CHAPTER I.

THE JOURNEY TO DAN.

On the day which followed the feast of Pentecost, Helon stood upon the highest of the three summits of the mount of Olives, and with a heavy heart and weeping eyes watched the train of the pilgrims from Jericho, as they disappeared among the groves and gardens of Bethany, and listened to their songs, in which the voice of Sulamith seemed to warble to him a farewell, full of affection and regret. It had cost him many a struggle, to resolve to undertake this journey to Dan—but Selumiel had determined to put his self-command to this proof, and Helon was forced to comply. There was a certain hardness in Selumiel’s natural disposition, which the influence of an amiable wife had not entirely mollified; he had been compelled in his youth to practise much self-denial and bear many mortifications, and he could not deny himself the pleasure of making even those he loved undergo a similar discipline, persuading himself perhaps that he was improving their tempers, while he was indulging his own. “The path of obedience is arduous and rough,” said Helon with a sigh, as he turned from where the Jordan wound its way through the meadows of Jericho, to the northern hills of Ebal and Gerizim, over which his destined journey lay; “the path of obedience is rough, but it shall be trodden.” He called to mind the first commandment with promise, and he thought that when he had made this sacrifice to the sense of duty, he should be able, without difficulty, to fulfil the rest of the commandments, and become a Chasidean. Ambition came to the aid of virtue, and he returned towards the city, resolved, though not satisfied.

On the following morning he took his departure, in company with the Governor of Samaria, whom Hyrcanus had just appointed, and some Galilean Jews, who preferred returning into their own country by the nearer way. Iddo accompanied his friend as far as to the gate of Ephraim, not without a secret dissatisfaction at the ill-nature of his brother. The travellers were mounted, and attended by such a train as became the rank of the principal person in the party. They entered the King’s valley, and directed their course between Mizpa and Nob towards Geba, which lay not far from Rama, the city where Samuel judged,[98] called in latter times Arimathea. The road was stony; the conversation of the party turned wholly on worldly topics. This Geba is also called Geba of Benjamin, to distinguish it from another of the same name: it was celebrated for David’s victory over the Philistines.[99] It lay on a rising ground, six sabbath-days’ journies from Jerusalem, and was one of the cities of the priests.[100] As they had been late in quitting Jerusalem, they halted here for their rest at noon, and as most of the party were disposed to consult their own ease, they remained till late in the afternoon. The road to Michmash was more steep and rocky than that which they had travelled. Here they had to traverse a defile, between two abrupt and rugged rocks, in the mountains of Ephraim, forming a pass which had been rendered celebrated by the exploits of Jonathan in Saul’s first expedition against the Philistines,[101] and by the residence of the Maccabee prince Jonathan.[102] They halted for the night at Bethel, a place of which the name often occurs in the sacred writings. This city was sixteen sabbath-days’ journies from Jerusalem, and Helon called to mind that from the mulberry-trees in its neighbourhood it had been named Luz, when Abraham dwelt there; that Jacob here saw the vision of the ladder on which the angels ascended and descended, and that rising upon the following morning he built an altar to Jehovah, and called the name of the place Bethel.[103] The ark of the covenant had long stood here; and it was here too, alas, that Jeroboam had set up the worship of the golden calves which he had learnt in Egypt, causing Israel to sin.[104] The prophets so much abhorred its idolatries that they changed its name into Bethaven, _place of unworthiness_; and to go to Bethel, came to signify the same thing as to apostatize from Jehovah to idolatry.[105]

Footnote 98:

1 Sam. vii. 17.

Footnote 99:

2 Sam. v. 25.

Footnote 100:

1 Chron. vi. 60.

Footnote 101:

1 Sam. xiv. 4.

Footnote 102:

1 Mac. ix. 73.

Footnote 103:

Gen. xxviii. 19.

Footnote 104:

1 Kings xii. 29.

Footnote 105:

Hos. x. 5; Amos iv. 4.

On the following morning, instead of taking the usual road by Lebona and Gophna, they went by Shiloh, where the governor had business. Shiloh was the first town in Samaria, and peculiarly interesting to Helon, from the circumstance that Joshua came thither from Gilgal,[106] and that the tabernacle had long stood there. It was very pleasantly situated on a hill, whence the mountains both of Judah and Ephraim might be seen. For nearly three hundred years it was the place in which the tribes assembled, till the tabernacle was removed to Nob[107] and Bethel; afterwards by Saul to Gibeon;[108] and finally by David to Jerusalem. It was here that in the times of the Judges the maidens were carried off by violence;[109] here Eli had fallen from his seat, at the news of the capture of the ark by the Philistines.[110] After the mid-day rest at Shiloh, the governor hastened to his residence at Sichem, which was sixteen sabbath-days’ journies from Shiloh, thirty-six from Bethel, and more than fifty from Jerusalem.

