FEBRUARY 15th. The whole of the day was directed to enquiries about the best method of proceeding on my journey to the northward, when I learned that a caravan, with a large escort, would be departing from Nablous for Damascus on Saturday; and it was recommended to me to hasten thither, in order to join it, as the most secure mode of prosecuting my way. It was late at night when we learned this, but as there was still a hope of my being able to reach Nablous in time, I determined to set out on the following day.

The road even from hence to Nablous was thought to be so bad, that few people would attempt it without a caravan. By great exertion we procured, however, a man of that town, who was settled here, to accompany us thus far for fifteen piastres; and obtaining from Mr. Catafago a letter to his friend Hadjee Ahmed Gerar, the Chief of Sanhour, we left Nazareth about ten o'clock on our way thither.

Our course was directed to the southward, going in which direction for about half an hour, we began to descend the steep range of hills by which Nazareth is bounded on the south. Dismounting here, we reached the foot of it in another half-hour, and came out on the Plain of Esdraelon, very near to the ravine on the west side of which is the mountain of the precipitation, before described. At the foot of this hill were now some Bedouins' tents, and a few flocks grazing, but the soil and its produce was so burnt up by the long drought, that every species of animal suffered the want of food.

Continuing in a southerly direction across the plain, we reached at noon the small village of Mezra. This, from its being enclosed by walls with loop-holes in them, and having only one gate of entrance, appears to have been once a fortified post, though of the weakest kind. It is at present destitute of any other inhabitants than the herds of cattle which are driven within the enclosure for shelter during the night. Near its southern angle are two good wells which are still frequented, and we observed here several sarcophagi of a grey stone, of the common oblong form, extremely thick, and rather larger than the ordinary size. Though all of these were much broken and defaced by the action of the atmosphere, the sculpture on the side of one was still distinct, representing pillars, festoons, and wheels.

Continuing over the plain in the same direction, we passed at one o'clock, under the village of Fooli, leaving it a little on our left. We observed here the fragment of a large building still remaining, whose wall seemed to be of Saracenic structure, and at

the wells without the village we saw two pent-roofed covers of sarcophagi; one of which was ornamented with sculpture, the raised corners being the same as those at Geraza, and at Gamala, except that here the edges of them were sculptured, and that all the covers at the two former cities, as far as we observed, were plain.

On the west of this village, about a mile, is Affouli, built like this on a rising ground, and containing only a few dwellings. On the east of it, about two miles, is the larger village of Noori, surrounded with olive-trees, and there are besides several other settlements in sight from hence, all inhabited by Mohammedans.

We now kept in a south-easterly direction, having shut in Mount Tabor, and passed Mount Hermon, which we kept on our left, and at three o'clock we reached the village of Zaraheen. This is larger than either of the former, and is peopled also by Mohammedans. It is seated on the brow of a stony hill, facing to the north-east, and overlooking a valley into which the plain of Esdraelon seems to descend; and through the openings of which the mountains on the east of the Jordan are visible. It has a high modern building in the centre, like that at Shufammer, and perhaps about fifty dwellings around it. We saw here also several sarcophagi, both plain and sculptured, corresponding in size, form, and material, to those seen before.

To the east of this place, in a vale, is another village, and a smaller one is seen in the same direction on the peaked top of a high hill. Of these our guide knew not even the names; but all of them, he said, were peopled by Moslems.

At four o'clock we came to a ridge of stony ground, interrupting the general line of the plain, and passed another deserted village, called Makhaebly, leaving it on our right. It has a ruined mosqu ein its centre, and a white-washed tomb of some saint a little to the left of it. From hence.we continued again in a southerly direction, over uneven, and generally stony ground, until at five we came in sight of Jeneen.

The approach to this town from the northward is interesting, as

it is seated at the southern edge of a small but fine plain, cut off from that of Esdraelon only by the stony ridge of low land just passed over. Behind it is a low range of grey hills, and in front some woods of olives give great relief to the picture. The minareh and dome of a mosque are seen rising above a mass of flatroofed dwellings, and from the gallery of the former the call to evening-prayers was heard as we entered the town. It does not appear to possess more than a hundred habitations in all, but it is furnished with a bazar and several coffee-sheds. The ruins of a large Gothic building are seen in the centre of the town near the mosque, and around it are several palm-trees, which, from their rarity here, struck me as more beautiful than I had ever thought them before.

Jeneen is governed by a Sheikh, who is tributary both to Acre and Damascus, as it is considered to be the frontier town between these two pashalics. It has, however, no military stationed there, and its inhabitants are all Mohammedans. Without the town, to the northward, are several saints' tombs, and in the hills to the southward are many rude grottoes. The range of hills, at the northern foot of which the town of Jeneen is seated, may be considered as the southern boundary of the great plain of Esdraelon, and as the limit between Galilee and Samaria; for between it and the range on which Nazareth stands, there are only a few interruptions of rising ground here and there, without any marked boundary. The whole of this extensive space is covered with a fine red soil, and had once several considerable settlements on it, as may be inferred from the sepulchres and sarcophagi at Eksall, at Mezra, at Fooli, and at Makhaebly, all seated on small eminences admirably suited for the situation of agricultural towns. It is now, however, lying waste, excepting only a few patches ploughed for cultivation towards its southern edge.

Jeneen, or Genin, is no doubt the Ginea* of some writers, and

* Tivala. Vieus qui Samaritin a septentrione terminat, in campo situs. Vide et vocem Geman. Illic loci situs est hodieque vicus Zjennin, vel ut alii scribunt Jennin,

the Geman* of Josephus, as he calls it, a village situate in the great plain of Samaria, it being the boundary between that province and Galilee; and he describes a fight which happened there between some Galilean Jews, who were going up to Jerusalem to the feast of tabernacles, and the Samaritans of Geman who opposed them. †

We passed on through Jeneen without halting, going by a narrow pass between stony hills to the south of the town. As the sun was now set, and the sky overcast, it grew too dark to observe any thing of the road beyond, except that it was rugged and bad. In about two hours after quitting Jeneen, we reached the village of Cabaat, where our entrance was so opposed by the dogs, that we were almost stunned with their barking. Some of the Mohammedan villagers seeing us journeying on our way at so late an hour, brought us bread and water while on horseback, without even being solicited to do so, and when we halted to accept it, both compliments and blessings were mutually interchanged.

Our road now improved, and about ten o'clock we reached the foot of a steep hill, on which the walled town of Sanhoor is built. We alighted and walked up to the gate, demanding admission for an English traveller on his way to Nablous, who brought a letter from Catafago at Nazareth, and sought protection from Hadjee Ahmed Gerar, the chief of the place. The terms of our demand were immediately communicated to the venerable pilgrim, and in a few minutes the gates were opened to us, and we were saluted and welcomed as strangers but yet as friends.

On being conducted to the chief, we found him sitting on a stone-bench in the court of his house, and surrounded by a circle of dependants, who seemed to think themselves honoured by being

dictus, et transeunt illum qui Ptolemaide Samariam, atque ita Hierosolymas, tendunt. Reland. 1. iii. de urbibus et vicis Palæstinæ, p. 812.

* Inμáv. Vicus situs in magno campo Samaritidis. Ibid. p. 803. + Joseph. Jewish Wars, b. ii. c. 12. s. 3.