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Miscellany

Miscellany image
Parent Issue
Day
8
Month
January
Year
1848
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

We made an excursión from Jerusalèm fo (lie Jordán and the Dead Sea ; going by way of Bethany and Jerico, and retürning by the convent of St. Saba. Therë ís at this day so much danger of falling among thieves in going down from Jerusalem to Jericho,ihat trsvellers join parties whèn they can, and unitetheir guards into a eorpse ofarmed rtien. Our own party of four joinëd the ten wilh whom we had travelled in thé desert; and four strangers - Eü'ropean genilemen - requested peimission to ride with üs. ThUs ive Werë eighteen ; and thè drngomen, cooks, horsekeepers, and muis drivërs, who took charge of our lents and bnggage, and tén drmed guards, swelled our humber to that of a oaravan which no robbers were likely to attack. Indeed we scarcèly saw anybody the whole way. The dingerous part of the road appeared deserted, and the plain of Jericlio, once studded with lowns, and filled with fertility, lay lieforè us almost as liieless as the basin of the Dead Sea. We left Jerusnlem by St. Stephen's gále- -niy three friends, tnyself, nnd our servants and baggage - and met the rest of our travelling party at the bridge in the valley of Jehcsorhat, at 9 A. M. - We proceeded by the cimel road to Bethany, which winds up the side of Olivet, and, crosses its ridge to tlie eflst. As soon as we had passéd the ridge, Bethany came in view, laying on the easlern slope of the Mount of Olives,and, as we all know, " fifieen furlongs" distance from Jerusalem. lt is now a village inbabited by about twenty families; a very poor place ; but looking less spualid than might be expected, from its houses beiiij; buil!, as everywhere in that country, of slones square substantial,and large, compnred with cottages in England. lts posiiion on the side of the hill is very fine, seen from 1 elow. Before descending the hill, however, wealighled Ir om our horses, to visit an old tomb, which is called the tomb of Lazarus. No enlightened traveller believes ihis to be really the place where Lazarus was buried; but toaee anyancient tomb on that spot was an Jpportuniiy not to be missed; and we gladly went down the dark rock-hewn steps to the little chamber where some corpse liad once been laid. 1 have often wished thnt the old painters had enjoyed such opportuniiies; aud then we should liave had representntions of Lazarus coming fort!) from champers in the rock, and not rising from such a gravo as' is dug inEuropean churchyards. The limestone rocks of Judea are full of holes and caverns; and we know from the Scriptures hoW abundantly these were used by the old inhabitants,as dwellings furthemselves andthcir caltle, as a shelter to the wayfarer, a refuge to the fugitive, a hidingplace for robbers, and a place of deposite for thè dead. Wherè a caverr. was found with or recesses in the sides, a little labor would make au exetnsive place ofburial. By squaring the entrance,and givinp sorïte regularity-to the arch of thp roof, a handsome vestibule was obtained; and then the rècesses were hewn into form, for thbrecepüon of bodies. Sometimes these rècesses had pits; sometí mes niches in their walls, so rha! each recess would eorrtain several bodies; nnd sometimes they were smnll, so astocontain only one each. Sometimes the vestibule opened out irrto passages, which had recesses on each hand; so tbat a large company of the dead might lie hidden in the heart of the mountain. The whole was secufed from wild bensts ar.d otfier in. trusión by a stone door fitted to the entrance, or a lurge block rolled up against it. Those who have seen these Eastern tombs can never again be puzzled, ns I was n my childhood, when reading of "thecharnbersof the grave" and of the dead calhng to one anothcr' in thehoirse of death, and of the stonê being rolled away from the mouth of sepulchre. - Many a child wonder", as I did, how the way was made clear for Lazarus to come forth, merely by the retnöval of a stone ; but, once 'naving stood looking in at the door of a sepulchre, how vivid j becomes the picture standing there, and calling to Lazarus with "a íoud voice," to come forth! How one hears that voice echoingthrough the chambers of the tomb.nnd seesthe dead man in hhf eerements appearing Trom the steps of the Vault, or the shadow of the recess. In the tomb which we explored at Bethany, tho vaults went down a considerable way into the rock. One fiight of deepj narrow steps, led us into a small vaulted chamber; and two or three more steps, narrow still, into the lowest tbmb, which had