Footnote 106:

Josh. xviii. 1.

Footnote 107:

1 Sam. xxi. 1.

Footnote 108:

2 Chron. i. 3.

Footnote 109:

Judges xxi. 16.

Footnote 110:

1 Sam. iv. 18.

Iddo had strongly recommended Helon to the good offices of the governor, who, to do honour to the recommendation, invited him to take up his abode in his own house, which displayed every luxury of furniture, and a numerous train of servants. The pompous condescension, the free life and licentious conversation of the governor, who was a Jew by birth, but a Samaritan in sensuality and worldly mindedness, were so displeasing to Helon, that he would instantly have departed; but his host would not allow him to go without passing a few days with him. He endeavoured to console himself by exploring every object of interest in the neighbourhood, for which purpose the governor furnished him with attendants and guides.

Sichem lay in a plain, or to speak more accurately, in a valley, which extended to the east and west. On the northern and southern sides of the long line of the city rose the two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, separated by so small an interval, that the voice might be heard from the summit of the one to the summit of the other. Thus sheltered from the pernicious winds of the north-west and south-west, it lay stretched out in picturesque beauty, at the feet of the gigantic guards that seemed stationed for its protection. It was half a sabbath-day’s journey in length, but so narrow, that it consisted only of two parallel streets, with an open space between them. The fruitful plain into which the valley expanded was watered by several mountain streams, and diversified by vineyards and olive-yards, plantations of mulberries, and orchards of figs, citrons, and pomegranates. About a sabbath-day’s journey from the city, on the road to Jerusalem, was the well of Jacob, situated in the field or plain which Jacob had purchased from the children of Hamor.[111] The well is nine feet in diameter, and a hundred deep, with five feet of water. It was cut in the rock, and a flight of steps descended to the water. In the midst of this lovely plain stood the grove of Moreh.[112]

Footnote 111:

Gen. xxxiii. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32.

Footnote 112:

Gen. xii. 6.

From every part of the plain Sichem and its hills of Ebal and Gerizim were seen. The city seemed more closely connected with Gerizim which lay on the south, than with Ebal on the north. Gerizim was fruitful, abounding in springs and covered with vines and olives; its principal face being turned to the north, it escaped that parching heat which made Ebal scorched and bare. The latter, on the side adjacent to the city was full of caverns, which served the inhabitants as sepulchres.

The natural beauties of this exquisite scene were combined with a multitude of historical associations. The grove of Moreh had been the first resting-place of Abraham, when he entered the Land of Promise. Jacob had dug the well, purchased the plain, and buried the idols of his wives beneath the terebinth.[113] The outrage committed by his sons Simeon and Levi had compelled him to retire to Bethel, through fear of the men of Sichem.[114] Joshua had called the tribes together for the last time to this place,[115] and had caused a stone to be erected on Ebal, as a memorial of the renewal of the covenant with Jehovah. It was Sichem which proclaimed Abimelech king, after he had murdered his seventy brethren; it had also been the first to revolt from him, in consequence of which it was destroyed and sowed with salt.[116] At Sichem the schism between Israel and Judah was consummated, and Jeroboam made it the metropolis of the new kingdom.[117] After the erection of the temple on Gerizim, which Hyrcanus had destroyed, Sichem had been for three hundred years the chief seat of the Samaritan idolatry.

Footnote 113:

Gen. xxxv. 4.

Footnote 114:

Gen. xxxiv.

Footnote 115:

Josh. xxiv. 1.

Footnote 116:

Judges ix.

Footnote 117:

1 King xii. 25.

Helon dismissed his guides as soon as they had pointed out to him the particular spots, and every morning wandered alone for several hours over the neighbourhood. Now he lingered beside the well of Jacob, or traversed the field of the patriarch, or rested in the grove of Moreh; now, from the lofty side of Ebal or Gerizim, beheld the whole landscape spread at his feet. His hours flowed on without his being conscious of their lapse, while, in the dreams of thought, he pictured to himself his approaching happiness, not without a secret feeling of pride in his virtuous resolution, in having quitted Sulamith for a time, in compliance with her father’s command. He returned unwillingly towards evening, to take his place among the guests at the luxurious table of the governor, and hear their heartless jests.

