similar feeling prevails respecting precious stones,--the branch of

mineralogy which first gains the attention of a rude people. From the

geological character of the Syrian mountains, there is no doubt that

Palestine might boast of the topaz, the emerald, the chryso-beryl,

several varieties of rock-crystal, and also of the finer jaspers. The

Sacred Writings prove that the Jews were acquainted with a considerable

variety of ornamental stones, as may be seen in the description of the

mystical city in the book of Revelation, of which "the twelve gates were

twelve pearls." But the present inhabitants of Canaan, regardless of the

natural wealth with which the hills and the valleys abound, trust to

violence for the means of luxury, and to the most unprincipled extortion

and robbery for their accustomed revenue. From them, therefore, neither

knowledge nor elegance can ever be expected to receive any attention.

SECTION II.--METEOROLOGY.

Under this head we include the usual properties of the atmosphere which

minister to health and vegetation, for it has been justly remarked that

Syria has three climates. The summits of Libanus, for instance, covered

with snow, diffuse a salubrious coolness in the interior; the flat

situations, on the contrary, especially those which stretch along the

line of the coast, are constantly subjected to heat, accompanied with

great humidity; while the adjoining plains of the desert are scorched by

the rays of a burning sun. The seasons and the productions, of course,

undergo a corresponding variation. In the mountains the months of spring

and summer very nearly coincide with those in the southern parts of

Europe; and the winter, which lasts from November till March, is sharp

and rigorous. No year passes without snow, which often covers the surface

of the ground to the depth of several feet during many weeks. The spring

and autumn are agreeable, and the summer by no means oppressive. But in

the plains, on the other hand, as soon as the sun has passed the equator,

a sudden transition takes place to an overpowering heat, which continues

till October. To compensate for this, however, the winter is so temperate

that orange-trees, dates, bananas, and other delicate fruits grow in the

open field. Hence, we need hardly observe that a journey of a few hours

carries the traveller through a succession of seasons, and allows him a

choice of climate, varying from the mild temperature of France to the

blood-heat of India, or the pinching cold of Russia.

The winds in Palestine, as in all countries which approach the tropics,

are periodical, and governed in no small degree by the course of the sun.

About the autumnal equinox, the north-west begins to blow with frequency

and strength. It renders the air dry, clear, and sharp; and it is

remarkable that on the seacoast it causes the headache, like the

north-east wind in Egypt. We may further observe, that it usually blows

three days successively, like the south and south-east at the other

equinox. It continues to prevail till November, that is, about fifty

days, when it is followed by the west and south-west, called by the Arabs

"the fathers of rain." In March arise the pernicious winds from the

southern quarter, with the same circumstances as in Egypt; but they

become feebler as we advance towards the north, and are much more

supportable in the mountains than in the low country. Their duration at

each return varies from twenty-four hours to three days. The easterly

winds, which come next in order, continue till June, when they are

commonly succeeded by an inconstant breeze from the north. At this season

the wind shifts through all the points every day, passing with the sun

from east to south, and from south to west, to return by the north and

recommence the same circuit. At this time, too, a local wind, called the

land-breeze, prevails along the coast during the night; it springs up

after sunset, lasts till the appearance of the solar orb in the morning,

and extends only a few leagues to sea.

Travellers have observed that thunder, in the lowlands of Palestine as

well as in Egypt, is more common during the winter than in summer; while

in the mountains, on the contrary, it is more frequent in the latter

season, and very seldom heard in the former. In both these countries it

happens oftenest in the rainy season, or about the time of the equinoxes,

especially the autumnal; and it is further remarkable that it never comes

from the land side, but always from the sea. These storms, too, generally

speaking, take place either in the evening or morning, and rarely in the

middle of the day. They are accompanied with violent showers of rain, and

sometimes of uncommonly large hail, which, soon covering the face of the

country with stagnant water, give rise to a copious evaporation.

The phenomenon alluded to by the prophet Elijah is still found to

diversify the aspect of the eastern sky. Volney remarks, that clouds are

sometimes seen to dissolve and disperse like smoke; while on other

occasions they form in an instant, and from a small speck increase to a

prodigious size. This is particularly observable at the summit of

Lebanon; and mariners have usually found that the appearance of a cloud

on this peak is an infallible presage of a westerly wind, one of the

"fathers of rain" in the climate of Judea.[191]

Waterspouts are not unfrequent along the shores of Syria, and more

especially in the neighbourhood of Mount Carmel. Those observed by Dr.

Shaw appeared to be so many cylinders of water falling down from the

clouds; though by the reflection it might be of these descending columns,

or from the actual dropping of the fluid contained in them, they would

sometimes, says he, appear at a distance to be sucked up from the sea.

The theory of waterspouts in the present day does in fact admit the

supposition here referred to; that the air, being rarefied by particular

causes, has its equilibrium restored by the elevation of the water, on

the same principle that mercury rises in the barometer, or the contents

of a well in a common pump. The opinions of the learned traveller on this

subject are extremely loose and unscientific, and are only valuable in

our times as marking a certain stage in the progress of meteorological

inquiry.

The same author has recorded a fact which we have not observed in the

pages of any other tourist. In travelling by night, in the beginning of

April, through the valleys of Mount Ephraim, he was attended for more

than an hour by an _ignis fatuus_ that displayed itself in a variety of

extraordinary appearances. It was sometimes globular, and sometimes

pointed like the flame of a candle; then it spread itself so as to

involve the whole company in its pale inoffensive light; after which it

contracted, and suddenly disappeared. But in less than a minute it would

begin again to exert itself as at other times, running along from one

place to another with great swiftness, like a train of gunpowder set on

fire; or else it would expand itself over more than two or three acres of

the adjacent mountains, discovering every shrub and tree that grew upon

them. The atmosphere from the beginning of the evening had been

remarkably thick and hazy; and the dew, as felt upon the bridles, was

unusually clammy and unctuous. In such weather similar luminous bodies

are observed skipping about the masts and yards of ships, and are called

by the mariners _corpusanse_, a corruption of the _cuerpo santo_, or

sacred body, of the Spaniards. The same were the Castor and Pollux of the

ancients. Some writers have attempted to account for these phenomena,

particularly for the _ignis fatuus_, by supposing it to be occasioned by

successive swarms of flying glowworms, or other insects of the same

nature. But, as Dr. Shaw observes, not to perceive or feel any of these

insects, even when the light which they produce spreads itself around us,

should induce us to explain both this appearance and the other on the

received principle that they are actually meteors, or a species of

natural phosphorus.[192]

SECTION III.--ZOOLOGY.

In this article we shall confine our attention to such animals as are

mentioned in Holy Scripture; our object being restricted to an

elucidation of the natural history of Palestine as it presents itself to

the common reader, and not according to the arrangement which might be

required by the rules of science.

In the fourteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, where a distinction is made

between the clean and the unclean, or those which might be eaten and

those which were prohibited, we find in the former class the ox, the

sheep, the goat, the hart, the roebuck, the fallow-deer, the wild goat,

the pygarg, the wild ox, and the chamois. As to the domesticated animals,

which are common in all countries, we shall not waste time by exhibiting

any description. The next in order, or "hart," is also quite familiar;

but every scholar knows that the Hebrew term _aïl_ is so vague in its

import, that it has been understood to signify a tree as well as a

quadruped. Thus the fine expression in the forty-ninth chapter of

Genesis, uttered by Jacob in reference to one of his children, "Naphtali

is a hind let loose; he giveth goodly words," has been translated by

Bochart, Houbigant, and others, in these terms:--"Naphtali is a spreading

tree, giving out beautiful branches." The meaning of the patriarch

unquestionably was, that the tribe about to descend from his son would be

active and powerful, enjoying at once unrestrained freedom and abundance

of food. It might be expressed thus:--Naphtali is a deer roaming at

liberty; he shooteth forth noble branches, or majestic antlers; his

residence shall be in a beautiful woodland country; and, as Moses also

predicted, "he shall be filled with the blessings of the Lord."

The _roebuck_, or tzebi of the Hebrews, is regarded by Dr. Shaw as the

gazelle, or antelope,--a beautiful creature, which is very common all

over Greece, Syria, the Holy Land, Egypt, and Barbary. It is known among

Greek naturalists by the name of _dorcas_, from an allusion to its fine

eyes, the brilliancy and liveliness of which have passed into a proverb

in all eastern countries. The damsel whose name was Tabitha, which is by

interpretation Dorcas, might be so called from this particular feature.

The antelope likewise is in great esteem among the orientals for food,

having a very sweet musky taste, which is highly agreeable to their

palates; and, therefore, the tzebi might well be received as one of the

dainties at Solomon's table.[193] If, then, says the author just quoted,

we lay all these circumstances together, they will appear to be much more

applicable to the gazelle, or antelope, which is a quadruped well known

and gregarious, than to the roe, which was either not known at all, or at

least was very rare in those countries.

The _fallow-deer_, or yachmur of the Bible, is received among

commentators as the _wild beeve_,--an animal equal in size to the stag,

or red deer, to which it bears some resemblance. It frequents the

solitary parts of Judea and the surrounding countries, and, like the

antelope, is everywhere gregarious. Its flesh is also very sweet and

nourishing, and was frequently seen at the tables of kings.

The _wild goat_, or akko, mentioned in Deuteronomy, is not held

sufficiently specific by naturalists, who imagine that it must be

identified with another animal called by the Seventy _tragelaphus_,

literally the goat-deer. The horns of this species, which are furrowed

and wrinkled as in the goat kind, are a foot or fifteen inches long, and

bend over the back; though they are shorter and more crooked than those

of the ibex or steinbuck. It is not unfrequently known by the more

familiar name of _lerwee_.

Considerable obscurity hangs over the natural history of the _pygarg_,

the characteristics of which have not hitherto been well determined. The

word itself, it has been remarked, seems to denote a creature whose

hinder parts are of a white colour. Such, says Dr. Shaw, is the _lidmee_

which is shaped exactly like the common antelope, with which it agrees in

colour and in the shape of its horns, only that in the lidmee they are of

twice the length, as the animal itself is of twice the size.

