JANUARY 30th. We quitted our station in the valley at sunrise, and after continuing to travel for about two hours in a north-east direction, always ascending by winding paths, we came to the summit of the second range of hills on the east of Jordan. The first of these that we had crossed was generally of white lime-stone, but this last had a mixture of many other kinds of rock. Among these was a dark red stone, which broke easily, and had shining metallic particles in it,

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like those of iron ore. It is probable, therefore, that this is the range which is called by Josephus the Iron Mountain, as before quoted; for he describes this as being only one of the ridges of the eastern hills which bounds the Jordan on that side, and runs in length as far as Moab. Both of these ranges are barren throughout, excepting only in some little dells near their feet, where the rain-water lodges, and favours vegetation. The first, or western one, is a little higher than the second; but in all other respects, except these enumerated, their general character is alike, and they both run in the same direction of nearly north and south.

We had no sooner passed the summit of the second range, going down a short distance on its eastern side by a very gentle descent, than we found ourselves on plains of nearly as high a level as the summits of the hills themselves, and certainly eight hundred feet, at least, above the stream of the Jordan. The character of the country, too, was quite different from any thing that I had seen in Palestine, from my first landing at Soor to the present moment. We were now in a land of extraordinary richness, abounding with the most beautiful prospects, clothed with thick forests, varied with verdant slopes, and possessing extensive plains of a fine red soil, now covered with thistles as the best proof of its fertility, and yielding in nothing to the celebrated plains of Zabulon and Esdraelon, in Galilee and Samaria.

We continued our way to the north-east, through a country, the beauty of which so surprised us, that we often asked each other what were our sensations; as if to ascertain the reality of what we saw, and persuade each other, by mutual confessions of our delight, that the picture before us was not an optical illusion. The landscape alone, which varied at every turn, and gave us new beauties from every different point of view, was, of itself, worth all the pains of an excursion to the eastward of Jordan to obtain a sight of; and the park-like scenes that sometimes softened the romantic wildness of the general character as a whole, reminded us of similar spots in less neglected lands,

It was about noon when we 'reached a small encampment of Arabs, who had pitched their tents in a most luxuriant dell, where their flocks fed on the young buds of spring; and where they obtained for themselves an abundant supply of wood and water. Near to this camp, we found a place on which were the ruins of former buildings, with a large mill-stone of a circular form, with a square hole for an axle in its centre, and at least six feet in diameter. The name of this place, we were told, was Zerkah. It was seated in a beautiful valley; and on the hills around it were an abundance of wild olives, oaks, and pine-trees, of a moderate size. This place may therefore be the "Zara in the valley of Cilices," which Josephus mentions with Heshbon, Medaba, and Pella, as being in the possession of the Jews in the reign of Aretas, the Arabian king. *

After smoking a pipe, and taking coffee with the Arabs, we quitted them about one, and soon after saw a smaller party, consisting of about a dozen families only, halting to pitch their tents in a beautiful little hollow bason, which they had chosen for the place of their encampment, surrounded on three sides by woody hills. The sheikh was the only one of the whole who rode; the rest of the men walked on foot, as did most of the women also. The boys drove the flocks of sheep and goats; and the little children, the young lambs, the kids and the poultry, were all carried in panniers or baskets across the camels' backs. The tents, with their cordage and the mats, the cooking utensils, the provisions and furniture, were likewise laden upon these useful animals. As these halted at every five steps to pull a mouthful of leaves from the bushes, the progress of their march was very slow; but the patience of all seemed quite in harmony with the tardy movement of the camel, and it was evidently a matter of indifference to

Joseph. Ant. Jud. 1. xiii. c. 15. s. 4. Zaram is the same place mentioned by Reland among the towns possessed by Alexander Janneus in the land of Moab. Palæstina Illustrata, c. xx. de Moabitis, l. i. p. 101.

every one of the group whether they halted at noon or at sun-set, since an hour was time enough for them to prepare their shelter for the night.

We now went up from hence by gradual but gentle ascents, over still more beautiful and luxuriant grounds than those which we had passed before. In our way, we left two ruined buildings on our right, named Shahan and Ullan; they were both extensive but simple edifices, and seemed to be either large caravanseras, or very small villages recently deserted. After ascending these hills until three o'clock, pursuing, generally, a north-east direction, we came to a high plain, and going about a quarter of an hour over this, we came to a deep ravine, which looked like a separation of the hill to form this chasm by some violent convulsion of nature. The height of the cliffs here on each side, which were nearly perpendicular, was not less than five hundred feet, while the breadth from cliff to cliff was not more than a hundred yards.

The plains at the top, on both sides, were covered with a lightred soil, and bore marks of high fertility; but the dark sides of the rocky cliffs that faced each other in this hollow chasm were, in general, destitute of verdure.

We descended into this ravine by winding paths; since it was every where too steep to go directly down; and found at the bottom of it a small river, which flowed from the eastward, appearing here to have just made a sharp bend from the northward, and from this point to go nearly west to discharge itself into the Jordan. The banks of this stream were so thickly wooded with oleander and plane trees, wild olives, and wild almonds in blossom, pink and white sickley-man flowers, and others, the names of which were unknown to us, with tall and waving reeds, at least fifteen feet in height, that we could not perceive the waters through them from above; though the presence of these luxuriant borders marked the winding of its course, and the murmur of its flow was echoed through its long deep channel so as to be heard distinctly from afar. On this side of the stream, at the spot where we forded

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it, was a piece of wall, solidly built upon the inclined slope, constructed in an uniform manner, though of small stones, and apparently finished at the end, which was towards the river, so that it never could have been carried across, as we at first supposed, either for a bridge or to close the pass. This was called by the Arabs, Shughl beni Israel," or the work of the sons of Israel; but they knew of no other traditions regarding it. The river, where we crossed it, at this point, was not more than ten yards wide, but it was deeper than the Jordan, and nearly as rapid; so that we had some difficulty in fording it. As it ran in a rocky bed, its waters were clear, and we found their taste agreeable.

This stream is called "Nahr-el-Zerkah," or the river of Zerkah, by the Arabs, from the name of the nearest place, which we had just passed through before coming here. From its position, there can be no doubt of its being the Jabbok of the Scriptures, which was the northern boundary of the Amorites, as the stream of Arnon was their southern one; and this northern border, from its character as already described, would fully justify the assertion of its strength. “And Israel smote him (Sihon king of the Amorites) with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon, for the border of the children of Ammon was strong."

Josephus, in describing the geographical boundaries of the land of the Amorites, says, "This is a country situate between three rivers, and naturally resembling an island; the river Arnon being its southern limit, the river Jabbok determining its northern side, which, running into Jordan, loses its own name†, and takes the other, while Jordan itself runs along by it on its western coast.' This is in perfect unison with the boundaries so frequently men

• Numbers, xxi. 24. Deut. ii. 37. and iii. 16.

It is called the Ford of Jabbok, in the Scriptures, (Gen. xxxii. 22.) and its very name is expressive, Jaboc, pia-evacuatio, vel dissipatio, aut lucta. Nomen vadi in Jordanem profluentis. - Enomasticum Sacrum, p. 159.

Joseph. Ant. Jud. 1. iv. c. 5. s. 2.