CHAPTER XVII. 

 THE STONES BURIED IN THE JORDAN. 



" And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of Jordan, in the 

 place where the feet of the priests which bare the ark of the cove- 

 nant stood : and they are there unto this day." JOSHUA iv. 9. 



IN the extreme south of Italy there is an interesting 

 river that washes the walls of the old town of 

 Cosenza, the capital of Calabria, and flows through the 

 valley with a considerable volume of water even in the 

 driest weather. This river is called the Busento, and is 

 famous as the site of Alaric's grave. The king of the 

 Goths with his army was advancing south through Italy 

 for the invasion of Sicily, when he was suddenly over- 

 taken with a violent fever which terminated fatally at 

 Cosenza. By the enforced labour of the people around, 

 the course of the river was diverted at the point where a 

 tributary stream, called the Crati, falls into it, and its bed 

 exposed. In this dry channel of the river they con- 

 structed a magnificent sepulchre which they adorned 

 with the splendid spoils and trophies taken from the 

 sack of Rome. There they laid in royal state the dead 

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