The sixth species is the _wild ox_, or thau of the Mosaical catalogue,

which has generally been rendered the _oryx_. Now this animal is

described to be of the goat-kind, with the hair growing forward, or

towards the head. It is further described to be of the size of a beeve,

and to be likewise a fierce creature, contrary to what is observed of the

goat or deer kind, which, unless they are irritated and highly provoked,

are all of them of a shy and timorous nature. The only quadruped that we

are acquainted with to which these marks will apply is the buffalo, well

known in Egypt and in various parts of Western Asia. It may be so far

reckoned of the goat kind, as the horns are not smooth and even as in the

beeve, but rough and wrinkled as in the goat. It is, besides, nearly the

same as the common beeve, and therefore agrees so far with the

description of Herodotus. It is also a sullen, spiteful animal, being

often know to pursue the unwary, especially if clad in scarlet. For these

reasons, the buffalo may not improperly be taken for the thau or oryx,

whereof we have had hitherto little account.[194]

The _chamois_, or zomer of the ancient Jews, has by different authors

been described as the camelopard or giraffe. The Syriac version renders

the original term into one which signifies the mountain-goat, and so far

coincides with our common translation of the Scriptures, though it is

extremely doubtful whether the chamois or the ibex was to be found in any

district of Palestine. Dr. Shaw holds the opinion that the zomer must

have been the giraffe; for though it was a rare animal, and not known in

Europe before the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, it might, he thinks,

have been common enough in Egypt, as it was a native of Ethiopia, the

adjoining country. It may therefore be presumed, says he, that the

Israelites, during their long residence in the land of the Pharaohs, were

not only well acquainted with it, but might at different times have

tasted its flesh.

This inference is rejected with some show of reason by the editor of

Calmet's Dictionary, who remarks, it is very unlikely that the giraffe,

being a native of the torrid zone and attached to hot countries, should

be so abundant in Judea as to be made an article of food. The same

argument applies to the chamois, which, as it inhabits the highest

mountains, and seeks the most elevated spots, where snow and ice prevail,

to shelter it from the heat of summer, was probably unknown to the people

of Israel. Hence, it still remains doubtful to what class of animals the

zomer of Moses should be attached, though, in our opinion, the balance of

authorities seem to incline in favour of a small species of goat which

browsed in the hill-country of Syria.

The _unicorn_, or réem, mentioned in the book of Job, has given similar

occasion to a variety of opinion. Parkhurst imagines that by this term is

meant the wild bull, for it is evidently an animal of great strength and

possessed of horns. Mr. Scott, in his Commentary on the Bible, adopts the

same view, and reminds his reader, that the bulls of Bashan described by

the Psalmist are by the same inspired writer denominated reems. Other

expounders of Sacred Writ maintain that the creature alluded to by the

patriarch of Uz can have been no other than the double-horned

rhinoceros.[195]

The wild _ass_, or para, celebrated by the same ancient author, is

generally understood to be the onager, an animal, which is to this day

highly prized in Persia and the deserts of Tartary, as being fitter for

the saddle than the finest breed of horses. It has nothing of the dulness

or stupidity of the common ass; is extremely beautiful; and, when

properly trained, is docile and tractable in no common degree. It was

this more valuable kind of ass that Saul was in search of when he was

chosen by the prophet to discharge the duties of royalty. "Who hath sent

out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?

whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his

dwellings. He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he

the crying of the driver. The range of the mountains is his pasture, and

he searcheth after every green thing."[196]

The "wild goats of the rock," described in the chapter just quoted, are

supposed to be the same as the ibex or bouquetin. This animal is larger

than the tame goat, but resembles it much in form. The head is small is

proportion to the body, with the muzzle thick and compressed, and a

little arced. The eyes are large and round, and have much fire and

brilliancy. The horns are so majestic, that when fully grown they

occasionally weigh sixteen or eighteen pounds. He feeds during the night

in the highest woods; but the sun no sooner begins to gild the summits,

than he quits the woody region, and mounts, feeding in his progress, till

he has reached the most considerable heights. The female shows much

attachment to her young, and even defends it against eagles, wolves, and

other enemies. She takes refuge in some cavern, and, presenting her head

at the entrance of the hole, resolutely opposes the assailants. Hence the

allusion to this affectionate creature in the book of Proverbs, "Let thy

wife be as the loving hind and the peasant roe."

The saphan of the Bible is usually translated _cony_. "The high hills are

a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies." But it is now

believed that the ashkoko, an animal mentioned by Bruce, presents

properties which accord much better with the description of the saphan

given in different parts of the Old Testament, than the cony, hare, or

rabbit. This curious creature, we are told by that traveller, is found in

Ethiopia, in the caverns of the rocks, or under great stones. It does not

burrow or make holes like the rat or rabbit, nature having interdicted

this practice by furnishing it with feet, the toes of which are perfectly

round, and of a soft, pulpy, tender substance: the fleshy part of them

projects beyond the nails, which are rather sharp, very similar to a

man's nails ill-grown, and appear given to it rather for the defence of

its soft toes, than for any active use in digging, to which they are by

no means adapted.[197]

A living writer, who has considered this subject with great attention,

gives as the result of his inquiry, that the saphan of the ancient

Hebrews, rendered "cony" in the English Bible, is a very different

animal; that it has a nearer resemblance to the hedgehog, the bear, the

mouse, the jerboa, or the marmot, though it is not any of these. It is

the webro of the Arabians, the daman-Israel of Shaw, the ashkoko of

Bruce, and clipdass of the Dutch.[198]

The prophet Isaiah, in recording the idolatrous and profane habits of his

countrymen, mentions the "eating of swine's flesh, and the abomination,

and the _mouse_." This is supposed to be the jerboa, an animal common in

the East, about the size of a rat, and which only uses its hindlegs.

There can be little doubt that this is the creature alluded to by the

Hebrew legislator when he said, "Whatsoever goeth upon its _paws_, among

all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you."

Hasselquist tells us that the jerboa, or leaping-rat, as he calls it,

moves only by leaps and jumps. When he stops he brings his feet close

under his belly, and rests on the juncture of his leg. He uses, when

eating, his fore-paws, like other animals of his kind. He sleeps by day,

and is in motion during the night. He eats corn, and grains of sesamum.

Though he does not fear man, he is not easily tamed; for which reason he

must be kept in a cage.

The porcupine, or _kephad_, is spoken of in the writings of Isaiah under

the denomination of the bittern. "I will make Babylon a possession for

the bittern and pools of water." In another chapter, the inspired author

associates the kephad with the pelican, with the yanshaph or ardea ibis,

and with oreb, or the raven kind; and hence a considerable difficulty has

arisen in regard to the class of animals in which it ought to be ranked.

Bochart had no doubt that the porcupine was in the mind of the prophet

when he wrote the description of the Assyrian capital wasted and

abandoned. This creature is a native of the hottest climates of Africa

and India, and yet can live and multiply in milder latitudes. It is now

found in Spain, and in the Apennines near Rome. Pliny asserts that the

porcupine, like the bear, hides itself in winter. In a Memoir on Babylon,

by the late Mr. Rich, it is stated that great quantities of

porcupine-quills were found on the spot; and that in most of the cavities

are numbers of bats and owls.

The mole and the bat are reckoned among the unclean animals forbidden to

the Jews by their Divine lawgiver. The latter is distinctly included

under the following description: "Every creeping thing that flieth shall

be unclean to you; they shall not be eaten." The legs of the bat appear

to be absolutely different from those of all other animals, and indeed

they are directed, and even formed in a very particular manner. In order

to advance, he raises both his front-legs at once, and places them at a

small distance forward; at the same time the thumb of each foot points

outward, and the creature catches with the claw at any thing which it can

lay hold of; then he stretches behind him his two hind-legs, so that the

five toes of each foot are also directed backward; he supports himself on

the sole of this foot, and secures himself by means of the claws on his

toes; then he raises his body on the front-legs, and throws himself

forward by folding the upper arm on the fore-arm, which motion is

assisted by the extension of the hind-legs, which also push the body

forward This gait, though heavy, because the body falls to the ground at

every step, is yet sometimes pretty quick, when the feet can readily meet

with good holding-places; but when the claw of the front foot meets with

any thing loose, the exertion is inefficient.[199]

SECTION IV.--BIRDS.

In the writings of Moses, the winged tribes are divided into three

classes, according as they occupy the air, the land, or the water.

BIRDS OF THE AIR.

English Translation. Probable Species.

Eagle Eagle.

Ossifrage Vulture.

Ospray Black Eagle.

Vulture Hawk.

Kite Kite.

Raven Raven.

LAND BIRDS.

Owl Ostrich.

Night-hawk Night-owl.

Cuckoo Suf-saf.

Hawk Ancient Ibis.

WATER BIRDS.

Little Owl Sea-gull.

Cormorant Cormorant.

Great Owl Ibis Ardea.

Swan Wild Goose.

Pelican Pelican.

Gier Eagle Alcyone.

Stork Stork.

Heron Long-neck.

Lapwing Hoopoe.

These are the unclean birds, according to the Mosaical arrangement and

the views of the English translators. But it must not be concealed, that

the attainments of the latter in ornithology were not particularly

accurate; and, as a proof of this; we may mention a fact obvious to the

youngest student of Oriental languages, that the same Hebrew words in

Leviticus and Deuteronomy are not always rendered by the same term in our

tongue. For example, the vulture of the former book is in the latter

called the glede; and there are many similar variations, in different

parts of the Old Testament, in regard to the others.

The _swan_, or tinshemet of the Hebrews, is a very doubtful bird. The

Seventy render it by _porphyrion_, which signifies a purple hen, a

water-fowl well known in the East. Dr. Geddes observes that the root or

etymon of the term _tinshemet_ denotes _breathing_ or _respiring_,--a

description which is supposed to point to a well-known quality in the

swan, that of being able to respire a long time with its bill and neck

under water, and even plunged in mud. Parkhurst thinks the conjecture of

Michaelis not improbable, namely, "that it is the goose, which every one

knows is remarkable for its manner of breathing out or hissing when

provoked." The latter writer observes, "what makes me conjecture this is,

that the Chaldee interpreters who in Leviticus render it _obija_, do not

use this word in Deuteronomy, but substitute the 'white kak,' which,

according to Buxtorf, denotes the goose." Norden mentions a goose of the

Nile whose plumage is extremely beautiful. It is of an exquisite aromatic

taste, smells of ginger, and has a great deal of flavour. Can this be the

Hebrew _tinshemet_, and the _porphyrion_ of the Seventy?

