diction of Philip, the tetrarch of Iturea, its situation must have been to the east of the river Jordan. Josephus expressly states that the Jordan falls into the lake of Gennesareth, behind the city Julias, which was the name Philip gave to Bethsaida, in compliment to the daughter of Augustus, after he had surrounded it by a wall and embellished it with. public works. Between this place and Rana, on a slight elevation above the valleys, is the village of Cana,1 distinguished by the first exertion of Christ's miraculous powers.

About mid-day we reached the summit of the hill, where our Saviour is supposed to have delivered his memorable sermon, inculcating a doctrine of

1 There are several places of this name mentioned in the sacred writings. One is recited in the book of Joshua, chap. xix. ver. 28, as comprised in the territory allotted to the tribe of Asher.

Fragments of stone jars, apparently large enough to contain several gallons, may be still found in particular parts of Galilee, although vessels of their description are no longer in use in that district. As relics of antiquity they are entitled to some attention; but the genuine character of the gospel narrative cannot, surely, be affected by any such evidence: the author, even of a work avowedly fictitious, would hardly describe the usages of any known country otherwise than they were universally recognized to exist at the period of his writing.

elevated morality which no previous system of ethics had ever contemplated. From this eminence, the sea of Galilee appears spread out in the distant vale, a beautiful expanse of living water: no object can be imagined better calculated to administer refreshment to the eye or the spirits in a climate like this, where the traveller is almost constantly tempted to exclaim,

O qui me gelidis in vallibus Hæmi

Sistat, et ingenti nimborum protegat umbrâ!1

The view also comprehends a very magnificent prospect of the mountains, as they rise from the eastern shore of the lake, and stretch out in a northerly and southern direction; their extreme heights are crowned with snow, which the reflection of a burning sun renders insufferably dazzling.

The city of Tiberias is built on the western shore, and descends to the water's edge, which serves as a boundary on that side: the three other sides are enclosed by a rectangular wall, flanked with towers. The number of inhabitants is stated to be four thousand, two thirds of which are Jews. The governor

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Who, Hamus, now will bear me to thy vales,

"Refresh'd with show'rs, and fann'd by cooling gales?" From THE CHRISTIAN REPORTER.

of the place being absent on some urgent business, or otherwise inaccessible, we were driven to pass the night in the church. In the evening I walked in the environs with the officiating minister: though apparently of very humble rank in the priesthood, and having every outward sign of extreme penury, he seemed to enjoy in a very flattering degree the esteem of his fellow-citizens, several of whom, as they passed us, seized his hand, and pressed it to their lips, with every mark of respect and affection. In Palestine, titles and wealth are not exclusively the passports to distinction; they will procure here, as elsewhere, no doubt, much of "mouth honour," but are totally inadequate to secure to the possessor the silent homage of the heart.

When at some little distance from the town, I was invited by the transparency of the water to bathe in the lake, which I found as buoyant as the Hellespont. The greatest breadth does not appear to exceed six or seven miles, and its utmost length cannot be

1 "The plea was as the case of an extreme necessity ;" and if there was any thing irreverent in the act, it carried with it its own punishment. Myriads of fleas, larger and more insatiable than those of Nazareth, kept us in incessant torture nearly the whole of the time we attempted to repose.

more than double that measure; but as a sheet of fresh water in this arid district, its beauty and value are beyond all calculation. The surrounding scenery possesses many of the requisites of picturesque beauty and sublimity; the great deficiency is an almost total absence of wood. Chorazin and Capernaum are at the north-eastern extremity. Our ecclesiastical Cicerone was at some pains to correct my pronunciation of the latter place, which he maintained should be called Caperna-hoom: both towns are at present exclusively inhabited by Arab families. In the rocks facing the water there are some cavities hewn, which may possibly have been used as sepulchres: during the period of our Saviour's mission, it is probable that the wretched maniacs and victims of demoniacal possession made these their temporary haunts. (Matthew viii. 28.)

The next morning, soon after six, we mounted

1 According to Pliny, it is sixteen miles long, and six wide: that author describes it as being surrounded with pleasant towns, amænis circumseptum oppidis; (lib. v. cap. 15.) but these have all disappeared so completely, as to leave no traces of their former existence. The lake was called the sea of Galilee from its situation in that province-of Tiberias, from the city erected on its shore.-Gennesareth, from which it also derived one of its names, is no longer extant.

our horses with an intention of visiting the southern border of the lake. About a mile from the town we came to a hot spring, considered beneficial in cases of rheumatism and paralytic seizures: here our guide desired us to halt, while he made a personal experiment of its efficacy: his dress, consisting simply of a tunic and light turban, was soon thrown off, and in little more than a minute he plunged into the pool, remaining under the water as long as he could hold his breath. Having repeated this two or three times, he emerged, and prepared to set forward, but exhibited such unequivocal symptoms of weakness and exhaustion, that we found it necessary to recruit his spirits with a cordial before he was enabled to proceed. The distance from the bath to the Jordan is about six miles; the stream, as it issues from the lake, is bright and transparent, about fifty feet wide, and of a depth easily fordable: I filled a small bottle with the water, which has since been sealed hermetically, so that I may hope to bring it to England for your examination in all its purity.1

2

In the earlier ages of Christianity, all such as from motives of piety, or in discharge of a religious vow, had prostrated themselves before the sepulchre of the Messiah,—

All who had kiss'd the blessed tomb,

And visited each holy shrine

In Araby and Palestine,