little more than room for one body. The monks, when taken as guides, show in the village what they cali the house of Mnrtba and Mary, and that of Simon the Leper; but we did not inquire for these, having no wish lo mix up ahything fabulous with our obsefvctions of a place so Interesting as Bethany. . We looked back upon the villagfi again and ngain, as ve descended into the valley; and it was painful to lose sight of the place where Jesus was wont to go to solace himself with the fi iendship of Lazarus and his sislers, and rest from the conflicts which beset him in the gieat city over yonder ridgo. But we were now on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, an aboutto pass among th ' fa Hnee? of tbe thïeves vvhoseem to have infested this región in all times. After riding along thè valley, sometimes on the one hill and soméiimes on the other,for thiee ör four miles, we left behind us the seanty tillage spread along the boitom of the vallëy, and began to ascend to the hollow way, which is coneidered the most dangerous spot of all. Here, Sir Fredrick Henniker was strippsd and lefi for dead by robbers, ih 1S12. His servants fled and bid thëmselves on the first alarm. Whën thsy rètiirned, he was lying nakèd and bleeding in the sultry road. Tliey put himoh á horsc.and carried hirri to jgricho,where he found sücc ó '. Perhaps he was thinking of the parableof the Samaritan, when this accident befel hirri. I was thinking of it almost every step of the way. Another story was presently afier fiill n my mind; á beautiful Calholic legend which was told rrie by a Germán friend in America, when I little dreamed of ever travelling over thls spot. Our road no w gradual ly ascended the high ridge from which we ere :o overlook the plain of Jericho. The track was so stony and difficu't as to make our progress very s!ow: and tha white rocks, under the mid'day sun, gave out such heat and jlare as made me entc'1 more thoroughyintothe story of Peier and the dierries, than my readers can perliáps do. - Andyct themany tó wbom I hav told he legend in ccnversation have all feit its beauty. It is lhis : Jesusand two or threeofhis disciples went down, one snramcr day, from Jerusnlem of Jericho. Peter - the nrdent and enger Peter was, as usual, by the Teacher's si Ie. On the road, on Olivet, lay a horsehoe, which the Teacher desired Peter to piek up ; but which Peter let lie, as ho did not think it worth the troubleof stooping for. The Teacher stooped for it, and exchanged it in the village for ameasurèof cherries. Thess cherries he carriedj as eastern men now carry such things) in the bosom-foíd of his dress. Whén they hnd to ascend the ridge, and the road lay between lieated rcc'is, and over rugged stones,and amona glnring wliite dust, Peter becamfi tormented vviih heat and thirst, nir'd feil Ijehind. Then the Teacher dropped a ripe cherry at every few steps; and Peter eagerly srooped for them. When they wereall one, Jesus turned to him, and said with asmile, "Ile who is above stooping to a snrmll thing, will hava to bend his back to many lesYër things." From the ridge we had a splendid view of the plain of Ihe Jordán - npparcntly ns flat as a 1á' Ie to the very foot of the Moab Mounlain, whilft the Dead Sea lny, a blue and motionless expansp, to the right - fthèsouth) - and barren rnountains erïclose the whole. The nearer mounta'ns were rocky, brown, and desolate, with here and there the remains of an aqueduct, or other ancient buildings, marking the sites of .settlements which have passed away. The distant mountains were clnthed in the soft and lovely hues which can be seen only through a southern ntmosphore. The plain wis once a delicióos a región as ever rnen lived in. Josephus calis it a "divino region," and tells of its miles ofgardens and palm groves; oud here gréw the balsam which was worih more than its weight in sil ver, and was a treasure for which the kings of the Enst made war. - Jericho is called in the Scriptures the City of Palm Trees; and Jericho was but oneofthe hundred towns which peopled the plain. Now, all near was barren; and equally bare was the distanl tract at the foot of the mounlains; but in the midst was a strip of Verdure, broad, sinuous, and thickly woodsd, where we knew that the Jordán flowed. The palms ore gone; and the sycamores, and the honey whicli the Wild bees mads in the hollows of their sterns. The balsam, which Queen Cleoparta' so eoreted as to send messeners from Egypt for plfrnt lo grow nt Heüöpolis, bas disoppeared frorn the face of the earili; and instead of these, Give, and it shall be given unto yon ; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, nnd running