Again, it is conjectured by modern naturalists that the heron should be

included among storks. Commentators, it is true, are quite at a loss in

regard to the precise import of the original term _anapha_, and some of

them accordingly leave it altogether untranslated. It is not improbable

that the Long-neck mentioned by Dr. Shaw may be the animal alluded to by

the sacred lawgiver. This bird, we are told, is of the bittern kind,

somewhat less than the lapwing. The neck, the breast, and the belly are

of a light yellow colour, while the back and upper part of the wings are

jet-black. The tail is short; the feathers of the neck are long, and

streaked with white or a pale yellow. The bill, which is three inches

long, is green, and in form like that of the stork; and the legs, which

are short and slender, are of the same colour. In walking and searching

for food, it throws out its neck seven or eight inches; whence the Arabs

call it Boo-onk, or Long-neck.[200]

The _hoopoe_ is thought to be pretty well ascertained; yet we might

suppose that a bird which frequents water more than the European variety

does, would not have been misplaced at the close of the list given above.

The accuracy of the inspired writer, however, in treating this part of

the subject, has been generally extolled,--an accuracy which, there is no

doubt, will hereafter lead to the most satisfactory conclusions in

determining the several species he enumerates. All these birds being

fish-eaters, no distinction is afforded arising from diversity of food;

but the Hebrew naturalist begins with those which inhabit the sea and its

rocky cliffs, the gannet and the cormorant; then he proceeds to the marsh

birds, the bitterns; then to the river and lake birds, the pelican, the

kingfisher, or the shagarag; then the stork, which is a bird of passage,

lives on land as well as on water, and feeds on frogs and insects no less

than on fish; then to another, which probably is a bird of passage also,

because it is mentioned the last in the catalogue. The hoopoe is

certainly a migratory bird, feeds less on fish than any of the former

kinds, and has, in fact, no great relation to the water.

It was objected by Michaelis that the _chasidah_ of the Hebrews could not

be the stork, because the latter bird does not usually roost on trees;

and yet it is asserted in the hundred-and-fourth Psalm, that the

fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork. But Doubdan, who had no

hypothesis to maintain, relates that he saw storks resting on trees

between Cana and Nazareth; and Dr. Shaw says expressly, the storks breed

plentifully in Barbary; and that the fir-trees, and other trees when

these are wanting, are a "dwelling for the stork." It is therefore

probable that this bird conforms its manners to circumstances; that

wherever it obtains rest, security, and accommodation, there it resides,

whether in a ruin or a forest. So that on the whole we need not hesitate,

merely because the European stork seldom inhabits trees, to admit that it

is the chasidah of the Sacred Scriptures.

We purposely abstain from the description of such birds as are common to

Palestine and to the climates of Europe. The ostrich, no doubt, is

peculiar to the deserts of Syria and of Arabia, and might therefore

demand a more minute delineation than is consistent with our limits.

Suffice it to mention, that it is one of the largest and most remarkable

of the feathered tribes, and has been celebrated from the most remote

antiquity by many fabulous writers, who ascribe to it qualities more

wonderful than even those which it actually possesses. Its height is

estimated at seven or eight feet, and in swiftness it surpasses every

other animal.

That it is gregarious no naturalist any longer doubts, being generally

seen in large troops at a great distance from the habitations of man. The

egg is about three pounds in weight, and in the warmer countries of the

East is usually hatched by the rays of the sun alone; though in less

heated regions the bird is observed to practise incubation.

The same remarks might be applied to the pelican, whose solitary life as

an inhabitant of the desert is occasionally referred to in the Sacred

Writings. It appears, however, that this bird is migratory, whence we may

conclude that it is also gregarious, and does not always remain alone. In

their motion through the air, the pelicans imitate the procedure of the

wild-goose, and form their van into an acute angle. When of full age, the

male is superior in size to the swan, weighs twenty-five pounds, and from

wing to wing extends not less than fifteen feet. The upper mandible is

flat and broad, and hooked at the end; the lower mandible has appended to

it a very dilatable bag, reaching eight or nine inches down the neck, and

large enough to contain several quarts of water. Its food is fish; in

diving for which it sometimes descends from a great height. When it has

filled its pouch, it flies to some convenient point of a rock, where it

swallows its prey at leisure. The vulgar notion that the female pelican

feeds her young with blood from her breast, has arisen from the use of

the bag just described, which she opens from time to time to discharge a

supply of fish or water for their nourishment.

SECTION V.--AMPHIBIA AND REPTILES.

In the book of Deuteronomy there is an allusion made to a destructive

creature in the following terms:--"Their wine is the poison of _dragons_

and the cruel venom of asps." It is thought that the gecko is the animal

contemplated in this description, it being acknowledged by all

naturalists to contain a mortal poison. Nature, in this instance, says

Buffon, appears to act against herself: in a lizard, whose species is but

too prolific, she exalts a corrosive liquid to such a degree as to carry

death and dissolution into all living substances which it may happen to

penetrate. This deadly reptile has some resemblance to the chameleon; his

head, almost triangular, is big in proportion to his body; the eyes are

very large, the tongue is flat, covered with small scales, and the end is

rounded; the teeth are sharp, and so strong that, according to Bontius,

they are able to make an impression even on steel. The gecko is almost

entirely covered with large warts, more or less rising; the under part of

the thigh is furnished with a row of tubercles raised and grooved. The

feet are remarkable for oval scales, more or less hollowed in the middle,

as large as the under surface of the toes themselves, and regularly

disposed over one another, like slates on a roof. The usual colour of

this animal is a clear green, spotted with brilliant red. It inhabits the

crevices of half-rotten trees as well as humid places; it is sometimes

met with in houses, where it occasions great alarm, and where every

exertion is made to destroy it speedily. Bontius writes, that the bite is

so venomous that, if the part bitten be not cut away or burned, death

ensues in a few hours.

Calmet enumerates eleven kinds of serpents as known to the Hebrews, the

names of which are as follow:--

1. Ephe, the viper.

2. Chephir, a sort of aspic.

3. Acshub, the aspic.

4. Pethen, a similar reptile.

5. Tzeboa, speckled serpent.

6. Tzimmaon.

7. Tzepho, or Tzephoni, a basilisk.

8. Kippos, the acontias.

9. Shephiphon, the cerastes.

10. Shachal, the black serpent.

11. Saraph, a flying-serpent.

The first of these is remarkable for its quick and penetrating poison; it

is about two feet long, and as thick as a man's arm, beautifully spotted

with yellow and brown, and sprinkled over with blackish specks, similar

to those of the horn-nosed snake. It has a wide mouth, by which it

inhales a great quantity of air, and, when fully inflated, ejects it with

such violence as to be heard at a considerable distance.

The _shachal_, or black serpent, is described by Forskall as being wholly

of that colour, a cubit in length, and as thick as a finger. Its bite is

not incurable, but the wound swells severely; the application of a

ligature prevents the venom from spreading; or certain plants, as the

caper, may be employed to relieve it. Mr. Jackson describes a black

serpent of much more terrific powers. It is about seven or eight feet

long, with a small head, which, when about to assail any object, it

frequently expands to four times its ordinary size. It is the only one

that will attack travellers; in doing which it coils itself up, and darts

to a great distance by the elasticity of its body and tail. The wound

inflicted by the bite is small, but the surrounding part immediately

turns black, which colour soon pervades the whole body, and the sufferer

expires.

But, viewed in connexion with Scripture, the most interesting in the list

given in the preceding page is that which stands the seventh in order.

Speaking of the happy time revealed by the prophetical spirit, Isaiah

remarks that "the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and

the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den." The editor

of Calmet's Dictionary imagines that the naja, or cobra di capello, is

the serpent here alluded to by the holy penman, and which is known to

possess the most energetic poison. We cannot indeed discover positively,

whether it lays eggs; but the evidence for that fact is presumptive,

because all serpents issue from eggs; and the only difference between the

oviparous and viviparous is, that in the former the eggs are laid before

the foetus is mature, in the latter the foetus bursts the egg while yet

in the womb of its mother.

If the egg be broken, the little serpent is found rolled up in a spiral

form. It appears motionless during some time; but if the term of its

exclusion be near, it opens its jaws, inhales at several respirations the

air of the atmosphere, its lungs fill, it stretches itself, and moved by

this impetus it begins to crawl.

The eggs of this reptile have probably given occasion to a fable, which

says that cocks can lay eggs, but that these always produce serpents; and

that though the cock does not hatch them, the warmth of the sand and

atmosphere answers the purposes of incubation. The eggs of the tzepho, of

which she lays eighteen or twenty, are equal to those of a pigeon, while

those of the great boa are not more than two or three inches in length.

As an instance, that the eggs of poisonous serpents do not always burst

in the body of the female, we may mention the cerastes, which, we are

assured, lays in the sand at least four or five, resembling in size those

of a dove.

On the grounds now explained, we may understand the language of the

prophet Isaiah, who says of the wicked that "they hatch cockatrice' eggs;

he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh

forth into a viper." The reptile here alluded to under the name of

cockatrice, is the tzepho or tzephoni; which, we find, lays eggs so

similar to those of poultry, as to be mistaken and eaten for them. Labat

farther relates that he crushed some eggs of a large serpent, and found

several young in each egg; which were no sooner freed from the shell than

they coiled themselves into the attitude of attack, and were ready to

spring on whatever came in their way.

In the forty-ninth chapter of Genesis we find the remarkable prediction

uttered by Jacob in reference to Dan, that he "shall be a serpent in the

way, an adder in the path, which biteth the horse's heels." The original

term here is shephiphon, and is understood by several authors to denote

the cerastes, a very poisonous kind of viper, distinguished by having

horns. This animal, we are informed by Mr. Bruce, moves with great

rapidity, and in all directions, forward, backward, and sideways. When he

wishes to surprise any one who is too far from him, he creeps with his

side towards the person, and his head averted, till, judging his

distance, he turns round and springs upon him. "I saw one of them at

Cairo crawl up the side of a box in which there were many, and there lie

still as if hiding himself, till one of the people who brought him to us

came near him; and though in a very disadvantageous posture, sticking as

it were perpendicularly to the side of the box, he leaped nearly the

distance of three feet, and fastened between the man's forefinger and

thumb, so as to bring the blood. The fellow showed no signs of either

pain or fear; and we kept him with us full four hours, without applying

any sort of remedy, or his seeming inclined to do so."