Once however, during his rambles, he found the governor’s protection of great importance to him. He had joined some Samaritans who had laid themselves down in the shade of some olives on the sloping side of Gerizim, and were conversing about their temple and their worship, the rites of which were still celebrated amidst its ruins. They reviled Hyrcanus and his sons, and exalted the memory of Sanballat and Manasseh. This was more than Helon could endure. He started up and exclaimed, “Where is your temple? When Moses commanded that on the entrance of the tribes into the promised land, one half should stand on Ebal to curse the ungodly, and the other half on Gerizim to bless the godly, (as was done under Joshua,) he said, ‘When ye go over the Jordan ye shall raise up stones upon mount Ebal, and plaster them with lime, and there build an altar of stones to Jehovah your God.’[118] And ye, contrary to the express command of God, have built a temple upon Gerizim!”

Footnote 118:

Deut. xxvii. 4; Josh. viii. 30.

The Samaritans arose, and in violent anger exclaimed, “Thou art a Jew, one of those who through hatred against us have corrupted the law, have effaced the name of Gerizim and inserted that of Ebal.”

“It is false,” said Helon.

“We alone possess the genuine law,” exclaimed the Samaritans. “And ye have the curse,” replied Helon with equal emotion.

The dialogue was growing so warm, that Helon might probably have suffered some personal violence from them, had not the officers of justice made their appearance, who carried them all before the governor. He speedily decided the matter, dismissed the Samaritans with scorn—giving Helon at the same time many sarcastic admonitions, to controul his zeal and enthusiasm more carefully in future. At the evening’s banquet he had again to endure his raillery; and when he was alone he could not help exclaiming, “Well may Sichem be called in Judæa _Sichar_, for it is in truth the place of drunkenness and lies!”

On the following morning he took his departure. The governor politely gave him an escort as far as Samaria; fearing, as he said, that he should expose himself to the same dangers as on mount Gerizim: Helon accepted the offer, but shook off the dust of Sichem from his feet when he had quitted it.

Samaria was in the former territory of the tribe of Manasseh. Omri, the sixth king of Israel, and father of Ahab, built it, and called it after Samer, the possessor of the ground.[119] Thirza, which had before been the royal residence, having been reduced to ashes, Samaria became the capital of the kingdom of Israel, and remained so till its destruction. At that time it was a league in circumference, was called the head of Ephraim, and contained a magnificent temple of Baal which Jezebel had erected.[120] It slighted the warnings of Elijah and Elisha, and was destroyed by the Assyrian Salmanasser, after a siege of three years.[121]

Footnote 119:

1 Kings xvi. 24.

Footnote 120:

1 Kings xvi. 32.

Footnote 121:

2 Kings xvii. 5.

At this time it was a picture of desolation. The lofty hill on which it once stood, with a view towards Joppa, Carmel, and the Mediterranean sea, was covered with heaps of ruins and water-courses diverted from their channels. Its commanding prospect only made it a more conspicuous monument of the valour and the vengeance of the heroes of Judah and of the wickedness of its inhabitants. A second time the prophetic word of Hosea and Micah had received its accomplishment.[122] Helon looked down at once with exultation and gratitude to God upon the scattered huts in which the children of Samaria were hiding themselves, while the sons of Jerusalem were praising Jehovah in their houses and their palaces.

Footnote 122:

Hos. viii. ix. x.; Micah i. 6.

He dismissed the escort of the governor and pursued his way to Thirza, the limits of this day’s journey. He had purposed to reach Megiddo, but his progress was arrested by a spectacle equally new and interesting; a tribe of wandering shepherds, who were making their annual migration from the plain of Sharon to mount Hermon. They had been detained later than usual, for they commonly remove early in the spring. The flocks and herds led the way, behind them came camels laden with their tents, baggage, and poultry, and the young of the flocks, which as yet were too weak to accompany the march. The women and children followed, mounted on other camels; some of the females were spinning as they rode, others grinding in their hand-mills, others tending their infant children. The boys ran by the side of the camels, playing or fighting. Lances, from eight to ten feet in length, were every where seen above the heads of this tumultuous train; and on all sides were heard the hoarse voices of the men who carried them, some of whom were endeavouring to maintain order, and others surrounded and protected the line of march.