over, shnll men give into your bozom. -L-Lulce, vi, 29. and the fruits and sugar canes whicb werê renownefi in fa'r countries, we find now li ule but lall reeds, thorny acacias, and trees barren óf blossom or fruit. - The verdunt strip, hovvever looks beautiful from afar, and shows fhat the fertility of the plain has not dèparted. There is enough for the support and luxury o'f man, were raau but there to wish for and enjoy them. We descended, by a roád 'ike ári irregular staircase, the steepèst hill I ever rode down. The gentlemen dismounted; but the heat was so excessive thát I venlured to keep rny seat. When I glahced up from the bottom, ard saw the last of ihe party beginning the descent, itloökedso Teaiful that I wa glud to turn away. - We were now at the fcot cfihe rnountain calíed Quarantanin, su'pposed bythe monks to be the scène cf tbe Templation. A few pilgrirris come from afar, every year, to spend fortv days on this tnountain, barsly supporting life during the time by thé herbs they find there. l need Inrdly sy, ihnf there can bé no good renson for P.xing on thi mounta'in as the place, and that the choice of it is probably owing to its commanding the plain of' the Jordun and itscities - once no unfair specimen of the 'Kingdoms of the earth,and theglory of them." The caverns in the face of this moüntain, once used as dwellings or tombs, are now the abodes of robbers. When some of our party showed a desire to reach the lower ones, the Arab Sheikh, who was responsible lor the safety of our party, drew his svoid across his throat, to show the danger, and barred the way. It ma'y be -imembered, Ihatthe men öf Jericho complained tó Elisha the prophet, Ihat the water of their spring was not good, either to drink or to water their land for tillagè, (2 Eings, iij 19;) and that, though iheir city was pleasant, they could not enjoy it for this reason ; and that Elisha purified the spring, ''so that the waters were healed unio this day." Beside this spring, now called Ain Sultan, we encamped in ihe af;ernoon,and found its waters truly delicious. Nothtng could be pretticr thaii this encampment, in a spot so forest-like as to coritntst struifgly with all we had seen ! for rhariy weeks past. Our tent was close upon the brink ofthe clear rushing brook; but the heat was so excessive thát we could not enduré the lent, and had our dinner table placed under a tree, whose roots were washed by ths stream. Broad lights glanced upon the rippling waters, and deep green shadows lay Uppon its pools. Our horses were feeding in the thicket bevond; and the Arabssat in groups near the tents. Other parties of our compnny were dining or lying on the brink of the stream. Every encampment of travellersin these places is beautiful, but t never but oncè saw one so beauiifül as this. After a walk to the remains ofnn aqueduct, and other traces (mere trnces of former habitation in the days when Jericho was a great city, I went. with one companion, to see the spring, which was but a short way from our tents. The water bubbled'up from under some bushes, and spread itself, clear and shallow, ambng some squared stones, which seemed to shovv that the source had once been enclosed. By this time it wns dusk; tha evening star hung above the nearest hill. All was silent about us, excent the rustle and dip ofthe boughs which hung nbovè the water. - My companion and I found the tempta tion lo bathe quite irresislable. Under theshadow of a large overhnnging tree there was a pool deep enough for the purpose, and there we bathed, rejoicing with the people of Jericho in the sweelness of the watir. The Eastern traveller feels a s'rong ineünation to bathe in every sacred sêa, river, and spi ing. IIow great the interest is, and how like that of a new baptism, those at home may not be able to imagine; and sucrr may despise the supersiitution which leads hündreds of pilgrims every year to rush into the Jordán. Bu!, among all the travellers who visit the Jordán, is thcre olie, howeVer far removed from superstition, wlio is willing to turn away without having bowed his head in its sacred waters ? There was no moon to-night; but tlie stars were glorious when I camé out of our tenl to take one more look before retiring to rest. Here and lhere the watch fires cast yellow gleams on the trees and waters; but theie were reaches of the bfook, still nnd cool, where the stars glitiered like fragmenta of mobrilight. This day stands in my journol as one of the most deücious of our travels. Eight millions of new dollars have been coined during this year. Fivo millioiH of it are gold pieces. The cost of óoirr ing isl-ittle over half a cent on a dollar.