The Arabs name this serpent siff, siphon, or suphon, which seems not very

far distant from the root of the Hebrew word siffifon or shephiphon. It

is called by the Orientals the _lier in wait_,--an appellation which

agrees with the manners of the cerastes. Pliny says, that it hides its

whole body in the sand, leaving only its horns exposed, which, being like

grains of barley in appearance, attract birds within its reach, so as to

become an easy prey. From these circumstances we see, more distinctly,

the propriety of the allusion made by the patriarch to the insidious

policy which was to characterize the descendants of Dan in the remoter

periods of their history.

There is mention made in Holy Scripture of the fiery flying-serpent, a

creature about whose existence and qualities naturalists have entertained

a considerable difference of opinion. It is now generally admitted, that,

in Guinea, Java, and other countries, where there is at once great heat

and a marshy soil, there exists a species of these animals, which have

the power of moving in the air, or at least of passing from tree to tree.

Niebuhr relates, that at Bazra, also, "there is a sort of serpents,

called _heie sursurie_. They commonly live on dates; and as it would be

troublesome to them to come down one high tree and creep up another, they

hang by the tail to the branch of one, and, by swinging that about, take

advantage of its motion to leap to that of a second. These the modern

Arabs call flying-serpents--_heie thiâre_. I do not know whether the

ancient Arabs were acquainted with any other kind of flying-serpent."[201]

Near Batavia there are certain flying-snakes, or dragons, as they are

sometimes called. They have four legs, a long tail, and their skin

speckled with many spots; their wings are not unlike those of a bat,

which they move in flying, but otherwise keep them almost unperceived,

close to the body. They fly nimbly, but cannot hold out long; so that

they only shift from tree to tree at about twenty or thirty yards'

distance. On the outside of the throat are two bladders, which, being

extended when they fly, serve them instead of a sail.[202]

The _scorpion_, or okrab of the Hebrews, has also been invested by

Oriental naturalists with the power of flying. Lucian tells us that there

are two kinds of scorpions, one residing on the ground, large, having

claws, and many articulations at the tail; the other flies in the air,

and has inferior wings like locusts, beetles, and bats. In tropical

climates the scorpion is a foot in length. No animal in the creation

seems endowed with such an irascible nature. When caught, they exert

their utmost rage against the glass which contains them; will attempt to

sting a stick when put near them; will, without provocation, wound other

animals confined with them; and are the cruellest enemies to each other.

Maupertuis put a hundred of them together in the same glass; instantly

they vented their rage in mutual destruction, universal carnage! In a few

days only fourteen remained, which had killed and devoured all the

others. It is even asserted, that when in extremity or despair the

scorpion will destroy itself. Well might Moses mention this animal as one

of the dangers of the howling wilderness! They are still very numerous in

the desert between Syria and Egypt. Dr. Clarke tells us that one of the

privates of the British army, who had received a wound from one of them,

lost the upper joint of his forefinger before it could be healed. The

author of the Revelation considers them as emblematic of the evils which

issue from the bottomless pit. "And there came out of the smoke locusts

upon the earth; and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the

earth have power. And they had tails like unto scorpions; and there were

stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months."[203]

We ought not to be surprised that the translators of the English Bible

were occasionally at a loss to distinguish the genera and species of the

several animals mentioned in the Sacred Writings; for even at the present

day, when we possess infinitely higher advantages in point of natural

knowledge, we cannot precisely determine even the class or order to which

some of them belong. We have an example of this obscurity in the fourth

chapter of the book of Lamentations, where it is said that "even the

sea-monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones."

The original expression, tannin, appears applicable to those amphibious

animals that haunt the banks of rivers and the shores of the sea, and was

probably used by the prophet with a reference to the seal species, which

suckle their young in the manner described in his pathetic elegy.

It is true, that it is used in Genesis in connection with the epithet

large, and is therefore not improperly rendered "great whales." Hence it

has been concluded, that the word tannin may comprehend the class of

lizards from the eft to the crocodile, provided they be amphibious; also

the seal, the manati, the morse, and even the whale, if he came ashore;

but as whales remain constantly in the deep, they seem to be more

correctly ascribed to the class of fishes. Moreover, whether the people

of Syria had any knowledge of the whale kinds, strictly so called, is a

point which deserves inquiry before it be admitted as certain. At all

events, it is manifest that the tannin of the Scripture must have

indicated an animal which has many properties common to the seal, for it

not only applies the breast to its young, but has the power of exerting

its voice in a mournful tone. The prophet Micah says, "I will make a

wailing like the tanninim," a phrase which, in our translation, is

unhappily rendered "dragons." It has also the faculty of suspending

respiration, or of drawing in a quantity of breath and of emitting it

with violence. "The wild asses," says Jeremiah, "stand upon the high

places; they puff out the breath like the tanninim (here again translated

dragons); their eyes fail because there is no grass." On the whole,

remarks the editor of Calmet, we may consider the Hebrew _tahash_ as

being decidedly a seal; but tannin as including creatures resident both

on land and in water, or, in other words, the amphibia.[204]

SECTION VI.--FRUITS AND PLANTS.

It has been remarked that, if the advantages of nature were duly seconded

by the efforts of human skill, we might in the space of twenty leagues

bring together in Syria the vegetable riches of the most distant

countries. Besides wheat, rye, barley, beans, and the cotton-plant, which

are cultivated everywhere, there are several objects of utility or

pleasure, peculiar to different localities. Palestine, for example,

abounds in sesamum, which affords oil; and in dhoura, similar to that of

Egypt. Maize thrives in the light soil of Balbec, and rice is cultivated

with success along the marsh of Haoul_. Within these twenty-five years

sugar-canes have been introduced into the gardens of Saida and Beirout,

which are not inferior to those of the Delta. Indigo grows without

culture on the banks of the Jordan, and only requires a little care to

secure a good quality. The hills of Latakie produce tobacco, which

creates a commercial intercourse with Damietta and Cairo. This crop is at

present cultivated in all the mountains. The white mulberry forms the

riches of the Druses, by the beautiful silks which are obtained from it;

and the vine, raised on poles or creeping along the ground, furnishes red

and white wines equal to those of Bordeaux. Jaffa boasts of her lemons

and watermelons; Gaza possesses both the dates of Mecca and the

pomegranates of Algiers. Tripoli has oranges which might vie with those

of Malta; Beirout has figs like Marseilles, and bananas like St. Domingo.

Aleppo is unequalled for pistachio-nuts; and Damascus possesses all the

fruits of Europe; inasmuch as apples, plums, and peaches, grow with equal

facility on her rocky soil. Niebuhr is of opinion that the Arabian

coffee-shrub might be cultivated in Palestine.[205]

The _fig-tree_, the _palm_, and the _olive_, are characteristic of the

Holy Land, and therefore deserve our more particular attention. In regard

to the first, the earliest fruit produced, which is usually ripe in June,

is called the boccore; the later, or proper fig, being rarely fit to be

gathered before the month of August. The name of these last is the

kermez, or kermouse. They constitute the article which passes through the

hands of the merchant, after being either preserved in the common way or

made up into cakes. They continue a long time on the tree before they

fall off; whereas the boccore drop as soon as they are ripe, and

according to the beautiful allusion of the prophet Nahum, "fall into the

mouth of the eater upon being shaken."

The _palm_ must at one time have been common in Palestine, though at

present it fails to attract attention either on account of number or of

beauty. In several coins of Vespasian, as well as of his son Titus, the

land of Judea is typified by a disconsolate woman sitting under one of

these trees. Jericho, which was formerly distinguished as the "city of

palms," can still boast a few of them, because, besides the advantage of

a sandy soil and a warm climate, it commands a plentiful supply of water,

an element absolutely indispensable to their growth. At Jerusalem,

Shechem, and other places to the northward of the capital, not more than

two or three of them are ever seen together; and even these, as their

fruit rarely comes to maturity, are of no farther service than, like the

palm-tree of Deborah, to shade the council of the sheiks, or to supply

the branches, which, as in ancient days, may still be required for

religious processions.[206]

The _olive_ no longer holds the place which it once occupied in the

estimation of the inhabitants of Palestine. The wretched government under

which they exist has rooted out all the seeds of industry, by rendering

the absence of wealth the only security against oppression. But in those

places where it continues to be cultivated, it affords ample proof to

establish the accuracy of the inspired writer, who denominated Palestine

a land of oil-olive and honey.

The _cedars of Libanus_ still maintain their ancient reputation for

beauty and stature; while they are diversified by a thousand elegant

plants, which dispute with them the possession of the lofty summits of

the mountain. Here the astragalus tragacanthoides displays its clusters

of purple flowers; and the primrose, the amaryllis, the white and the

orange lily, mingle their brilliant hues with the verdure of the

birch-leaved cherry. Even the snow of the highest peaks is skirted by

shrubs possessing the most splendid colours. The coolness, humidity, and

good quality of the soil support an uninterrupted vegetation; and the

bounties of nature in those elevated regions are still protected by the

spirit of liberty.

Hasselquist is of opinion that the _wild-grapes_ mentioned by the prophet

Isaiah must be the hoary night-shade, or solanum incanum, because it is

common in Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. The Arabs call it wolf-grapes, as,

from its shrubby stalk, it has some resemblance to a vine. But the sacred

writer could not have found a weed more opposite to the vine than this,

or more suitable to the purpose which he had in view, for it is extremely

pernicious to that plant, and is rooted out whenever it appears.

"Wherefore," exclaims the holy seer, "when I looked that my vineyard

should bring forth grapes, brought it forth poisonous night-shade?"[207]

The author just named, describes the "balsam of Aaron" as a very fine

oil, which emits no scent or smell, and is very proper for preparing

odoriferous ointments. It is obtained from a tree called behen, which

grows in Mount Sinai and Upper Egypt, and, it is presumed, in certain

parts of the Holy Land. Travellers assert that it is the very perfume

with which the ancient high-priest of the Jews, with whose name it is

connected, was wont to anoint his beard, and which the Psalmist extols so

much on account of its rich odour and mollifying qualities,--the emblem

of domestic harmony and brotherly love.

