SKETCHES OF PALESTINE. 381 



LAKE OF TIBERIAS. 



This inland sea, or more properly lake, which derives its several 

 names, the Lake of Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee, and the Lake of 

 Gennesareth, from the territory which forms its western and south- 

 western border, is computed to he between seventeen and eighteen 

 miles in length, and from five to six in breadth. The mountains 

 on the east come close to its shore, and the country on that side 

 has not a very agreeable aspect : on the west, it has the plain of 

 Tiberias, the high ground of the plain of Hutin, or Hottein, the 

 plain of Gennesareth, and the foot of those hills by which you 

 ascend to the high mountain of Saphet. To the north and south 

 it has a plain country, or valley. There is a current throughout 

 the whole breadth of the lake, even to the shore ; and the passage 

 of the Jordan through it is discernible by the smoothness of the 

 surface in that part. Various travellers have given a very different 

 account of its general aspect. According to Captain Mangles, the 

 land about it has no striking features, and the scenery is altogether 

 devoid of character. ' It appeared,' he says, ' to particular disad- 

 vantage to us after those beautiful lakes we had seen in Switzer- 

 land ; but it becomes a very interesting object, when you consider 

 the frequent allusions to it in the Gospel narrative.' Dr. Clarke, 

 on the contrary, speaks of the uncommon grandeur of this memo- 

 rable scenery. ' The Lake of Gennesareth,' he says, 'is surround- 

 ed by objects well calculated to heighten the solemn impression ' 

 made by such recollections, and ' affords one of the most striking 

 prospects in the Holy Land. Speaking of it comparatively, it may 

 be described as longer and finer than any of our Cumberland and 

 Westmoreland lakes, although perhaps inferior to Loch Lomond. 

 It does not possess the vastness of the Lake of Geneva, although 

 it much resembles it in certain points of view. In picturesque 

 beauty, it comes nearest to the Lake of Locarno in Italy, although 

 it is destitute of anything similar to the islands by which that 

 majestic piece of water is adorned. It is inferior in magnitude, 

 and the height of its surrounding mountains, to the Lake of 

 Asphaltites.' Mr. Buckingham may perhaps be considered as hav- 

 ing given the most accurate account, and one which reconciles in 

 some degree the differing statements above cited, when, speaking 

 of the lake as seen from Tel Hoom, he says that its appearance is 

 grand, but that the barren aspect of the mountains on each side, 

 and the total absence of wood, give a cast of dulness to the picture; 

 this is increased to melancholy by the dead calm of its waters, and 

 the silence which reigns throughout its whole extent, where not a 

 boat or vessel of any kind is to be found. 



There were fleets of some force on this lake during the wars of 

 the Jews with the Romans, and very bloody battles were fought be- 

 tween them. Josephus gives a particular account of a naval en* 

 gagement between the Romans under Vespasian, and the Jews who 