When they reached their ordinary place of encampment, a new scene began; the sheep and goats laid themselves in the grass, the camels knelt down, the poultry flew from their backs. In two hours the dark brown tents were erected. Helon made Sallu assist them, while he himself looked on and enjoyed the animated confusion of the scene. With upright and cross poles a large tent of an oblong form was erected. The coverings were of a thick brown stuff made of goats’ hair, and the door of the tent was nothing but a curtain of this cloth, which could be lifted up or drawn aside. In the middle was the tent of the chief of this nomadic tribe; the rest were pitched around it, to the distance of thirty paces. Every one of the larger tents was divided into three parts by curtains; in the outermost were the young and tender cattle which required shelter, in the next the men, and in the innermost the women. The mattresses, pillows, and coverlets for sleeping were laid in one corner; the weapons were hung on the sides of the tent; carpets were spread upon the floor, a hole dug in the middle for the fire, and the few and simple articles of household furniture, wooden dishes, vessels of copper, a hand-mill, and bottles of leather, easily found their appropriate place.

Helon beheld, with admiration, the rapid erection of this moveable town. The number of the tents was about thirty, that of the men and women above two hundred, and the cattle amounted to some thousands. Always reminded of the past by the present, he thought he saw the Rechabites, or Israel journeying in the wilderness, or the pastoral wanderings of Abraham and Jacob. “How much more agreeable to nature, how much more favourable to virtue,” thought he, “is this life of simplicity and freedom, than the constraint and luxury of the governor’s palace!” He laid himself down beside the well, and thought “what would be wanting to the happiness or to the purity of life, if here, with Sulamith, I could spend my days, far from the cares and the temptations of the busy world!”

The chief of the tribe received him and Sallu hospitably, with their horses and camels, and killed a calf for their entertainment, which the women prepared by roasting in small square pieces. Milk, butter, and cheese formed the rest of their repast. At the first dawn of morning the whole encampment was in motion, to milk the cattle and lead them out to their pasture. Helon often cast his eyes towards the spot where a few scattered cottages marked the place on which the ruins of Thirza stood. Though the city had disappeared, the loveliness of the site still showed why Thirza had been to the Hebrews an emblem for beauty.[123] Baasha governed Israel from this hill, and Zimri the murderer of his son, after seven days’ enjoyment of the fruits of his crime, consumed himself along with the royal palace.[124] “These,” said Helon, “are all passed away; the capital and the kingdom are alike become a tradition; yet the tribes of migrating shepherds still pursue the track which their forefathers kept in ages past!”

Footnote 123:

Cant. vi. 4.

Footnote 124:

1 Kings, xv. xvi.

About noon a small caravan of merchants arrived, which usually followed the shepherds: they pitched their white tents, and spread their wares out around them. The shepherds came and purchased what they wanted, giving in exchange skins, wool, goats’ hair, cheese, and even cattle. Helon purchased some ornaments, which he designed to be a present to his hospitable entertainer. He remained some days among them, delighted beyond measure with their mode of life, and entering with the liveliest interest into all their occupations. He helped the shepherds to water their flocks from the well, played with the children, and related stories in the evening, when they gathered with their camels around the fire.

Only a few days now remained to the time when he was to meet Myron at Dan. After taking a friendly leave, he directed his course to Megiddo, which lies between the fragrant plain of Sharon on the south, and the great plain of Jezreel on the north. Megiddo is celebrated for the battle in which the kings Ahaziah and Josiah were killed fighting against Neco, king of Egypt.[125] Helon had come hither to see the great route of the Phœnician commerce, which pursued a course parallel to the sea. He passed Tunis Stratonis, a small and now almost abandoned town, but possessed, as he remarked, of an incomparable harbour. Here he was a hundred stadia from Jerusalem. Keeping to the north from Turris Stratonis, he came to Dor, which is also on the sea-coast, and thence by Magdiel to the foot of Carmel.

Footnote 125:

2 Kings, xxiii. 29.

Carmel joins the plain of Sharon to the south, and the hills of Ephraim to the south-east; and on the north the bay of Acco and the plain of Jezreel or Esdraelon, through which the Kishon runs, rising in mount Tabor, and falling into the sea at the foot of Carmel, after having divided the lands of Issachar and Zebulon. Helon ascended the mountain; it is of great height, and has a wide and beautiful prospect both by land and sea. It is distinguished, as its name expresses, by its fertility. Its very summit is crowned with pines and oaks; its lower regions abound with olives and laurels. Helon, as he stood on it, thought with sacred awe of the victory which the worship of Jehovah had gained over that of Baal, through the energetic zeal of Elijah of Thisba, and of the slaughter of the priests of Baal, which made Kishon run purple to the sea.[126] As he descended, he found a multitude of Phœnician fishermen engaged in taking the shell-fish from which their celebrated die is made. There are two species of this fish; one is caught by bait, the other, which is particularly abundant on the shore of Carmel, is gathered from the rocks. The die is contained in a white vein or bladder in the neck; the Phœnicians made from it fourteen shades of purple, of which the most highly prized, the bright red and the violet, were manufactured with inimitable skill at Tyre. A shepherd’s dog which had fed upon the fish, and had thus stained his mouth of a beautiful colour, is said to have furnished the first hint for this lucrative article of commerce.