There still exists a thorn in Palestine known among botanists by the name

of the "spina Christi," or thorn of Christ, and supposed to be the shrub

which afforded the crown worn by our Saviour before his crucifixion. It

must have been very fit for the purpose, for it has many small sharp

prickles, well adapted to give pain; and as the leaves greatly resemble

those of ivy, it is not improbable that the enemies of the Messiah chose

it from its similarity to the plant with which emperors and generals were

accustomed to be crowned; and hence that there might be calumny, insult,

and derision, meditated in the very act of punishment.[208]

THE END.

[1] No. XXIII. of this Family Library.

[2] See Dialogues on Natural and Revealed Religion. By the Rev. Robert

Morehead, D.D., p. 241,--an able and interesting work.

[3] Shakspeare, Henry IV. Part I. Act I.

[4] Chateaubriand Itinéraire, tome i. p. 48, &c. Sozom. lib. iii. c. i.

Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. vi. S. Cyril, Cat. xvi.

[5] Deuteronomy viii. 7, 8, 9.

[6] Terra finesque, qua ad Orientem vergunt, Arabia terminantur; a meridie

Aegyptus objacet; ab occasu Phoenices et mare; septemtrionem a latere

Syriae longe prospectant. Corpora hominum salubria et ferentia laborom:

rari imbres, uber solum: fruges nostrum ad morem; preterque eas balsamum

et palmae. Hist. lib. v. c. 6.

[7] Belon. Observations de Singularités, p. 140. Hasselquist's Travels,

p.56. Korte's Travels in Palestine. Chateaubriand, les Martyrs, vol. iii.

p. 99. Schultze's Travels, vol. ii p. 85.

[8] Seetzen, in Annales des Voyages, i. 398; and Correspondance de M.

Zach. 425.

[9] Maundrell, p. 60.

[10] Chateaubriand Itinérarie, ii. 123. Malte Brun, vol. ii. 150-160.

Edin. Edition.

[11] Judges i. 3.

[12] Joseph. contra Apion. cap. 1. 2 Kings xvii. 24.

[13] Reland, Palestina Illustrata, lib. ii. c. 5. Spanheim, Charta terris

Israelis. Lowman on the Civil Government of the Hebrews.

[14] Lev. xxv. 23.

[15] Lev. xxv. 24-28.

[16] Judges xxi. 8-13.

[17] Numbers xxvi. 02.

[18] Joshua vii. 16, 17, 18.

[19] I Chron. ii. 10, 11.

[20] Deut. iv. 1, 2; xii. 32. "Hoc igitur argumento maximo est; juris

illius majestatis quod in legibus ferendis est positum, nihil quicquam

penes hominem fuisse."--_Conringius de Repub. Heb_.

[21] Livii. Hist. lib. xxviii. 37; lib. xxx. 7. Bochart, Geog. Sacra, part

ii. lib. ii. 24.

[22] Complete History of the Canon, book 1. c. 3.

[23] Deut. xvi. 18, 19. Josephus's Antiquities, book iv. 8.

[24] Reland. Antiq. Sac. Pars, ii. c. 7.

[25] Fleury, Moeurs des Israelites, xxv.

[26] Lewis, Orig. Heb. lib. i. 6.

[27] Michaelis's Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, art. 44; and Joshua

xviii. 3.

[28] 1 Samuel xxv. 4-14.

[29] Judges vi. 12. 2 Samuel xiii. 23, 24.

[30] Numbers xxxv. 2, 5, 7.

[31] Joshua xx. 7, 8. Numbers xxxv. 6, 15. Deut. xix. 4, 10.

[32] Michaelis's Commentaries on the Laws of Moses, vol. i. art. 52.

Jablonsky Panth. AEgypt. Prolegomena, 21, 41, 43.

[33] Isaiah xl. 13.

[34] 1 Samuel viii. 4, 21.

[35] Deut. xvii. 14-20.

[36] 2 Samuel viii. 1, 2. 1 Chron. xviii. 1, 2; xix. 1-20.

[37] 1 Chron. xxii. 8.

[38] 2 Chron. ii. and ix. throughout.

[39] 1 Kings xi. 1-8.

[40] Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem in 1697.

[41] 2 Kings xvii. 1-7.

[42] 2 Kings xxv. 4-13.

[43] Lamentations i. 1-4.

[44] Heber's Palestine.

[45] History of the Jews (Nos. 1, 2, 3, Family Library), vol. ii. p. 39.

[46] History of the Jews, vol. ii. p. 40.

[47] The effects produced upon the mind of the king by the murder of

Mariamne are powerfully described by two poetical writers, the author

of the History of the Jews, and the unfortunate Lord Byron. "All the

passions," says the former, "which filled the stormy soul of Herod were

alike without bound: from violent love and violent resentment he sank into

as violent remorse and despair. Everywhere by day he was haunted by the

image of the murdered Mariamne; he called upon her name; he perpetually

burst into passionate tears. In vain he tried every diversion,--banquets,

revels, the excitements of society. A sudden pestilence broke out, to

which many of the noblest of his court, and of his own personal friends,

fell a sacrifice; he recognized and trembled beneath the hand of the

avenging Deity. On pretence of hunting, he sought out the most melancholy

solitude, till the disorder of his mind brought on disorder of body, and

he was seized with violent inflammation and pains in the back of his head,

which led to temporary derangement."--vol. ii. p. 90.

I.

"Oh, Mariamne! now for thee

The heart for which thou bled'st is bleeding;

Revenge is lost in agony,

And wild remorse to rage succeeding.

Oh, Mariamne! where art thou?

Thou canst not hear my bitter pleading:

Ah, couldst thou--thou wouldst pardon now,

Though heaven were to my prayer unheeding.

II.

"And is she dead?--and did they dare

Obey my phrensy's jealous raving?

My wrath but doomed my own despair:

The sword that smote her's o'er me waving.

But thou art cold, my murder'd love!

And this dark heart is vainly craving

For her who soars alone above,

And leaves my soul unworthy saving.

III.

"She's gone, who shared my diadem;

She sunk, with her my joys entombing;

I swept that flower from Judah's stem

Whose leaves for me alone were blooming;

And mine's the guilt, and mine the hell,

This bosom's desolation dooming;

And I have earned those tortures well,

Which unconsumed are still consuming."

_Hebrew Melodies_.

[48] History of the Jews, vol. ii. p. 96.

[49] Matth. ii. 22, 23. "Among the atrocities which disgraced the later

days of Herod, what we called the Massacre of the Innocents (which took

place late in the year before, or early in the same year with the death of

Herod) passed away unnoticed. The murder of a few children in a village

near Jerusalem would excite little sensation among such a succession of

dreadful events, except among the immediate sufferers. The jealousy of

Herod against any one who should be Born as a _king in Judea_,--the dread

that the high religious spirit of the people might be re-excited by the

hope of a real Messiah,--as well as the summary manner in which he

endeavoured to rid himself of the object of his fears, are strictly

in accordance with the relentlessness and decision of his character."

_History of the Jews_, vol. ii. p. 106.

[50] Acts xii. 21, 22, 23.

[51] 1 Samuel, ix. 5 11.

[52] 1 Kings xxii. 8, 13.

[53] Jer. xxvi. 8, 16.

[54] Deut. xviii. 21, 22.

[55] Deut. xxxi. 9-14.

[56] 2 Chronicles xii. 9.

[57] 2 Kings xxii. 8.

[58] 2 Samuel xi. 18, 22. Commentaries on Laws of Moses, vol. i. p. 257.

[59] Nisan was sometimes called Abib, as descriptive of the state of

vegetation in that month,--the earing of the corn and the blooming of the

fruit-trees.

[60] 1 Kings iii. 2.

[61] Acts xv. 21.

[62] Deut. xvi. 9-12.

[63] History of the Jews vol. 1. p. 99.

[64] Lev. xiii. 24, 25.

[65] Numbers xxxvi. 1-10.

[66] John x. 22.

[67] Maccab. iv. 30, &c. 2 Macceb. i. 18, 19.

[68] Croxall's Scripture Politics, p. 60, 85. Histoire des Hébreux, par

Rabelleau, tom. i. p. 405. Esprit de l'Histoire, tom. i. p. 28.

[69] The sentiment contained in the text is beautifully expressed in the

following ode by Lord Byron:

I.

"The harp the monarch minstrel swept,

The king of men, the loved of Heaven,

Which music hallowed while she wept,

O'er tones her heart of hearts had given,

Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven!

"It softened men of iron mould,

It gave them virtues not their own;

No ear so dull, no soul so cold,

That felt not, fired not to the tone,

Till David's lyre grew mightier than his throne."

II.

"It told the triumphs of our king,

It wafted glory to our God;

It made our gladden'd valleys ring,

The cedars bow, the mountains nod;

Its sound aspired to heaven and there abode!

Since then, though heard on earth no more,

Devotion and her daughter Love

Still bid the bursting spirit soar

To sounds that seem as from above,

In dreams that day's broad light cannot remove."

[70] Murray's Historical Account of Discoveries and Travels in Asia, vol.

iii. p. 130.

[71] Chateaubriand, Itinéraire, tom. i. p. 380. Volney's Travels, vol. ii.

p. 335.

[72] Itinéraire, tom. ii. p. 385.

[73] Travels, vol. iv. p. 289.

[74] The original presents one of the most animated and musical passages

in the Gerusalemme Liberata:--

"Ma quando il sol gli aridi campi fiede Con raggi assai fervente, a in

alto sorge, Ecco apparir Gerusalem si vede! Ecco additar Gerusalem si

scorge! Ecco da mille voci unitamente, Gerusalemme salutar si

sente!"--_Canto_ iii. stan. v. 2.

[75] Travels in Egypt and Syria, vol. ii. p. 303.

[76] Notes on Egypt, &c. p. 274.

[77] Travels along the Mediterranean and parts adjacent, vol. ii. p. 285.

[78] Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 301.

[79] Travels of Ali Bey, vol. ii, p. 214.

[80] Richardson's Travels, vol. ii. p. 321.

[81] Travels, vol. ii. p. 325.

[82] Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 71.

[83] Journey, p. 74.

[84] Journey, p. 76.

[85] Maundrell's Journey, p. 94.

[86] Journey, p. 96.

[87] "Je ne décrirai pas la suite des cérémonies réligieuses qui occupent

le reste de la semaine sainte; c'est un récit qui peut bien édifier des

ames dévotes, mais non pas plaire à quelqu'un qui lit un voyage pour

s'instruire et s'amuser.

