62 MEMOIR OF BTJRCKHARDT. 



was occupied by six or eight hundred men. Bona- 

 parte dined in the town, which was the most north- 

 ern point of his expedition ; he had come to the 

 relief of Kleber, who had encountered 25,000 Turks 

 in the plain of Esdraelon, and returned the same 

 day to Acre. 



As Burckhardt had resolved to visit Szalt, a 

 strong castle in the mountains of Belka, which he 

 had not been able to see during his late tour in the 

 Haouran, it happened fortunately that two petty 

 merchants from that place came to Nazareth when 

 he was on the eve of his departure ; he joined their 

 little caravan ; and after passing the ruins of En- 

 dor (where the witch's grotto is shown), Nablous, 

 Beysan (Scythopolis), and Jabbok, the travellers 

 descended into the Ghor, or valley of the Jordan, 

 and arrived at Szalt, which is only a few hours' 

 journey from Djibel Djelaoud, the Gilead of Scrip- 

 ture history. 



The Szaltese are entirely independent of the 

 Turkish government ; a few of them are artisans, 

 but the greater number pursue agriculture. In 

 July and August they collect in the mountains the 

 leaves of the sumach, which they dry and carry to 

 the market at Jerusalem, for the use of the tan- 

 neries. The merchants also buy up ostrich feathers 

 from the Bedouins, which they sell to great advan- 

 tage at Damascus. Many hills and ruins in this 

 district preserve the names of the Old Test? me -nt, 

 and elucidate the topography of the province that 

 fell to the lot ef the tribes & Gad and Reuben. 