Footnote 126:

1 Kings, xviii.

Helon did not proceed from Carmel to Acco,[127] a Phœnician city on the river Belus, for he had resolved to enter no heathen place on this journey, devoted to exploring the regions of the promised land. Leaving Carmel to the south, a high hill to the north, which bears the name of the Tyrian Climax, (or stair) and the hills of Galilee on the east, he entered the plain of Zebulon. But he often turned to look on the kingly head of Carmel, and to admire the structure of the hills which form the Tyrian Climax, descending, as by a flight of steps, from their highest elevation to the level of the sea. The city of Tyre lay behind these hills.

Footnote 127:

Judges, i. 31.

Quitting Samaria, and entering Galilee, the plain of Zebulon brought him to Gathhepher, the birthplace of the prophet Jonah; and thence he proceeded through the land of Naphthali to Thisba, where in ancient times the prophet Elijah, and more recently the pious Tobit,[128] had been born. But neither beautiful scenery nor the gratification of beholding the places where eminent men had lived, could efface from Helon’s mind the painful feeling that every step which he took carried him further from Jericho. His pride in the consciousness of fulfilling a duty became less and less able to support him; he thought that he had carried his obedience a point too far, and was angry with Selumiel, with Elisama,—with himself. He was therefore rejoiced when he saw in the distance Antilibanus, the southern branch of a chain of mountains, of which the other branch lay in Phœnicia. This was consequently the boundary of the promised land. Its name, Lebanon, was derived from the whiteness of its rocks and peaks, especially from the perennial snow[129] which covered the head of Hermon, its highest summit. The morning sun was shining on its brilliant peak, as Helon crossed the lesser Jordan, and entered Dan, the frontier town of Judæa on the north. He inquired his way to the caravansera, and had just halted before it with his horses and camels when Myron came out and embraced him.

Footnote 128:

Tobit, i. 2.

Footnote 129:

Jer. xviii. 14.

Helon joyfully returned his salutation. “And you will be ready,” said he, “to-morrow, to set off for Jericho?”

Myron burst into a laugh. “It is true, I see, what the Galilean said, on his return, of the good fortune which has befallen you there. My own good star has brought me to be the witness of your nuptials. Receive my hearty congratulations. How does my venerable Elisama? But our first care must be to give your beasts rest and shelter.”

The Grecian levity of Myron’s manner was a relief to Helon. They entered the court of the caravansera; in the middle of it was a large cistern of water, from which the horses and camels drank; the baggage was deposited in rooms behind the portico, and fodder for the beasts, with a scanty supply for themselves, was to be purchased of the attendant in the caravansera. When these things were done, Myron and Helon seated themselves in a corner of the portico, where they should be most free from interruption, and Helon related to his friend his adventures since they separated. When his narrative was ended, Myron said, “After you left the caravan at Gaza, I had a melancholy life in the midst of my merchants, none of whom had a single thought in common with me. My freedom of speech was perpetually involving me in disputes, out of which I sometimes found it difficult to extricate myself. I remember particularly at Joppa”—

Helon interrupted him to say, that he had heard of the offence which he had given to a citizen of that place, and expressed his regret at Myron’s want of caution.

“There is no malice,” said Myron, “in my pleasantries; and for the rest be assured, that not one Greek in a hundred really feels such veneration for your religion and your people as I do. When I had seen the singular Tyrian Climax, I had a great curiosity to visit Tyre and Sidon. They were the parents of Carthage, Thebes, Gades in Spain, and many other powerful colonies. Arithmetic, astronomy, geography, navigation, were either invented by them, or at least taught by them to the Greeks. It was Hiram, king of Tyre, as you have told me, who built the eighth wonder of the world, the temple of your king Solomon, at Jerusalem. Even the great invention of alphabetical writing was probably made by them; that of the purple die is not disputed. There is something too in the situation of Tyre, in the midst of the sea, obliged to supply by her own activity and ingenuity what a narrow and rocky country denied, which made me very desirous of seeing by what institutions she had been able to contend so successfully against natural disadvantages. I found manufactures of glass and purple in full activity, docks crowded with ships, and markets full of silk, wool, cotton, ivory, ebony, and cedar, of all the precious and the useful metals, of wine and oil, of horses, dromedaries, and slaves: but the character of the inhabitants pleased me not; their sagacity is cunning; their polish, the want of force and individuality of character; their pride, the ignoble pride of wealth. I did homage in my own mind to the wisdom of your lawgiver, who chose to form a nation of agriculturists, rather than of merchants.