"Il n'en est pas de méme d'une pratique superstitieuse des Grecs

schismatiques, dont la bizarrerie ne laissera pas de divertir un moment.

"Cette secte, abusée par ses prêtres, croit de bonne foi que Dieu fait

annuellement un miracle pour lui envoyer le feu sacré.

"A en croire les pretres Grecs, cette faveur divine, dont on ne peut pas

douter, est un preuve insigne de l'excellence de leur communion. Mais ne

pourrait-on pas objecter aux Grecs, que les Arméniens et les Cofes, qu'ils

traitent d'hérétiques, participent à cette même grace. Ennemis acharnés

les uns des autres, les ministres de ces trois sectes se réunissent en

apparence pour la cérémonie du feu sacré. Cette réconciliation momentanée

n'est due qu'a l'intérêt de tous; séparément ils seraient obligés de payer

au gouverneur, pour la permission de faire la miracle, une somme aussi

forte que cette qu'ils donnent ensemble.

"Ces prêtres portent la fourberie jusqu'à vouloir persuader au peuple que

le feu sacré ne brûle pas ceux qui sont en état de grace. Ils se frottent

les mains d'une certaine eau, qui les garantit de la brulure à la première

approche, et par ce moyen ne se font aucun mal en touchant leurs cierges.

Leur prosélytes sont jaloux de les imiter; mais comme ils n'ont pas leur

recette, bien souvent ils se brulent les doigts et le visage: il arrive

de là que les prêtres, paraissant jouir exclusivement de la grace de Dieu,

en sont plus respectés et mieux prayés."--_Mariti, Voyages_, &c., tom. ii.

p. 340.

[88] Richardson, vol. ii. p. 333.

[89] Journey, p. 69.

[90] Travels, vol. iv. p. 315.

[91] Vol. ii. p. 21.

[92] Buckingham's Travels, vol i. p. 384.

[93] Travels in Greece, Palestine, Egypt, &c. vol. ii. p. 22.

[94] The invocation alluded to must be familiar to the youngest reader:

"Sing, heavenly muse, that on the secret top

Of Oreb or of Sinai didst inspire

That shepherd who first taught the chosen seed,

In the beginning, how the heavens and earth

Rose out of chaos; or, if Zion hill

Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed

Fast by the oracle of God; I thence

Invoke thy aid to my advent'rous song."

_Paradise Lost_, book i.

[95] Travels by Rae Wilson, vol. i. p. 220.

[96] Travels in Palestine, vol. i. p. 297.

[97] 2 Samuel xviii. 18. Travels in Palestine, vol. i. p. 302.

[98] See Tour of the Holy Land, by the Rev. Robert Morehead, D.D.; in the

Appendix to which are extracts from this anonymous manuscript.

[99] "Having so often mentioned Clarke, I must say, that although an

animated and interesting writer, and not incorrect in his descriptions, he

is more deficient in judgment than any traveller I am acquainted with; and

I do not recollect an instance, either here or in Egypt, where he has

attempted to speculate, without falling into some very decided error. I

mention this the more, as his enthusiasm and conviction of the truth of

his own theories led me formerly to place great faith in his

authority."--_Anonymous Journal_.

[100] Buckingham, vol. i. p. 316.--The following words, put into the mouth

of Titus by the eloquent author of the "Fall of Jerusalem," will be read

with interest in connexion with the view just given. The son of Vespasian

stands on the Mount of Olives:--

"It must be--

And yet it moves me, Romans! it confounds

The counsels of my firm philosophy,

That Ruin's merciless ploughshare must pass o'er

And barren salt be sown on yon proud city.

As on our olive-crowned hill we stand,

Where Kedron at our feet its scanty waters

Distils from stone to stone with gentle motion,

As through a valley sacred to sweet Peace,

How boldly doth it front us! how majestically!

Like a luxurious vineyard, the hill-side

Is hung with marble fabrics, line on line,

Terrace o'er terrace, nearer still, and nearer

To the blue heavens. Here bright and sumptuous palaces,

With cool and verdant gardens interspersed;

Here towers of war that frown in massy strength.

While over all hangs the rich purple eve,

As conscious of its being her last farewell

Of light and glory to that fated city.

And as our clouds of battle, dust, and smoke

Are melted into air, behold the Temple,

In undisturbed and lone serenity,

Finding itself a solemn sanctuary

In the profound of heaven! It stands before us

A mount of snow fretted with golden pinnacles!

The very sun, as though he worshipped there,

Lingers upon the gilded cedar roofs;

And down the long and branching porticoes,

On every flowery sculptured capital

Glitters the homage of his parting beams.

By Hercules! the sight might almost win

The offended majesty of Rome to mercy."

Old Sandys, a simple and amusing writer, describes Jerusalem as

follows:--"This chic, once sacred and glorious, elected by God for his

seate, and seated in the midst of nations,--like a diadem crowning the

head of the mountaines,--the theatre of mysteries and miracles,--was

founded by Melchisedek (who is said to be the son of Noah, and that

not unprobably) about the year of the world 2023, and called Salem

(by the Gentiles Solyma), which signifyeth Peace: who reigned here

fifty years.--This citie is seated on a rockie mountaine; every way

to be ascended (except a little on the north) with steep ascents and

deep valleys naturally fortified; for the most part environed with

other not far removed mountaines, as if placed in the midst of an

amphitheatre."--Lib. iii. p. 154.

[101] "Bethlehem soon after came in sight,--a fine village, surrounded

with gardens of fig-trees and olives. There is a deep valley below, and

half-way down on the top of a hill is a green plain, the only one we have

seen in Judea:--I could fancy Boaz's field forming part of it. The convent

is a very remarkable building, and well worth seeing. Without, it is a

perfect fortress, with heavy buttresses and small grated windows, on

entering, we immediately came to a magnificent church, with a double row

of ten Corinthian pillars of marble on each side,--forty pillars to all.

On the arched roof are the remains of Mosaic, of the Empress Helena's

time. One part was very distinct: it represented a city with temples, &c.,

and over it was written in Greek characters, _Laodicea_."--_Anonymous

Journal_.

[102] Richardson, Buckingham, Maundrell.

[103] Bethleem nunc nostram, et augustissimum urbis locum de quo Psalmista

canit (Ps. lxxxiv. 12). _Veritas de terra orta est_, lucus inumbrabat

Thamus, id est, Adonidis; et in specu ubi quondam Christus parvulus

vagiit, Veneris Amasius plangebatur.--_Epis. ad Paul_.

[104] Pour ce qui est des ornemens de ce saint Temple, il n'en reste que

fort peu en comparaison de ce qui y estoit. Car tous les murs estoient

autrefois magnifiquement reuestus et couvertes de belles tables de marbre

gris onde, comme on en voit encore en quelques endroits que les infidelles

n'ont poe avoir. Comme ils ont emporté tout le reste pour en orner leurs

Mosquées, et est une chose pitoyable de voir que tous les murs sont

remplis de gros clous et crampons de fer qui les tenoient attachez.

Au-dessus des colomnes de la nef est un mur tout couvert, et peint de la

plus belle et fine Mosaique qu'il est possible de voir, n'estant composée

que de petites pierres fines et transparentes comme cristal de toutes les

couleurs, qui representent grandes figures et histoires de la Vie,

Miracles Mort, et Passion de Nostre Seigneur, si narument faites des

couleurs si vives et éclatantes, et le fonds d'un or si luysant, qu'il

semble qu'elles sont faites depuis peu, encore qu'il y ait plus de treize

cens ans. Entre ces figures sont treize fenestres de chacun costé, qui

rendent un grand jour par toute l'eglise: derrière la troisième et

quatrième colomne de la main droite est un tres-beau et riche base de

marbre blanc de forme ronde à six pans de quelques trois pieds de

diametre, qui sert de fonds baptismaux.--_Doubdan_, p. 133.

[105] Maundrell, p. 90.

[106] Relation of a Journey, p. 183.

[107] O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the

midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, and set up a sign of

fire in Beth-haccerem: for evil appeareth out of the north, and great

destruction.--Jer. vi. 1.

[108] Modern Traveller, vol. i. p. 183. Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiv e. 13.

[109] Burckhardt's Travels in Syria, Pref, vi. Modern Traveller, vol. i.

p. 203. Doubdun, Voyage, p. 322, 326.

[110] Chateaubriand, tom. i. p. 408.

[111] "Haud procul inde campi, quos ferunt olim uberes, magnisque urbibus

habitatos, fulminum jactu, arsisse; et manere vestigia, terramque ipsam,

specie torridam, vim frugiferam perdidisse."--_Tacit. Hist._ lib. v.

cap. 7.

[112] The Abbé Mariti, who saw little himself, is not willing to allow to

others the advantage of having been more fortunate. "Quelques voyageurs

ont avancé qu'on distinguoit encore les debris de ces villes infortunées,

lorsque les eaux de la mer etoient basses et lympides. Il en est même que

disent avoir apperçu des restes de colonnes avec leurs chapitaux. Mais, il

faut que l'imagination les ait trompés, ou que depuis leur retour, cette

mer ait eprouvé de nouvelles secousses, car je n'y peux rien voir de

semblable, malgré toute ma bonne volonté. Un père capucin crut aussi

reconnoître sur ces bords les effets frappans de la malédiction celeste.

Ici, ce sont des traces de feu, là, une surface de cendres, partout des

champs arides et maudits. Il croit même respirer encore un odeur de

soufre. Pour moi je suis affecté en sens contraire: rien dans ce lieu ne

me rappelle la desolation dont parle la bible. L'air y est pure, le gazon

d'un beau vert; en plus d'un endroit mon oeil se refraichit aux eaux

argentines qui jaillissant en gerbes du sommet des monts; la sterilité

dont une partie de ces campagnes fut frappée dès la naissance du monde,

rend plus douce par le contraste l'apparence de fertilité que je remarquai

dans le sol d'Alvona. Mais d'où vient donc que deux voyageurs peuvent être

si opposés? C'est que un capucin porte partout les cinq sens de la foi, et

que moi je ne suis doué que de deux de la nature."--Tom. ii. p. 334.

[113] "On plutôt doit on admettre l'opinion des physiciens Arabes, qui

établissent, non sans quelque fondement, qu'elles se dissipent en

evaporation?".--Tom. ii. p. 334.

