34(!) Descripilon of Minerals from Falesluw. 



before those who would surround the throne, when he should 

 wield the royal sceptre, boldly refused to imbrue his hands in 

 the blood of the " Lord's anointed.'' He, however, ven- 

 tured, while the king was sleeping, to "■ cut off the skirt of his 

 robe.'' Siul arose, and departed, without discov(;ring David, 

 or any of his attendanis. Although we have no data for de- 

 termining the exa* t dimensions of the cave, it may. from the 

 above remarks, safely be inferred, then it was capacious; such 

 a one, as is rarely met with, except m limestone regions. 

 Indeed the stiucture of the spicimen before us. plainly shows, 

 that it must have been formed frooi the oozing of water, 

 charged with calcareous matter, through the loof of the cav- 

 ern. 



Travellers assert, that immense caverns, both natural and 

 artificial, exist i;t other parts of Palestine;, which now serve 

 as temporary retreats for the plundering Arabs. To these 

 caves the Isrueiites often fled for safety, when their country 

 was invadt'd by foreign enemies 



9. " From a hill west of Jerusalem, which overlooks the 

 city." A reddish gray, siliceous carbonate of lime, capable of 

 being wrought into a coarse kind of marble. 



10. '• From the tomb of tJuldah, the prophetess, on mount 

 Olivet,'' This is a handsome white marble, having a smooth 

 and conchoidal fracture. The mount of Olives, is a steep 

 hill, on the east of Jerusalem, the valley offJehoshaphat lying 

 between i! and the city ; (Calmet.) "Towards the south,'' 

 says Dr. Clarke, who witnessed what he describes, " ap- 

 pears the lake Asphaltites. Lofty mountains enclose it with 

 prodigious grandeur. To the nortli of the lake are seen the 

 verdant and ferti e pastures of the ' Plain of Jericho,' watered 

 by the Jordan, whose course we distinctly discerned- No- 

 thing else appears in the surrounding country, but hills, whose 

 undulating surfaces resemble the waves of a perturbated sea. 

 We found!a grove," he adds, "of aged olive-trees, of immense 

 size, covered with fruit, almost in a mature state." On this 

 mount, many touching scenes have been exhibited. David, 

 fleeing from the destruction threatened by his wicked and 

 unnatural son, " went up by the asct^nt of mount Olivet, and 

 wept as he went up." When arrived at the summit, an an- 

 cient author beautifully r<Hnarks, "• flens et nudis pedibus, 

 Deum adoravit." On this eminence stood the Saviour, in 

 full view of the city, when he wept over Jerusalem, and, in 

 the most melting language, foretold its tremendous overthrow. 