“How exactly,” said Helon, “does your account of the new Tyre agree with that which our prophet gives of the old. Shall I repeat you a part of it?”

“I shall listen to it most willingly,” said Myron. “Since our separation I have wished to hear more of your psalms and prophets, though when we were together I was disposed to complain of excess rather than deficiency.”

“Hear, then,” said Helon, “what Ezekiel spoke:

The word of Jehovah came to me saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyre, And say of Tyre; O city! that art at the entrance of the sea, Merchant of the nations in many islands, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Thou, O Tyre, sayest, I am mightiest (of cities) Thy borders are in the sea; Thy builders have made thee perfect in beauty, They have made all thy planks of firs of Shenir, They have fetched cedars from Lebanon to make thee masts, They made thine oars of oak of Bashan; Thy benches, inlaid with ivory, They made with box from the islands of Chittim. Embroidered byssus from Egypt thou didst spread forth, It served thee for a sail; Thy coverings (canopies) were blue and purple, From the isles of Elisha. Sidonians and men of Arvad were thy rowers; The most skilful, O Tyre, were from thyself; They were thy pilots; The oldest and most skilful men of Gebal were thy ship-wrights. All the ships on the sea and their mariners Came to thee to purchase thy merchandise.

Persians, Lydians, and Lybians served as warriors in thine armies, They hung up their helmets and shields in thee; They upheld thy splendour. The men of Arvad with thine own warriors were upon thy walls, The Gammadæans in thy towers. They had hung their shields around on thy walls, They made thy splendour complete. Tarshish dealt with thee Through the abundance of thy merchandise of every kind: They brought silver, iron, tin, and lead for thy traffic. Grecians, Tibarenians, and Moschians dealt with thee, They brought men and vessels of copper to thy markets; From Togarmah they brought for thy traffic Horses of various breeds and mules. The men of Dedan trafficked with thee, (For many isles offered thee the hand for traffic) They brought ivory and ebony-wood In exchange for thy commodities. Idumea dealt with thee Through the multitude of thy fabrics; They brought rubies, purple, and embroidery, Corals, and crystal for thy traffic. Israel and Judah dealt with thee They brought wheat from Minnith and Pennag; Honey, oil, and balsam to thy mart. Damascus dealt with thee Through the multitude of thy fabrics, Through the abundance of thy riches; (They brought) wine of Chalybon and white wool. Vedan and Javan brought from Usul Polished steel for thy traffic;

Cassia and cinnamon were in thy mart. Dedan dealt with thee With coverings of horses and chariots. Arabia and the princes of Kedar dealt with thee With lambs, and rams, and goats. The merchants of Sheba and Rama dealt with thee; They brought for thy traffic The best of spices, precious stones, and gold. Haran and Cane, and Eden, and the merchants of Sheba, Assyrians and Chilmedians dealt with thee; They dealt with thee in costly clothes, In blue and embroidered mantles, With store of clothes Which, bound up with cords, They brought to thy mart. But the ships of Tarshish were chief in thy mart, (By them) thou wast filled with treasures and renowned in the midst of the seas.”—Ezek. xxvii.

“A splendid, but not an exaggerated picture,” said Myron, “of the commerce of Tyre. Yet with all its luxury and splendour it was so little to my taste, that I left it and went to Damascus. But how, Helon, shall I describe to thee this eye of the east, this terrestrial Elysium? Imagine a lovely plain, fruitful, well watered, full of trees and meadows, bordered on both sides by hills, but at a considerable distance; by Antilibanus on the one hand, and the Arabian chain on the other. From Antilibanus descends a stream which is called Chrysorrhoas; on entering the plain it divides into three branches, of which the principal flows straight towards Damascus, and separating its amber waters into a multitude of little streams, refreshes every street of the city. Reuniting below the city with the other two branches, they all form a lake of great extent on the eastern verge of the plain. In the red soil of which this plain is composed, every variety of fruit-tree grows in greater perfection than elsewhere. The city itself is one of the oldest in the world. I had passed my time there most happily, and nothing would have drawn me from it so soon but your friendly invitation. I have been waiting here for you since yesterday.”