[114] Mr. Gordon, however, maintains, that persons who have never learned

to swim will float on its surface.--Chateaubriand, tom. i. p. 412.

[115] "Le Cardinal de Vitry la nomme la Mer du Diable, et Marinas

Sanutus dit qu'elle est tousjours couverte d'une fumée epaisse et de

vapeurs noires, comme quelque soupirail ou cheminée d'Enfer. D'autres

disent que son eau est noire, gluante, epaisse, grasse, fanguese, et de

tres mauvaise odeur; et toutefois j'ay parlé à des Religieux qui m'ont

asseuré y avoir été, et que cette eau est claire; nette, et liquide:

mais très-amère et salée. Et comme j'ay dit, je n'y ay veu, ny fumée

ny brouillards."--_Doubdan, Voyage de la Terre Sainte_, p. 317.

[116] "As for the apples of Sodom, so much talked of, I neither saw nor

heard of any hereabouts; nor was there any tree to be seen near the lake

from which one might expect such a fruit. Which induces me to believe that

there may be a greater deceit in this fruit than that which is usually

reported of it, and that its very being, as well as its beauty, is a

fiction, only kept up, as my Lord Bacon observes other false notions are,

because it serves for a good allusion and helps the poet to a similitude."

_Maundrell_, p. 85.

[117] The reading in Hasselquist must be _eighteen_ instead of eight, or

eight fathoms, instead of feet, for Mr. Maundrell remarks that the breadth

of the river "might be about twenty yards over, and in depth it far

exceeded my height."--_Journey_, p. 83.

[118] Deut. xxxiv. 1-7.

[119] 2 Kings ii. 19-23.

[120] Paradise Regained, Book I. v. 295, &c.

[121] Among these he found, with great delight, a very curious new cimex

or _bug_, p. 129.

[122] Journey, p. 80.

[123] Paradise Regained, Book II. v. 281.

[124] A Visit to Egypt, &c. p. 285.

[125] Travels of Ali Bey, vol. ii. p. 251.

[126] The Mussulmans say prayers in all the holy places consecrated to the

memory of Jesus Christ and the Virgin except the Tomb of the Holy

Sepulchre, which they do not acknowledge. They believe that Jesus Christ

did not die, but that he ascended alive into heaven, leaving the likeness

of his face to Judas, who was condemned to die for him; and that, in

consequence, Judas having been crucified, his body might have been

contained in this sepulchre, but not that of Jesus Christ. It is for this

reason that the Mussulmans do not perform any acts of devotion at this

monument, and that they ridicule the Christians who go to revere it--_Ali

Bey_, vol. ii. p. 237.

[127] Chateaubriand. Itinéraire, tom. ii. p. 169.

[128] Journey, p. 76.

[129] Pausanius, describing the Sepulchre of Helena at Jerusalem, mentions

this device: "It was so contrived that the door of the sepulchre, which

was of stone, and similar in all respects to the sepulchre itself, could

never be opened except upon the return of the same day and hour in each

succeeding year. It then opened of itself by means of the mechanism alone,

and after a short interval closed again. Such was the case at the time

stated; had you tried to open it at any other time, you would not have

succeeded, but broken it first in the attempt." Paus. in Arcad. cap.

xvi.--_Clarke's Travels_, vol. iv. p. 383.

[130] Journey, p. 63.

[131] Deut. xi. 29, 30.

[132] "Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near

to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's

Well was there."--John iv. 5, 6.

[133] Travels, vol. iv. p. 264.

[134] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 275.

[135] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 280.

[136] Richardson, vol. ii. p. 415.

[137] Travels in Palestine, &c. by J.S. Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 144.

[138] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 104.

[139] Num. xxi. 24. Deut. ii.

[140] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 244.

[141] Travels in Palestine, p. 259.

[142] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 261.

[143] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 261.

[144] Joseph, lib. iii. De Bell. Jud. Hasselquist, p.157. Clarke, iv.

p.227.

[145] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 359.--"Quae urbes, quod ipse

servator ils praedixerat, hodie in ruinis jacent."--Cluverius, lib. v.

cap. 20. "Capernaum was visited in the sixth century by Antoninus the

Martyr, an extract from whose Itinerary is preserved by Reland, who speaks

of a church erected upon the spot where St. Peter's dwelling once

stood."--_Clarke's Travels_, vol. iv. p. 211.

[146] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 366.

[147] "Within two hours and a half of Tiberias, we looked down on a fine

cultivated plain, quite bare of trees; beyond which, at a much lower

level, lay the narrow Valley of the Jordan. This plain was pastured over

by horses from the town, for the keepers of which white tents were

scattered about in all directions. We now came in sight of the Sea of

Galilee: we only saw the northern half, and its size disappointed us; but

the dark blue still water, the green hills around covered with bushes, and

the high snowy ridge of Djibbel el Sheik made a very delightful landscape.

Tiberias, with its high-feudal citadel, its walls and towers, now forms a

remarkable feature in the view; and the steep hills, which descend at once

to the lake on the east, attract attention from their strangely-channelled

sides diversified with dark green bushes and white chalky soil. The lake

at the town may be six or eight miles broad. We could see no stream formed

by the Jordan through it. Before it was dark we had a very fine view of

the lake; at the southero part it is narrow, and the sides bold. The sun

threw a deep shade on this side and on the water, while it marked the

hills and valleys on the opposite side with strong light and shade. The

northern part is much wider and tamer; but the hills are still high and

green, and the lofty snowy mountain of Djibbel el Sheik rising over them

gives great dignity to the landscape. This mountain was very striking late

in the evening, as retaining the sun's rays after every thing around us

was in darkness. In all respects it is the greatest ornament of the lake,

and I am surprised that travellers have not mentioned it

more."--_Anonymous Journal_.

[148] Buckingham, vol. ii. p. 368.

[149] Dr. Clarke relates, that "the French, during the time their army

remained under Bonaparte in the Holy Land, constructed two very large

ovens in the earth at Tiberias. Two years had elapsed at the time of our

arrival since they had set fire to their granary; and it was considered as

a miracle by the inhabitants that the combustion was not yet extinguished.

We visited the place, and perceived, that whenever the ashes of the burnt

corn were stirred, by thrusting a stick among them, sparks were even seen

glowing throughout the heap; and a piece of wood left there became

charred."

[150] The following extract from the unpublished journal already so often

referred to will amuse the reader:--"We arrived at the foot of Mount

Tabor. It is, in its general outline, a round, regular-shaped hill, but is

rocky and rough enough when it is to be ascended. It has many trees,

mostly Valonia oaks. It stands on the east of the great Plain of

Esdraëlon, up a recess formed by Mount Hermon on the one side, and the

hills towards Nazareth on the other. Its height from the plain I should

guess at 1000 feet. We ascended the greater part of the way on mules. On

the top of the hill is one of those large cisterns, or granaries, so often

alluded to before. There was one also near Jennin, which we observed in

coming in. I have since seen them in numerous other places, which puts an

end to Dr. Clarke's pagan remains. The whole of the Great Plain is fully

cultivated, yet we could hardly see a single village, which adds to the

peculiarity of its appearance,--one sheet of cultivation without a rock or

tree".

[151] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 260. Doubdan, Voyage de la Terre Sainte, p. 507.

Paris, 1661.--It is remarkable that all the descriptions of the view from

Mount Tabor appear to be borrowed from this sedulous Frenchman, whose

work, in point of topography, is still unequalled.

[152] Journey, p. 112.

[153] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 170.

[154] Vol. iv. p. 174. "Up stairs, above the Chapel of the Incarnation,"

says Dr. Richardson, "we were shown another grotto, which was called the

Virgin Mary's Kitchen, and a black smoked place in the corner which was

called the Virgin Mary's Chimney. I believe none of the cinders,

fire-irons, or culinary instruments have been preserved; these probably

fled with the Santa Casa, or Holy House, to Loretto; and our only

astonishment is, that the house should have taken flight and left the

chimney and kitchen behind."--vol. ii. p. 440.

[155] Luke iv. 28, 29, 30.

[156] Travels in Palestine, vol. ii. p. 315.

[157] "Traditio continua est, et nunquam interrupta, apud omnes nationes

Orientales, hanc petram, dictam Mensa Christi, iliam ipsam esse supra quam

Dominus noster Jesus Christus cum suis comedit discipulis ante et post

suam resurrectionem a mortuis.

"Et sancta Romana ecclesia INDULGENTIAM concessit septem annorum et

totidem quadragenarum, omnibus Christi fldelibus hunc sanctum locum

visitantibus, recitando saltem ibi unum Pater, et Ave, dummodo sint in

statu gratiae."

"It is a continued and uninterrupted tradition among all the Eastern

churches, that this stone, called the Table of Christ, is that very one

upon which our Lord Jesus Christ ate with his disciples both before and

after his resurrection from the dead.

"And the holy Roman church hath granted an INDULGENCE of seven years, and

as many lents, to all the faithful in Christ visiting this sacred place,

upon reciting at least one Pater Noster and an Ave, provided they be in a

state of grace."

[158] Clarke, vol. iv. p. 167.

[159] "De là nous retournasmes sur nos pas, à l'entrée du village par où

nous avions passé, pour aller voir la Fontaine où on alla puiser l'eau qui

servit à ce miracle; mais en allant ces femmes et enfans nous penserent

accabler de pierres et d'injures, tant ils sont inhumains et enemies des

Chrêstiens."--_Le Voyage_, &c. p. 512.

[160] Clarke, iv. p. 187. "We were afterward conducted into the chapel, in

order to see the relics and sacred vestments there preserved. When the

poor priest exhibited these, he wept over them with so much sincerity, and

lamented the indignities to which the holy places were exposed in forms so

affecting, that all our pilgrims wept also. Such were the tears which

formerly excited the sympathy and roused the valour of the Crusaders. The

sailors of our party caught the kindling zeal, and nothing more was

necessary to incite in them a hostile disposition towards every Saracen

they might afterward encounter."

[161] Travels, vol. iv. p. 141.

[162] Travels vol. iv. p. 148.

[163] Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 35.

[164] Buckingham, vol. i. p. 181.

[165] History of the Jews, vol. iii.

[166] Decline and Fall, vol. ii. p. 385.

[167] The reader who wishes to examine the evidence for the miraculous

nature of the interruption sustained by the agents of Julian will find an

ample discussion in the pages of Basnage, Lardner, Warburton, Gibbon, and

of the Author of the History of the Jews.

