270 CLARKE'S TRAVELS. 
Rani , leaving it upon our left, and came in view of ilic sniail 
village of Cana* situated on a gentle eminence, in the midst 
of one of these valleys. It is difficult to ascertain its exact 
distance fromNazareth.f Our horses were never out of,a 
foot’s pace, and we arrived there at half past seven. About 
a quarter of a mile before we entered the village, is a spring of 
delicious limpid water, close to the road, whence all the water 
is taken for the supply of the village. Pilgrims of course halt 
at this spring, as the source of the water which our Saviour, 
by his first miracle, converted into wine4 At such places it 
is certain to meet either shepherds reposing with their flocks, or 
caravans halting to drink. A few olive trees being near the 
sspdt, travellers a|ight, spread their carpets beneath these trees* 
and, having filled their pipes, generally smoke and take some 
coffee; always preferring repose in these places, to the accommo¬ 
dations which are offered in the villages. Such has been the 
custom of the country from time immemorial § 
We entered Cana, and halted at a small Greek chapel, in 
the court of w hich we .all rested, while our breakfast w as spread 
upon the ground. This grateful meal consisted of about a 
bushel of cucumbers, some w hite mulberries, a very insipid 
fruit, gathered from the trees reared to feed silk-worms ; hot 
cakes of unleavened bread, fried in honey and butter; and, as 
usual, plenty of fowls, We had no reason to complain of our 
fare, and all of us ate heartily. We were afterward conduct- 
* “ Kava, Cotne in yersione Syriaca” (Reland. Palaestina Illustrate.) The strik¬ 
ing evidenceeorkferning the disputed situation of this place, as it is contained in the 
words of the request made by the ruler of Capernaurp to our Saviour, when he be¬ 
sought him to heal his Son, only proves bow accurately the writings of the Evangelista 
eorrespdiMl with the geography and present appearance of the country. He suppli¬ 
cates Jesus, who was then at Cana, “that hewould come down, and heal his son.^ 
(John, iv. 47.) “ Ut descendatj et yen it Capernaum? unde judicari potest,” observes 
the learned Reland, “ Capernaum in inferiori regione sitam fuisse quam Canam. Erat 
autem Capernaum ad mare.” How singularly this is confirmed by the extraordinary 
features of this part of Syria, will appear in the description given of our journey from 
Cana toward the Sea of Galilee,. In the 51st verse of the same chapter of St. John, it 
is stated, 4 ‘ As he mas now going down, his servants rued him.” His whole route from 
Candy according to the position of the place now so called,, was, in fact, a continual 
descent toward Capernaum , 
f Cana of Galilee has been confounded with Sepker Cana, or Cana Major, in the 
territory of the tribe of Asher: hence the discordant accounts given by Adrichomius, 
Aranda, and others, concerning,its distance from Nazareth. Cana Major is mentioned, 
as the inheritance of the tribe of Asher, in the 28th verse of the IStb chapter of the 
bool of Joshua, together with Hebron and Rehob , and Hammen Cana of Galilee (John, 
ii. 1 is often called Cana Minor. St. Jerom describes it as near to Nazareth : \* Hand 
jprocuj inde (id est a Nazareth) cernetur Cana, in qua Aqu® in vinum versae sunt.’ 3 
Micron, tom. i. epist. 17. ad Marcfellam. 
t John, c. ii. , ' 
| A tradition relates, that at this spring St Athanasius converted Philip. We Were 
thus informed, by the Christian pilgrims who had joined our cavalcade; but it was 
ih® first intelligence had ever reeehed, either of the meeting, or of the person 
converted.' ' 