On the following morning early they left the caravansera, and turning from Hermon’s snowy peak, they passed between the hills of Antilibanus, of which Hermon is only a part, and bending eastward, came first to Paneas. It lies at the foot of a hill, which also belongs to Antilibanus; and the Jordan flows from caverns in the rock. They were wondering at its copiousness, so near its apparent source, when an inhabitant of Paneas approaching, said, “Strangers, this is not the real head of the Jordan. It has already flowed sixteen sabbath-days’ journies under the earth. At that distance, to the east of Paneas, is a little lake, called from its form Phiala, which is constantly receiving the influx of streams, yet, without any visible outlet, never overflows. The reason is, that its waters by a subterraneous channel pass to the hill of Paneas, and break forth there as the Jordan, which from this cause appears of such magnitude at its source.” They asked him how the existence of this subterraneous channel was known, and he told them that things which had been thrown into the lake of Phiala had reappeared in the Jordan.

From Paneas they followed the course of the Jordan to the lake Merom,[130] called also Samochonitis. Before it reaches this lake it receives the lesser Jordan, which rises near Dan; and the Daphne, whose source is not far from the place where it issues from the rock. The lake Merom is ten sabbath-days’ journies long, and five broad, and full of sedge and oozy water. In summer it is so much dried up, that only the bright line of the Jordan’s current is visible; and lions, tigers, bears, and other wild animals, harbour in the reeds and bushes with which the rest is overgrown; till, when the snow of Lebanon begins to melt, the Jordan overflows, and fills up the whole basin of the lake.[131] It was now full. Not being able, owing to the inundation, to take the nearest way to the lake of Genezareth, they struck into the desert, thinking thus to reach Bethsaida, which was at the distance of sixteen sabbath-days’ journies.

Footnote 130:

Josh. xi. 5.

Footnote 131:

Jer. xlix. 19; Eccles. xxiv. 26; Josh. iii. 15.

They had ridden a long time in this desert, under the burning rays of the sun, and at last discovered that they had missed their way. Perceiving some living figures in the distance, which they took for shepherds, they made towards them in the hope of obtaining information. As they came nearer to them the men warned them by gestures to keep at a distance, with hoarse and broken voices, and melancholy looks, uttering the words, Unclean, unclean![132] “They are lepers,” said Helon, with a look of horror, and turning his horse’s head fled with precipitation, followed by the others.

Footnote 132:

Lev. xiii. 45.

The huts in which these unhappy victims of a loathsome disease dwelt were hard by in the desert. As our travellers were hastening from the scene, they met the relations of the lepers, who dwelt in Bethsaida, and who were bringing them the food by which their miserable existence was to be protracted. The lepers set down their vessels and retired out of sight; the others then came, placed provisions in them with the greatest caution, and carefully avoiding to touch them; and then hastened away, as from the region of death. Father and mother, brother and sister, children and wife, all forsake the miserable leper; scarcely will one of those who are clean venture to bid him peace from afar; and when the provision is no longer fetched away, they rejoice that his sufferings are terminated.

These men had been attacked by the elephantiasis, the most virulent of all the kinds of leprosy. It is gradual in its approaches, a scaly scurf overspreading the body; the nervous system loses its sensibility, the touch grows duller and duller, till it is lost altogether. Little pain is felt by the afflicted person, but dejection and despondency take possession of his mind. The breath becomes corrupt, swellings of the size of a nut are formed, and ulcers cover the body. The nails fall from the fingers and the toes; in some cases these parts themselves drop off; the hair turns grey and falls; all the joints become stiff; and yet, while the unhappy person becomes a burthen to himself and loathsome to all around him, he eats and drinks as usual. This terrible disease is not only in the highest degree contagious, but also hereditary, sometimes continuing in a family to the fourth generation. No wonder that it should be regarded as a judgment of God for some enormous crime.

Helon and his companions continued their hasty flight, till they reached the Jordan, which soon conducted them to Bethsaida, which stood at the place where it falls into the lake of Genezareth. Bethsaida is almost wholly inhabited by fishermen, whom they found busily employed with the angle and the net. They called some of them, and were conveyed in one of their boats across the lake to Magdala The lake of Genezareth, called also the lake of Chinnereth,[133] and the lake of Galilee, is twenty sabbath-days’ journies long, and six broad. Its waters abound with fish, and are so clear that the stones at the bottom can be seen. Aromatic bulrushes and reeds grow along the shores. The form of the lake is nearly oval, and it lies in a deep vale, which on the east and west is closed in by high mountains, on the north and south expands into a plain. As Helon and Myron sailed on its transparent waters, they saw first of all, on its western side, Capernaum, which, as its name implies, was delightfully situated, between the lake and the hills, lower down to the east Chorazin, and a multitude of smaller places. The celebrated region of Decapolis lay on the eastern side, beyond the hills.

