854 M AUNDRELLf Tfavels Book III. 
On the 9th, we faw the Pool of Bethefda, which is 
one hundred and twenty Paces long, forty broad, and 
eight deep, but no Water in it ; and there we faw fome 
Arches, which are faid to be the Porches in which the 
Lame, Half, and Blind fate, John v. From hence we 
went to the Convent of St. Anne, where there is a large 
Church, and under it a Grotto, where, they fay, the 
Bleffed Virgin was born. Near this Church they fhew 
the Pharifees Houfe, where Mary Magdalen wafh’d 
Chrift’s Feet with her Tears, and wiped them with 
her Hair, Luke vii. 38. In the Afternoon we faw the 
ftately Pool of Mount Gihon, which is one hundred and 
fix Paces long, and fixty-ieven broad, lined with a 
Wall, and well ftored with Water. 
On the loth, we went to take our Leave of the 
holy Sepulchre, which being the laft Time, the Turks 
allow free Admittance to all People without any Fee, 
not only to the Poor, but to the Lewd, who propha- 
ned it as much as when the Heathen celebrated here 
thtix Aphrodijia. On the nth began t\\t Turks Byram, 
and we kept at home to avoid the Affronts ufual at luch 
Feftivals. On the 12th and 13th, we prepared for our 
Departure, and how to avoid the Arabs, by going along 
with the Mofolem. 
23. On the 14th, we went with a fmall Prefent to 
wait on the Mofolem, who fet out the next Morning 
and before our Departure I took the Meafure of the 
City, going out at Bethlehem-Gate, and walking round 
about to the fame Gate' again, and found it in Circum- 
ference to be four thoufand fix hundred and thirty 
Paces, and ten of my Paces amounting to nine 
Yards; this Number makes four thoufand one hundred 
and lixty-feven Yards, which is juft two Miles and an 
half. I 
On the 15th in the Morning, having received our 
Diplomata, to certify that we had vifited the holy Pla- 
ces, and prefented the Convent with fifty Dollars a 
Man for their Trouble, we fet out with the Mofolem, 
and lodg’d at Kane Lehan, The Country People being 
at Plough, in order to fow Cotton, us’d Goads of an 
extraordinary Size, being eight Foot long, having at 
one End a fharp Prickle to drive the Oxen, and at the 
other a Paddle to cleanfe the Plough, which is held by 
the fame Perfon that drives ; and with fuch a Goad it 
feems to be, that Shamgar made the great Slaughter 
Judg, iii. 31. 
The 1 6th. Leaving Kane Leban, we paffed by Na- 
plofa and Samaria, and came to the Fountain Selee, 
where we lodg’d. The 17th, we travelled in the 
fame Road we came to Caphar-Arab, and then we left 
that Road, refolving to crofs the Plain of Efdraelon, 
and vifit Nazareth, which we did, after paying our Ca- 
phar to Emir Chibly. 
24. April 18. Nazareth is now a fmall Village, on a 
high Hill, where we were treated at a Convent of fome 
Latin Fathe'rs, who live in perpetual Fear of the Arabs. 
The Church of Nazareth ftands in a Cave, faid to be the 
Place where the bleffed Virgin received the Meffage 
from the Angel, Hail thou that art highly favoured, &c. 
Liike i. 28. It refembles the Figure of a Crofs, where- 
of the Tree is fourteen Paces long, and fix over, and 
the Traverfe is nine Paces long, and four broad ; juft 
at the Sedfion are two granite Pillars, whereof one 
ftands at the Place where the Angel, the other where 
the bleffed Virgin ftood at the Time of the Annun- 
ciation. 
After this we went to fee the Houfe of Jofeph, where 
they fay the Son of God liv’d for near thirty Years in 
Subjedlion to Man, Luke i\. 51 ; and near this they 
fhew the Synagogue, where our Lord preached that 
Sermon which fo much exafperated his Country-men, 
Luke iv. Here are the Ruins of two Churches built 
by Helena. 
On the 19th, about two Hours diftant from Nazareth 
Eaftward, is Mount Tabor, a high Mountain, round 
and beautiful, ftanding in the Plain of Efdraelon, about 
three Furlongs within the Plain. This is thought to be 
the Mountain on which our Lord was transfigur’d, 
Mat. xvii, which has a plain Area at Top very fertile, 
GO which in feveral Places arc Cifternsof good Water, 
and three Grotto’s reprefenting three Tabernacles, which 
St. Peter propos’d to eredl, when he faid, Let us make 
three Tabernacles, &c. 
