1835.] Notes of a Tour through Palestine. 441 



stroyed, and the modern village of Shadud is built under the mountain 

 formed by the remains of the old city. At this place, (having first 

 gone to the site of Ekron, and thus seen four of the five great lord- 

 ships of the Philistines,) we turned out of the common and regular 

 route, avoiding the barren and inhospitable journey from Ramlah to 

 Jerusalem, and proceeded straight through the hills to Bethlehem, the 

 country like the hills behind Dharwar. I do not think any traveller 

 ever took this road before ; it is more direct, quite practicable, even 

 for camels, which we rode, and is very beautiful. The hills are co- 

 vered with flowers, with the green cistus and arbutus, the ilex, the 

 little white flower called the Star of Bethlehem, and a great variety 

 of others. Round Bethlehem are numerous fine vineyards, each with 

 its " tower" and " wine press" in it ; the round tower, like a cavalier 

 bastion, being probably to guard the produce, and keep the tools, &c. 

 Hence to Jerusalem is only five miles. 



We remained in the Holy City, called here Ul Kuds ul Sherff, 

 nearly three weeks. Part of the time we devoted to an excursion to 

 Hebron, the Dead Sea, and Jericho. Hebron is one mass of terraced 

 vineyards : the Muhammedan mosque, once a Christian church, cover- 

 ing the cave of Macpelah, may not be entered by Christian feet ; but 

 we went to Mamre, still recognizable in the name used by the Arabs 

 Ramre, and pointed out by Jewish tradition as the spot where their 

 father Abraham pitched his tent. It is not a plain : there are none 

 in the centre of the hills ; but four valleys meet here, and there is a 

 fine supply of water, and it appears the Hebrew word rendered " Plain" 

 may also be translated some kind of trees. The Dead Sea is the most 

 dismal scene I ever beheld, and looks like a present, existing miracle ; 

 so extraordinary and different from every thing else in nature does 

 it appear. There is no sign whatever of volcanic action in the hills 

 around, by which its original formation has been explained. The air 

 is always extremely hot and heavy, and indeed, we felt it most oppres- 

 sive throughout the valley of the Jordan. At Jerusalem, and at mid- 

 day, in the open air, going to Hebron, the thermometer was only from 

 58° to 65*. in the valley it was 96°. I bathed, as all travellers do, in 

 the salt and pungent waters of the Dead Sea, in which it is impossible 

 to sink ; but I infinitely more enjoyed a swim of half a mile down Jordan, 

 a small but deep and rapid stream : so much so, that the Israelites 

 could never have crossed it without the miracle that divided its 

 waters. The plain of Jericho is a fertile jungle, full of wild hog. It 

 is watered by a fine stream flowing from the fountain of Elisha, now 

 called Ein-us-Sultdn, and might easily be rendered what it once 

 was, the most fertile spot in Palestine, where only the balsam and 