Footnote 133:

Josh. xiii. 27; Numb. xxxiv. 11.

Arrived at Magdala, they quitted their boat, and traced the shore as far as where the Jordan issues from the lake, crossed the river, and being joined by the slaves with the horses and camels, took the road to Tabor, which lies at the end of the plain of Jezreel, over against Carmel. Notwithstanding Helon’s impatience, he could not pass so celebrated a mountain without a nearer examination, and Myron willingly came into his plans.

This lofty hill rises out of the middle of the plain, wholly unconnected with any other. Its base is composed of an ash-coloured stone, and as the upper part is covered with trees, it has the appearance of a tall pillar with a verdant capital. The ascent to the summit is nearly five sabbath-days’ journies, and on the top is a plain of about four in circumference. Wild animals and birds abound on it; and Hosea alludes to the fowling which was carried on here to a great extent.[134] Barak assembled an army of 100,000 men on Tabor from Zebulon and Naphthali, before he engaged with Sisera;[135] and indeed a fitter position for a camp can scarcely be imagined. Helon and Myron were astonished at the extent of the view. The snowy peak of Hermon and the dark exhalations of the Dead Sea can both be discerned from it. “And there,” exclaimed Helon, transported with delight, “are the towers of Jericho!” The sea of Galilee, the Jordan and the Peræa, spread themselves on the east; on the west the prospect reached to the Mediterranean and to Carmel; near which the Kishon, which rises in Tabor, falls into the sea; a small branch of it discharges itself into the lake of Galilee. Near Tabor, to the north-west, was Nazareth, situated on the slope of a hill and extending into a little valley, shut in on every side. To the south lay Endor, famed in the history of Saul; and near to each other Shunam,[136] the scene of Elisha’s miracle, and Jezreel, fifteen sabbath-days’ journies from Samaria, on which was the vineyard of Naboth.[137] From this place the whole plain derives the name of Jezreel, or Esdraelon. Further in the distance, a dark shade lowered on the hills of Gilboa. Helon called to mind the lamentation of David for Jonathan and Saul, who had been slain in battle here against the Philistines; and he repeated it to Myron, assuring him that he had never heard a more pathetic elegy.

Footnote 134:

Hos. v. 1.

Footnote 135:

Judg. iv. 12.

Footnote 136:

2 Kings iv.

Footnote 137:

1 Kings xxi.

And David spoke this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: “Is the pride of Israel fallen on thy high places? So are the mighty fallen. O tell it not in Gath, Publish it not in the streets of Askelon, Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph! Ye mountains of Gilboa, No dew, no rain be on your field of slaughter! For there has the shield of the mighty been thrown away, The shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the marrow of the mighty, The bow of Jonathan turned not back, The sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, And in their death they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles, They were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep for Saul! He clothes you no more in purple, Nor puts ornaments of gold on your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O! Jonathan, thou wast slain on thine high places; I am distressed for thee my brother Jonathan; Very dear wast thou to me: Thy love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen! How are the weapons of war cast away!”

Myron did justice to this pathetic elegy; and they descended Tabor together.

Their journey was now directed to Bethshan or Scythopolis, the place at which the Galilean pilgrims were wont to cross the Jordan, in order to avoid the Samaritans, by keeping on the other side as low down as Bethabara, where they crossed it again. The line from Dor on the Mediterranean to Bethshan formed the boundary between Samaria and Galilee. Galilee contained two hundred larger and smaller towns, some of the latter having as many as 15,000 inhabitants. Agriculture, fishing, and pasturage, the culture of the vine and the olive, all were carried on with success in this country, which is diversified with hills and plains, both of them abounding in water. The inhabitants were characterised by their love of freedom, though both their language and their manners were corrupted by their great intercourse with foreign nations.

They quitted Galilee at Bethshan, and crossing the Jordan pursued their journey along the numerous windings of the stream, which from Bethsaida to the Dead Sea has a course of seventy-two sabbath-days’ journies. Succoth,[138] where Jacob built huts, near Mahanaim,[139] a town on the Jabbok, (so named by him from the vision which was granted to him there) Debir[140] and Bethabara, were hastily passed. At length the Jordan opened into the plain of Jericho; they passed through the city gate and soon reached the hospitable mansion of Selumiel. The gate, with its pious inscriptions,[141] opened to receive them; Myron was astonished at the splendour of the house; while Helon thought only that this was his happy home.

Footnote 138:

Gen. xxxiii. 17.

Footnote 139:

Gen. xxxii. 2.

Footnote 140:

Josh. xiii. 26.

Footnote 141:

Deut. xi. 20.