And here I cannot but obferve, that almoft all Paf- 
fages and Hiftories of the Gofpel, are faid by them 
who fliew the Places, to have been done in Grotto’s. 
Thus the Places of the bleffed Virgin’s Birth, of the 
Annunciation, of the Virgin’s Salutation of Elizabeth, 
of the Baptijih^nd Chrift’s Nativity, of St, PetePs, Re-< 
pentance, and the Transfiguration ; all thefe Places are 
faid to be Grotto’s, though it is no Ways probable that 
fo many various Adlions, with fuch Circumftances as 
feems fometimes to require Places of another Nature 
Ihould be done in Grotto’s. 
From the Top of Tabor you have a moft delightful 
Profpedl : On the North-weft you difcern the Mediter- 
ranean, and all round you have the beautiful Plains of 
Efdraelon and Galilee, where you have a View of many 
Places memorable for the Refort and Miracles of Chrift ; 
at the Bottom ftands Daberah, which is faid to take its 
Name ftom Deborah, and near it is the Fountain of Ki- 
foon. Eaftward you fee Mount Hermon, and at the Foot 
of it Nani, famous for our Lord’s raifing the Widow’s 
Son there, Luke vii. 14. and Endor, where Saul zovAA- 
ted the Witch. Southward you fee the Mountains of 
Gilboa, fatal to Saul and his Sons. 
Due Eaft you difcover the Sea of Tiberias, and dole 
by it a fteep Hill, down which the Herd of Swine ran 
and perifhed in the Waters, Mat. viii. 32. Towards 
the North appears that which they call the Mountain of 
Beatitudes, where our Saviour delivered his Sermon, 
Mat. V. 6, 7. And not far from this little Hill is the 
City Saphet, that ftands upon a high Mountain, to 
which being then in View, our Saviour may be fup- 
pofed to allude, when he fays, Mat. v. 4. A City fet 
on a Hill cannot be hid. From Mount Tabor, we had 
alfo a Sight of the Place call’d Dothami, where they fay 
Jofeph was fold by his Brethren, and of the Field where 
our Saviour fed the Multitude with a few Loaves, and 
a few Fiflies. After Dinner we went to fee the Moun- 
tain of the Precipitation, i. e. the Brow of the Hdi 
where they fay the, Nazarites would have thrown down 
our Saviour, Luke 4. had he not made a miraculous 
Efcape : And here the Friars Ihow fome Holes, which 
they call the Prints of Chrift’s Fingers, made in the hard 
Stone, when he refifted the Violence offer’d him. 
20. On the 20th, we diredled our Courfe to Acra, 
pafs’d in View of Cana of Galilee, and. came to Sepha- 
ria, the reputed Habitation of Joachim and Anna, Pa- 
rents of the bleffed Virgin ; over which ftands a good 
Part of a large Church. Here begins the Plain of Za- 
hulon, from whence we came to Acra. 
On the 2ift : At Acra we were treated by the French 
Conful, and came the firft Night to our old Lodging 
at Solomon‘s Cifterns. 
On the 22d : About three Hours from Sidon, we 
were carried to fee a Place we had not obferv’d before, 
which was a high rocky Mountain ; on the Side of 
which were hewn a Multitude of Grots, to the Number 
of 200, as they were counted, which have an Entrance 
two Foot fquare, and a Room within for the moft part 
four Yards fquare, which feem’d to be defign’d for the 
Ufe of the Living, and not of the Dead, becaufe fome 
of the Cells are no more than one Yard fquare, and 
in the Rock are Cifterns for ftoring up Water. On the 
23d, we continued at Sidon, being generoufly treated 
by the French. 
26. On the 24th, having gone through the Olive- 
Yards of Sidon, we afcended Libanus, till we cam.e to 
a Fountain call’d Ambus-lee. On the 2 5ht, we arrived 
at the higheft Ridge of the Mountain, where the Snow 
lay clofe by the Road ; and then we begun to defcend 
on the other Side, and came to a Village call’d Me(h- 
garah, where a Caphar was demanded by the Drufes, 
who poffefs thefe Mountains. From hence, m one 
Hour, we entred into a Valley call’d Bocat : This feems 
to be the fame with Bicath-Aven, mentioned Amos i. 5. 
too'ether with Eden and Damafcus, for there is very 
near it a Place call’d Eden to this Day ; in this Valley 
there runs a large River call’d Setane, which falls at laft 
