there on account of the dreadful message they received from God for their disobedience; and the valley of Elah, famous for the defeat of Goliath and the Philistines, by David, and his royal patron Saul.

There were likewise several noted plains in Palestine, viz. the great plain, through which the river Jordan runs; the plain of Jezreel, which extended from Scythopolis, to mount Carmel; Sharon, where the Gadites are supposed to have fed their numerous flocks and herds; Sephelah, which extended westward and southward of Eleutheropolis; Jericho, much celebrated for its palm-trees, balm, shrub, and rose-trees; and others too numerous to admit of mention.

Many deserts and wildernesses of this country are mentioned in the sacred history, which are not, however, to be understood of places quite barren or uninhabited; for several of them contained cities and villages. The word, therefore, commonly meant no more than a tract that bore neither corn, wine, nor oil, but was left to the spontaneous productions of nature. The most

noted of these deserts were Arnon, in which the river of that name runs through the land of Gilead; Ziph, where David sought an asylum from persecution; Cadesh, near Cadesh-Barneah, on the south side of Judah, mentioned as the place where Moses and Aaron were chastised for miting the rock; Mahon, on the south of Jeshimon; Tekoah, Bezer, Gibeon, and several others.

Among the woods or forests mentioned in Scripture, were those of Hareth, whither David withdrew from Saul; Ephraim, where Absalom received the just reward of his rebellion; Lebanon, VOL. II. where

D

six paces long, and sixty-seven broad, lined with plaster, and well stored with water.

Mount Moriah, the site of the famous temple of Solomon, stands on the south-east of Calvary, having Millo on the west, so called from the filling up of that deep valley, in order to raise it to a level with the rest. It is commonly supposed, that Abraham was commanded to offer his be loved son Isaac as a burnt sacrifice to God upon this mountain. This article of the mountains may be concluded with observing, that those in the kingdom of Judah mostly stand southward, towards the land of Edom; but those of the kingdom of Israel are interspersed within the country.

The most celebrated of the valleys were, Berakhah, in the tribe of Judah, on the west side of the lake of Sodom; Siddim, famed for the overthrow of Chedorlaomer; Shaveh, or the royal valley, where the king of Sodom met Abraham after the defeat of the confederates; the vale of Salt, celebrated for the overthrow of the Edomites by David and Amaziah; Jezreel, the scene of Jezebel's untimely end; Mamre, so called from the name of its owner, and from the cak under which Abraham entertained the three celestial visitors; Rephaim, the vale of the Titans and gi ants; Jehoshaphat, so called from the victory there obtained by a monarch of that name; Hinnom, anciently defiled by many barbarous rites and superstitions; Zeboim, which received its appellation from one of the four cities that perished with Sodom near the Dead Sea; Achor, where Achan was put to death by the Israelitish host for his sacrilege; Bochim, so denominated from the universal mourning, which the Israelites made

there

there on account of the dreadful message they
received from God for their disobedience; and
the valley of Elah, famous for the defeat of
Goliath and the Philistines, by David, and his royal
patron Saul,

There were likewise several noted plains in Palestine, viz, the great plain, through which the liver Jordan runs the plain of Jezreel, which extended from Scythopolis, to mount Carmel; Sharon, where the Gadites are supposed to have ted their numerous flocks and herds; Sephelah, which extended westward and southward of Eleutheropolis; Jericho, much celebrated for its palm-trees, balm, shrub, and rose-trees; and others too numerous to admit of mention,

Many deserts and wildernesses of this country are mentioned in the sacred history, which are not, however, to be understood of places quite barren or uninhabited; for several of them contained cities and villages. The word, therefore, commonly meant no more than a tract that bore neither corn, wine, nor oil, but was left to the spontaneous productions of nature. The most noted of these deserts were Arnon, in which the river of that name runs through the land of Gilead; Ziph, where David sought an asylum fimm persecution; Cadesh, near Cadesh-Barncab,

the south side of Judah, mentioned as the place where Moses and Aaron were chastised for siting the rock; Mahon, on the south of Jeshimon; Tekoal, Bezer, Gibeon, and several

others,

Among the woods or forests mentioned in Sumpture, were those of Hareth, whither David withdrew from Saul; Ephraim, where Absalom Received the just reward of his rebellion; Lebanon,

VOL. II.

D

where

where Solomon built a magnificent palace; and Bethel,. whence the she bears came and devoured the children who insulted the prophet Elisha.

Of the seas there are commonly reckoned five, viz. the Mediterranean, the Dead sea, the sea of Tiberias, the Samachonite sea, or lake, and the sea of Jazer. The first of these has been frequently described by travellers: the second, called by some authors the Asphaltite lake, is so impregnated with salt, that those who dive beneath its surface are immediately covered with a kind of brine; and vast quantities of bitumen are thrown, by its waves, upon the shore: the third is highly commended by Josephus for the sweetness and coolness of its water, and variety of excellent fish: the fourth is famed only for the thickness of its water, from which it is supposed to have derived its name: and the fifth is no other than a small lake in the vicinity of the city Jazer.

The Jordan is the most considerable of the rivers, and indeed the only stream that merits the name; as the Arnon, Jabbok, Chereth, Sorek, Kishon, Bosor, &c. are but brooks or rivulets in comparison of this, or the Euphrates. It has its source at the famous lake of Phiala, about ten miles north of that of Samachon; its course is mostly southward, inclining a few degrees towards the west; its breadth has been compared to that of the Thames at Windsor; its depth is said to be three yards at the very brink; its rapidity considerable; and the scenery of its banks varied, according to the places which it intersects. In ancient times, it overflowed about the season of the early harvest, or soon after Easter; but it is no longer subject to this inun

dation.

dation. The plain on both sides, from the sea of Tiberias, to the Asphaltite lake, is extremely arid and unwholesome during the heat of summer, and every-where steril, except that part which lies contiguous to the river.

Among the most remarkable curiosities of Palestine may be justly reckoned various petrifactions in the neighbourhood of mount Carmel, which bear the most exact resemblance to citrons, melons, olives, peaches, and other vegetable productions. Here are also found a kind of oysters, and bunches of grapes of the same consistence. Small round stones, resembling pease, have been frequently seen on a spot of ground near Rachel's tomb, not far from Bethlehem. On the same road is a fountain, honoured with the name of Apostle's Fountain ;" and a little further is a barren, rugged, and dismal solitude, to which our Saviour retired, and was tempted by the Devil. In this desert appears a steep and craggy mountain, on the summit of which are two chapels. There are also several gloomy caverns in the neighbourhood, formerly the solitary retreat of Christian anchorets.

Under this class must also be ranked the hot and medicinal waters of Palestine; the saline efflorescences observed at the distance of a few leagues from the Dead sea; and the celebrated fruit, called by the Arabs, zachone, which grows on a kind of thorny bush, and resembles a small caripe walnut.

Among the artificial rarities may be considered the ruins of Ptolemais, or St. John d'Acre,

- which

This city had two walls well flanked with towers and the bulwarks; and each wall had a ditch lined with stone. D 2

But