[168] History of the Jews, vol. iii.

[169] "When the first light brought news of a morning, they on afresh;

because they had intercepted a letter tied to the leg of a dove, wherein

the Persian emperor promised present succours to the besieged. The Turks

cased the outside of their walls with bags of chaff, straw, and such like

pliable matter, which conquered the engines of the Christians by yielding

unto them. As for one sturdy engine, whose force would not be tamed, they

brought two old witches on the walls to enchant it; but the spirit thereof

was too strong for their spells, so that both of them were miserably slain

in the place.

"We must not think that the world was at a loss for war-tools before the

brood of guns was hatched: it had the battering-ramme, first found out by

Epeus at the taking of Troy; the balista to discharge great stones,

invented by the Phenicians; the catapulta, being a sling of mighty

strength, whereof the Syrians were authors; and perchance King Uzziah

first made it, for we find him very dexterous and happy in devising such

things. And although these bear-whelps were but rude and unshaped at the

first, yet art did lick them afterward, and they got more teeth and

sharper nails by degrees; so that every age set them forth in a new

edition, corrected and amended. But these and many more voluminous engines

are now virtually epitomized in the cannon. And though some say that the

finding of guns hath been the losing of many men's lives, yet it will

appear that battles now are fought with more expedition, and Victory

standeth not so long a neuter, before she express herself on one side or

other."--_Fuller's Holy Warre_, p. 41.

[170] Fuller remarks, that "this second massacre was no slip of an

extemporary passion, but a studied and premeditated act. Besides, the

execution was merciless upon sucking children whose not speaking spake for

them; and on women whose weakness is a shield to defend them against a

valiant man. To conclude, severity, hot in the fourth degree, is little

better than poison, and becometh cruelty itself; and this act seemeth to

be of the same nature."--_Fuller's Holy Warre_, p. 41.

[171] On this interesting subject we refer to the "Itinéraire" of

Chateaubriand, and his "Génie du Christianisme;" the History of England by

Sir James Mackintosh, volume first; and to Mills's History of the

Crusades, volume first, chapter sixth. We may add Dr. Robertson's

"Historical Disquisition concerning the Knowledge which the Ancients had

of India."

[172] Mill's History of the Crusades, vol. ii. p. 48.

[173] Mills's History of the Crusades, vol. ii. p. 129. Michaud, Histoire

des Croisades, tom. iii. p. 187.

[174] A curé at Paris, instead of reading the bull from the pulpit in the

usual form, said to his parishioners, "You know, my friends, that I am

ordered to fulminate an excommunication against Frederick. I know not the

motive. All that I know is, that there has been a quarrel between that

prince and the pope. God alone knows who is right. I excommunicate him who

has injured the other, and I absolve the sufferer." The emperor sent a

present to the preacher, but the pope and the king blamed this sally: _le

mauvais plaisant_--the unhappy wit--was obliged to expiate his fault by a

canonical penance.--_Mills's History_, vol. ii. p. 253.

[175] The address of the Pope to the Fourth Council of Lateran, as

translated by Michaud, is not a little striking:--"O vous qui passez dans

les chemins, disait Jérusalem par la bouche du Pontife, regardez et voyez

si jamais il y eut une douleur semblable à la mienne! Accourez donc tous,

vous qui me cherissez, pour me delivrer de l'excès de mes miseres! Moi,

qui étais la reçue de toutes les nations, je suis maintenant asservie au

tribut; moi, qui étais remplie de peuple, je suis restée presque seule.

Les chemins de Sion sont en deuil, parceque personne ne vient à mes

solemnités. Mes ennemis ont écrasé ma tête; tous les lieux saints sont

profanés: le saint sépulchre, si rempli d'éclat, est couvert d'opprobre;

on adore le fils de la perdition et de l'enfer, là où naguères on adorait

le fils de Dieu. Les enfants de l'etranger m'accablent d'outrages, et

montrant la croix de Jesus, ils me disent:--'_Tu as mise toute la

confiance dans un bois vil; nous verrons si ce bois te sauvera au jour de

danger_.'"--_Histoire des Croisades_, tom. iii. p. 394.

[176] "On se rappelait alors les vertus dont il avait donné l'exemple, et

surtout sa bonté, envers les habitants de la Palestine, qu'il avait

traités comme ses propres sujets. Les uns exprimaient leur reconnaissance

par de vives acclamations, les autres par une morne silence; tout le

peuple qu'affligeait son depart, les proclamait _le père des Chrétiens_,

et conjurait le ciel de repandre ses benedictions sur la famille du

vertueux monarque et sur la royaume de France. Louis montrait sur son

visage, qu'il partageait les regrets des Chrétiens de la Terra-Sainte; il

leur addressait des paroles consolantes, leur donnait d'utiles conseils,

se reprochait de s'avoir fait assez pour leur cause, et témoignait le vif

desir qu'un jour Dieu le jugeat digne d'achever l'ouvrage de leur

delivrance."--_Michaud, Histoire des Croisades_, tom. iv. p. 299.

[177] Ibid. p. 302.

[178] It was during the siege of Tunis that Louis died. "Our Edward would

needs have had the town beaten down, and all put to the sword; thinking

the foulest quarter too fair for them. Their goods (because got by

robbery) he would have sacrificed as an anathema to God, and burnt to

ashes; his own share he execrated, and caused it to be burnt, forbidding

the English to save any thing of it; because that coals stolen out of that

fire would sooner burn their houses than warm their hands. It troubled not

the consciences of other princes to enrich themselves herewith, but they

glutted themselves with the stolen honie which they found in this hive of

drones: and, which was worse, now their bellies were full, they would goe

to bed, return home, and goe no farther. Yea, the young King of France,

called Philip the Bold, was fearful to prosecute his journey to Palestine;

whereas Prince Edward struck his breast, and swore, that though all his

friends forsook him, yet he would enter Ptolemais though but only with

Fowin his horsekeeper. By which speech he incensed the English to go on

with him."--_Fuller's Holy Warre_, p. 217.

[179] "It is storied how Eleanor, his lady, sucked all the poison out of

his wounds, without doing any harm to herself. So sovereign a remedy is a

woman's tongue anointed with the virtue of loving affection! Pity it is

that so pretty a story should not be true (with all the miracles in love's

legends), and sure he shall get himself no credit who undertaketh to

confute a passage so sounding to the honour of the sex. Yet can it not

stand with what others have written."--_Fuller's Holy Warre_, p. 220.

[180] The motives for the massacre of Jaffa are given by Bourrienne in so

impartial a manner, that we are inclined to believe he has given a true

transcript of his master's mind. "Bonaparte sent his aids-de-camp,

Beauharnais and Crosier, to appease as far as possible the fury of the

soldiery, to examine what passed, and to report. They learned that a

numerous detachment of the garrison had retired into a strong position,

where large buildings surrounded a courtyard. This court they entered,

displaying the scarfs which marked their rank. The Albanians and Arnauts,

composing nearly the entire of these refugees, cried out from the windows

that they wished to surrender, on condition their lives were spared; if

not, threatening to fire upon the officers, and to defend themselves to

the last extremity. The young men conceived they ought, and had power, to

accede to the demand, in opposition to the sentence of death pronounced

against the garrison of every place taken by assault. I was walking with

General Bonaparte before his tent when these prisoners, in two columns,

amounting to about four thousand men, were marched into the camp. When he

beheld the mass of men arrive, and before seeing the aids-de-camp, he

turned to me with an expression of consternation, 'What would they have me

to do with these? Have I provisions to feed them; ships to transport them

either to Egypt or France? How the devil could they play me this trick!'

The two aids-de-camp, on their arrival and explanations, received the

strongest reprimands. To their defence, namely, that they were alone amid

numerous enemies, and that he had recommended to them to appease the

slaughter, he replied, in the sternest tone, 'Yes, without doubt, the

slaughter of women, children, old men, the peaceable inhabitants, but not

of armed soldiers; you ought to have braved death, and not brought these

to me. What would you have me do with them?' But the evil was done. Four

thousand men were there--their fate must be determined. The prisoners were

made to sit down, huddled together before the tents, their hands being

bound behind them. A gloomy rage was depicted to every lineament. A

council was held in the general's tent," &c.

On the third day an order was issued that the prisoners should be

shot,--an order which was literally executed on four thousand men. "The

atrocious crime," says M. Bourrienne, "makes me yet shudder when I think

of it, as when it passed before me. All that can be imagined of fearful on

this day of blood would fall short of the reality!"--_Memoirs_, vol i. p.

156.

[181] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 163.

[182] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 165.

[183] Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, vol. i. p. 168.

[184] Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria and the Holy Land, p. 315.

[185] Weimar, Geographical Ephemerides; and History of the Jews, vol. iii.

p. 332.

[186] History of the Jews, vol. iii. p. 338.

[187] See Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 191.

[188] Hasselquist's Voyages and Travels, p. 284.

[189] Clarke's Travels, vol. iv. p. 223 and 307.

[190] Travels or Observations relating to several parts of Barbary and the

Levent, vol. ii. p. 153.

[191] Travels or Observations, vol. ii. p. 135.

[192] Travels through Syria and Egypt, vol. i. p. 313.

[193] 1 Kings, iv. 23.

[194] Shaw's Travels, vol. ii. p. 280.

[195] Job xxxix. ver. 9, 10, 11, 12.

[196] Job xxxix. 5, 6, 7, 8.

[197] Appendix to Bruce's Travels, p. 139.

[198] See an article in the sixth volume of the Wernerian Memoirs, by Dr.

Scott, of Corstorphine, "On the Animal called Saphan in the Hebrew

Scriptures."

[199] Daubenton, Calmet, vol. iv. p. 645. See also Shaw, Hasselquist and

Dochart.

[200] Calmet's Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 659.

[201] See Calmet, vol. iv. p. 688.

[202] Churchill's Voyages, vol. ii, p. 296.

[203] Revelation ix. 3, 10.

[204] Calmet's Dictionary, vol. iv. p. 696.

[205] Malte Brun, vol. ii p. 130.

[206] Shaw's Travels, vol. ii p. 152.

[207] Isaiah, v. 4.

[208] Voyages and Travels in the Levant, p. 288.

End of Project Gutenberg's Palestine or the Holy Land, by Michael Russell