222 SIR VICTOR BROOKE CHAP. 



well, where undoubtedly our Lord sat and talked to the 

 woman of Samaria, with Gerizim rising straight above 

 it, with the ruins of the Temple where 'ye say men 

 ought to worship ' visible to us as we lunched there, 

 as the Temple itself was visible to Him, all of this I 

 must tell you of quietly in detail. We went up 

 Gerizim, and there saw, according to Stanley (and we 

 cannot see how he can be mistaken), the very slab of 

 rock slanting to a deep hole for the blood of victims, 

 where, in all probability, Abraham made his altar to 

 offer up Isaac. The view is magnificent from this spot, 

 perhaps the finest in Palestine. From it Abraham 

 could see the entire land promised to his seed, the seed 

 he was about to sacrifice. You can see away to 

 Hebron on the south, and Hermon on the north, the 

 sea on the west, and the mountains of Moab, etc., right 

 up to Hermon on the east. In approaching the moun- 

 tain from the land of the Philistines through Sharon, 

 where Abraham had been, he could lift his eyes and 

 ' behold the mountains afar off/ and he knew it well, 

 for it was there he made his first altar on entering 

 Palestine years before. Just fancy the trial it must 

 have been to the grand old man's faith. This slab of 

 rock has undoubtedly been a place of sacrifice for ages. 

 Never can I forget the view of the Plain of Esdraelon 

 as we arrived at the edge of the hills of Samaria 

 overlooking it. Immediately underneath lies Dothan, 

 where poor little Joseph was kidnapped by his brothers ; 

 away stretches the noble plain like a carpet covered 

 with waving corn. To the east juts up Gilboa. At 

 the point of the mountain Jezreel was just visible, 

 near which is of course Naboth's vineyard, and out of 

 the window of some one house there, that virago 

 Jezebel was cast, food for dogs. Little Hermon lay 

 beyond, with Shunem amongst its luxuriant cactus 



